5/29/2020

The Sixteen to One is proud to report a nest of Hairy Woodpeckers in the dead apple tree just outside the window of the office! The hungry chicks are VERY noisy, and after having watched several neighborhood cats scale the tree in an attempt to get at the nest, the tree was then sheathed in a large piece of metal fencing. An ugly piece of work to be sure, but no further raids have been witnessed.

It’s also worth mentioning that this is the 2nd generation of babies to be born here, with the mother woodpecker returning to the same cavity she excavated the previous spring. Here you can see the male bringing his chicks another mouthful of grasshoppers. (UPDATE June 2020: Two chicks, one male and one female, hatched and fledged from the the nest!)

4/20/2020

Masked Bandit Burglarizes Local Home! – Mike Miller feeds his two semi-feral cats in the downstairs study/den. In recent days, however, he noticed that the amount of food being eaten was well in excess of the appetite of two cats – even if one was named “Piggy”. On a lark, he set up a game camera and caught this brazen robbery. Fugitive still at large.

4/2/2020

Almost a week after the initial sighting, Mike spotted the bobcat once again. This time it was dragging the carcass of a deer. Taken from the Upper Landing – where the Company maintains a machine/repair shop and various outbuildings – Mike was lucky to have a camera with a good zoom! Despite the extreme range (over the length of the football field) the cat stopped midway and made full eye contact through the viewfinder. Mike later described its icy stare as “Spooky.”

3/26/2020

On his way down to the mine portal, Mike Miller noticed a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted this gorgeous bobcat out his driver’s side window, about 50ft from the mill. They stopped to stare at each for several minutes. Notice the evidence of the cat’s most recent meal. In some Native American mythologies, the bobcat symbolizes clear vision in dark places, vigilance, patience, and the ability to see through masks.

August 7th 2017
The Union Newspaper of Grass Valley, CA

March 18th 2014
Michael Miller (left) on the set Fitzsimmon’s and Flores, a local radio talkshow.

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