Falcons not Hawks

This morning after returning home from a visit to the vet's office with our dog Bear, I was settling things in the garage when I heard loud screeches coming from outside. As I was coming upstairs, I noticed that these loud screeches were coming from two beautiful "hawks" or "falcons" in the front yard. Together, they were swirling around one another and almost playing a game of tag high in the air. I ran inside, grabbed my camera and started taking the best pictures that I could at the time. After I watched them fly off into the distance, I came inside to load my pictures and research them a bit.

As far as I can tell from these pictures, both of these birds seem to resemble red-tailed Hawks. Red-tailed Hawks are one of three species known in the United States and can adapt to all types of weather. They reside in most of North America but can be found as far south as Panama and the West Indies. They can weigh between 1.5 to 3.5 pounds, measure 18 to 26 inches in length and their wingspan can measure 43 to 57 inches. This beautiful bird is also protected in the United States under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Red-Tailed Hawk is also significant to Native American history, as their feathers are considered sacred in certain tribes. Something I found, that I thought was incredible is just how fast this bird can fly. Traveling through the air along with the wind, the Red-tailed Hawk can fly 20 to 40 mph but when it dives it can exceed 120 mph. After researching this amazing bird, I can only assume that what I saw today was

either interaction between a mating pair which will hopefully produce a clutch of 1 to 3 eggs in March/April or a mature male Red-tailed Hawk fighting off an immature Red-tailed Hawk, whom was entering his property. Either way, it was amazing to see. Again, I am blessed to live where I do and have the opportunity to enjoy sights like this on a regular basis.

Sneaky Deer

This time of the year, it seems as though our deer population go into hiding until the wee hours of the night. I’m not sure as to whether it is because of dropping temperatures, the sunlit hours in a day or the fact that hundreds of men are quietly sitting in trees waiting for their arrival. None the less, we still see them from time to time and a few weeks ago my mother in law caught them sneaking around the edge of the lake in the middle of the afternoon! I couldn’t help but share these amazing pictures with you!

Furry Little Friends

Shortly after Casey moved to his new home(our home now), we began noticing this odd animal in the woods. It looked like a squirrel but was big enough to be a cat and the coloring ranged from red to black. Every once and awhile as we would drive in, we'd see this animal run into the woods and up a tree. Over the years, we have studied and photographed this animal as much as possible and finally discovered that we were watching fox squirrels.

A little history: The fox squirrel is the largest tree squirrel and is native to North America. They generally live in leaf nests or tree dens and eat nuts, berries, bird eggs and insects. They have 2 litters a year with normally, 3 per litter. In captivity, they have been known to live up to 18 years while in the wild a female can live to be 12 and a male up to 8 years old.

Over the years, I have grown to love these squirrels. Not only are they fun to watch run throughout the yard but they have such beautiful coloring. I'm so glad we get to witness these gorgeous creatures that normally, in this area, you wouldn't see.

Let it Snow Let it Snow

As we enter into the fall season and the temperatures continue to drop, I couldn't help but get a little excited about the Canadian Geese making their grand entrance into the pond. Every year, around this time we slowly see their numbers increase. We usually have a medium size flock that will stay throughout the fall and winter. My husband, being a landscaper cannot stand our geese because of the mess that they leave in our yard and the temperament they possess when he comes close. Our dog, Bear agrees with my husband, luckily for the geese, Bear doesn't swim and will not chase them once they enter the water.

I'm not sure what it is about Canadian Geese that attracts me so; maybe it's there uniform coloring or the regal entry they make into the pond, either way, I appreciate their return year after year. So, as we begin to welcome our friends/foes home, I wanted to share I picture with you that I snapped last winter of a few pairs in the pond.

Just getting started...

A little over a year ago I married the love of my life and moved into the home that he built three years prior. Our home is a mixture of functionality and a childhood dream. My husband started his career young, building his own business at the age of 14. This blessed him with the ability to build his own home when he was just 22. Another blessing, that aided this process was his stepfather whom owned acreage in the piedmont area of North Carolina where our home was built. I have always loved our house, partly because I met my husband shortly after he began building and was including in the process and partly because of where it sits.

Growing up, I loved nature. My family and I lived in a small ranch home on 7 acres surrounded by cow pastures and chicken farms. We weren't far from downtown Charlotte, but far enough where I felt that I was a country girl with plenty of woods to occupy my free time. As we grew older, the pastures became neighborhoods and the farms fell to rusty pieces. I always dreamed of marrying and living somewhere where I wouldn't have to worry about this transformation again. I wake up everyday thankful that this dream has become a reality.

Why all the background? Just a little history as to why I love where we live and really, the reason behind this blog. I know that we are so fortunate to have this property that we call home and want to be able to share it with others that also enjoy nature and all that entails. So, I hope through this blog, you and I can both learn a little bit about what lies outside the confinements of a house and the treasures which can be found a few steps off the beaten path.

To give you a little more information as to our location, we live on a large, retired turkey farm owned by the Saffores family.(Renee "Skip" Saffores is my step-father in law) We live out here in the country with my mother in law/step father in law and my sister in law/brother in law. Everyone lives in their own home separated by wood lines and crop fields. Our homes are on one side of the road where we also enjoy a several acre lake, while the retired turkey houses are on the other side of the property.(across the street) This property sits about 45 minutes east of Charlotte, NC just past Monroe. It may be hard to picture a retired turkey farm as something magical but it is truly a small piece of heaven.

So... what types of nature am I talking about? Well, in just the few years that I have spent out here we have seen and heard all types of wildlife. The pastures are farmed and seeded with either corn, soybeans or cotton. Where there is not a field there are wooded pine trees and a few hardwoods. Both habitats provide food and shelter for our wildlife which include deer, bobcats, coyotes, squirrel(including fox squirrel), muskrats, beavers, fox, snakes, rats/mice, raccoon/opossum, alligator snapping turtles(in the lake of course) and a wide variety of amphibians and birds. It's the beauty of this land and the wildlife that inhabits it that I hope to capture on film and share with you through this blog. Here's to learning and growing every day and thanking God for the blessings we share.