Mole update

Long ago I posted about a mole I was battling with in the backyard. I never ended up taking any action other than stomping down their tunnels which lasted for several days and then on and off for a few weeks after that. It never because a huge problem, thankfully. We have several stray cats that meander around our neighborhood and sometimes I wonder if one of them may have taken care of business - just a guess as I have no idea. I did notice this publication on moles on the Purdue Turfgrass Program publications page that I hadn't seen before. It's an interesting read. In it I learned that moles aren't rodents, and that the most effective way to control them is by using a trap such as a harpoon trap. It also states that most other methods aren't very effective, particularly the electronic "ultrasonic" devices, which it says are completely ineffective. It does say that dogs and cats may also keep them at bay.

Eastern Phoebe babies

The Eastern Phoebe babies have grown very quickly and I imagine will soon be leaving the nest. I always freak out the parents when I photograph them...

Baby Eastern Phoebes

It's no wonder they grow so fast (although, at the same time still full of wonder). The parents catch bugs for them all day long. Here's another shot of the mom or dad (not sure how to distinguish them):

And this turned out to be an interesting shot as it started flying just as I took the photo:

Eastern Phoebe in flight

Barred Owl on video

The barred owl was out again tonight, so this time I got my camera and tripod out and managed to capture it on video:

A few days ago it was hooting quite a bit; I was hoping it would tonight, but it didn't. I have about 5 minutes more of footage that I'll put up here later.

The rest of the video (a bit more difficult to see as the sun was going down):

Backyard nature

Last weekend toward dusk the birds of the neighborhood were going nuts - they were definitely disturbed by something. That something turned out to be what we believe is a Barred Owl (thanks to my dad's keen observation for finding it)!

I was able to snap a few shots of it:

Barred Owl

I saw it again on Monday after noticing the birds were in a frenzy again.

And under our porch in the front yard, we have a Eastern Phoebe nest:

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe nest with babies.

I noticed today that the babies were popping their heads up and chirping ever so sweetly. I'm pretty sure we have another Eastern Phoebe nest in the backyard as well.

Ducks

A duck couple came by for a visit as I was finishing up on Sunday.

I saw some again this morning with 3 little chicks trailing them as I was leaving for work. I don't know if it was the same ones or not.