Saturday's Critters

We said goodbye to our grandies after Gramma Camp 2023. It was an epic week. Lots of heat, lots of deerflies, but we had a good time.

They are off home, and soon off to their overseas trip. Yes, I am the shortest! 

The birds continue to love the water fountain. I spotted a scarlet tanager there, but didn't have a camera!

  

The water fountain attracts a lot of birds, as well as the ones nesting around the house.

The robins are on brood #2 (3 of them), the phoebes, as well. The phoebes have 4 chicks. There is much flying back and forth going on. 

The ospreys are nesting nearby.

Fred is still active! Having built a nest, seeing them run back and forth with leaves, I imagine there are babies involved.

Fred jun 27 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Fred June 30th from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Down in the forest, I've found it interesting having two cameras focused on this busy path between the wetland and the frogpond. There is extra light from the alternate camera.

coyote Jul 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐣They have all fledged, but remain around the house.

Last house wren from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They are a wee bird species, but fun to watch.They have fledged, three, I think. The poor catalpa tree is a welcome roost for many. In the winter, a barred owl landed here in the dark.

It seems to be momma and porcupette!

house wren from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

porcupines from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

To top things off, the big bear was here! I was miffed. He missed the second trailcam on the left. Just waltzed under it, I guess. 

 

Bear July 6 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 Saturday's Critters # 499  Thanks to Eileen for celebrating our critters!

June is Pride Month

Conspirituality = conspiracy theories

When we know better –we do better. Some of us. Some use click bait, and use confirmation bias to mine conspiracy theories. This is why we need diverse sources and a means to identify unreliable sources. This is a new book on the market:

    Conspirituality takes a deep dive into the troubling phenomenon of influencers who have curdled New Age spirituality and wellness with the politics of paranoia—peddling vaccine misinformation, tales of child trafficking, and wild conspiracy theories. ... Google Books

🌈 I watched an interview with someone who is part of Stand In Pride. These are people who will stand in during Gay marriages, for *nearlyweds who are alienated from their parents who do not accept their choices. There is a Canadian Facebook group for them, as well. 

Stand In Pride Canada 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

:  I think it is brilliant! 

         *Gender neutral terms for non-binary or LGBTQ weddings include marriers, celebrants, nearlyweds. Bachlorx, best person, person of honour, attendants, are some other handy terms.

There was an incident, in Kelowna, B.C., east of Vancouver. Thankfully, we can learn from it. This grandfather, Tesar, accused a pair of girls (gr. 4, age 9) for being boys or trans kids. Such ignorance. Prior to puberty, kids are pretty equal. They said the man's wife then started calling her (the parent) "a genital mutilator, a groomer, and a pedophile." 

We of the older generation must do our best to learn about young people and society today. We cannot 'judge a book by its cover.' Those accusing people of being groomers, are hurting innocent children. The poor 9-year-old was distraught. You cannot convince someone to be gay. Let's worry more about actual predators. 

Alright, back to nature. Tuesday afternoon I visited my client. We watched the Trump indictment. It was entertaining for both of us! 

Breeding season unfolds

The geese are raising their goslings, who are growing!

House Wrens!

House Wren June 10 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Canada Geese June 12 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters

I had to share this. I was walking by the frogpond to fetch trailcam cards. Right here, I flushed a timberdoodle from the edge of the water. You'll have to use your imagination. The American Woodcock (AKA Timberdoodle) is flighty! I wanted to mark the spot to look for a nest. 

It is nesting season in southeastern Ontario. It is a delightful time of year. I've two nests under the upper deck. [ 🐣ROBINS | 🐣PHOEBE] Also, the 🐦Wood ducks are nesting on the back 40. I walked back to check, and flushed her from the nest. Figured I might as well look. I was pretty discouraged, as I've been hosting Wood ducks since 2014!

 What do you think: 12 eggs? They are known for having 6 – 15 eggs. They will incubate for about 30 days. This is a screen capture of the video: 

The flicker watches as I walk by... they must be nesting, as well. 

  

Flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Next up, roaming guest Pepper. – on both cameras!

 

Pepper May 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The 🐣HOUSE WREN  began by filling the green bird house. Their songs are delightful. They like to fill the nests to keep out larger birds. Also, to hedge their bets, I'll bet.

  

I won't be able to see the eggs, if they end up nesting here. This is how they stuff their nests.

Now they are filling the bluebird nest box! 

 

phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think she is pregnant! They could give birth any time.

 

pregnant doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've massive amounts of purple and white wild violets, the dandelions are out, things are blooming! Here are the bleeding hearts.

 Bumbling around the dandelions!

bumble bee from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I prepared this post Friday, and after lunch ventured out. Not too many bugs, as the wind is terrific. The phoebe nest under the deck is active. I think this is the cowbird egg that hatched. I am loathe to mess with nature. I suspect the one egg in the other phoebe nest is a cowbird, as well. 

phoebe hatching from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Visit more critters here: Saturday's Critters # 492. Thanks to Eileen for hosting.

Saturday's Critters

We are teeming with the promise of spring. We've two phoebe nests, a robin's nest, as well as the House Wrens who are filling two boxes!

Aside from last week's bucks, I haven't seen many deer except this one on the trailcam. They are off to their summer habitats.

forest deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The frogpond is teeming with life.

May 8th, tadpoles and fairy shrimp in the frogpond.

tadpoles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I was enjoying the back deck, and a bumble bee got stuck on my side of the glass!

bumble bee from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

A regular visitor, Butch came by the frogpond trailcam.

butch raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We don't have any wood ducks nesting in any of our three nest boxes. They are around, however. They go from the frogpond on the right, to the wetland on the left.

ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

May 7th, we had a coyote go by. It has unusual markings that will make it easy to spot. I posted it to the FB trailcam page, wondering if it might be a fox. I was duly corrected! It appeared again.

 

coyote from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters, visit Eileen! Saturday's Critters # 491

 

Walkies, flowers, owl pellets

 I took Cinnamon walkies. He found a spot where something had eaten a bird. He was quite keen on inspecting it. The mosquitoes are really bad, hovering about a foot off of the ground all throughout the forest.

The wetland is greening up. 

You can see where the ice storm forced the trees and bushes to fall over.

This fungus is growing on some downed birch trees.

cinnamon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 I'd heard the barred owls, and we found TWO owl pellets. This is the result of the owls regurgitating the fur and bones they are unable to digest. Of course I took them apart to see what they'd been eating. I took a photo of the spot, just in case they are regular visitors here. When we had a pair nesting in the backyard, the male had a favourite tree. I took a photo trying to remember where to look again! 

Two vole skulls!

We went to the Smiths Falls market and bought some plants for summer. I planted JB's cherry tomato hanging basket.

The water is slowly going down to normal levels. We sat here waiting for the light to change on the Rideau Ferry Bridge! They are working on it until July, and there are traffic lights for a single lane.

Fred groundhog appeared. I took this through the screen, just in case he ran away when I opened the door. A cute little photo, I've yet to get a good one of him.

He went back to feeding on the grass.

Then he heard me, and fled the scene. Back under the lower deck to safety.

Here we go. Another sunny day. I've wood to stack, but I think I will wait until the birds hatch. The House Wrens are back, as well as the phoebe and robin's nests under the deck. The back deck is not too buggy, what with all our flying friends.