Turkey trots his way to feeder just in time for holiday

Nation-wide the weather is still in a quick moving pattern with late season high temperatures on one side and cold temps on the other causing violent weather in some areas.

The storms come and go so quickly that many don’t even know they are happening. I don’t believe the northeast states have completely recovered from the heavy wet snows that hit them more than four weeks ago.

Our couple of dustings of snow are just a memory as warmer weather took them away as soon as the sun came out.

Many of you may not be aware that the beautiful old bridge over the channel between Sixth and Seventh Lake—a favorite picture spot—is completely gone. It has been replaced with a new one-lane bridge that gives access to the camps and homes on the north shore of Seventh Lake.

Hunters have reported several Moose sightings in the woods, and some have been seen crossing local highways.

Howard Phillips saw two Moose running up the road by Eighth Lake the other day. It was the first time he had ever seen Moose in the area.

My grandson Jacob and I saw several Moose tracks where we were hunting last weekend. We never did see one of the big critters which would have been a thrill for him.

I asked him if he had a camera and he said he had the one on his I-phone.

Some hunters who weren’t far from where we were hunting said they saw three Bull Moose.

They said two were quite large but the other didn’t have a very large set of horns.

Some fellas who have a camp down by the Indian River said they saw all Moose and only one Deer, a ten-pointer which they got.

This on- and off-again weather along with all the available wild food has kept several species of birds hanging around. I saw a few flocks of Juncos out in the woods and had one on the porch yesterday (11/17).

Only a few have visited the feeder but they know it’s there as a backup when the snows come to stay.

This morning (11/18) it’s 20 degrees outside but the pond is only half frozen so there is a place for the ducks to land.

A few Mallards have been visiting each day and they seem to be skimming off the yellow birch seeds which are in rows on the water.

The Pine Siskins and Goldfinch are working these seeds that are covering most tops of these trees in the woods. It’s going to be a yellow birch forest if all these seeds germinate.

Reports from a little north of us show that the Red and Whitewinged Crossbills and Evening Grosbeaks have moved in along with the Siskins.

Most of these are cone seedeaters and there are plenty of them.

If you look at the tops of the Red Spruce trees they are solid with cones. When there is a cone crop like this those species nest during January and February. It’s a cold time to be sitting on eggs but there must be a lot of energy in cone seeds.

I hope all these birds don’t move into the feeders at once as the price of Sunflower seeds is about double what it was last year.

So what else is new? I heard they are now using it as well as corn to add to gasoline. Pretty soon you will be able to just pour them into the tank and go!

The first Turkey of the season showed up this morning for a nibble. I guess it didn’t know how close we are to Thanksgiving. There had been several flocks in the area all summer but I haven’t seen them in a couple months.

If they all show up, which they probably will, I will need to float a loan to feed them corn all winter.

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy it with family and friends. Bucks in the rut, but that’s another story. See ya.