Elk migrating through the yard Christmas Day!
bear pastrami recipe
I love wildlife as much as anyone and probably more than most. Sometimes, though, it’s down to us or them. This male black bear is probably 2-3 years old and establishing his territory for the first time. Unfortunately, the bear decided he lives at my house now. He stood his ground whenever I tried to scare him off, broke through the electric fence to get to the beehives, and made his nightly bed in my front yard. That’s what you get for being on hiatus from the homestead I suppose. It was sad to have to finally bag him this morning. My neighbor was happy for the chance to use
October 16, 2018
hiatus over
This is what happens when you’ve been away too much. Young adult male black bear decided he lives here now, and that I’m in his territory. More to come on that. The hiatus lasted longer than planned between having to work off the homestead, knee replacement surgery and recovery, and lots of travel. Back just in time for winter!
nuthatch squatter
Pileated woodpeckers start deep holes in the logs of the cabin. The woodpeckers soon learn the wood is too hard and they’ll never peck a hole deep enough to accommodate their size. The red-breasted nuthatches are content to claim squatter’s rights. Nothing goes to waste here in the forest garden.
outgrowing the nest
Baby robins are getting ready to fledge soon. They barely fit in the nest… June 13th update: And then there was one…saw #3 fly from the nest this morning. They grow so fast!
baby robins – eyes open
The first of the hatchlings’ eyes have opened…
hatchlings!
The last of the robin eggs have hatched! They should be out of the nest within a couple weeks (and I’ll thankfully get my ladder back)…
first elk sighting
First time I’ve seen an elk so close to the house…
robins nesting
Went to get my 12′ ladder, and thought I saw a corner of a nest peeking over the edge. Got a step ladder, and found a robin’s nest with a clutch of four eggs. Momma robin and her mate were none too happy about me being near their nest. They nervously chirped and buzzed my head until I got down. Ah well, looks like that ladder will have to stay put for a while.
beehive dead-out
Planet B Gardens’ bees, sadly, did not make it through this winter. After the bear attacks in the fall that took out half the hives, I had one large, strong hive left and one small, weak one. The remaining hives went into winter with plenty of fresh capped honey. When I opened the large hive, 75% of the honey remained, undisturbed. The smaller hive had 50% left. There was no sign of moisture build-up, no mold, no varroa mites, no other visible disturbance in either of the hives. A ball of dead bees huddled together in the center of the hive, while the remaining dead ones littered the bottom board. This
April 25, 2017