Bird watching

 Wednesday morning – we woke to snow! It since melted. The sun came out, and the blue sky was lovely. It is -12 ℃ this morning and it's a biting cold. Our heron have returned, a bit early. There aren't any frogs or fish out.

I drove home from my client's house, past the old heron rookery. The nest blew down a couple of years ago but I had photos from 2013. One nest has been rebuilt, and I saw a heron up top. I must find a sunny day upon which to commemorate said nest. There is more snow on the way, however!

It meant lots of action at the feeders. This I took with the zoom lens, through the front window. 

Not too bad and much warmer indoors!

Sharing: female cardinal, mourning dove and a grackle.

The mourning dove had a nap on the bird bath! 

The red-winged blackbirds are so pretty!

More sharing!

Not sharing:

The grackles are in full SPRING mode. Making that noise they make and puffing out their feathers. 

The bird songs are wonderful. In this video you can hear the grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and the cardinal.

 

deer friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Prior to the snowfall, Cinnamon snagged a vole.

 

Cinnamon's vole from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We stop feeding the deer when they have food. The lilacs are budding, and the saplings, and they have all but disappeared. I don't know if Duke made it through winter. He dislocated his ankle. Our trio, doe and twins, have similarly gone to summer yards. All we have left are a small doe and her very wee fawn. 

last feed March 14 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Critter tails

Butch raccoon – we haven't seen them too much.

Butch from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I'm having trouble with this trailcam. I'm still working on it for duck season. Two of our nesting boxes have been tested, but no feathers in there yet. That is the sign that they are preparing the nest. 

 

ducks on pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I don't know what prompted him to go into full feather mode. No other turkeys around!

Tom Turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I like grackles. They have the most beautiful colours. The first was from Bala, the second, from a Westport restaurant where we used to sit on their patio.

We've a half dozen grackles. I don't know if they are going to stay. They really are quite funny.

 

grackles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Cinnamon and I went walkies. When we returned to the house, there was Dratted Red Squirrel! DRS got away, and chittered at him from up in the tree.

 

Cinnamon & DRS from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The feeders are coming down soon, as it will be bear season. Next, I shall have to put up the fence around my garden. That worked really well last year. The deer have already lopped off a few tulips. 

Lots of critters out and about!

There are lots of critters out and about. It's going to be a warmer day. We've had a cold spell.

There are many critters that have come back for spring. The most exciting, I think, are the birds. This is because they are going to be nesting.

We've not had much on the trailcams. We've had wind, snow, and lousy weather. The trailcams have been pretty quiet. This clip is fun. I noticed our one turkey wandering about. If you look at the upper right, you'll see the brown creeper.

turkey creeper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They creep up the tree, head first, unlike the nuthatches, with a similar outline shape, who creep down head first!

Brown creeper; March 6th, 2016

April 3, 2014

Another bird, phoebe. He's been singing all around the property, looking for love. I was sitting in the bathroom this morning, and could see him sitting on the tree outside the window! 

Eastern Phoebe

The wood ducks are back, as well. We're not green yet, although the grass is coming around, you can tell it is an archival photo.

My Vancouver, Stanley Park, Wood duck photo

Grackles

red-winged blackbirds

Canada geese

osprey

blue heron

For more critters:

Saturday's Critters #331

GRAMMA CAMP – Week 4.0

We love having the kids. Momma and Papa continue to work from home, we get them weekdays. It's a wonderful time of year to have them. Everything is breaking out in green!

We did the hostage exchange in the parking lot. They came home and climbed the tree. Next, the girls started the fire, all on their own, and fetched wood, also on their own! Then, I heard noises in the kitchen, they were making sandwiches for their lunch!

The only problem is getting them to do school work! The OCDSB says gr. 4 should do an hour a day. Gr. 7 – 2 hours a day. As if! Jos has to write a song for her gr. 7 teacher. We're expecting repairs by our satellite/internet provider today. We'll see what happens with this Phase 2 online learning stuff.

I showed Jophee the deer track, with the daffodils coming up around the impression!



I took down the bird feeders, since the bears are about.


We have so many birds back, to nest in our habitat. I'm happy that the wood ducks are back. This is the first pair, checking things out. They flew off as we went to fetch the trailcam memory cards. Jos saw them in the wetland water. It was a wonderful moment.

wood ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Josephine added to her bird list with a Timberdoodle! This is a 2010 video. They were a new species for me. It was quite a mystery!!!

American Woodcock from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Grampa fed Maggie for the last time this spring. He wanted a recording of it! Her coat looks a bit patchy.

Maggie deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The starlings and grackles are busy. We've one bird with one white tail feather. Can you spot it? I'm having trouble photographing it!

starling from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

starlings from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The girls are noticing signs of spring. We did tree climbing, had a front porch picnic, ran to the frog pond, saw some vultures, and played on the dock.



I dressed Frosty up for spring.



The woodpeckers are going after my maple tree.