This spring and the start of our summer here in New York State has given Theresa and I the chance to observe more wildlife! For starters, our complex is home to zero rabbits, but quite a large population of chipmunks. They patrol their territories and engage in frantic chases when they discover each other intruding, hop around with their little tails twitching away, and provide us with all sorts of good entertainment. There's one right in line with our balcony that we watch regularly (every morning during coffee than later during tea). We haven't progressed to naming them, although we do refer to one just far enough way he's difficult to see as "Jack Faar" (we've been watching episodes of "What's My Line? from the 1960s).
We've also learned about the noises they make. We accidentally shifted our sleep schedule so we go to bed between 9 and 9:30 then wake up about 5:30, so we often wake up to this rapid, incessant chirping--it's very loud. It also turns out to be one of the sounds chipmunks make.
Bird watching in the apartment complex is much like bird watching at home: sparrows and chickadees are common, and house finches have begun to show up. Robins and blue jays are just becoming frequent visitors, and we only get small flocks of starlings. House finches like our porch:
Then last night we discovered some tiny birds seem to have a nest in the spruce tree just off our balcony. Turns out they're "chipping sparrows" and very handsome! They're perhaps the size of a nuthatch if not smaller.
Near bodies of water, bald eagles are common in this area, and I've seen them both near a reservoir and at the Mohawk River:
Ospreys are also common and I've seen them near the other river (the Hudson).
Theresa and I also like to visit Luther Forest (just off of 100 Acre Wood Way. Seriously), which preserves a large stand of white pines. They have these soft 4 inch needles and emit this great smell that reminds me of noon in the mountains during the summer: both piney and dry at the same time. We're attempting to make an oil from them because we enjoy the smell so much. Sadly they're too short to weave into anything. We did record this bumblebee on the path: those things that look like flashes in the animation are actually dirt and needles getting pushed around because its wings move so much air.
The apartment complex has lots of spruces, which smell more like a stereotypical Christmas tree. Cotton is a common site, and cottonwoods are surprisingly common in the area but we haven't seen any close to us.
We've also gotten to know wood thanks to our spoons: we've now worked with exotic hardwoods like padouk and zebrawood, as well as cherry, maple, walnut, and sugar pine. Cherry always makes good results, but Theresa's favorite so far is walnut (makes this really nice dark product) and I like the maple because the heartwood at the core of the tree is a different color than the sapwood that was still growing when the tree was cut. The heartwood is a light gray and the sapwood is very light. Sugar pine was interesting, it's much harder than expected, very light, and has these long gray "rays" streaking through it. Unfortunately it looks yellow when finished with mineral oil :/
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Sugar pine before oiling
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