Day 17.296: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #498

Exile #2 writes...

We woke to frost on the grass and temperatures below freezing. It was something of a jolt to the system after a couple of bizarrely summer-like days last week. But it put us in the mood to grab brunch at a cozy gluten free cafe on the home from church and while we were there, we booked some movie tickets for the week to come - more specifically for Tuesday night, when we will need all the distraction we can get.

At time of posting: just above freezing

Day 17.295: Other nature

Today, we did some chores and did our first day of Project FeederWatch bird counting for the season but for now I’ll take you back to Halloween morning and some of the non-bird nature we observed.

American witch hazel is famous for being the last tree/shrub to flower. These flowers were past their best but it was the last day of October. 

Since it was close to the witch hazel, this is likely a citrine sallow moth 

These tubes made out of  eastern white pine needles still on the tree are evidence of another moth. In their case, the pupa form of the - appropriately-named pine tube moth

Once they were pointed out, we spotted quite a lot of them with their neatly angled entrance holes

Day 17.294: Halloween birding

Our Halloween started with a visit to the cemetery for our weekly nature/birding walk. Here's the birding summary.

We spotted this red-tailed hawk perched a little way off, it seems the spotting was mutual.

White-throated sparrow

Adult bald eagle - unmistakable even at an unfavorable angle

A little while later, I saw the hawk return to its tree with something it had caught. It turned out to be a small bird - which we then watched it make short work of eating

After spending a minute or so plucking a few feathers, it was about three mouthfuls

Carolina wren

...checking us out perhaps

Yellow-bellied sapsucker