Hedge & Hollow: October 12th, 2026

Pictured: Beautiful sunset through our oak trees on Sunday night.

Did you know Squirrels eat mushrooms? I have proof! Birds were rather quiet on our woods walk but I added more to my Merlin app life-list. Leaves are changing colors and falling gently on these mild-autumn days too.
Enjoy! Amy

Table of Contents:
~ Spying on Wildlife: Squirrels & Raccoons!
~ The Birds: Discovering with the Merlin App
~ Woods Walks: Hidden Finds & Nature
~ The Blog: Upcoming Editions

Spying on Wildlife: Squirrels & Raccoons!

Trail-cam caught a squirrel devouring a mushroom (must not have been poisonous as he seemed okay after several minutes sitting there). I just used the first video of his gourmet meal. The raccoon family happened onto the log too, though it looks like there’s only 2 youngsters now.

We took Huckleberry down with us and this raccoon just wasn’t overly thrilled we did. Might even be the mama coon from the creek log video. I thought I saw some raccoon sized shadows in another tree nearby too but never quite spotted them.

The Birds: Discovering with the Merlin App

I managed to get a couple life birds on Sunday during our woods walk. There were several Varied Thrush all over the place down there and as I was watching them this Ruby-crowned Kinglet landed in the tree right next to me. The Golden-crowned Kinglet we could hear all around us, and I thought I saw it but I just wasn’t fast enough with the binoculars to catch these hyperactive little birds!

Woods Walks: Hidden Finds & Nature

Saw another new flower in the woods on Sunday – Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus).
The Oregon White Oak and Big-leaf Maple trees are just starting to change color and drop some leaves a bit. The Black Walnut and Oregon Ash are rapidly losing leaves right now. I had to stop and take a video of the ash leaves falling on our way down for our woods walk you can see below.

The Blog: Upcoming Editions

We’ll see you next week on October 19th for the next Hedge & Hollow blog post, where we see what new changes are happening in the woods!

Be on the lookout late autumn (when the oak and maple leaves change color) for our seasonal Horticulture & Harvests blog post, where we talk about final harvests for the year and what can still be planted!

The next Hair Sheep & Hens blog post will come out early November where we will discuss pasture lockdowns and see what the sheep were up to during their last few pasture rotations leading up to it!

In case you missed the latest blog posts:

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