Saturday's Critters

 Here we are. Saturday again. We've a power outage tomorrow morning. Hydro will be replacing a post somewhere near us. Hopefully, we'll see you on the other side of that.

I'm working on some videos of Jeremiah Bullfrog. Here is a screen shot! We had some flying ants all around the goldfish pond. Isn't that a heckuva tongue?!

Galloping skunk

   

I put out a muffin. Butch stole it. Mousie ate the crumbs. This is the Birdcam. A handy little tool.

   

 I found an SD Card in the forest, beside the Frog pond trailcam. You can see that a year apart, they still pee on camera. We've only had a single coyote lately. I heard two yipping at 11:30 on night. I know there is more than one this year.

   

 I have seen three Monarchs recently eclosed, hatched out and flapping their wings to dry!

 

The fisher whips through!

 

Saturday's Critters # 561 <= visit more critters at Eileen's site!

A busy few days

 That was a day! It went from 5 ℃. up to 24!

🚚 I had a nice email from the company whose van that kept tailing me last week, trying to pass in unsafe conditions. I'd emailed the Operations Manager, who got back to me to let me know that he was going to speak to the two drivers. 

The day began! 

Rather than sitting here in parkas, I turned on the heat, after I figured out I'd put on the A/C at first. 😏 Cinnamon snuggled up on the foot stool, over the heat vent. He sort of fell off and supported himself with a paw on the floor.

We've had deer about. The fawn hasn't been anywhere near the house, as far as I know.

I was out looking at the goldfish pond, watching Jeremiah Bullfrog. He croaked a couple of times – great big bullfrog gallumps.  There were three leopard frogs in the pond. A dragonfly landed and Jeremiah went after it. A leopard frog took off in fear for its life.

 

In the afternoon, a Monarch eclosed! They hang vertically until their wings harden up after they've unfolded.

Things are happening in the forest.

Coyote shares the forest with the deer!  

 The doe bedded down in the forest.  

 The little fawn.

 

Saturday's Critters

 People are so kind to say they are fans of my critter posts. It lifts me up. I have fun watching our critters. The challenge is to film them. It keeps me sharp and gives me some goals.

I emerged from the meadow, rising up the path, to find a lovely bird. I must admit I was slightly disappointed it was 'just' a young robin with speckles on its breast, but in the grand scheme of things I cannot be disappointed. I know I am privileged to live here.

robin from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

In the forest, finally a couple of critters, Butch and a coyote. They've been hiding out from the bugs.

Coyote and Butch from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Chad coyote had to 'powder his nose' in front of the camera, as usual!

coyote from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Butch was in the meadow, as well.

Butch raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The fawn slipped across the camera's field of vision!

fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Someone was sniffing, I think the doe!

sniffer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Also, the flying critters: lots of bees and bugs frequent ther Viper's Bugloss.

Bugloss insects from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The monarch

monarch butterfly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Visit Eileen's Saturday's Critters  for more critters.

Saturday's Critters # 450

Birds, butterflies, Bugloss and Bambi

UPDATE: Burlington is still fighting naturalization. 

‘You want to fine them $10,000 a day?’ The City of Burlington fought this family’s natural garden — and then razed it anyway June, 2023 

 "As a penalty, the city had threatened an astonishing $10,000-a-day fine until the yard was remedied to their standards — a notice the city also sent to the Barneses’ mortgage company." 

 "Donnelly also represented landscape ecologist Nina-Marie Lister and her husband, Jeremy Guth, in 2020 when the City of Toronto said the front-yard meadow of their sprawling Wychwood-area home needed to be cut back. "

  ‘What kind of barbarian would mow buttercups?’: The city tried to rip up a local ecologist’s natural garden. Now she’s fighting back – Oct., 2020

"Nina-Marie Lister and her husband Jeremy Guth turned their lawn into a wildlife and pollinator paradise. But complaints from neighbours led them to lawyer up and ask the city to rethink its rules for gardens."

🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀

 I had a man visit us, asking if our house was for sale. His wife drives into Perth for work, and she  notices a lot of deer roadkill. I explained that the deer have a large range, and wander a lot. It's safer if predators don't know where they are! Deer are crepuscular, and move around dawn and dusk.

backyard doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Said stranger also wondered why we aren't cutting the lawn. I love the wildflowers, and cut them down judiciously after they bloom. It isn't cool to have a natural lawn in many areas. A Toronto resident fought and won in 1996. Smiths Falls, for example: Couple's win forces Smiths Falls to revisit approach to 'naturalized' lawns. Where they are from, in Seattle, it is common. You see them from time-to-time in cities, but not often. They had a neighbour report them:

Last October, the couple noticed their yard was an item on the council agenda, accompanied by a 17-page report that detailed neighbours' complaints and recommended they be required to tame their yard. Council agreed, and an order was issued.

Many people have a war with dandelions. Not us! There are lots of lovely 'weeds' that bring the critters.

Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) – many insects like it, even Monarchs! They consume lots of varieties of pollen, but only lay their eggs on Milkweed. The Bugloss buds are pink, then lavender-coloured. 

I was sitting on the back deck and noticed a butterfly. 

question mark butterfly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Eastern Comma vs. Question Mark you can tell them apart from the three dots and a dash on the Question Mark. When the wings are closed, there is a question mark.

They love our Hops vine, and often lay eggs on it. The Hops are climbing up to the roof.

 

Don't forget the birds!

There was wild splashing in the bird bath!

bird bath splash from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

tree sparrows from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Bees, birds, and other friends

 Monday morning someone was in the bathroom at 4 a.m., and he heard the barred owls not only calling, but screeching. That is an interesting sign. Mating calls are done, and they are the most amazing, the calling back and forth! "who-cooks-for-you!" My sightings: 🐦BARRED OWL.

2017

 

I did see phoebe on the weekend, and heard his song. You can see how dry we are. He sits atop the heron in the front yard.

The babies are grown. I shall miss them. They are bug eaters and migrate.

I really enjoy watching the critters as they frantically prepare for winter. Below, the thistle plant and a bee. I spotted a goldfinch on it the other day, but I was too slow for a photo.

Monarch on catnip

I went to do the garbage, and spotted some birds up a tree. I think starlings, but many birds are flocking together in preparation for migration. Underneath the tree, was a doe and fawn!

After a rough last week, we look ahead to this one. Walkies truly help. Our grandies go to school for the first day on Thursday. They did virtual school all last year. 

I sat for a time on the back deck. Cinnamon was up to something. He kept jumping up here, around the hops vine. "He is a busy lad," as JB says fondly.

Three robins were bathing in the water fountain, which I'd cleaned that day. robins  

Then there were the gulls. I couldn't tell what they were at first - from looking through the videocamera. It was a beautiful sight, soaring around and around. Perhaps a dozen, but they are most difficult to count.

Fetching the zoom lens I had a better chance. That, and I grabbed my reading glasses. Turns out, I don't need them with the zoom lens. And, yes, I still need to get the camera cleaned, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. We've a cancer treatment this week.

Now, videocameras only have autofocus, it was a bit tricky. I even rested my elbows on the railing for a bit more stability.

gulls from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Bathroom, bears, rain

I enjoy the self-deprecating humour of fellow bloggers. Here is one for you! OK, two stories. I had two jobs: 1) to clean out the water fountain, it gets icky. 2) to wash the bathroom floor. Everytime I enter the bathroom, I figure I ought to do the floor, leave the room, and promptly forget until I enter the room again! Ah, old age rears its ugly head. 

There were only a couple pieces of toilet paper left. I took the old roll off, and threw it into the cat's water fountain. I meant to chuck it into the garbage. No wonder I'm not playing softball anymore! (Actually, that's because of shin splints at the time, but I digress!)

I should have hurried. You KNOW what happens when toilet paper gets into water!

I didn't want cats drinking toilet paper water. I got on that. The fountain is cleaned, dried, and replaced. floor is done, I finally remembered.

We had a bit of a clean up this month, more a decluttering, last time the girls were here. We sent them home with the bin of Lego, to donate as appropriate. The girls just don't play with it anymore. They read. A lot! 

JB kept three little Lego kits aside, and took them into town to a worker he chats with at the park in the early morning. The man has a son, age 8, and JB thought he'd enjoy them. The son made him a thank you card! Isn't that sweet?!

 🐻SNUGGLE Bears

The latest: bear reading a book about bears! "What Bears Teach Us" It's a great book. The photos are amazing.

Her friends wanted to her to read to them. 

Saturday morning, actual rain! Only 2 mm. It's been a really dry month.

You can see how brown and crunchy the lawn is. I went over it with the tractor the other day. In the shade, it is better. The front garden is toast.

I was so happy to see rain, I snapped photos. The poor false sunflowers are drying out. The phlox is doing well.

I went out to water the cherry tomatoes, and found a visitor. The first photos were at 9:24, the last one 10:54. I rather think it eclosed there. That's a long time for a monarch to stay put. I scoured the plant for the evidence, but couldn't find it.

You can see how the wings aren't quite flat. Eventually, they dried and he flew off! You can tell it is a male, since he has a dot near the bottom of the wing.

 We've still got female hummers. hummingbird  

A 10-point buck! 10-point buck  

The Fox was here in the daytime. 

In the backyard, I spotted the merlin. I found this archived photo of a turkey vulture and the merlin. They are so quick.

They just soar. I'm getting better at filming with my reading glasses on! merlin 

Saturday's Critters

I went outside to check the trailcams and spotted a little garter snake! So cute...

JB went walkies with the girls at Stewart Park in town. They spotted a snapping turtle.

On the trailcam, I found Chad coyote. (The grandies named them Chad!) They really don't like the trailcam light in the dark, and are wary. chad coyote  

  

I was down in the forest Wednesday, and it was really hot and humid. I could hear several birds up in the canopy. The poor videocamera fogged up, since it was inside in the air conditioning.

  

great crested flycatcher 

I wasn't sure the species, as I couldn't see them through the foggy lens. Coming back to the house, I sat down with the video and the BirdNET app, and it identified them for me. Of course. 

The humidity is incredible. You can see it on the video.

goldfish pond 

I've counted 7 frogs in it this week. As the wetland dries up they look for new habitat.

I've let the weeds grow in the backyard. The thistle is coming along. A lot of critters like it. bugs on thistle  

Then, of course, the monarchs on the thistle  . They feed on lots of different flowers, but only lay their eggs on milkweed. 

For more critters, visit: Saturday's Critters # 400. Eileen has hosted 400 now.