February 14, 2021: Prey and Predator

This week we had one of our littlest visitors come to the birdfeeder, a meadow vole.

A meadow vole munches on a dropped seed.

I always want to call these furry little guys "mice" and have to remember that mice are nocturnal while voles are the ones out during the day.  Sometimes skiing I'll have to dodge a vole as it sprints across the ski slope, it's little dark body looking like a sunspot moving across the snow.  Other identifying features are the ears - mice have large ears while voles' ears are tiny.  Another is the tail: Mice have long tails and voles have short ones, though this guy never showed me his whole tail.

I only see them in the winter when they stand out against the snow - during the summer they must blend in perfectly with their surroundings, though sometimes I'll hear a rustling of leaves by the trail and I presume it's a vole scurrying away.  In winter voles spend most of their lives safely protected under the snow in the subnivean zone (see post from 17 March 2019, The Subvivean Zone) but they'll pop up to the surface and take the risk to collect the abundance of dropped food under a bird feeder.  

Poking out of one hole, with another tunnel seen just above him on the left.

Voles must be in cahoots with the nuthatches which throw piles of seed onto the ground as they dig through the feeder to find a seed they deem worthy of eating.

It took some patience to get a picture of this guy as he would barely show just a bit of his body for an instant before ducking back down for safety.  But a couple of times he exposed himself enough that I was able to see who was down there.  

And he is smart to be so wary.  I still haven't seen our bobcat, but there are regular fox tracks going around the feeders.  Others around the lakes have had good reminders of just why those rodents are so careful.  

A bobcat stalks a feeder- photo by Tom Witham.

That picture of a bobcat stalking a birdfeeder was sent by a friend who lives near Meredith Bay. (Thanks TW!)  While foxes travel continuously in search of prey, bobcats will often settle down in a spot with a good view of a promising stretch of landscape and wait for food to come to it.

Another local bird watcher sent this photo along (thank you AC!):

A barred owl keeps watch over a Wicwas feeder - photo by Annie Crane.

Do you think this owl has its eyes open enough to keep watch for its prey?  I also wonder how it manages to balance itself way out on the end of that dead branch!  At least it has nice fluffy feathers to keep its toes warm.

Yesterday we braved the cold to go out and take in all the action on the big lake, but this year we went to Alon Bay rather than Meredith Bay so we could see the ice sculptures and watch the planes on the Alton ice runway - it's their Winter Carnival weekend.

Coming in for a landing on the nice.  Note the large winter tires.

See the ice fishing tip-up?

Yes, it's fishing derby weekend as well.  I wonder if that tip-up right next to the runway will have any luck.  

The Alton Bay ice runway is the only FAA approved ice runway in the continguous United States.  If you've never seen it, it's definitely worth the trip.  It was a beautiful day and there was a constant stream of planes coming and going.  I'll add some of the may different planes we saw yesterday in case there are any aircraft aficionados reading the journal.

This is a nice winter set-up.

Another one with skis.

Ground control kept things safe and orderly.

Lots of planes in the parking area.

Arriving in formation.

And taking off one after another.

A fun day on Alton Bay.

And the action continues today if you want to head over this afternoon - what a great way to spend Valentine's Day!  💘💘💘

The runway will stay open as long as the ice is safe and they can clear the runway.