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! 

  

Book Review: Camera Trapping Guide

 I follow a Facebook trailcam camera and video group. The author of the book, Janet Pesaturo, is one of the administrators. She posted information about her book, and I bought it for myself for my birthday, Dec. 26th. (That's how we roll here!)

There are a lot of books out about critters. It is often difficult to choose which is best for you. I have general guide books about eastern birds, moths, insects, and mammals. I've interesting books, like my latest on animal scat! Scat Finder I've books specific to deer, owls, and bears. 

Janet explains that when she began setting out camera traps, she would go out with her mammal field guide, a tracking guide, and a summary of the critter's behaviour. She took the initiative to write this book to help us understand how, when, and where to place cameras, and she provides good information on 35 mammals, 5 birds, and alligators. Now, I don't need to know about alligators, but it was fun to read.

Amazon provides a preview, and the table of contents lists the critters. Each chapter is devoted to one animal, and follows a consistent format: physical characteristics, tracks and trails, diet, scat and urine, habitat, breeding, then rounding it off with specific camera trapping tips.

Chapter two
Eastern Cottontail

If I have any constructive criticism, it is that the durn maps end at the Canada/US border. I've been researching woodland voles (meadow voles, as Janet calls them), for example, and learned a lot about them. I still don't know why they are going into the mouse hole in the house, and that remains a mystery. 

It helps to understand a species to know where to place a camera. It pays to track them, and understanding paths that they follow. My frogpond trailcam, for example, is a heavily trodden path between the wetland and the pond. Many critters prefer to stay on dry land whilst making their way through their habitat. What I notice is that in winter, when the frog pond is frozen, they avoid the camera. Little twerps!

Janet wrote a blog called, One Acre Farm, all about homesteading. She has a new blog, Winterberry Wildlife. There is so much information on them. 

I do recommend the book. It is full a lot of excellent information not found elsewhere. 

BTW  I learned how to refine my camera trapping skills from my photographer internet buddy (we've never met!) who has a video from last year with the buck losing its antler on film. He camera traps in a large forest and writes about wildlife photography. 

For me, camera trapping has been hit and miss. I've learned a lot by my mistakes. 

Today, we begin with - 30 C. temperatures. There won't be much on the cameras today. 

The birds, mourning doves and starlings nestle in the evergreen.

From large to small, we film them all!

backyard deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Richard Deer has lost his antlers, he'll regrow them in spring, but he still wears a figurative crown.

bossy Richard deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've been experimenting on the front porch, where the birds scatter seeds from the feeder.

American Tree Sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

mice and cats from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 477. 

🎉Saturday's Critters

 

🎉Happy New Year! 

Let's hope for good things this year. I'm managing a cold, which ticks me off. I haven't been anywhere to get it. The only human I've talked to in closely, person is my JB. The dude who delivered propane was out in the front yard! 

I wish my faithful readers and friends and family all the best. Thank goodness for Facetime with the grandies! 

"Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break, and all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you." – L.R. Knost

What brings me joy is watching our critters. I hope they bring you joy, as well. I've since moved the trailcams, we'll see what else I find.

We've 3 black squirrels. I thought we only had 2! 3 black squirrels from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I've been watching deermice. There is bird seed on the deck, and they go after it. Someone on Facebook's Trailcam page were asking if trailcams could capture little critters, and we can! Trailcams were invented for hunters, and the ads creep me out, showing hunters with their dead as a door nail prizes. sigh.

2 bunnies and a deermouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The bunnies really are a delight! They bounce around, with those large hind legs. jumping cotton tails from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I managed a walk on Thursday, and I think these are starlings passing through. We haven't had any stragglers till now. They are motoring on through to warmer climes. No robins this year, either. starlings from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Nutmeg has still been happy with her train set. She thought the lights should be knocked off the table, though. Typical cat. Nutmeg and the light from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters: visit the ever faithful Eileen and her Saturday's Critters # 420.

Butch is awake!

The weather continues to mystify! Warm, above zero days, followed by -6 C. nights. The next day, above zero! Today is supposed to be 8 C., tomorrow, 9!

I spend my days sweeping water off of the sidewalk, or chopping the ice, so we don't slip on the walk or driveway. It melts daytime, freezes in the nighttime. My arms are getting buff!


We had lunch in Almonte, and were treated to sunshine songs.
Starlings in Almonte from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

But see who lurks in the night.


I heard something, and knew right away what it was! They figured out the cat door. We've had quite a few over the years. This is our original, lactating Butch.

He came in through the cat door. Left through it, slowly, as well! I knew this time was coming. I locked the cat door closed.
Butch raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
He fed her!  A SURE sign of spring mating behaviour.
 
Cardinals from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Busy birds building in bathroom vent

I was in the bathroom and heard some scritching in the ceiling fan. On no, mice!
Then, I spotted Dorah up on the window ledge, gazing determinedly at the tree outside the window. She was bird watching.

You know that spring brings busy birds. If they can find a hole in a wall, that is perfect. This isn't the one, hunnybuns...


Birds in my belfry from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Yes, birds. Dorah was sitting in the bathroom window. I knew that the vent flap had fallen off. She knew that there were birds flying towards her in the window. The day before there were robins. Today, starlings. (Here they were!)
The birds have been busy. Somehow, the flap came off of our bathroom vent. The birds thought it a good place for a nest. They took turns flying at it, checking out the spot for a nest.
We went to the store, bought a new vent kit. I hauled the ladder up, and removed the old one.
Of course, the vent had been there 30 years, and the vent tubing, between the fan and the metal tube, fell apart. I put in the new one, but it isn't connected to the vent fan.
So now, when the wind blows, the flap goes.
You should have seen me up the ladder, with my tool belt on, drill banging on my leg, carrying the vent.
Hubby remembers the day I fell off the ladder. Pretty bruises! Pretty scary!
He makes me more scared than I might otherwise be.


home repairs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Starlings are busy builders