Oops - he ran away when I tried to get closer

The albino squirrel visits us a lot.  Just when I start to worry something has happened to him, he pops up in our yard again.  This time he was peering in the egress window at my while I worked on the computer.  When I tried to take a good picture of him he ran off.  But you can tell he does indeed have pink eyes!

Something hit the window - what is it?

Another day, Gabe and I were upstairs in my room when we heard a loud whump!  Something hit the window, and hard.  I looked out the window and down below but didn’t see anything on the patio so I figured it must have flown off.  A few minutes later Gabe started shouting, “A BIG BIRD!!! I SEE A HUGE BIRD!”  And sure enough – he was perched up above the window on the roof and you could just see his tail feathers.  I went outside to get a better look:

It's a huge hawk!

It was a hawk – a very big, yet still juvenile hawk.  A pair of hawks nested on Sweeney Lake near Jacquie’s house, and it looks like one of the young ones is trying out his hunting skills on our block.  We’ve seen him many times around our yard – on Gabe’s swingset, below the bird feeder with a squirrel in his grasp, and sitting in our maple tree out front.  I don’t mind him; I think he’s pretty neat looking.  Just don’t go and scare all the song birds away now!

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Mr. Woodchuck is a newer visitor to our yard, and I’m not so sure I care for him.  About the time he started showing up, I notice my side yard by the tomatoes was all torn up with holes and tunnels.   Now, I’m not sure he did it, but something is wrecking the lawn, and it’s something bigger then just a little shrew…  Woodchucks like to live under sheds and in wood piles I’ve heard, so I’m going to have to clear those out to discourage him from staying around.

Check out the gallery below for more photos of the critters in our yard.

Critters

Pictures of the critters in our yard.

8 Photos

 

New Year Fireworks

Yep – that’s right outside our window.  Our neighborhood launches fireworks off every New Year’s Eve at midnight.  Not just a couple – I’m talking a proffesional city-style, nearly 15 minute long display.

New Year Fireworks

So cool – and great that we could watch them from the comfort of Lily’s nusery.  We were all nice and warm while it was below zero outside, and watching the amazing display just a few houses down.  I just love where we live!

New Year Fireworks

Our City Skyline View

That’s downtown Minneapolis, and your looking at the Wells Fargo Center (all lit up at the top), the IDS Tower (white line of lights at top), and a few other smaller buildings I don’t know the name of.  The Wells Fargo Center is my favorite building at night.

Mike was nice enough to point out to me the reason I never noticed the view was because of the trees – they had leaves so we didn’t see this.  So I guess it’s better to say we have a seasonal view of downtown.  We can see it from the east side of the house – the sunroom and the nursery.  We might still be able to see it from the nursery in the summer, but not sure.  We’ll have to see once the leaves come back.

Sorry for the blurry photo.  Pretty tricky to take a night shot with our camera, through a window, without flash.  So it is what it is.  A better picture can be found here.