This wildlife photo series or Eastern Phoebe chicks, begging for a meal, is one of my personal favorites. The expressions on their little faces makes me laugh every time!
Phoebes sit on a perch, waiting for flying insects to wander by. Then they’ll snatch the insect from the air and take it to feed their little ones.
Watch as all four of these chicks (who’ve just left the nest) beg Mom for the food she’s brought . . .
The chick on the far right is sooooo eager, one of his “feet” slide off the branch!
Not only does he get fed, but it seems as if he’s eaten everything she brought . . .
Because she flies away for more food.
Uh-oh. Somebody’s brothers and sisters aren’t too happy . . . especially the one on the far left!
Back in April 2017, we had a nesting pair of eagles.
Similar to this year, they’d gotten off to an early start due to a bit of a warmer than normal spring. Everything seemed to be going according to schedule. They shared egg-sitting duties on the nest . . .
One eagle flies in to sit on the eggs, as its partner flies off to stretch its wings.
They called back and forth to each other.
I remember how much I couldn’t wait to see the chicks! At this point, they only had two weeks to go.
Then came a worrisome weather report. After two weeks of 40 and 50 degree weather, a major snowstorm was due. Two feet of heavy wet snow.
High winds.
The works!
Just like today’s prediction with this year’s nesting eagles.
I was so worried! Would the nest hold the extra weight? What if mama eagle got hungry? Would she stay on the eggs? Could she keep the water and snow off them? The questions rolled around my brain like a snowball getting bigger and bigger.
I rushed to the lake’s edge to snap “before” photos. She didn’t seem too worried.
The next day, about halfway through the storm, I couldn’t take not knowing what was happening at the nest! I donned my snowshoes and headed for the lake again.
This is the sight that greeted me.
Where did she go?
I worried all night. The next morning, I snowshoed out at first light. There’s a spot in our trail halfway to the water, which has a view of the lake through the trees at a higher elevation. This is the photo I took, with my 600mm lens extended as far as it would go, and then I cropped the photo on top of that.
Still, I couldn’t see her!
At the edge of the lake, I tried again to focus in. Still, I didn’t see her.
But when I got home, and started going through my photos, zooming in on them one by one, I came across the most amazing behavior! She was there, under all that snow! Not only that, but she had just endured 18 hours of 40 mile-an-hour winds in that nest, as it swayed back and forth! Can you imagine?
When I present at schools and I show students these slides, I use it as an example of what amazing parents eagles are.
And yes, they did go on to have one chick that year!
Although sadly, they failed to nest in 2018 and 2019. THIS year, they are nesting again! And today, we are getting a foot of wet, heavy snow! I’ll keep you posted on how they do.
Painted turtles’ bright red and yellow markings make them fun to photograph, especially when you get reflection photos in the water.
They’ll grow to 4 to 10 inches and have smooth shells.
They live in ponds, lakes, marshes, and in slow-moving rivers that have soft, muddy bottoms. You’ll find them out and about during the day, usually sunning themselves on a rock or log. At night they will rest on the bottom of a pond or on a rock or tree that is partly underwater.
What do they eat? Mostly plants and small animals, like fish, crustaceans, and water insects. Painted turtles eat in the water. They don’t have teeth. Instead, they have sharp ridges, kind of like really rough sandpaper, on their upper and lower jaws. This helps them grip the food.
Every now and then, I’ll see six or more turtles sunning themselves together! A group of turtles is called a ‘a bale of turtles’. They use touch to communicate with each other.
Raccoons, otters, mink, foxes, and other medium-sized animals will prey on small turtles and their eggs. I’ve even seen a heron quickly snatch one out of the water with its long beak!
Painted turtles carefully watch for predators. Maybe you’ve been kayaking or walking along the water’s edge and heard several PLOPS or SPLASHES in a row? Chances are you scared a bunch of turtles back into the water where they can hide. If on land, they’ll pull their head and legs into their hard shell.
Here in Maine, painted turtles lay their eggs in May and June. They look for a spot with lots of sun and one that is easy to dig into.
In these photos, she was laying eggs on the edge of our campground’s playing field. To get there, she walked 300 feet, uphill! So if you ever see a turtle walking away from a lake, leave it be. It’s not lost! Help it on its way if you must, but don’t take it back to the lake. It will just have to make the trip all over again.
Using her hind feet, a female turtle digs a hole about four inches deep. In it, she lays 4 to 8 soft, oval-shaped eggs, then she covers them up with dirt.
If the eggs are in a warmer nest over the months they lay there, all the turtles hatched from it will be females. A cooler nest, will create all males. The young hatch in late August or early September and right away, without an adult, they begin a dangerous hike back to the water their mother came from.
Again, if you see little turtles wandering around far from the water, watch over them if you must, but let them travel where they need to.
The compass inside them will tell them where they need to go. They’ll get there as fast as they can!
Did you know it was eagle nesting season? For the last few months, the eagles have been lining their nests with sticks and pine boughs. Sometimes I’d see the eagle pair together on the edges of the nest. Sometimes they’d be in the trees beside it. If another bird came anywhere close to the nest, they would flap their wings and holler until the nest-stealer left.
Mid to late March, the eggs are laid. I could always tell, because one of the adults would be sitting low in the nest like this . . .
They sit on the eggs for about 34 days. They must keep them around 100 degrees and roll them over a few times a day so the growing chick doesn’t get stuck to the inside shell of the egg. To do this, they carefully stand and curl their sharp talons (like we would make a fist) so they don’t accidentally poke the egg. Then they’ll turn each one gently with their feet or with their beak before settling down on them again.
Both parents sit on the eggs, although it’s believed the female does more of the sitting. The male is usually hunting close or perched nearby to help protect the nest.
Just last Saturday, I was able to watch as they switched places!
First, the adult sitting on the eggs cried out, once, twice, three times. I looked up and all around, wondering what was upsetting her. I didn’t see any predators . . .
within a minute though, the second adult flew in, a pine bough in its talons.
They bobbed beaks and he put his bough down beside her. She slowly got up to stand on the edge of the nest.
Spreading her wings . . .
she lifted off and flew to the other side of the lake . . .
leaving him to babysit for awhile.
Wish you could see right into the nest? I do, too. But our nest is so high, there’s no way for us to do it. So, I go online to find live cams of nesting eagles.
Glenda and Grant are permanently disabled, non-releasable Bald Eagles. They are being well cared for at the American Eagle Foundation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. You can read all about them on the Foundation’s webpage.
Come back often, as I’ll keep you updated on the Eagle’s progress! Hopefully, if everything goes well, we’ll see cute little chicks like these during the beginning of May!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking for Spring in every nook and cranny. This year, it seems so much more important to find the signs.
Whether I walk my backyard, hike a trail or kayak, I always have my trusty camera with its long lens for long distance pictures, and my phone for close ups.
I’ve looked in my backyard . . .
Crocus are poking out of my garden
My robins have returned!
I’ve walked up and down my street . . .
The ice is starting to melt
Mallards are pairing up
I’ve gone to a local hiking trail . . .
Brook Sounds
Eagles are bringing sticks to their nests
With every sign of Spring I find, I get more and more excited, thinking of how our backyards and neighborhoods will change over the coming days and weeks this April.
With every new discovery, I click-click-click the shutter on my camera, all the while hearing a song in my heart and words in my head.
Hmmmmm . .. why don’t we put them together?!!
Aaaaaaand . . . we can put them together for Earth Day!
I challenge you to get out this weekend and to take pictures of the signs of Spring in your yard or neighborhood. It can be new growth, flowers blooming, a beautiful sunset or sunrise. Wildlife! Anything that tells you, it’s spring! Then pair that picture (or pictures) with a nature quote that fits!
~ OR ~
Take your favorite quote and go find a picture that fits!
The beauty of this challenge, is there is no wrong way to do it. Nor is there a wrong “answer”. This is what YOU think Spring is, being creative, telling the WORLD what Earth Day means to you.
Here’s mine!
A couple little hints:
Try to choose a font that goes along with the theme of your photo. I tried to find one that looked like flying. I used black instead of white so it didn’t take away from the eagle image.
Try not to let the font take over the photo. Sometimes it can be too big or busy.
I think text boxes that are clear, so they don’t jump out of the photo, are best. BUT sometimes a box that is slightly opaque can add a lot, too.
There was a summer when I was getting reports from my campers that they were hearing screaming in the middle of the night, in the woods surrounding our campground.
And not just any scream! It was a high, ear-splitting, make-your-hair-stand-up scream. The kind that had you waking up out of deep sleep to sit up in your bed, heart racing. Or, to jump up from your campfire and lock yourself in your camper.
Before anyone realized exactly what was making the sound, there were campers who called our late hours office line in a panic. Two others called 911. Why did this do this?
Because it sounded like a young girl or a baby.
Once I heard it too, I knew what it was. But I still had a hard time convincing my campers.
It was a fox kit!
Yes, this cute little face was screaming in a way that made people lock themselves inside and peer out their camper windows fearfully!
Red Fox Kit – July
I had a hard time convincing my campers that’s what they were hearing . . . until I caught it on the trail camera.
What does the Red Fox say?
The video above was captured in the fall, after all the campers had left, it never really came into the campground itself. After the first of November, we didn’t hear him calling anymore.
I used this call in Mystery of the Missing Fox! It was a fun scene to write!
A couple years later when I was presenting about this little fox who screamed all summer long, a biologist told me it was calling for family, trying to connect. It suddenly made sense, because this kit was one of eight born that year, and one by one all the kits disappeared. I was never sure if it was from a predator or they wandered away, or were sick. But this kit might have been lonely, after being part of such a large family, much like the one below.
So what do YOU think the fox was trying to say all summer long? Write a little story about it!
You’re walking through the woods one day and suddenly you hear from overhead, “Where are you going?”
Looking up, you see this . . .
Red Squirrel, high in the branches of a white pine tree.
What would you do? What would you say back?
While this squirrel didn’t exactly talk to me that day, it chittered and chattered while standing there, leaning against the tree. I had to chuckle and wished I could understand what it was trying to say.
Here are some squirrel facts you can add to your story:
There are over 200 species of squirrels! Gray squirrels, red squirrel, flying squirrels and more!
Yet, there are three kinds of squirrels: Ground squirrels, tree squirrels and flying squirrels.
Squirrels eat mostly nuts, fruit and seeds. They’ll also eat eggs, small animals, insects, and young snakes.
Their big eyes are to see predators and climb trees
Flying Squirrels don’t really fly, they glide up to 300 feet between trees!
Squirrels use their tail for balance, to signal other squirrels in the area and use it as a blanket in colder weather.
A group of squirrels is called a dray or a scurry.
Baby squirrels are called kits
I just love the squirrels that visit my feeder! I’ve watched them try to steal a queen sized blanket I’d put on a railing to air out . . .
Still another liked tried to hide when he saw me heading for the bird feeder . . .
And once, my little campers saved a squirrel baby, called a kit or kitten, that had fallen out of its nest. They called an expert, who took the kit, nursed it back to health and and then released it back into the wild.
Here’s a video I found about rescuing orphaned squirrels. It shows a little kit from infant through its release.
Some people think squirrels are pests, but I think they are very clever and fun to watch in my backyard. What do you think?
Happy writing everyone! I’d love to hear your story!
Those of you who follow me regularly know I have porcupines hanging out in my yard every now and again, eating from my hemlocks and using the space under my shed as a temporary den.
I’ve read they normally hang out alone, but sometimes share a den with another adult. I usually only see one at a time on the camera.
But in the video below, March 24th, I saw two!
The night AFTER that, the trail cam picked up these two “talking” outside the den.
Turn on your sound!!
What do you think they’re talking about? In the first video, the porcupines are about the same size. Is it two adults? Or a mother and her porcupette? Hmmmmm. In the second video, the new porcupine is much larger.
Here are the facts I know about porcupines, and I’ll let you come up with the story to go along with the videos!
Maine porcupines are born April through June. They are one pound when born, and their quills are soft, hardening in an hour. Twins are rare, but it can happen. At two weeks old, they start to feed on green plants.
Porcupines can’t see very well, but they have excellent hearing! When they sense danger, they spin to show off their quills.
They have more than 30,000 quills to show off! Most of the time these quills lay flat, but they can raise them when they feel like they are in danger.
A porcupine’s front teeth never stop growing! So they chew on hard surfaces all the time.
One of my favorite activities within the classroom I support, is to read aloud to students. I like to talk about plot lines and character traits. But I especially like to research the setting or subject, showing photos and talking about any connections we might have to the story. We’d just started a new book about falcons when we were separated by the quarantine.
I really, really do miss my students!
So, I thought and thought and thought. And finally, even though I’m not a huge technology buff, I decided to make the commitment to read aloud each chapter from Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest and post them to our google classroom to keep our read-alouds going.
I chose this book from the four in the series for three reasons (Cooper loves three’s) One, it has a lot of action adventure. Two, it has eagles, raptors, like the book we were reading. And three, I have a lot, and I mean A LOT of first-hand inspiration I could talk about before and after each chapter.
There’s geocaching, or treasure hunting while hiking.
There’s the setting . . . a box canyon that only the kids can get into. This was inspired by a real place right here in Maine. One of the ways to the canyon floor, was through a secret entrance my son discovered and was brave enough to follow.
And then there’s the eagles of course!
All the cool behaviors I’d seen and photographed for fifteen plus years were poured into this book. Including the year we had a very rare set of triplets!
As I’m making these videos, I’ve posted them on a closed channel on YouTube. But I’d be happy to share them with teachers who’d like to have a read-aloud with students. You could use one or all! Some teachers are alternating their reading with my reading, you can start and end the book with my reading, or have me read all the chapters and guide the discussions after each.
I’ve been sharing these videos with my students in our google classroom setting so they can watch them when they have time, and we discuss the chapter afterward in the comments below.
These videos must be shared in a closed setting, though.
Here’s Chapter 1 to get you started! If you’d like to start up a read aloud with your class, email me at tamrawight@gmail.com. I’d love to help you get started and would be happy to pop in to answer questions at any time!
Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest:
Trouble’s coming to Wilder Family Campground! When Cooper and Packrat find their geocache box full of illegal eagle parts, their lazy summer is over. Someone wants those parts back. And if they can’t get them back, they’ll settle for holding one of the rare Pine Lake eaglets hostage instead.
Cooper, Packrat and Roy must elude two goons, tolerate an annoying teenager, keep tabs on a shady new camper and stake out the eagle’s nest – all without getting grounded!
So, I have this little chipmunk, who scampers over to eat the seed under my feeders, fills his little cheeks, then scampers back again.
Shouldn’t he be a character in a picture book? Or a comic book? Or a story? Want to give it a try?
Before writing, I like to do a little research. Let’s learn a little bit about chipmunks:
They’re the size of a teacup
They live 2 to 3 years in the wild
They’re really a tiny squirrel!
Their scientific name is Tamias . .. . heeeeey! My nickname name is Tami! Cool!
They are sooooo cute, artists love to draw them and make movies about them, they’ve starred in several shows! Ever heard of Alvin and the Chipmunks?
Chipmunks aren’t picky eaters! They eat seeds, fruit, nuts, berries and will stuff their find in their cheek pouches, then scamper back to their burrow or nest to save it. They’ll need this cache of food to get them through the winter.
They also eat plants, insects, worms, and bird eggs!
They make a birdlike chirp, and repeat it, when they sense danger.
Predators to a chipmunk are foxes, weasels, coyotes and even snakes.
A pair can have up to 8 young in the spring. Sometimes they raise two families between Spring and Fall.
You don’t see much of them in the winter here in Maine. They hibernate but don’t sleep the whole time. They wake up every few days, feed on their stored food, and go to the bathroom. If it’s a warmer day, you might see them under your feeder, filling their cheeks.
So now that you have the facts, here’s some photo inspiration for your story or illustration.
What did you name your chipmunk? Where does he live? What’d he say? I’d love to see what you’ve written or drawn!
Can’t get enough of these little guys? National Geographic has a cool video! Behavioral ecologist Charlene Couchoux is trying to learn more about these cute little guys, by capturing their sounds with supersonic microphones.
