Swimming with the Petals

Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches

     Hooded Mergansers are infrequent visitors, but I have seen males, females and juveniles on our pond over the years. This female was spotted on June 3rd, a date which coincided with the time of year that crabapple trees drop their pink petals. I watched this lone duck dive for food, preen, swim and sleep for a short while. 

     These cavity nesters are known to be rather secretive, so even if I went searching for its nest, perhaps in an old Pileated Woodpecker hole – to which we have a few, especially in aged/dead birch trees – Mergansers aren’t known to reveal themselves very easily. 

     I’ve been busy painting and finished a couple of larger works which are currently drying. Miniatures have been completed for the annual MPSGS International Miniature Show coming up in November. These and more are waiting in the wings for future postings. 

     Spring came and went rather quickly this year. We added eleven trees to our property in May: 5 white pines, 2 red oaks, 2 sugar maples, and 2 basswoods. The weather was dry, so I made quite a few trips to keep them well-watered. Thankfully by late spring, the rains finally came. These trees bring our native tree and shrub plantings count to 542 since 2015. 

     Red squirrels have already started dropping pine cones for winter caching. The first ‘bonks’ of red pine cones were heard on July 5th on our rooftop, and continued for a couple more days. While walking around the exterior of our house, I randomly picked up four, then weighed and measured them. The photo below shows the results. Keep in mind that I don't know which pine cone fell at exactly what time. The following day, I returned them to the yard, but before I did, I re-weighed them and noticed that the three largest cones had all lost approximately a gram of weight overnight. The smallest lost a little over 1/2 gram.

     Summers are short here in Duluth, and the squirrels know it.

 

     Stay wild, my friends!