Why I Oughta...

We have three Doublefile Viburnum in treeform in our backyard.  Two along the north property line and one in the back by the firepit.  They went in the garden in Spring 2022 .  And, struggled.  These were hard to get established and required some baby'ing with water that first year.  Last year, they seemed to be able to handle themselves more and by this Spring, they were what I'd call 'established'.  That took two full growing seasons with the beginning of the third growing season producing the best/biggest/most-full blooms yet.  Here they are in Mid-May of this year with white flowers all over them . Two months later, we have another first:  these red berries on the tips of the shrub.  See below for a couple photos of the bright red berries.  The birds have not found these (yet).  There are A LOT of misses in our garden, but these Doublefile Viburnum are a big 'hit'.  They do A LOT for a shrub that grows in the shade.  W...

 Sandhill Cranes were migrating south above our house on Thanksgiving Day 2023.  I covered these large birds migrating NORTH earlier this year - March 2023 .  Below is a video showing the birds flying in a circle above Downers Grove late last month: This is the full list of posts about these fascinating birds .   I first posted about them in Fall 2020 . Spring northern migration 2021 . Spring northern migration 2022 . Spring northern migration 2023 . Fall southern migration 2023 .

In my recently-posted recap/scorecard of what I wanted to do in the yard this past year, I marked the item about getting back into wildlife feeding as a 'miss'.   The reality is that I really ONLY feed the birds and critters during the cold months.  That's something like November to March...usually.   A few years back, the kids and I applied to be a Certified Wildlife Habitat and part of that process is to ensure that your yard is providing - among other things - food.   During COVID, I was home everyday.  And so were kids.  That meant that we had the opportunity to feed the birds and squirrels every morning.  I fed the birds and the kids put cracked corn and various seeds on the perimeter of the fence for the critters to fuel up. I was able to feed the birds everyday because we had this really lovely clear, plastic fly-thru feeder that I bought back in 2018 .  That was a real breakthrough moment for me with birds.  Up until ...

This post is two months late, but I still wanted to get around to posting these photos of a litter of baby bunnies that were born and raised in little burrow that their mother dug out RIGHT NEXT to our backyard patio this Spring.  One day, I noticed a little disturbed section of grass right by our patio, but thought nothing of it.  Until I came out a day or two later and saw a rabbit DART away from the patio.  I wandered over to see what the rabbit was doing and I saw a squirming pile of VERY young bunnies piled on top of each other.  They were purple and hairless.  And they were so young that it seemed like I could see through their skin to see the electricity going on in their brains.  Super weird.  But, also concerning.  Did I just scare away the mother and was she going to abandon these little bunnies?  I didn't know what to do, but Nat started to search for answers and we decided to just simply top these very young bunnies with the loose...

There were more than ten large birds flying together in what you could call a boil . Or, a kettle or even a cast.  I missed much of them, but was able to whip out my phone quickly and snap these photos over our backyard on a recent afternoon.   No idea what type they are, but based on my bird feeder visits, I'm guessing this was likely a boil of Cooper's Hawks . The photo below shows seven of the (more than ten) hawks in the low-flying boil.

On a recent afternoon, we had our backdoor open to enjoy the warmer temperatures when I heard that prehistoric call of the Sandhill Crane.  We live out in the Western Suburbs of Chicago and it was early afternoon in early/mid March of 2021 when I took this video below of a group of Sandhill Cranes flying in what sure seems like a circular pattern that continues to move north .  Almost like how a tornado moves across land.  They were, as is their pattern, flying pretty high in the sky, but that sound was unmistakeable.  This is a 2:30 video, but I've started the embed below at about half-way because that's when the noise is clearest.  Turn up your speaker and click play below: This is the northern migration that I've captured now, but I also posted a similar video of these same (well...probably not THESE same birds) heading south in late November of 2020 .  You can see that video here .   Wildlife Illinois says that 20K of these amazing-looking ...

 We have a pretty active NextDoor online community.  And as you'd expect, there's TONS of animal/critter sightings on there - including the occasional coyote ( Here's one that I saw on my walk to the train on our block ).  But, Downers Grove has what I think is A LOT of foxes in our town.  We have so many that there's now a restaurant named after the phenomenon (at least, I think that's why they named it that way).  I've posted about some of them on the blog including earlier this year when there was one sitting on the driveway across the street from us early one morning .   This past week, The KotBT and I were out in our front yard dragging our garbage cans down to the curb in the early evening when we spotted the Fantastic Mr. Fox crossing our street - from the creekside of the block to our side.  Here he is trotting across the street: I have a series of other posts about critters/wildlife on the blog including a close-up encounter with a fox ...

I was out moving the lawn sprinkler around ( the gear drive one that I bought this Summer ) and I noticed someone watching me from across the street.  It was this guy - a little Fox - sitting on the driveway watching my moves.  I looked down and then when I looked up, he was gone.  For reference, this is the driveway that you can see in the video here from 2017 with the same white garage door peeking out . Not the first fox we've seen - but I mostly see them closer to Maple Avenue - behind the Lincoln Center - but a good reminder that they're around and our neighborhood is home to plenty of wildlife. Two years ago, I posted this photo of a Coyote on my walk to the train .  Last Summer, a duck laid an egg in our yard .  And earlier this year, I spotted an Owl up in a large tree early one morning .  We've had a bunch of run-ins with foxes up in Wisconsin - in fact I saw one up on the porch one Winter morning .  Foxes are talked about all around...

We have an owl that lives on/around our block. He's been around for a while and we hear him hooting in the overnight hours during the Summer when we sleep with our windows open.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that there are/were multiple owls in the neighborhood.  I've heard them call and respond.  Maybe Momma and babes?  Or pairs/partners?  I don't know. Our neighborhood is called Randall Park in Downers Grove and has a large pond at one end of it and a creek running through one side of it, so we have plenty of wildlife.  And we're doing our part by participating in the 'Certified Wildlife Habitat' program from the National Wildlife Foundation where we've provided the necessary components of food, water , places to raise young , shelter and some sustainable practices like composting and what-have-you. So, it is a good spot for something like a family of owls to make a home around our block.  They have plenty of water, large, mature trees for shelte...

How fascinating, right?  We had a pair of Mallard ducks hanging out in our yard recently and after a short stay, they left behind this beautiful egg.  We were hoping that they'd come back the next day or two to lay even more, but this one was left all alone.  Not exactly sure what was happening here, but we live just down the street from a large pond that has quite a bit of waterfowl.  Perhaps they got turned around?  Or, could this egg be a not-so-great one that they laid here on purpose - away from their nest?  Either way, I'm excited to see it as it adds another layer to our 'Certified Wildlife Habitat" story in our yard .  If you'll recall that in early Spring of 2018, we applied and were granted Certified Wildlife Habitat status for our yard based on meeting the criteria.  Those criteria include the need to provide food, water and cover but also "places to raise young" - including places for wildlife to mate, bear and raise their young....

There I was, minding my own business, walking to the train one recent morning at close to 5 am and I notice a little guy kind of prancing across the street.  He sees me, turns tail and scampers off.  He got to a safe distance, then turned and inspected me as I continued to go on my way. That's him right there in the red circle.  Not super clear, but you can get the idea.  He's pretty skinny, isn't he?  If you read the Nextdoor section for our neighborhood, you'd know that these coyotes are all over the place, but this is the first one that I've witnessed myself.  I've come across quite a bit of wildlife in our backyard (skunks, rabbits and even our Black Squirrel ) and on our block (foxes), but haven't seen a coyote...until now. Down the block from us is a large pond that spills over into a creek that runs behind the homes across the street from us.  With an abundant supply of water, plenty of wooded cover and what I would presume to be a good s...

Back in March of this year, I posted a photo of a couple of Milkweed seed packets that we received from the Save our Monarchs Foundation that are appropriate for our 5B zone here out in the Chicago Suburbs.  I also had t his older packet of Milkweed seed that we received at a parade in 2016 that I never planted.  With Spring here and the back of our yard still a mess, I just decided to sow them directly in the ground and cross my fingers that we'll see some action on them as the weather warms up.  I put them in a staggered row with the two Foundation packets on the right and the parade packet on the left. I put the empty packet envelopes down in the soil and took this photo so I can go back there later this Summer, see if anything is happening with them and then know which type is which.  I'm hoping that a few of seedlings will emerge and we'll get a nice first year plant that can help the Monarchs this season.  I took the Bird and the KotBT out there and...

As you guys know by now, we've become bird people .  We're now running four different feeders, a birdbath and even installed a water wiggler to attract the birds with moving water .  And while we have plans to install even more landscaping , trees and (gasp!) even a water feature , we have quite a bit of existing trees , shrubs and brush in our #newoldbackyard. We're pretty lucky to live on a mature and wooded lot with close proximity to a big pond ( Barth Pond ) and a creek that runs north from the pond behind some of our neighbor's houses.  That water source is a big factor in our neighborhood being able to attract and support wildlife.  Some of it is great!  Like birds and owls and hawks and rabbits and even foxes.  Some not so great?  Skunks and coyotes are also around.  Little Lizzie was skunked last fall and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Now listen...we're not camping people.  Or at least I'm not a camping person.  ...

Now...I know that Winter isn't quite done here, but we're already close to the middle of February and my mind is clearly on Spring and planting things, so let's properly caveat this next statement:  Good news!  Our black squirrel survived this winter. Black Squirrel?  Yeah.  Back in September, I posted some photographic evidence of a Black Squirrel living in our backyard and - at that time - feasting on the walnut and acorn smorgasbord that had fallen from our trees.  I noted at the time that they were rare (1 in 10K). So, imagine my delight when I was peering at some of our feeders and noticed this guy above lurking on the ground right outside of our kitchen windows.  The Black Squirrel I squealed!?!  And the best part?  He had a partner out there - a Grey Squirrel - that you can see in the photo below for color comparison/contrast.  At first, if you just looked at the photo above Good to see that he's made it through much o...