Category Archives: Wildlife

Lighthouse Adventure….Round 2!

Back in 2012, I went on a little trip to the Little River Lighthouse in Cutler Maine (you can view that post here).

This past Saturday was the Summer Solstice and I managed to view another lighthouse, but this one was in Canada.  The Head Harbour Lightstation on Campobello Island to be exact.

The only way to get to this lighthouse is by foot at low tide.  It’s not just a straight shot walk though.  You have to climb down some old rusted metal stairs, cross a small beach, climb up more rusted metal stairs, cross a small wooden bridge, climb down MORE rusted metal stairs (these were a little treacherous as they were more like a ladder and were slanted), and cross another little beach to the actual lighthouse.

I saw this lighthouse before about year or two ago, but I wasn’t there at the right time to get over to it.  So, I just settled for taking a few pictures from the parking lot back then.  This time, I hit it just right (lucky me!)!

It costs $5 to even walk over to the light house and there’s another $10 charge if you want to tour the inside of the keeper’s house and climb the tower.  Well, for me, all that’s a little steep, but I don’t do this every day (or even every year), so I went for it.

The coast guard had possession of this lighthouse for a long time before they decided to shut it down, board it up, and forget about it.  Then, it went down the line, being offered to different outfits/agencies before it was offered to, accepted by, and taken over by the town.  Volunteers and students are still working to restore the lighthouse and keeper’s house to it’s former glory (the full fee for walking over to the light house and touring it goes directly to the restoration/up-keep fund so that made me feel better about paying the price).

It’s a cute little lighthouse.  Getting into the tower, I expected to find the typical spiral staircase curling around the tower, but instead, there were two normal flights of strait stairs and a ladder leading to the light at the top.

It’s typical to see seals and whales from this lighthouse.  I did glimpse a seal, but it was camera shy and dove under the waves just as I lifted my camera.  Oh well.

Head Harbour Lighstation (Campobello)

As I mentioned in my last lighthouse related post, if you ever have a chance to tour a lighthouse and climb the tower….do it!

And if the lighthouse adventure weren’t enough for the day, I also went hiking over in the Roosevelt International Park.  I would highly suggest this park’s trails to anyone that enjoys hiking.  They’re pretty and the views are amazing.  There’s also something called the “Sunsweep Scuplture” near Liberty Point that’s worth checking out.  The cliff it’s on was covered in wild Irises.  I saw an eagle the minute I got out of the car.  I also saw a wild rabbit on the trail!!  Yay wildlife!!

 

 

Eagle

 

Wild Rabbit

 

So, aside from the fact that I fed the mosquitoes and black flies, it was a nice day.

Until next time…

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~A.M.

The Grass Is Greener…

…In my front yard, apparently.

This past Thursday, I happened to look out my window around dusk and saw two brown deer in my front yard.  I think they were the same two I saw a few weeks ago when the third deer, the albino, was also here.

Speaking of the albino, she showed up again too.  Like I thought, the three weren’t together because the albino chased the other two off…twice.  But they came back…twice.  So, I guess there’s something good about my lawn.

Not only did the deer come back repeatedly, but when I woke up in the morning to feed my cats, the two brown deer were still in my front yard!  That interested my cats.  Two of them climbed into the window while I was trying to take a few pictures.

To escape my cats’ interference, I took a chance and stepped out onto my porch for a better picture.  I expected them to bolt the minute they heard my front door open, but the larger of the two just perked up a little, looked at me, then went right back to nibbling on the grass.  Here are two of the better images I got (I was still half asleep at the time).

 

Two Deer in My Front Yard

 

Deer In My Front Yard

 

They’re such pretty animals.

Until next time…

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~A.M.

Wildlife Sighting…In My Yard…

 

 

This past weekend, I decided to partake in a little spring cleaning of my basement. That was quite a task, and not a fun one as I’m sure many of you can relate.
After I managed to clean and rearrange the portion of my basement I was working on, I headed upstairs to my kitchen to clean the dust off my hands and get a drink of water. As I turned toward my fridge for the water, I glanced out my kitchen window. What did I see standing in the middle of my lawn nibbling on the grass peeking out of the remaining snow? A huge white and brown doe. You know, like the song? Doe, a deer, a female deer? Yeah.
I grabbed my camera and started snapping pictures. It was then that I noticed two more brown deer (both female) wandering up the road and into my yard! I knew the grass in my yard was good judging by the amount of wildlife that wandered through over the years I‘ve lived here, but I didn‘t know it was good enough for these beautiful creatures to venture out in the middle of the day.
Here’s one of the better images I took of the white and brown doe. I managed to get this shot because she heard one of my cats meow beside me inside the house. Good hearing, doe.

 

Doe in front yard

 

 

And here’s an image of the other two deer. I don’t think all three were together since the little one seemed to want to play and the white and brown one seemed a little stand-offish toward it.

 

Deer in front yard

 

I’m not usually lucky enough to see wildlife beyond birds in my yard in broad daylight. Deer, raccoons, and other wildlife tend to cross my lawn late in the evening or early in the morning when it’s harder for me to photograph them. Lucky for me these deer decided to stop in my yard.

 
Until next time…
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~A.M.

Stocking Up For Winter

It always interests me how nature works and how animals know better than we do the changing of the seasons.

Not long ago I noticed two of my cats sitting in my kitchen window staring intently at something.  I took a glance at the tree in my front yard and watched a little squirrel scurry up the tree then come back down a minute or so later with a pine cone in its mouth.  It ran over to a spot on the lawn and buried the pine cone.  Then, it ran back up the tree for another.  It repeated this process several times and entertained my cats for a good ten minutes.  Looks like winter is on its way and this little ball of fur is stocking up.

Stocking Up For Winter

Forgive the blurriness in this image, I took it through my kitchen window which could stand to be cleaned a little more often than it is.

Until next time…

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~A.M.

Patience Is A Virtue

In this world of instant gratification with all the technology out there to keep us connected to…well…everything, it’s easy to forget patience.  It’s always a good idea to slow down once in a while, and who knows slow better than snails (and the post office, but that‘s beside the point)?

Snail

I came across this little guy (or gal, I can’t tell and didn’t ask) on a recent trip to the beach.  I sat and watched this little snail for the longest time.  I watched it climb over what we would consider tiny ripples in the sand but what he must see as huge sand dunes.  It made me think about patience and perseverance.  So often in this day and age, if a web page doesn’t load in under five seconds, if the line in the supermarket doesn’t move quickly enough, and if the person on the road ahead isn’t traveling at or even a little over the speed limit, most of us get annoyed.  But it definitely pays to be patient.  Good things come to those who wait.

Stay patient folks.  You’ll be happier and healthier in the long run.

Until next time…

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~A.M.