Crumbly Acres Critters

April 9 – buddies!

More artsy photos. I figured it out. The battery was low. I think.

Here is a trio: Dratted Red Squirrel (DRS), Labbit and doe at the feeder.

The birds had frantic fun in the snow. I topped up feeders as they looked somewhat desperate.

Four starlings and a grackle. Sort of sharing!

Dratted Red Squirrel watching the action. Cinnamon was watching DRS!

Bunny, and deer

Not much luck with the trailcam and saw-whet owl nest box. I bought the nesting box when one showed up on year. The hawk killed it. I was so sad. This was February, 2015.

This camera trap is tricky. I have to tip the camera up. I wish bear hadn't destroyed my camera mount I screwed into the tree! There was no action captured, even though the squirrel was there. 

The camera on the left;
saw-whet owl nest box, right.

More debris sticking out. 

It is lovely out there.

I think our fox!

Our snow has since melted.

Saturday's Critters # 591 <= visit more critter's at Eileen's page.

OK, have to feature this one. People are so creative. Watch for the Navy Seals! 

  

Nest box and deer

 Snow, ice rain, more rain. The weather has been upsy downsy. As well as the temperatures. Below freezing overnight, then 21 ℃. Soon the goldfish pond will be melted, and goldfish can go out to play.

Last year I moved 154 frogs from the goldfish pond down to the frog pond. In the melt, I found 4 little dead frog bodies. Once they are trapped under the ice there was nothing I could do. They needed to get down to the bottom in the mud, but that didn't happen.

Wood Duck Nest box repairs

Every year I watch for wood ducks. We have two nest boxes. One at the frog pond. Another in the back 40 on the wetland. I keep 🦆track of their progress. 

This was two years ago. It needed to be cleaned out and fresh shavings put into the box.

I'd moved this nest box back in Feb., 2023. We had a duck nest in it that spring (Wood ducking).  

Then Momma bear and two cubs came for a visit.  Momma Bear and Two Cubs📹, June 6th. This is a screen capture of the action.

Back to present day! Down we went to the back 40. I had requested assistance! (I was carrying the ladder!)

Can you see Cinnamon roaring along behind Joe?

Inside the box, a wasp nest. I removed whilst perched on my ladder. It was tricky. It was really stuck.

Behind the nest box, Cinnamon was roaring up and down trees! He flings himself up the tree, then comes back down like a firefighter. Back feet first. Then a final jump for the last few feet.

Somebody in my house is running around putting Canadian flags on everything. 

The deer are on their last half bag of food. A couple of them look pregnant. This is a good sign!

Just for fun, this was June, 2014. You can see a hoof sticking out.

Dratted Red Squirrels!

 I think spring will be early this year. I spotted mosquitos down by the frog pond. The brown creeper was another sign. I decided to work on the nest box. The ducks come and check out the wetland. I want to be ready.

I went back to the rehung nest box Sunday, and screwed in the hex, and stapled the baffle to the tree. The wood across the face of it is looking pretty rotten. There is a slit all the way down from the top to the bottom. I'll have to remember to try patch it somehow. Although truthfully, they nest in dead trees otherwise! The hole is carefully sized for wood ducks. I hope the piece doesn't fall out. 

 

The baffle is supposed to prevent squirrels, weasels, and raccoons from getting into the boxes. The bears are another story. The weasel hopped across the canopy and destroyed the eggs one year. I may regret the placement, but we shall see. Soon, I'll put a trailcam up in front and watch the actions.

I noticed a red squirrel who appears to be pregnant. There were 4 of them out front, and she chased another one away. A 5th squirrel was out back near the deer feeder. They are prolific but, as JB pointed out, they have a lot of predators. 

  

pregnant squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The squirrels are also eating things like leaf buds. This was a Bala squirrel from 2009.  They really are pretty little things. Also, aggressive!

This is the nest they created in this nest box, called a drey, in July 2015. They got into the wood duck boxes. The wood ducks are finished nesting in July. The squirrel moved in.

 

You can see the babies deep down in the nesting materials. They are furless!

Finally, I thought I needed a haircut. Ya think This was after I'd been tromping outside, getting sweaty in a ball cap. 

I am on hair stylist #4 since COVID. It's always a crap shoot. I was quite pleased! It was a nice, quiet Tuesday in the salon. That was a bonus. 

I had a new respite client in the afternoon. That went fairly well despite having some chest pains from stress.  We brought dinner in. I was pretty fried, mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

The House Wrens are gone!

🐣HOUSE WRENS

This is the egg left in the first nesting in May/June. 
So teeny weeny!

The wrens have fledged for the second time, and I cleaned out the boxes. They must have left on Friday, Aug. 19th, when we were away for lunch. You would have laughed! The boxes sit on a bracket, you can see it in the screen images below. It was the only way I could think of mounting them. 

Goodbye little wrens! Fly safely!

August 20th

I put the ladder up. Grabbing the cordless drill, I actually tested it. Dead battery. I switched them out and I climbed up. I couldn't get access to the screws underneath, as the top ladder wrung was blocking it. Back down the ladder, lower it one step, and back UP the ladder. I managed to remove two of the three screws, but the third was stubborn. Back down the ladder for a screwdriver. Back up the ladder and I removed the third screw, and climbed down with the drill, and nesting box in either hand.

It is impressive, isn't it? They are teeny birds, and really stuff it in order to prevent other birds from entering. The only way of cleaning the boxes is to remove the bottom.

It's rather cool that they butted the nest up against the back wall. It was so delightful to hear them chittering for food. If they heard me, they shut right up.

I washed the inside of the box, and left it to dry. I know I'd seen them taking sticks into the red and white box, so after the green box dried, and I rehung it, I worked on that one. Washed the box off, debris removed, back up the ladder with the box in one hand, the drill in my other. This time there was a ledge beside my ladder. Despite that, I dropped a screw. I set the nest box on the top rung of the ladder to better hold the drill, and it fell off hitting me in the face and collar bone. Just to add injury to insult! 

Ta da! Ready for next year! That said, I'm still peeking out of the kitchen window looking for them.