Saturday's Critters

Bug season hasn't let up. The deerflies are horrid. I use these sticky patches on my hats.

Our resident doe, a frequent visitor, she's covered in deerflies!

doe a deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Even Fred is annoyed by the deerflies. The durn bugs like the heat, and have terribly painful bites.

Fred July 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've a young coyote. It visited twice and peed in the same spot. Or two coyotes ran through. hard to say. Booboo bear pooped here. It's a popular travel corridor following the edge of the wetland.

 

Coyote July from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I haven't captured a fisher on the trailcam in a long time.

 

Fisher July 3 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yesterday, the latest antics of our two bears. Neither seen near the house, at least in the daytime. They are good bears.  Booboo was back, as well.

 

Booboo Bear from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters # 551 <= visit Eileen's meme here for more critters.

Saturday's Critters

It's been quite a week. The A/C broke down during a drought and a heat wave. Throwing the windows open at night only gained us an indoor temperature of 27 C. Happily, thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, we've rain for the day, and lower temperatures. I spent part of the day in my kiddie pool, listening to a podcast. (archive photo from last year!) 

We are inundated with deerflies, but they leave me alone, for the most part, on the lower deck. 

On my way down to the pond... 

   

There was a coyote sniffing around!

   

 I believe my hosta-eater, the doe, is momma to the fawn. They hang around all the time!

   

 If you seek a lovely walk in the forest, listen to this video and the bird. The deerflies make an appearance, too! I wear a cap, with a deerfly stickie. They work pretty well.

   

 The song sparrow must have a nest. It would be brood #3, at least, I'd imagine. He's a lovely singer.

 

For more critters, around the world...

Saturday's Critters #343

🎶🎶🎶It's a tropical heat wave!

We have a heat warning in southern Ontario. It's been awful. I've been taking it easy, doing some outdoor chores, and then putting my feet up. I aim for shoveling one wheelbarrow full of dirt a day.

This past week Nunavut, in Northern Canada, was hotter than Victoria, B.C.

There are heat warnings on both sides of the border. The red indicates where. Climate Change is a horrible thing. These extreme temperatures are killing people.

Red is right: he commented that I'd be very surprised to find a human on the trailcam. We live on 16 acres, surrounded by a wetland and bordered on west side by the highway.
I wear a red hoodie, to protect my arms, but it is so hot even in the early morning.



You'd have to be crazy to walk in my forest for no reason, though. The bugs are horrid, which is why we are blessed with so many song birds.  I popped out to check on the goldfish, and a deerfly began circling my head. Then another! A dragonfly flew over and began going after them near my head. It was amazing!

I've been taking the sticky paper, which I put on my cap, wrap it on a stick, and give it to the goldfish. They love it. They'll pick off those nasty deerflies.

She was so cute! I was watching from the window, and she 'mushed' the heron and made it spin. She was so proud of herself. Maybe she had an itch?!
deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Meanwhile, down in the forest, don't blink!
 
coyote from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.


The cedar waxwings have been amazing. There was a group of 5 on this tree. I focused on the one, you can hear them with their delicate peeping! One rises up, and the others follow, skooting through the trees as they dance in the air. So delighted to be air born!
cedar waxwing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

What's cooking?

Gardening. That's what's up. I am carefully watching my foot issues. I ordered a load of topsoil. Only 4 cu. yards. I am careful to wear sturdy runners and socks. I'm seeing it as a summer project!


I've been trying to help out the greenery. It's mostly twitch grass, and I planted clover, which is doing well. Of course, when they built the house, I think they put in sand, not topsoil.


The phoebe is doing well. Babies are growing!
phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.


Delphinium and milkweed are blooming. It's too soon for monarchs to lay eggs, but I thought I saw one yesterday.


My tree project. This branch is totally dead. I've been working on it for days with the skilsaw.


I attached a weight to one end of a rope, flung it up over a branch, and pulled it over.


Did it!
I cut it up in pieces and took it away.


I filled up my deerfly paper in an hour. Another one in the next hour. It is miserable.


The kiddy pool, which I'd kept in the cold storage room has had some damage. The room goes down below zero in winter. I just don't know. I ordered another. Gramma Camp is in two weeks!

In the heat of the summer, they were taking it easy. The smaller cat is in the larger platform!


Finally, a water lily.


The garden is lovely. We've had some rain. Hooper was following Susie Snake in the garden!

Hooper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Critter sightings...

This plant has friends. I forget the name of the plant. Soon it will bloom and I'll either remember, or be able to re-research it! (That's the way I roll in the garden!) The leafhopper/aphid (Cicadellidae) was such a lovely colour.


Everything has bugs on it! This is a little milkweed, with aphids and ants!


Forest walkies, at a brisk pace, due to the bugs. I took this to be able to remember where I placed trailcam #1! :-)


A lovely little garter snake was basking in a spot of sun.
Tent caterpillar moth, the caterpillars have mostly morphed.


The deerflies are horrid. I slather on baby oil. It keeps them off my skin, for the most part. I've harvested 33, 39, and 24 yesterday.



The goldfish are happy. I wrap the deerfly sticky on the stick and feed the deerflies to them.



I was on the back deck, reading, trying not to cough. In the forest, I could hear the jays screaming (as when there is a predator) and another bird sort of whistling.
It was a hawk of some sort. I've seen it whip out of there, pedal to the metal, and do this before. I don't think it had anything. This is the second time I've seen this! I just happened to have the zoom lens on, with auto focus.

red-tailed hawk

This is our sharp-shinned hawk.

Hot Tomatoes!

This is the sum total of my veggies! A hanging basket of cherry tomatoes. (I totally forgot to pick my rhubarb.) The only problem is that chipmunk nipped holes in the plastic underneath, hoping for seeds.



I took a wander down to the trailcam, the humidity is wonderful for my cough.  Deerflies: here is what I know The bugs are busy, despite the heat. Can you count them? This was about a half hour, and I brought back 33 deerflies on my sticky patch. Of course, I fed them to the gold fish. They were happy to have them. They are pretty things, when they are stuck. I took some macro photos before I traded in my macro lens.
They take a chunk out of you!

This is a weed, but it is so pretty I didn't have the heart to mow it down. There is a little tiny bee-thingie in the lower part of the medium photo! After a bit of research... Blueweed, or
Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare)

One lovey peace rose.

Yes, beyond 40˚ C. in the sunshine.

It has been horribly hot in this part of the continent.

I'm still fighting a cold, now in my chest. Coughing a lot, and just happy it is summer. Hubby has been wonderful, doing chores and fetching microwaveable dinners!

And who did I see on the trailcam? Stay tuned tomorrow!