Pileated Woodpeckers, woodland walkies

Last week I spotted the pileated woodpecker, there is much evidence of activity. They are at the base of the trees. Some naturalists rant about the damage they do, but it's all part of the cycle of life. The trees are still growing!

 My recent videos featured her on her nest! I can hear them lots.
You can see how the snow is gone under the warmth of the forest canopy, which harvests the sun's rays.


Daisy and I ventured down to the wetland. The point was pretty wet. This was last week. We went back into a deep freeze, and the 3rd photo shows the ice frozen again. It's good news, as we had a drought last summer.


Where the deer fur remains, Daisy was pretty interested in sniffing.


The bridge to the wetland was not navigable, being so much underwater. Daisy sat on the fallen bush and watched the water go by. There are bubbles, and the water was moving. She was fascinated!


The frog pond has a fair amount of water. This bodes well for spring frogging. I sat on the chair, and watched for a moment, then Daisy got bored. It was well above zero last week. This morning double-digit below zero. The ice is, again, frozen solid.


This was our revisit just a few days later! Frozen solid. The dock, my bridge, and the island.


Daisy sat down for a peek She heard something across the wetland. Turned out to be a deer. She has excellent hearing.


She was reluctant to leave. She sat on that log for a long time.

Car incident

You'll forgive a silly post. But we need a bit of silly in our lives.
I noticed there was a clump of grass on the road shoulder. I was curious...
I kept forgetting to check it out, passing it twice.



At first, I thought a turtle, but the drag marks were obvious when I got closer. It was located near a bend in the road. I think someone was going too fast! July 10 or 11th. The peculiar thing is the clump of dirt was removed sometime after.

Sure enough, someone had gone down into the swamp below. They'd had to have been dragged out by a tow truck. Wish I'd seen it! It's a bit of a steep, slippery slope down! Must have been a mucky, smelly climb out, and a wait for a tow truck with the bugs swarming. Believe me, I know. I live in the middle of a wetland.

March Wetland Walk

Today, Sunday, I awoke to another disaster. The fish tank pump is leaking. I cleaned the pump a week ago, and I do not know why it would be leaking now. The floor boards are warped. I don't know what went wrong, I have unplugged and simply enjoying my morning coffee.
Thankfully, the grandkids are visiting and we are having some distraction watching morning educational shows!

The other day, I managed an outdoor trek.
On this walk, Buster and Daisy chose to come along. You can see where the sun has melted.
Daisy had a bit of a play on top of a muskrat lodge. There are green shoots, even amidst the snow.

I did a video 360˚ where we stood in the middle of the wetland. It's so quiet and peaceful. I seldom see any critters. If there are deer, they take off as soon as they hear me. 

Wetland 360˚ from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is the wetland in summer. I'm looking forward to some green, and our birds returning! With the snow falling outside, it's difficult to be patient. Family on the west coast are seeing crocus in their gardens. It's some foreshadowing while we shiver.

spring in the swamp

summer in the swamp

 
Muskrat lodge from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Queen of the castle! On our wetland walk, Daisy decided to climb on the Muskrat lodge. Everything is still frozen up top.

Wetland walk

I love tromping through the wetland. I followed the deer's path.

It was great walking. There were a few spots where the bog was melted. The deer have laid down a great path, though.

I didn't need my snowshoes for a long part of my walk.

It's a huge area. This is what was behind me!

 It was a lovely, sunny, cold day.

I took off my mitts, opened my jacket, and was quite warm.

The brown colours of the swamp are different than the summer.

The bulrushes turn an incredible green in season.

Poo galore! 

visitors - has to be wolf!

coyote track?

Can you see the deer tail? Left side!

There were other visitors to the bog. Both coyote and wolf tracks, and what looked like bear scat! Doesn't look like wolf, as it doesn't have fur in it! 

Deer poo are pellets, but you can see a bigger blob at the top! Granddaughter, Josephine, would be thrilled!

I scared some deer.

You can just see their tails. Seeing as the trail I followed started at our backyard, they are probably 'our' deer!

A glorious day in the swamp!

I'm glad I had the GPS. Hard to find your way.
The batteries died in the GPS, and I had to stop. Wanting to go down to the river, I had a bad blister on my heel and gave up.

The GPS told me how far I went, and how long.:

I did a 360º  video just for fun.

My feline black twins

The late Oliver, and sister, Sadie, 2009

I love them, my 'twins'. Born March 31st, 2011, they are about 10 months old.
We adopted them from a post on OVFreecycle.

 They play and sleep well together, but don't eat together. Between the three cats fighting for food- we have to throw out the food in 3 dishes, and put them strategically on floor and counter.

We have to feed them apart. Felix weighs less, Buster weighs more but lets Felix push him out of the way. Sadie, their big sister, nudges them both out of the dishes!
We feed Felix on the counter, which is crazy, but we have to. They love being up high.
Our spray bottle of water is still effective. When they jump up on the counter, hunting for leftovers, we spray
them with water. They learned quickly and now we just lift the bottle and they'll jump off the counters. Sigh.

Me, too?

I read an article in our EMC paper from our Lanark Animal Welfare Society (LAWS), our visit and photos are here, that spoke of black cats having different personalities than cats of different colours. I began to research it.

I popped him up!

Stubborn, independent, willful, but also friendly, outgoing, affectionate with us. Buster is the one who teases sister, Sadie. He'll give her a whack on the way by. She'll sit on top of the chair, he'll jump up and playfully whack at her. Felix isn't so brave!
Buster herds the turkeys in the backyard, as they look for scraps under the feeder. He herds them, splitting the flock, and driving them away from HIS tree, where he hunts for the red squirrel.

In 1973, the following traits were linked to colours in a book called "Your Guide to Cats & Kittens" by Pedigree Petfoods. Short-haired black cats: Clown-like delight in "entertaining its owner with gymnastic tricks and enthusiastic affection".

Can we play? Poor wee Batman!

They play fight, stop to clean a paw,
not necessarily their own, and fall asleep.

(Cats and Cat Care Retrospective - 1960s & 1970s)

Felix atop the new caterpillar!

The black coat was likely the first colour mutation of the wild tabby-patterned that were the ancestors of today's domestic cats. I've found our black cats easy to spot on the snow, but likely, indoors, to sit on my black purse, or other dark objects on the floor. Once they close their eyes, they disappear!

They like cuddling, but only after playful games. We have a lot of toys to wear them out!

Buster watches Reddy

In an article that appeared in the March, 2003 issue of NewScientist, “Black cats may be the more fortunate felines.” Research showed that ebony felines may have a health advantage over other cats. The gene for melanism, which makes their fur black, may be able to prevent certain viruses or bacteria from entering their cells, making them more resistant to disease than cats with lighter-colored coats.

Buster on top of the china cabinet

Genetics are interesting! "Blotched tabby and black are both caused by recessive genes. Two black cats will beget more black cats." Buster has an underlying dark brown tabby colouring in the sun. Felix, with longer fur, seems more black! He's also the one who likes to cross the highway to look for mice friends.

Also, I've read, Black cats less likely to be adopted at shelters! 

I've made videos of my boys:
 Kittens in castle, shows their playfulness; KITTENS in the swamp, as my boys liked to play in the wetland, and didn't realize that the floating water lily leaves weren't able to hold their weight! I had to wash them off in the bathtub, as they smelled pretty swampy!

Cat and mouse standoff

Buster caught a mouse out in our backyard. Sadie was watching carefully, non-pussed. 

The brothers argued about a mouse one of them caught. They don't hesitate to steal one another's captures! 
I made a collage of their antics:

CLick here for more camera critters! #200

How to tenderize a shrew!