Saturday's Critters

I'm close to stopping bird feeding, but the male and female rose-breasted grosbeaks have turned up. She was on top of the feeder, while he was on the bench in front of the window, taking a closer look at the blooming Orchid Cactus inside the window. I don't know if it was the colour that attracted him.

This was a fun shot! Plus, the squirrel and cowbird were able to share. The cowbird lets me get quite close, unlike the rest of the birds, chickadees aside!

 

Lovely colours on the cowbird.

cowbird from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Wood box numbers two and three. Surprisingly, they seem to have settled on box #3, having explored #2 earlier.

The third wood duck nesting box had downy feathers in it. I am hopeful for at least one brood! Here is the nesting box. I went back the day after, and there were more feathers.

wood duck nest box from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The brown creeper must have a nest down here. It is here every day. I researched their nests, and they just snuggle into or under the bark of a tree in a small cavity. I don't think I have a hope of finding it!

Brown creeper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've moved the trailcam from the frogpond up to the backyard. Hooray Phoebe!  Their favourite perch in the daffodil garden. They are working on the nest, still, which is just off to the left, under the deck. After my workout, I spotted it with a wee branch in its beak.

Phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This camera is such a dud. I know I'm not an award-winning photographer, though, and it is simply evidence of who goes there in the night, for the most part. I am having trouble keeping it charged with the internal battery, as we haven't had consistent sunshine. It requires backup batteries, as well, which have kept it going.

trailcam #3 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Oregano, our frequent visitor cat, appeared on the trailcam in the rain! 

Oregano cat from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

"Bears Annual Tug of War!" 

This is the drive belt from our old dryer that konked out. Someone repurposed it, in a moment of brilliant💡 clarity! It only cost us $120 to replace, better than $600 for a new machine. 

For more  critters, visit Eileen and our fellow animal lovers!

A cold one!

We awoke to a warmer day on Monday. This morning it is -1 C., and there is a skiff of ice on the bird bath. Whoopsie! The little pump is keeping it circulating. So far, so good. It should melt today.

hot day! from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I put the squash/pumpkin/zucchini outside Sunday in the sun, to harden them off, but forgot about them! I realized I'd left them out overnight Monday, but they were fine. It was about 10 C. that night.

Isabelle waited for the bus in the snow yesterday morning! 

I was reminded of Eddie and Eva, the geese, and the story I told about them in Bala, April 4, 2009. We often have snow in April, but it doesn't stick around.

There are mallards on the pond, as well as the wood ducks.

mallard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

These are the last moments for birds feeders. I captured the cowbird. We'll see if she lays an egg in the phoebe nest this year. That's what they do!

cowbird from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The mourning doves like the flat tray feeder. I've just a bit of seed left, and then the feeders go away for the season.

I'm having varied progress on the pond with trailcams. I did get the deer!

 

deer pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, there was the robin. They land and poop on the trailcam. I laughed. There are a pair around the pond, and I see them everyday.

robin from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

@Linda in Kansas suggested the potential arbour won't keep the deer out. This is true, but what I wanted it for was to anchor the chicken wire to it, to provide an additional support, as I did last year. 

Turtle, cowbird and my frog pond

I don't know if my faithful readers and commenters are interested, but I figure since there is a winter TV channel showing a roaring fire...these are my moments of meditation and relaxation. I survey my pond, spotting the natural ebb and flow. The bugs are minimal on my dock in the pond. It is such a relief.
I counted 5 bullfrogs, with countless tree frog younglings, sitting quietly.

 
Pondering turtle from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
A turtle in the Pond: map or painted, hard to tell! Not far away, a bullfrog, too!

This bird was walking on water! I think it grabbed a young tree frog, but even in the final moments of the video, where I slowed the action down by 50%, it's hard to tell. Like First Nations, nature understands there are wins and losses. Population of individuals ebbs and flows with weather and climate, and the availability of prey.
I am so grateful to our three muskrats who've moved on to better pastures (so to speak!), who cleared the pond for me. It's about knee-deep, a little deeper in the middle where the lilies don't grow.


Cow bird in the pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
The pond has been busy and this Cow bird grabbed something, while walking on the lily pads!

NaPoWriMo Day 25 – Anaphora

Prompt
Anaphora is a literary term for the practice of repeating certain words or phrases at the beginning of multiple clauses or, in the case of a poem, multiple lines. The phrase “A time to,” as used in the third Chapter of Ecclesiastes, is a good example of anaphora.

 I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Glorious time of year as garden wakes
I've spent hours using rakes
Creating sanctuary birds return
Twitterpated, I do discern

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Chickadees flutter, preen and cajole
Fluttering above the grassy knoll
Surprises daily in my inherited garden
My skills the plants they duly pardon

Painted Lady, flowers

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Successes better a list to keep
For past mistakes I've buried deep
Each trial and error and tribulation
Do not require cogitation

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...

As Phoebe begins their ritual yearly

Females taken cavalierly

Daffodils their heads they raise

Springtime's here, we all do praise

 

Feathered friends in flight

I love watching the birds. I spotted a grey owl last week on a wetland walk. Although, to call it 'wet' these days isn't quite true! We've had double-digit negative temperatures for a few days.

Yesterday, standing in the front picture window, I spotted some sort of hawk zipping about after the chickadees. It launched itself at the tree where the dear birds rest.

Cycle of life... that small spruce tree is Buster's spot for bird watching. I was happy he was indoors! 

Some sort of raptor!
Bob, of Bob & Louise - Gilligallou Bird store,
thinks it might be a juvenile bald eagle!

Whilst walking the cats, there was another raptor circling above. They are difficult to photograph!

This pair shared the tree
blue jay and cow bird

female cowbird

This a cowbird, waiting for its turn at the feeder!