Fall Chores

Fall Chores 

Lots of chores to do, with the impending snow today. It is on its way.

 I had to move the snowblower from the storage shed to the garage. It won't start without being plugged in. Well, *I* can't start it manually! Some of you may be able to, but not me! You should have seen me trying to wrestle that thing across the yard. There are quite a few vole push ups and the ground is soft. I had to do it in small attacks. But I'm not failing! 

This morning it is -3 ℃, and the goldfish pond has a shim of ice on top. Our Great Blue Herons have flown south. The fish have gone deep, and the reptiles and amphibians sleep.

The cement bird bath is fragile in winter. The heater gets unplugged, and we have massive, sudden changes in temperatures. This is what happens:

But, this morning, so far so good. 

 The nut and screw are rusted, and I'll have to get on that.

Soon I'll switch over to the bird bath A/C gifted me. It really makes it so much easier in the depths of winter! It is much easier to clean. 

Next job: fill up the feeders. I always feel happy to feed the birds! 

I detached and drained the 2nd water barrel which goes to the goldfish pond. If that freezes, it'll crack the barrel. 

Sunday morning:

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I've news of our Ottawa grandies. Aster took the train to visit Jordan in Kingston. She went to classes with Jordan, and came back Friday afternoon. Jordan is crazy busy with things going on, and I am sure Aster misses him terribly. They must have had fun. 

Aster made pizza! Papa hammed it up.

Saturday, Jordan wrote :  "It’s Dark Matter Day, and Queens had some cool talks and tours of the observatory! 🔭🔭☄️" 

He has so much going on, studying astrophysics! 

Crumbly Acres catch and release

 First, our precious LGBTQ flag is gone. They ripped the pole off the fence, screws and all. It wasn't a good day, yesterday. 

I don't know where this came from... it is poignant. 

I did some yard work. Both the goldfish pond fountain and the bird bath are going great guns. There is one little goldfish in the pond. I'm still figuring out if I can repair or should replace my 60 gallon tank. 

I peeked out, and saw a little lump on the chair! A gray tree frog was sitting on the chair.

There was another on the railing. JB and I sat there watching the birds.

🦇Going Batty

The bats are out from hibernation. I thought I saw one out of the corner of my eye Thursday night. We both looked around. Nothing. 

Friday night, I'd gone to bed at 10, and at 11:30 I heard someone call out that there was a bat. I am losing my touch! Cinnamon stayed on guard in the Muskoka room. (At least he was out of the way!) I kept tripping on Nutmeg as I went from the dining room to the bedroom, and back to the kitchen. I caught the bat three times, but my net is too shallow. It crawled out. Three times! It's not my first rodeo , but we'll see what happens when it gets dark.

Saturday night I closed up all the curtains to encourage it to come out when the house was dark. Sure enough. Sunset is around 8:15, and I knew something would happen. The poor little flying mouse would be hungry. I used the net with the more depth rather than the fish net. 

Finally, it landed on the wall, where I could catch it. JB held the door, guarded for cats, and VOILA!

🕷To top it off, after working outdoors in the warmth, I had a tick nymph in my armpit. I plucked it off with tweezers, and doused us both in rubbing alcohol. No worries. 

🦆Wood duck nest box

🐦It is with sadness that I report that a weasel or mink has done in my wood duck nest. I'd taken a video last week. The nest is abandoned, 4 or 5 shells on the ground. Two left, cold, in the nest and no adults. 

I think the bunnies have nipped all but one of my trillium in the garden. Happily there are more in the forest. Silly Labbit.  The bird feeder is done, all cleaned and no more bird seed. They are adorable, and there are two. We'll expect more bunnies.

 

Bird watching

 I guess seeing red squirrel is just a bonus! These are from the front window. With the recent cold snap, it is just lovely watching from inside. Of course, we were nowhere near as cold as the prairies. Right, Red?! You were at - 30 C., while we were only -10 c.!

American tree sparrow:

White breasted nuthatch:

Tappy cardinal:

Junco:

Mourning doves:

Downy woodpecker:

They sure like the bird bath, although they aren't bathing in -10 C. temperatures!

I moved the Wingscapes camera, you can see the lights on it.

It captures cats, as well as birds. 

It is tricky, as you have to set the focus prior to setting it out. It's hit and miss the critters.

 

cinnamon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

cardinal from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This cardinal is a nut! Can you see him in the tree outside the window?

He was tapping on the bathroom window, seeing his reflection and an enemy. My blue heron statues watches, but so do the cats. 

A young buck visited!

There is so much happening in the world. This family, closer to home, had a house fire in January. They are still working on it. It hurts my heart all the issues around the world, and near to home.

The birds aren't bathing much, and my heater looks a bit the worse for wear. It took me forever to find a replacement screw with a nut. That said, it's away in the cupboard. The plug pulled out of the extension cord, and I cannot trust it. 

I switched out the bird bath fountain with a heated bowl. Thank you, A/C!  It is so much easier to clean during the cold winter.

We had a visitor on Sunday. A young buck, likely a fawn from this year. He was hanging around the front yard in the afternoon. I suspect he's lost his Mama. We'll watch out for him.

young buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

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COVID numbers are up in Ottawa. Poor 😷Isabelle got it last week. Thankfully, she's well vaccinated, and only had sniffles, a sore throat, and headache. She was able to make cookies on Thursday, and she stayed home from school on Friday. She is on the mend, however. 

Ontario is only tracking long-term care and congregate settings. Almonte, Prescott and Kemptville have cases.

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In an aside, my mystery bug (seen laying eggs) seems to be an Arthropod of some sort:

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