May 2017 Activity

Week 18
Still some evidence of deer in the garden.  Not sure where they can get in, but plugging all the holes, no matter how small.
Starting to work on the cactus problem on the west side.
No deer in the feedlot during daylight hours.
First sighting of the painted bunting, but I think they arrived earlier because we could hear them, but not spot them.  They, especially, like the water  provided.
The purple martin population here, again, is zero. Wonder why.  At one time, we were going to build a fake chimney for chimney swifts, but cancelled that project for the reason of not seeing any martins.

Week 19
Kitchen scraps to the deer yard have ceased, they scraps no go on the compost pile as the deer are getting to be pests up around the house.

Deer is on the left.  This doe looks to be pregnant.

Week 20
Deer have gone from being assisted with the task of living to now being persona non grata.  The garden has essentially been stripped of everything except the pole beans, and the zinnias.  We have raised the fence to 8 feet in height.   Now testing if they can still get in to the produce.
Hen turkey parades around the front yard in the evening, but have not seen any evidence of a nest yet.
No sign of hogs lately, maybe it is too dry at this time.
Keeping the bird feeders and birdbaths full.  The painted buntings are back and really take to the water.

Week 21
The leopard frog is back in the water tub in the front under the eave.  In spite of this water tub being out of the bounds of the wildlife acreage, it is still a boon to all the wildlife, as it has something for everyone, including the ramp for the birds.
Hen turkey is still around
Raccoon visits often at night, but seems to do no damage that is visible, but then, who knows if the raccoon has found the turkey nest?

Week 22
Hauled two big loads of brush to the main brush pile in the western end of the tract.
Strangely, we have not seen a roadrunner yet this spring.  Will do a bird census in the next week or so.

April 2017 Activity

Week 14
Garden fence is up, now hoping that the deer do not dare to cross the breezeway to get to the garden.
Two loads of brush to the pile.  We are now concentrating all the brush in one pile as a series of small piles seem ineffective as a refuge.

Week 15
Turkeys are still coming through the property, but in smaller groups.  Probably in getting set up for the nesting season.
First roadrunner showed up, first in a long time.
Small bird activity seems down from last year.

Week 16
Deer seem to be getting into the garden, some blossoms are disappearing at night.
Two more loads of brush to the big pile
Water tanks are all full
Two does this week.
Lone turkey wanders through the south side about every other day.  Must have  nest nearby

Week 17
No report this week.

March 2017 Actvity

Week 10
Down, now, to only a few cactus which we will retain for the tunas they make for the wildlife. Sometime this year, we need to  move this eradication effort to the west side to get rid of more cactus where they are in thick groves.  Everytime I go to clearing a large grove of cactus, many small birds fly out, making me think they are using these thickets for refuge from harsh weather.

Week 11
Kitchen scraps to the deer yard.  Five does now feeding.  There may have been some harvesting of the does this last season, as the average number of does that show up at the kitchen scraps table is down about 3 does from preseason counts.
No evidence of purple martins at the martin house.
Plenty of nesting activity by the titmice and the wrens.
Barn swallows keep being driven out by the phoebes.  The phoebes took over the swallow nest two years ago and as of now, have not given it up.

Week 12
Big winds, tornado like, swept through last night and took down a big tree on the north side and one on the very south side.
No wildlife activity to note.

Week 13
Feed to the deer yard, four does showing up, maybe one buck.
No snakes observed yet this spring.
Decided to erect a deer fence to protect the vegetable garden next to the back of the house.  Deer are always nosing around up close to the house at night in spite of their being afraid of us.  (we keep them being afraid of us)

February 2017 Activity

Week 6
Mowed some of the grass to knock down the high dead stuff and clear the way for new growth in the spring.  Removed two very large cactus and put on the brush pile.
The deer are getting to be a menace up around the house in spite of feeding and watering 100yards away.

Week 7
Big, perhaps 20, turkeys wandered through the back side of the property.  Two males present.
Sufficient rain, but not a lot.

Week 8
Finished mowing for the winter, but still have a few cactus to take out.
Inspected the brush pile.  It seems to be compacting more than it should in order to provide a good refuge for small animals.
Still, no evidence of mice in the area at all, such a change from a year ago.  No mice, no owls.

Week 9
Bought a new bag of sunflower seeds.  It appears that the gang of cardinals are much smaller this year.  Maybe they found something better.
Table scraps to the deer yard.
We went through a real lapse in hog damage, but now, this week, there has been a lot of uprooting in the south side of the property.  Perhaps twenty holes now need to be refilled.
Weather okay, no additional water needed.