Saturday's Critters

I had to share this. I was walking by the frogpond to fetch trailcam cards. Right here, I flushed a timberdoodle from the edge of the water. You'll have to use your imagination. The American Woodcock (AKA Timberdoodle) is flighty! I wanted to mark the spot to look for a nest. 

It is nesting season in southeastern Ontario. It is a delightful time of year. I've two nests under the upper deck. [ 🐣ROBINS | 🐣PHOEBE] Also, the 🐦Wood ducks are nesting on the back 40. I walked back to check, and flushed her from the nest. Figured I might as well look. I was pretty discouraged, as I've been hosting Wood ducks since 2014!

 What do you think: 12 eggs? They are known for having 6 – 15 eggs. They will incubate for about 30 days. This is a screen capture of the video: 

The flicker watches as I walk by... they must be nesting, as well. 

  

Flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Next up, roaming guest Pepper. – on both cameras!

 

Pepper May 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The 🐣HOUSE WREN  began by filling the green bird house. Their songs are delightful. They like to fill the nests to keep out larger birds. Also, to hedge their bets, I'll bet.

  

I won't be able to see the eggs, if they end up nesting here. This is how they stuff their nests.

Now they are filling the bluebird nest box! 

 

phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think she is pregnant! They could give birth any time.

 

pregnant doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've massive amounts of purple and white wild violets, the dandelions are out, things are blooming! Here are the bleeding hearts.

 Bumbling around the dandelions!

bumble bee from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I prepared this post Friday, and after lunch ventured out. Not too many bugs, as the wind is terrific. The phoebe nest under the deck is active. I think this is the cowbird egg that hatched. I am loathe to mess with nature. I suspect the one egg in the other phoebe nest is a cowbird, as well. 

phoebe hatching from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Visit more critters here: Saturday's Critters # 492. Thanks to Eileen for hosting.

Winter is coming!

It's been a lovely few days, other than the frost on Monday morning! It was -2 at 6:30 when I got up. It was a balmy -1 by 8 a.m. Oh for joy! This morning I woke at 5 a.m., worrying about this proposed gun club,  and it was 0˚ C.! We have done some research, and are speaking to neighbours, similarly upset with this proposal, and we'll see what happens. 

I put the heater into the bird bath, later I'll switch it out. (Thanks, AC!) Both that and the water fountain had a skiff of ice on top. Whoopsie! With all our worries it crept up on me. Soon I'll drain, clean, and cover the water fountain. 

Despite wearing a mask in her high school, Josephine has COVID. She's not feeling too badly, which is a relief. Caitlin thought that last year the mask/no mask ratio was about 80/20. This year it is reversed, only about 20% of kids wearing masks. Thanksgiving (Oct. 10th) will be postponed. Ah well. We had a Merry Christmas on a weekend in late February/March in 2022! What the heck. 

Poking my head out front, I noticed the tops of these trees. It cheers me up.

I walked out front to see the colours better!

I've loved the sumac in Ontario. This frontyard stand is dying out, as is the one in the backyard. 

Well, here we are in the great outdoors. There were three bees on my chair. They are a bit dopey. The hornets are still about. It'll be interesting to see when they die of for winter.

My planters aren't exactly going strong, the coleus was hit by frost, but just in the front. We've a bit of a micro climate, in that the house retains the warmth of the sun. The lantana looks fine, as well as the trumpet flower and the petunias. The impatience was touched, though. It's just a matter of time!

Funny story – don’t tell the kids! JB brought me some flowers to cheer me up. I found the kitchen shears and chopped off the ends. Then, I used the shears to chop off some old cactus leaves. Then, I lost the the shears! I looked everywhere where I'd just used them. 

I was out fetching chestnuts, and found them under the horse chestnut tree! 👀 

This is what the tree looks like in spring. The leaves are dying, the conkers are dropping off as well.

I love the horse chestnuts. We had a tree beside us when I was a kid in Toronto. I gathered them and opened them up. 

Indoors, we are settling in for winter. The orchid is doing really well.

This works for some cats, but not ours. Try it, if you have a cat. Some cats perceive it as a box. 

My poor computer cord! Daisy used to like it. I repaired it twice since. I had a package of white, but it was stale. It's not a cheap fix: $16.50 for three little packets, but cheaper than a new computer cord. With supply chain issues, we could only find black in the store.  

The aquarium is doing well. I think goldfish day is Wednesday, maybe Thursday. After that the temperatures are just too cold. I have to drain it some the reach all the goldfish, and the rain Friday will fill up back up some.

Bugs, bugs, bugs

As I was walking in the frozen forest, boots crunching through the snow, I began thinking about the bugs that are frozen, and sleeping. Bumble bees, katydids, praying mantis, grasshoppers.

Of course, then there are the butterflies, who have fled the cold! We have several butterflies who overwinter: the Compton's Tortoiseshell, top right, for example.

Mosaic Monday #14

It's the season for critters!

The Scarlet Tanager keeps visiting. I watch him from the luxury of my back deck, the deerflies are so bad on the ground!



The poor, dried up frogpond has sent froggies elsewhere... Happily, there is a storm front going across the region and we had 11.2 mm last night (0.44") of rain. More on the way. We are having a drought, and this will bring relief, although it won't top up the water system.




to my goldfish pond, specifically. I counted 14 frogs in my wee pond. The leopard frogs are in the foliage, my veggie garden and the ornamental gardens. I don't know where the bullfrogs have gone.

The trees are full of aerial insectivores, birds that only eat bugs in the trees, like the American redstart (witchety-witchety-witchety), and the Red-eyed vireo (song is like a conversation,"How are YOU? I am fine. Talk to you later." I have a hard time photographing them, not only am I only 5'4", but they are in the tall trees! Dorah did a catch-and-release last year, I must confess.


Phoebe had two nestings, after a poor start. They are around on the ground snapping up bugs, bless their hearts. These photos are quite artsy, except they were taken through the plexiglass on the upper deck. (Remember my bugs...)


The butterflies have been busy. We have a ton of milkweed and I spotted my first monarch butterflies here in two years! Fritillary, methinks, as well as an admiral.


The mason bee house is going great guns.


Dragonflies are happy, as are the Butterflies on the weeds. The goldfinch is thirsty. We are so dry! It's a banner year for raspberries, that'll make our bear happy! We want happy bears! It's a banner year for Virginia ctenucha, as well. It's a pretty moth, quite ubiquitous. I hatched one from a cocoon last year. New hatchling: Virginia Ctenucha they come from a lovely fuzzy cocoon. a beautiful moth, with an orange head and flabellate (feathery) antennae, blue marking and a blue thorax. My book tells me that black and blue indicates to birds that they are bitter-tasting and/or poisonous.
I have found my first chrysalis, which is either the Eastern Comma, or the Question Mark!

For more critters, visit Eileen's Saturday Critters #134!