July unfolds as it should

I took a deermouse, a small one, away from Cinnamon. Putting it back in the garden, I thought it safe. 

I found it, again, and it startled me! It was on top of the plant stand. There is no food there. It scampered down.

Two days in a row I've been gazing skyward and spotted the merlin fly over with a chipmunk or something. Tuesday, I heard a commotion,. The baby crows are still quite vocal.  Just as I put down the the video camera, the merlin popped out of the forest canopy, chased by a crow.

I thought that once the snow left us, Oregano, our feral friend, wouldn't be here. There are potential meals all over the place.  Lo, and behold! He was eating a part of a bagel I'd thrown out. oregano 1  

  

Not only that, but he must have followed the wetland shoreline, and was down in the meadow. Oregano  

  

You'll recall I found Blond Butch with two kits a few weeks ago. Here she was with three kits. They had a brief fight over the bagel pieces. Blond Butch & kits 

  

Deeper in the wetland, Momma deer and fawn. Apparently, the fawn needed a bit of a clean up! Fawn doe buck  

  

The other day, sometime in June, I spotted the male rose-breasted grosbeak on the railing. I didn't have a camera handy. This time, it was the female! My feeders are gone, of course. There are too many critters about, including Butch and the bears. female grosbeak  

 

We're in for some rain, a strange long weather system going east. You can tell from the built up ant hill!

I cleaned and drained our kiddie pool yesterday. Today's high is 16 C. Not particularly conducive to swimming! 

Inuk leader Mary Simon named Canada's 1st Indigenous governor general

The big news in Canadian politics is that PM Trudeau has named an Innu to be our new Governor General (GG). (The previous one, a former astronaut) resigned for being a bully to her staff!) The GG is the Queen's representative in Canada. Debating the need for that would be moot, as it is a ceremonial role. She sounds like an amazing person, speaking English and Inuktitut.  

Operation Inspiration

Our snowbirds flew by. It's "Operation Inspiration."

They were flying from Ottawa to Perth, Smiths Falls and then on to Belleville. We were pumped. On their Twitter feed they said they were 10 minutes late leaving. So, 10:40 they were leaving. It was so cold!

I could hear people on Otty Lake cheering. They saw them in Perth, I read online. It was too cloudy for us! Such a disappointment.

Lots of people captured them, though.

The @CFSnowbirds fly over the former Kingston Penitentiary site and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in #ygk during their cross-country tour pic.twitter.com/19ZX13xosQ

— Elliot Ferguson (@Elliotatthewhig) May 8, 2020

It's quite cold these days. This is not normal May weather. We average around 16 C., as I recall.

The daffodils are still fine.

The rose-breasted grosbeaks are back! It's amazing how different they are, males and females.

COVID–19 continues to shape our lives. The LCBO, where JB went to get me some wine.

Apparently, Cinnamon went down to the dock. This is the first time. They ducks were wary, and hopeful he'd feed them, too! I put cracked corn in the pot.

Cinnamon & ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Butch raccoon made a visit, as well.

Frog pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters...

Bird feeder action: Saturday's Critters

I like my 'fat head', and spent some time stuffing his holes with bird seed! It was worth it. The woodpecker practically ignored me.


The evening grosbeaks have been visiting every afternoon! The males have a golden eyebrow, and more colour.


The juvie cardinal has figured out the feeder, finally!


In the meantime, I was at the bird seed cans in the garage, and found a poor, trapped soul. The yard stick worked quite well. They don't eat much. I cannot begrudge them a feed seeds.


In the video, I just added some forest bird sounds, since I was indoors filming outside and someone was watching curling! "Hurry, hurry hard!"

Saturday's Critters #255

Birds, and Wile E. Coyote # and #3

I was off at my client's house, hubby noticed four evening grosbeaks on the bird feeder. The bonus was, he realized how dirty the window was, and cleaned it!



I love the grosbeaks. We have both evening grosbeaks and rose-breasted grosbeaks. The 3rd photo, below, is a male juvenile, in transition to adulthood.

Back down to the forest...
It is, with great excitement, that I present my second and third videos of coyotes! They are handsome critters. If you watch carefully, you will see Butch raccoon quickly climbing a tree upon hearing Wile approach! That cycle of life... This was 8-ish in the morning, just prior to hubby's walk that day. I see them on my walks the odd time, but not very often. They know to fear humans.



I'd love to use the video feature on the trailcam, but it takes too much battery power. Two appeared at once. They are getting accustomed to the light.

Saturday's Critters #254

May tales: backyard trailcam

May are firsts. First one back from migration, first one seen from hibernation.
May 3, first male rose-breasted grosbeak was spotted. Soon, they'll be nesting. I put a female beside for comparison, but I haven't seen her yet!


Every year, I dig out the pathway stones, lovingly laid be previous owners. This year, a blue-spotted salamander. Now the condition of my hand tells you this. I tugged one bit of moss, thought I should go get gardening gloves, then tugged another, and it led to this. What was the point, then?!


The phoebe has settled in the shed for their nest. They had trouble making up their minds. First two attempts were on the deck beams.


This is so funny! The same backyard...
A skunk, Hooper, raccoon, two raccoons, chipmunk, bunny, Hooper!