Auntie Fred & MiniFred

 The first part of my day involves checking out the back deck. My ritual. This morning it was coffee while downloading trailcam images remotely. Coffee in hand. 

The other is checking blog comments! I really appreciate your visits. 

@Val: We have people coming Aug. 6th to clear up the tree debris. 

@Red: this is the 2nd brood for Phoebe. We have a wee army of bug eaters.

I don't know why I can't learn my lesson! It wasn't the cats. I am certain it is Butch Raccoon! Is this the 3rd time?! Sigh. I had a piece of wood on top of the bucket, since Cinnamon keeps drinking the stinky plant water. 

Last night's dinner was good. Actual home grown cherry tomatoes with broccoli. I was able to eat a pork chop. My jaw was sore, as I haven't been chewing much. But I'm nearly there. All roasted on a chilly day.

But the star of my blog post is an exhausted Fred. 

Auntie Fred, from last year's brood, has settled in at the shed burrow. Again. Grooming is important!

I found a memory card under my chair. It's been there since late May! (Don't judge me!) It had on it Momma Fred. I think Momma Fred was taken by coyotes in June. Auntie Fred is one of her offspring from last year. 

MiniFred is still about. Up and down the driveway... which isn't the safest place. 

 

She's been sharpening her teeth on the deck. Seriously! Sound up. You can hear her.

 

I have a fox tale for tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Stormy weather, Barry, Fred, and a toad

The news is bad out there. I take comfort from my American blog friends who are suffering as well. Things are tense between the USA and Canadian governments. States want us to put US alcohol back in our stores.  Wab Kinew, Ojibway, and Premier of Manitoba, (NDP), you got to love him: "No CUSMA, no BOOZMA!"

de Adder is a great Canadian artist

OK, back to nature. During the last storm, I noticed the down pipe for the gutter wasn't connected. In between storms I shove it together. Wednesday I screwed the two pieces together after I recharged the drill!

It was draining behind the propane tanks. I noticed something moving. A wee toad eating the bugs. Bless its little heart!

A toad in Bala, Muskoka. 2009

 I hadn't ventured here post-storm. It was bad enough on our walking paths. I circled the pond on the far side, and found more damage. 

The frog pond from up above

The top of the white pine tree snapped off.

I found a bone: hmmm. The critters are pretty good at clean up.

 Barry Beaver has been working. Thanks goodness. He has a mess to clean up. Ignore the date stamp. I don't like standing in a bug cloud resetting the time and date!

Auntie Fred has been out. It's been chilly, and I don't know if they are thinking of hibernating! This is where she hunkered down last winter.

The berries attract the birds. A great sight.

I think they've settled in, dividing the burrows amongst them. 

Phoebes!

We had a good day Tuesday. Whipper snippered, (weed eater?) the garden. MiniFred liked the job I'd done and went into the garden to help after I was done. I cleaned the goldfish pond pump. It is overflowing!

The TV repair person arrived. Both Fred and Cinnamon weren't amused.

I washed a couple of floors. Mostly, I spent time on the back deck watching the birds. I am nearly recovered. As I sat, I watched a couple of black birds chasing the owl into the forest. Wow.

Phoebe loves to sit on the trailcams.

Incoming!

Here it is:

 
 

 We watched as they sat on the electric cord and begged for food. At the end of this a different bird scared them off. I'm not quite sure what it was.

 

They moved off to the tree and sat on the stick.

We watched them in the sunshine. The wind was blowing, a storm was moving in. The family happily sat on this branch, begging momma and papa for lunch. I peeked out during our storm, and saw the three littles sitting there hoping for food. It was a big storm! 

The hatchlings have a yellow line around their beaks. Maybe to help the parents aim for them! 

⚡️ ⛈️ It was a heckuva storm. We had 40 mm (1.56") and I kept thinking about the little birdies! I have a gutter down pipe to fix, too. Non-mental note. We have many Hydro workers out there restoring power. 

While we complain about the American administration, there are good Americans who respect us. Many of us have friends or family in America. We lost a pilot fighting fires in the U.S. Such a shame.  

Cardinals, scarlet tanager, doe, cats, finches!

 Glad I took a 'before' photo!

It's my own fault. They smell something in the soil, and hope for food. Or they are curious!

It wasn't Cinnamon!

Nor Auntie Fred.

I blame Butch racoon!

🔥 I am grateful to those working these fires. in Northern Ontario. They are awful. Sadly, our Ontario budget for fighting fires has been diminished.

We are on fire

That July 1st storm was awful. Here is the doe in that storm!  

 They are the silliest cats! 

   

 I daresay the Cardinals are raising another brood! 

   

 I guess it is birding week!

   

 Finches! 

 

Barry Beaver

 There has been more action! I moved the trailcam. 

 

You can picture me climbing over this tree trunk to get to the trailcam.

I was trying to figure out the geology of this site. Why would the trees get uprooted like this? I realized that they are sitting on an area with lots of rocks dumped underneath by the glaciers. 

We'll see how he does using the trees. He is a hungry busy beaver.

A little piece of accidental beauty: