Friday windstorm!

Saturday morning we awoke to some storm damage from heavy winds. As I explored our damage, I could hear chain saws in the distance. 

That was a storm! We lost power, but it came on just before midnight. The rain poured down, and the wind blew at the frog pond. I'm still not picking up any ducks. Back to square one!

frog pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The winds blew the dead leaves around. I love the wind. It got a little more extreme during the evening, though.

windy day frontyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Windy day in the backyard: 

windy day backyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It was a quite the wind.  The storm knocked over the lawn ornament (see above), it spins so nicely in the wind. I spent some time repairing it.

It even knocked over my bench.

There were a couple of dead elm trees knocked over, as well as the birch tree branches. It is weird seeing them horizontal.

We lost some more sumacs right beside the arbour. JB was out walking, and he fetched the skilsaw for me. I cut them up and threw them off the path. This used to be an wonderful, intact sumac grove. The people that built the house need lawn, apparently. I'm letting it grow in, but it doesn't seem to be helping the integrity of the grove. The soil is very shallow here, as is the way in Lanark County.

Another dead elm blew over near the 5 sisters, near the meadow. The 5 sisters only lost a few branches.

Down at the frog pond, I thought this tree would go down in the storm. It had some cracks, and has been dead awhile. I knew there was a storm coming and expected it to go over sometime. Happily I didn't put the trailcam on it, but on the tree to the left. The camera seems too far to capture the ducks on the pond. I'll have to go at it again.

On the way back to the house I found another snake, this time a garter snake. Bless their little hearts as they eat their share of crawly critters!

There was a deer in pond. I knew what she was after. I'd put some cracked corn out for the ducks. There are more nesting boxes on the lake, and my pond isn't looking very lakey, so I want to encourage them. I have three boxes, and only had one filled last year.

deer in pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Down at the pond, last but not least, I spotted a brown creeper! They have just arrived, migrating to follow the bug population, just like the phoebes, a sure sign of spring. There were 3 phoebies in the backyard lilac tree, as they are deciding upon a nesting site. I slowed down several clips, as it is so fast for me.

brown creeper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.