Colder Nights.

11-8-17 VERMONT: I did the front of the houses, the west side beds, yesterday, and dumped three more cartloads of cuttings in the pasture. I dump those cuttings and prunings in holes and wet spots in the pasture in the hope that the organic matter will end up as soil filling the hole slightly. I have almost worked my way around the house. A couple more flowers still open include lamium and red clover.

Last night it was in the mid twenties, and today it’s in the low thirties—that’s November weather.

There was a hooded merganser on the pond for almost a full day including an over-night. She, or possibly and non-breeding male, did a lot of diving and frequently came up with something that took her a few minutes to swallow, perhaps a frog or crawfish. The pix from the first day, which was dark and rainy, were poor, but the next day provided better light and better pix.

Lots of birds, especially the robins, are hanging out in the apple trees fattening up on the crab apples. I guess they’re bulking up for the big commute.


Hooded merganser spent almost a whole day in the pond, frequently diving for food, crawfish?

Either it's a female or a non-breeding male.

The front of the house before clean-up.

A flock of a dozen robins have been in the apple trees gobbling up the little apples.

After the clean-up.