A Most Curious Experience

A Most Curious Experience

The snow had just started to fall this morning as I lounged on the sofa, sipping my coffee. A swoop outside the window caught my attention. A Red-tailed Hawk sat high in the branches of the birch tree. I ran for my camera, but he was gone when I returned to the...
Christmas Deer Friends

Christmas Deer Friends

One of my favorite things about living where we do is the wildlife that comes to visit. This weekend is was a quartet of Christmas deer grazing by the pond. Their arrival never fails to make us all pause what we’re doing and linger at the...
Judy Returns

Judy Returns

This summer, Hannah named our resident bunny “Judy” based on the Zootopia movie. She was befuddled when I showed her this photo one morning back in June. Are they all Judy? I spotted as many as four Judys at a time in our yard. It was a banner bunny year. Earlier this...
First Snowfall

First Snowfall

This morning was the season’s first snow. It’s perhaps the latest snowfall I can remember in the 17 years that we’ve lived Downeast. I delight in the first snow; I delight in almost every snow, even if I wish it away by March. Snow cover outside...
The Two Sides of Downeast Thunder Farm

The Two Sides of Downeast Thunder Farm

The other morning I was visiting this little doe in the front yard. I stood on the porch talking to it and snapping pictures – Gidget oblivious of her for a bit. I returned inside and sat at my desk, unloading the deer pictures onto my computer, when I saw...
In The Garden Today

In The Garden Today

Today was the quintessential perfect Maine summer day. It was a lazy day for me. Coffee on the porch, lawn mowing, puttering in the yard and garden. My happiest discovery is that Ms. Monarch, who was here earlier in the week did her job. I discovered my first Monarch...
Milkweed in Bloom

Milkweed in Bloom

This is the view out my kitchen window. It was full of orange butterflies this morning. I was excited as I haven’t seen the Monarchs since my first sighting earlier in the month. I abandoned my coffee in favor of a camera and headed outdoors. I found Pearl...
Hummingbird Moth Visitor – Video

Hummingbird Moth Visitor – Video

While watering my hanging flower pots this evening, this little Clearwing Moth – aka Hummingbird Moth came to visit. With the lilacs all but faded, there’s not much in my garden to feast on until the lavender blooms – except for my hanging baskets....
Who’s Singing in Your Backyard?

Who’s Singing in Your Backyard?

You likely know by now that I’m an avid, total novice, backyard bird watcher. I’ve discovered this morning that there are birds singing in my backyard I’ve never seen before. I’m often focused on the birds at my feeders (which have been put up...
Garden Visitors

Garden Visitors

The past few days have been miserably hot. Ninety-degree weather on this eastern section of the Maine Coast is a rarity typically saved for a few days in August. To have three days in the 90s in June is unheard of. For years we had no air conditioning – we...
Return of the Black Bear – In Broad Daylight

Return of the Black Bear – In Broad Daylight

Yesterday it was a hummingbird on what I’ve dubbed “the bear cam” since the bear raided our feeder earlier this spring. Today it’s the bear that made an appearance. He/she looks like a small one – the base of the squirrel guard is about...
Return of the Hummers

Return of the Hummers

I find myself leaving my office to visit the kitchen entirely too often to sneak a peek at these little guys out the window. It’s been four days since they’ve returned. It might be more productive for me to put a hummer feeder outside my office window. I...
April Showers

April Showers

I knew it was snowing last night because the outside security camera kept going off. I thought it was the return of the bear, but the snow was the culprit. Snow is pretty common in early April – like the 8-10 inches of snow we got in 2014. And then, last year,...
Spring Chickadee

Spring Chickadee

I finally got around to removing the remnants of my destroyed bird feeders pole.  I’m hopeful that Paul can repair my fancy feeder pole. My lovely red feeder is toast – the central part of it squashed like an accordion. Enjoying the weather, I spent the...
Rude Bear

Rude Bear

It was a long night. I woke around 2:30 am and never got back to sleep. In the wee hours of the morning, I heard a sound outside but was too tired to investigate. When I finally dragged my weary behind out of bed to let Gidget out, I spied something odd at the chicken...

First Bear Sighting of the Season

The video camera was slow to pick up this black bear lumbering passed my bird feeders early this morning. Of course I didn’t discover the video until after I’d filled the feeder with new suet cakes....
A Close Call

A Close Call

We’ve had a rough year with our farm animals. One night a few months ago, I forgot to lock the duckies in the house at dusk. The next morning I found feathers and our drake missing. Knowing that I was responsible has been hard to accept. I set a ducky alarm on...
Deer Whispering

Deer Whispering

Hannah alerted me the other day that some of the young deer had been nibbling from the leftover duck food. This morning, I spotted a trio of deer in the yard, a baby searching for food. When I stepped outside, they bounded off to the woods. When they paused to look...
A Glorious Tufted Titmouse Pair

A Glorious Tufted Titmouse Pair

Only once have I spotted a Tufted Titmouse here at Downeast Thunder Farm. That made today’s activity at the feeder incredibly exciting. A Tufted Titmouse pair. I love those big eyes that seem to look in your soul. They were very skittish. Their view into the...
A Most Unusual Visitor

A Most Unusual Visitor

Last night, it was quite late when I put the ducks away. I had to chase them out of the pond, which is never fun. As I closed their door, I spotted a large bird sitting on the roof of the “lean-to” where we keep the duck food. It startled the wits out of...