Barred owl sighting!

 The sweet, last warm days continue. I usually spend some time reading on the back deck. I take a break between outside chores. 

The Aspen grove is growing nicely. The previous owners cut the grass here, but after 12 years, I've let it grow. We need trees. They survived Gypsy Spongy moth caterpillars, and are taller than I am. 

The blue jays were having a caucus meeting in the back yard behind the Aspen Grove. What can one do, but go check it out. Raucous Blue Jays usually means a Barred Owl. There was!!!! 

You'll forgive the lighting in the video↑. It's proof of life for our owl.  I've been hearing it in the night through open windows. Such a sweet sound: "Who-cooks-for-you?"

The deck has provided some viewing...

Look at the trees! They are turning and dropping leaves. They are rattling on the driveway. Actually, they aren't necessarily turning colour, just drying up and falling off. There is a big industry in many places, like Muskoka, where 

The Hydrangea, trimmed nicely by deer, has a caterpillar on it.

Another caterpillar: Cucullia convexipennis, the brown-hooded owlet, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

One must report on this fabulous orchid. The one bloom branch is beginning to dry up, and the blossoms are falling, their lives spent. The good news is that there is a new branch, the dark green one, and I'll have new blossoms shortly. The old blossoms were done, the stem turning brown. I chopped them up. There are already buds on the new branch.

 

I was out doing a walkabout, in the early morning when it was chilly, and found a 🐍 garter snake stuck on some wild aster. It was cold, but alive. This same is true of the frogs, they get cold overnight, and warm up in the day. The reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic or cold-blooded, and cannot control body temperatures.

I wonder what triggers them to begin to hibernate? Nutmeg brought this green frog up onto the deck to get warm. It was cold and stunned. I took it out front and put it with Jeremiah bullfrog. It is too big for Jeremiah to eat! 

The goldfishies are doing well! No leaks! 

I was trying to do my workout, and the TV went weird. I thought it looked like a painting.

🍁Fall chores

I should rent a power washer and clean up the flag stones before it gets cold. And we should stain the decks before it gets too cold. We shall see. 

Have a great weekend, it is Friday. 

Summer on Crumbly Acres

I'll get back to the Fantasy in the Forest photos. It was amazing, and you have to appreciate the artisans as much as the artwork! 

Here at home, the hops vine is growing. I don't do anything with the hops, but the butterflies and tree frogs love the habitat! 

I had drained the bird bath, since the water fountain is much more popular. The 48 mm (2") rain we had filled it! I plugged the pump in.

Summertime! I may have to trim some of those branches...

Horsefly! Yep, the mosquitoes are slowing up, the deerflies are crazy bad, too.

The phoebes have fledged! The robins have as well. 

There was a clever suggestion to drill holes in Emily's basket. I went for it. The pansies died, and I replaced them with another plant.

I have more daylilies to divide and replant.

Angel's Trumpet, Datura, or Devil's Trumpet?! It reseeded itself.

It is true! What the salesperson told me were cherry tomatoes – are Romas.

The goldfish pond is doing well. I snapped a shot of a wee green frog. The next day, the waterlilies were in bloom.

The orchid cactus is in bloom!

Fred appears to be gathering up fresh grass to feed their kits. 

Fred July 16 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬 🛬

Our fearsome foursome flyers are 14,900 km away in Singapore now! This is the view from their hotel.

They are all really good with chopsticks! 

Frogs, frogs, frogs!

 These are the goldfish pond froggies. They are quite happy to be in the water. It's been dry. The wetland no longer has puddles. The problem is that the pond is too shallow for overwintering for them. I shall wait for Autumn rains to fill the frogpond and shuffle them down. If you recall, The goldfishies are in!, I moved 20 to the frogpond from the goldfish pond in 2015. 

Above is leopard frogs, below a green frog. You can tell by the green chins.

They aren't the only frogs about. The back deck is habitat for three gray tree frogs. I thought they deserved attention, too. Too soon they'll be hibernating under the leaf and forest debris.

Out on the back deck, I pulled out the footrest on my Muskoka chair and found a friend. It's the young one. I can tell where they all go, as they poop wherever they are. This one pooped inside my cup holder. I did laugh. I put him up on the railing.

The middle-sized one was singing inside the BBQ base. It took me a few minutes to find it. This one chose to be green, they can change colour.

Here is the older, bigger adult. He is the busy one, which I measured last month.

For more critters: visit Saturday's Critters # 404.

What a week!

Yes, that was a week. New air conditioner, repairs to the fireplace, and cataract surgery referral. 

We had a great week with the girls. Lots of good food: pears, small pies for dessert (blueberry and rhubarb), leftover meatloaf, dumplings with coleslaw and spiralized carrots. 

We managed a swim on Thursday. It's not as big as their pool at home, but the three of us fit in.

Isabelle has fun with her sunblock shirt. 

Toweling off, we shared a moment.

Nutmeg was quite friendly.

Puzzle time

There are 7 frogs in the goldfish pond. With the dryness, they began to move in. We've since had rain. 

Next, the water snake and garter snakes will be back.

The doe managed to 'trim' my two transplanted hostas. Ah well.

What I love about this time of year are the hummingbird hawk moths and the sphinx moths, who frequent the monarda and other flowers.

Macroglossum

For more critters: 

Saturday's Critters #344

I told the girls about the baby flicker in the nest, but no one wanted to face the bugs!

baby flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.