Tag Archives: wildlife

Upland sandpiper

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We have been lucky to see a lot of wildlife this year. The weather and food distribution must be just right in our area. Earlier this year, we saw a herd of deer in the field. Neither of us had ever seen so many deer at the same time. Some of you might have seen the pictures I posted in our gallery. We have also been seeing a lot of different birds of prey. In the previous years, we were mainly seeing only harriers and great horned owls. This year we’ve added sightings of kestrels, bald eagles and golden eagles. And tonight, we first heard and then finally saw an upland sandpiper. Their song is particular. I would have loved to post a sound file here but couldn’t find one I could download and post here legally. So if you want to hear it, you’ll have to visit this website I found: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They have a good sound file on their site. The link will take you directly to the upland sandpiper’s page.

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By Johnath (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Game camera

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Approximately two months ago, we bought a game camera. For those unfamiliar with them, they are cameras with motion detection. So each time something moves within the camera’s range, it takes a picture (or video). We have had some pictures and videos of foxes, rabbits, and, of course, our horses before we fenced them out of the trees (more on this later). However, we didn’t get many pictures over that period of time.

Two days ago, we decided to move the camera again and did we get lucky. A doe stopped by to eat breakfast right in front of the camera!


With the camera, we are discovering that there’s more activity in our little wood than we thought. It sure is neat to live in the country.

Fort Abraham Lincoln and other news

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On August 21, we visited Fort Abraham Lincoln located south of Mandan. Those who know me personally know that I’ve been there in the past on numerous occasions but we had only done the trail ride or simply visited with people. This time around we took the interpretive tour.

Things are well organized. As you can see in the picture below, you really travel back in time. Our guide, Miss Cassandra, is a laundress at the fort. While visiting, she asked us how we reached the fort. Answer: by boat or ferry, which was the only way across the river back in 1875. Men were required to remove their hats inside the house as was the custom back then. It was really interesting.

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We’re planning to go back again and take some more pictures. In the meantime, I’ve set up a gallery in our Special Pages section. The page is titled Fort Abraham Lincoln 2009.

In other news, we made the acquisition of a Browning .22 rifle. Man, does it shoot nicely! It’s not in my nature to brag about my accomplishments but I do have to share my best target shooting to date. Everything just felt right when I did it. It’s such a special feeling. It’s like everything is in sync. It’s hard to describe but felt really good.

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We also purchased a scope to put on it. Unfortunately, the first base mount we got doesn’t work. It doesn’t allow the scope to be mounted back far enough so we ordered another base mount. We should receive it this week.

Woke up early yesterday morning and caught this beautiful sunrise. Sunrises and sunsets here are the best I’ve ever seen.

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A little later in the morning, I caught this pheasant hen with her young making their way through our backyard. We counted 8 chicks. Can you find all of them?

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Where have we been?

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Actually, we’ve been here all the time. We’ve just been too busy! A house and 12 acres sure keep us occupied!

Sometime in July, Gary took Sparky for a long walk. After well behaving for a long while, Sparky smelled something interesting and decided to run after it. Gary didn’t see what it was. But sure enough, Sparky ran in the ditch and crossed in the culvert under the road before responding to Gary’s calls. Well, no need to say that the poor dog was pretty smelly after his escapade (I’ll spare you the details ). However, a bath was in order!

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The wildlife around us never ceases to amaze. On the morning of August 1, around 7 a.m., I walked in our living room and was graced by the sight of a buck right in our front yard. Here’s a little bit of information: Contrary to popular belief that a deer’s age can be guessed by the size of its antlers, the only way to tell for sure is by looking at its teeth. The growth rate of the antlers is influenced by genetics and diet and thus is not a sure way of telling.

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Remember the swallows I mentioned last month? Their second attempt at building a nest was successful and they now have a little family to feed. There are four chicks in the nest. Can you spot all of them?

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The parents are very protective of their young and every time we go by, they start chirping and flying in circles, away from the nest, trying to get our attention. I tried catching a picture of them faking a broken wing in flight, a common practice to attract predators away from their young. I was unsuccessful (geez, they really make sharp turns!) but got a beautiful in-flight shot.

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And speaking of couples, it’s mating season for the dragonflies and damselflies. Caught these two in the act, right on our living room window frame.

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First “hunt”

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Myriam made her first kill. We were walking back from the mailbox. I had taken the .44-40 with us in case we spotted a coyote or the mountain lion that’s been seen around here.

Well, we didn’t come across such big game, but Myriam did spot a field mouse. So, what the heck, let’s see what she can do with the rifle. Barely missed with the first shot but got him with the second. Not much left of him as you can see.

First time she nailed anything other than cans and paper. She was pretty cool and collected. Usually, a person gets nervous with a live target. We’ll see how she does with something bigger as the opportunity arises.

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