On Friday afternoon, we headed up to the cabin. I pulled into the driveway and it all of a sudden dawned on me that I had forgotten to bring the keys to the cabin. Not the end of the world. I know how to “break in”. Wouldn’t be the first time I have had to do this. Within ten minutes of arriving, the cabin was unlocked and we were unloading the car. I started a campfire, hooked up the portable radio and set up a couple of lawn chairs. I read a couple more chapters of my novel.
Depending on your point of view, it was either partly sunny or partly cloudy for the most part all weekend. There wasn’t a lot of bird song, but the sound of Cedar Waxwings was everywhere present. Saturday morning, I heard the unmistakable sound of a Pileated Woodpecker working over a tree nearby. I worked my way over in the direction of the sound. It turned out to be just across the road from the cabin.
A couple of times each day during our stay I take Abby for a walk down the road to the corner and then down to my uncles property. I am on the lookout for birds and butterflies. There were few birds to be seen. The most numerous butterfly was the Red Spotted Purple, followed closely by the Viceroy.
Saturday afternoon I was sitting in my lawn chair scanning the river side and the lowland for signs of wildlife movement. I observed some movement down near the wooded swampy area close to the river. Butterflies. Smallish. I grabbed my camera and headed down to see what I had. At first glance, I thought they were skippers of some sort.
But I was wrong. They were Harvesters. The Harvester is the ONLY carnivorous butterfly in North America. The field guide says it is generally scarce. (First one I have ever seen). Harvesters live “in wooded or semi-open areas and usually staying close to alders along streams or swamps”. (Exactly, the habitat where I found them). They feed on wooly aphids, “especially those living on alders”.
Saturday night I got up around 2 AM to go outside to have a pee. While standing there, I heard a Barred Owl calling from somewhere across the river. I am always spell-bound when I hear the call of the Barred Owl. It is such a neat owl and just knowing that there is one near-by is thrilling. One of these days, I hope I am lucky enough to locate it. I have seen Barred Owls before, but not at the cabin.
Monday morning, I heard a Sandhill Crane calling. I think it was in the air, but I couldn’t spot it.
Those are the high-lights of my stay. The rest of the time was spent reading, relaxing, walking and simply observing what was around me.