Garden delights

The milkweed in the foreground has had its buds munched! (Guess who?)

In spite of that, I put some barriers in, and I actually have one zucchini! And milkweed.

Then there is my formerly beautiful, pink petunia planter. I moved it here, since Fred cannot climb the metal. So far.

They are growing back after Fred mowed them down. Fingers crossed!

Cinnamon was doing his part. The Freds bear watching...

 

Do you enjoy clouds? 

I had a pedicure. I match my garden art!

The Cedar Waxwings are amazing. I videotaped them, but used the zoom lens for photos, as well. They are so quick to move.

 I caught one on the Gardepro camera. BTW – Phoebe's eggs have hatched. You can see one flying about at the 7 second mark. Then the Cedar Waxwings do a fly by!

 

Fred is a tireless worker, until they are not! You can see dirt on its nose. Look at those claws! We've a heat wave and I didn't see much of them yesterday.

#75  (I think!)

Song Sparrow must have another brood.

Even the Pileated Woodpecker gave me some trouble. This is a screenshot of the video (below left). The 2nd image is from the archives.

Caitlin has travelled from YOW to YUL, to ZRH and on to HEL, Finland. She had a lovely ferry ride around some islands, then went by ferry to Tallinn, Estonia. 

This is the Russian Embassy in Tallinn!

Sunny days, cooler nights

The weather has been interesting. There are trees that are looking amazing. 

Sunny days, cold night with frost in the morning. 

 

Oct. 2nd I noticed this! 

It had to be a pileated woodpecker, like these.

Setting up the trailcam in front of it, I found Oct. 12th that there was no evidence of a woodpecker, but more damage was done. MYSTERY!

I wasn't optimistic! 

 

I have hung on to these photos hoping I'd catch the culprit, but all I found was a Downy or Hairy woodpecker. Not the Pileated Woodpecker I'd expected.

Saturday's Critters

Welcome to Saturday's Critters. Thanks to Eileen who faithfully hosts! Saturday's Critters # 485

We had snowfall Wednesday late afternoon. This predates it, but with the new snow it is more timely. Saturday morning, we've a ton of rain. Merry April!

 

frontyard deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Butch is really awake.

Butch & co. from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Pileated woodpeckers are amazing birds!

Here she was, right outside the window.

pileated woodpecker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Cinnamon was watching the deer.

 

cinnamon & the deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Cardinal

I finally figured out that he is trying to attack a rival, his image in the shed window. He does this on the front window, too, and grabs the cats' attention. They are very territorial now, leading up to nesting season.

cardinal from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Serendipity – if a tree falls in the frogpond

 I'm still wrestling with getting the ducks on the frogpond on the camera! 

I managed to capture the deer. No ducks.

frogpond deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The camera on the dock bounces in the wind. It's on a pole inside the support post for the dock. I wedged a large stick in to keep it still. 

You can see the tree stump in the above photo. The stump has proven to be a great attractant. Cinnamon I videotaped walking along it. I posted that the other day. 

The pileated woodpecker has been after it. I noticed the wood shavings,  two holes, and reset the camera.

Sure enough, the pileated woodpecker was looking for bugs. It rained, the wood ducks were keen. Maybe the shavings looked like cracked corn?!

pileated woodpecker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Not only did the woodpecker like the stump, but the ducks thought the log required some inspection!

wood ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, Butch walked along the log. I picked them up on both cameras at the same time. The light from the one camera. I thought it quite artistic!

Butch from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I was on a mission

I'd visited the 'back 40' in December, Forest walkies, and noticed that the porcupine had worked on a tree. I should have been checking it out. On warmer days in winter, I've read, they will emerge from dens and lumber about 100m away for food, hunkering back down in the den in the cold night. 

 Off I went. Lots of signs of porcupine! 

The coyotes were active in the forest. One rabbit went to heaven, minus its rabbit's feet. Coyote tracks nearby gave me a clue.

Friday morning, when 2/3 trailcams didn't reveal any critters other than JB, I thought about it. 

The back 40, you amble along the part, through the aspen grove, into forest, and then the wetland is beyond.

I wandered around. It is horrible walking. With knee-deep snow, despite following my snowshoe tracks, and the deer tracks, it's been warm enough that you step and sink suddenly. Not good for an old back. 

Some trees have been attacked by pileated woodpeckers, with chips lying on the ground. The porcupine trees are quite distinct.

I went back there, having thought it through. Walking all around the trees, I did not see any tracks. Perhaps they are following the heavily trod deer trails. I inspected the spot, spotted more trees with bark damage, and placed two camera up. The camera that require 12 batteries was only at 55% power as I couldn't find any more rechargeables. Trailcam #1only takes 8 batteries. I shall cross my fingers. 

Isn't it pretty? This is looking out over the wetland. It's a little hillock. It occured to me that porcupine might be coming from the wetland, or the den is nearby.

Non-mental note: here is trailcam #1. Stay tuned. I might get something, I might get nada. Camera #2 is off to the right, focused on a path to the neighbour's sugar bush that the critters follow across the frozen wetland.

Good news, at the house. The spruce tree, wrecked by the LDD moths, has buds. I am happy to see this.

Fat Head has been moved to the feeder stand. 

Pileated woodpeckers. They are beautiful birds. I heard 3 or 4 one day in summer down at the pond. These are photos from other years. 

I found a sign of the pileated woodpeckers. 

Feb. 12th, 2˚ C. when I got up at 6 a.m., 10:30, it was -6˚ C. It is a tad cold this morning. It rained the night before, and went from 2˚ C. to -22˚ this morning. I'll bet the batteries are fried. I will have to venture out there and see what I have today.