Who goes there?

The garden confounds me. The lawns are a mess. I keep picking up tick nymphs on myself. The lawn tractor has gone for repairs. I cannot start it. This is where they hide, in the grass. It is perfect for the ticks. 

 You can see the ticks on the doe's legs, back and front. 

doe ticks June 4 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yucca plant is throwing up a flower stalk. 

The Weigela is dropping blossoms. The Hops vine carries on up!

Can you see the White Admiral butterfly? I usually take a photo when I spot it, then try to move closer. Such cooperation this time!

I am having a fun time with a certain spider! It is quite clever, as the moths turn on the light as they flit by. It is a perfect place for a web.

 If you watch it, you'll see a little moth land in the web in the upper right. Spidey is quick to finish it off! 

Spider tails from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I don't know if the videos show bats or moths. We have both. Consensus from other camera owners is difficult, Bat or Imperial Moth. Someone suggested a flying squirrel, but they truly glide, and don't fly upwards. The photo is from June, 2012. I suspect this is what we see in the dark. They are huge!

UFOs in the night

moths from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is our big bear, May 31. Out in the daytime. We didn't see him anywhere the house, thankfully. At least not this day!

Bear comes and goes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Fall tails

We are settling in for winter. My next chore is to bring the snowblower up to the garage from the shed, ready to do the driveway. I usually ask my SIL to do this over Thanksgiving, but I forgot! 

JB is off to the dry cleaners to have shirts folded for the winter closet.  

It's time for yummy crock pot meals that simmer all day, chile. Maybe meatloaf! The wood is stacked. I hope I ordered enough... We've the girls next week, we're prepping for that. 

In the evening, in the cold and the dark, we are watching a DVD series called Damages (2007 – 2012), with Glenn Close. Also, there are lots of actors with various roles: Ted Danson, Timothy Olyphant, Judd Hirsch, Martin Short, William Hurt, John Goodman, Keith Carradine, Len Cariou. 

 

It started off with twists and turns and cliff hangers. Season 3 is somewhat darker. We'll see how it goes!

This, I think, is our last tree with leaves!

Some moths still about, but not for long!

Well, it is back. It doesn't seem to come near the house, just circling around the edge of the wetland. 

Fisher Oct 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The trailcam isn't fast. I just caught a shoulder and tail of the coyote. 

trailcam from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The turkey chicks are getting bigger. I wonder if they can fly now. Adults prefer walking, as it takes less energy, but fly to escape our coyotes. 

wild turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I love the porcupines. This is from another year, 2012. 

The porcupine is fattening up for winter. I love its waddle from behind.

porcupine Oct 17 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

My videocamera is on its last legs, but you can see the critters out the front window! 

doe fawn frontyard from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've been restricting cat time outdoors, although it's not difficult with our rain! It's not a lot, but it sprinkles some. Overnight we had a big rainfall.

Cinnamon is my lap cat!

I don't know if Nutmeg is teething or just bored! 

Nutmeg the Cat from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

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.

#elxn43, Chrysalis, moths, etc.

The seasons are changing. Yet, Tuesday morning we had a storm front go through, and Wednesday it was quite humid.

• ELECTION43

Along with the seasonal change, the Writ Has Dropped in Canada on Wednesday. We are in election mode until Oct. 21st. The government is in caretaker mode. Deep breath!!!

 #cdnpoli #elxn43 https://t.co/OF3sA60XHR

— Marieke Walsh (@MariekeWalsh) September 11, 2019

This means our government will NOT ratify USMCA (AKA NAFTA 2.0), all federal government business shuts down. My son-in-law has been campaigning. He was on Power and Politics yesterday. We are so proud of him!

GO, JL, GO! He has been out campaigning in his electric car!

Soon, this will be frozen and white!

The critters

I moved it from the backyard, where it was munching a milkweed plant that was nearly stripped bare!

I found two more monarch caterpillars on the front lawn. I'm not sure they have time to morph. We shall see. You'll notice the leaves are being stripped by both monarchs and tufted milkweed moth caterpillars!

Just as we were about to leave for Gananoque, I spotted three critters (monarch caterpillar, tufted milkweed caterpillar, beetle) sharing the milkweed plant


In the backyard, a monarch on the chicken wire protecting my hibiscus.

The moths

These are big moths. There were two Tuesday on the front porch.

an underwing! If only I'd peeked at it!
Catocala amatrix

Then, this pretty fancy one.

Polygonia interrogationis

On the back deck, question mark butterflies have now numbered 20! Two in the aquarium have gone black, and I think died. Natural selection, I guess. Monarch Watch says there is a problem with hand-raised cats. I thought they were fine in the aquarium. Apparently, they need natural light and dark periods.


They are slowly eclosing in the aquarium, as well as on the walls! There is one under the pad of the bench, to the left of the aquarium.


This one was just out, and on the roof of the back deck. It's hanging off of its old shell. You can see the one on the door frame, waiting for its time.


I am always amazed with their patterns. They can hide pretending to be a leaf, until they open their wings. They spend 7 to 18 days in chrysalis, I just found out.