Hello and wow it has been a long time.  The forest itself is changing so much and last summer was a hard one for sure with heat, smoke from fires and no rain.  My son has a medical issue that took front and center for most of last year but of course I always had time for my nature buddies.

During the summer was so hard on everyone, the smoke here was very bad for weeks. I would freeze water buckets and place them in the forest for the critters to have some relief. What was amazing was the variety again that came in daily in need. But that also includes the hierarchy of nature and I lost a lot of my Douglas squirrels. Buster is still here but I have a new crew.

The same thing has happened to Woody.  My pair currently are from what I think is my 4th season babies. But it is still amazing that they both come land next to me and allow me to fill the feeder without taking off, that I tell you is the coolest thing ever.

The forest surrounding my location is all but gone, and the movement of the animals is sad. I ask everyone this question. Where do you think they go when you destroy acres of forest and pave the ground for houses and business? Where would you go if the animals had the ability to move us out?  Its gotten to the point where so much is gone and can not get back that the animals Have to adapt to what we have left for them. Sadly it is not enough and we will all pay the price for this.

Food! It is something we need to help with to supplement what we have taken away, but have you seen the crap that is sold?  Its like introducing fast food to nature,  how gross is that! It has taken me awhile but I do find natural nuts and fruits that are not stuffed with crap they don’t eat and  we pay for that sprouts and rots.

Water! provide fresh water for visitors.  It tough to find for them with the erratic weather and climate changes. Help them out.

The current problem that I have in my little forest is a new visitor that will change the whole of my sanctuary if it’s what we think it is.  I think I have a Fisher,  we found the tracks right here and the choice is either an Otter or Fisher.  I am having a hard time getting a picture of it and I am not sure it was just a walk thru, but they have been releasing them in the mountains within 50 miles from here and well see if it decides to stay.

The recent snows came and as you can see its very tough to find food in this, these are some of the stations I place in the forest to house and feed those in need.  We ended up with 18 inches which is a lot here.

So just remember we wont make it in this world without our nature buddies.  We have to make it together.

more later….

Good Morning,  I have written before about my silly daily routine with my outdoor nature buddies, and recently I have been battling the Hawks. So each morning now I will sit out back since Coop is now hiding here.  I’m learning the calls the animals are making to indicate to each other just what predator is coming. As I sat there quietly behind a bamboo fence I use to stop the fly and grabs the Stellar Jays began to squawk along with the Crows. But the grey squirrel crept up the tree branch above me and made a sound I havent heard before. I thought aha! that hawk must be right on the other side,  so I quietly get up to peek over the fence (sense my only method of distraction right now is to scare him off) and Surprise..Wiley Coyote was right there and lucky for me it took him a second to figure out the head that just appeared was me.  I scared him good !!! I have to,  it is just to close to my back yard and I have little dogs so I have to set boundaries. Sadly again the forest around us is going down at alarming rates and our nature animals are having a serious homeless issue !!!!Where do we expect them to go ??

So far Woody and Momma are unable to return, I can hear them calling out there so I know they are still around,  I am guessing its to risky right now and will return when coverage is better. But also it could be that thier  homes are gone,  I am seeing such old growth logs heading to mills that it’s probably gotten to them too.

I have Northern Flying Squirrels 🙂 they are nocturnal and now that my cameras are up I caught activity that I thought was a rat but nope its a flying squirrel and they are super small and cute. Big eyes and they look hilarious on nightcam.   I named him Zippy of course and he is a lot like a douglas squirrel, how he sits and holds his food and then zoom he is in the tree.  So fun to see.

The red-winged Blackbird has returned also,  its kinda early to have all these spring sounds and I am beginning to prepare for an early spring..

Gotta get ready for our next storm, more later.

Sadly I am reporting that our home and sanctuary has had a theft, and it was a human animal that has disturbed my private domain. We were so angry,  he stole a bicycle and our super sleuthing found he came around thru the forest.  Grrrrrrr  So the camara’s are now set for security and will have more for the animals later. Nothing makes you madder then knowing just how far in a stranger had made it, well good luck doing it again because were ready this time. !!!!

Meanwhile Cooper the hawk and Red are spending too much time picking off the animals, it is feeding time for the babies and our warm weather is causing even more to start to nest.  But they have found a gold mine in this part of the forest so I have to keep the food away a bit longer. What is interesting is how the other animals are adapting to the increase in predators, The Stellar Jays are known for mimicking and I can now tell that they use that to indicate what predators is hiding in the bushes. I have heard the hawk, the Coopers , Bald Eagle and my favorite is the strange call they make when its a ground predator like a cat or coyote etc.

Woody and Mamma and our late Juvenile have been pushed back a bit but I do hear them out there and Woody came in yesterday,  but its only for a quick bite. Cooper landed right in front of me no worries at all.

I had a flock of Bushtit along with Evening Grosbeak again which is very strange. They usually do not show up until March so lets how this goes.  Even Freddie the frog starting croaking yesterday.  I’m so curious to see if spring activity is really starting already and what new visitors we’ll get this year. More soon. 🙂

It’s a horrible stormy day except the temperature is incredibly warm.  I found my outdoor friends looking a bit confused but it will be short-lived as cold and wind is coming back.

I change my feeding patterns during the winter so yesterday was crazy,  even the bees woke up !!!

It has been 3 days now since Woody and Momma have been by,  I have their favorite suet for today so hopefully my hawk activity is down.  We’ll see.

Lots of cooking and prepping to do today so off to work lol

Blessings to all!