We had a nocturnal visitor!

 It's been really hot. These are the last of my daffodils to bloom, down by the highway. It's been 33 C. for some strange reason.  In May. It is supposed to be SPRING!

They are so pretty, the little violets. 

The horse chestnut leaves are out! I love the way they look. Like a pouffy ballgown.

JB and I got dressed and went flower and plant shopping. I got his favourite thing: a hanging basket of cherry tomatoes. Also, fuschia, for the hummingbirds.

The iris are up!

The pumpkin, squash and zucchini are coming along. I'm hardening them off, popping them out in the daytime in the sun. Rain did an excellent post on that. We haven't had rain since May 4th. 

I have enjoyed my bird feeders. So has our turkey hen. 

She is a frequent flyer! She sat on the dirt pile for a sand bath.

Outside work is delightful, punctuated by the tree frog mating songs!

Guinivere is guarding the fenced garden. Sadly, she didn't do her job.

Bye bye bird feeder! Every morning I check it with baited breath. Last night was the night. The cats inspected it, sniffing like mad. I know what happened. It's happened before. I've been enjoying the birds so much, it's my own fault. I was monitoring the nearby community Facebook page for bear sightings and had heard nothing. I'll have to replace the post. It was bent from 2017, now it is REALLY bent!

This was July, 2017, and I haven't made that mistake until this year. I was so hopeful. 

Then there are the ticks. JB came in from his thrice-daily walk, and I noticed something on his head. Picking it off, I popped it into the jar with the rubbing alcohol. It's now dead as a doornail! 

Saturday's Critters

Pond life

These are teeny critters! The pond is coming alive:  I love these little creatures: amphipod, AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Mosquito larvae – from my old macro lens days!

Fairy shrimp and mosquito larvae! 

frog pond action from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Cinnamon and I were wetland walking on the shoreline, just beyond the trailcamera. I noticed a yellow-bellied bashing away at the tree. (This is the bird that bangs on the satellite tower to call for a mate!)

yellow-bellied sapsucker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Moving over to the tree, once it had flown, I could see why they call it that! The sap was oozing out of the holes. 

The trailcam tails

Not too far away, the trailcam showed a pregnant doe and her last year's juvenile.

pregnant doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, there is the porcupine!

porcupine from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The wood ducks walk between the frog pond and the wetland. 

wood ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Here is the turkey in his splendor. I don't know what triggers him to display. He went by another time, the second part of the video, and did not. His colours are amazing. Hormones on legs!

wild turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thanks to Eileen for hosting Saturday's Critters # 437!

Critter tails

Butch raccoon – we haven't seen them too much.

Butch from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I'm having trouble with this trailcam. I'm still working on it for duck season. Two of our nesting boxes have been tested, but no feathers in there yet. That is the sign that they are preparing the nest. 

 

ducks on pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I don't know what prompted him to go into full feather mode. No other turkeys around!

Tom Turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I like grackles. They have the most beautiful colours. The first was from Bala, the second, from a Westport restaurant where we used to sit on their patio.

We've a half dozen grackles. I don't know if they are going to stay. They really are quite funny.

 

grackles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Cinnamon and I went walkies. When we returned to the house, there was Dratted Red Squirrel! DRS got away, and chittered at him from up in the tree.

 

Cinnamon & DRS from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The feeders are coming down soon, as it will be bear season. Next, I shall have to put up the fence around my garden. That worked really well last year. The deer have already lopped off a few tulips. 

Cooking, bears, snow

✈ Air Traffic (UA)

Poor Ukrainians, they had 1260+ bombs fall April 18th. It is just horrific. There were mistakes made by many countries leading up to this, but it is too late (or early) for blame. It is so tragic.

People are stepping up, providing help, assistance, homes. Families are taking in families from all parts of the world. 

Bombs fell April 18th

 The Italian air force, USAF plus army & navy, RAF, French, and Nato planes have been covering Romanian air space. 

Cooking

I like watching cooking shows. Look at what I bought at the auction! With only the two of us for breakfast, I thought I might find it useful.

Jan. '21

🐻SNUGGLE Bears

April 18th

April 17th vs. April 19th, but it all melted!

The backyard still looked pretty covered in snow, but the delight is wearing thin!

I had a delightful Facetime with Cluny and Jesse in Vancouver. She was over the moon fooling me with changing various backgrounds on Jesse's phone as we talked. She watched my reactions. It was so much fun!

🕷️TICKS 2022

Nutmeg brought in her second tick in two days. I took it off her, we put it into the jar with a cotton pad of rubbing alcohol. JB hustled into the vet's offices and we put some tick prevention goop on them, Bravecto.

🐻SNUGGLE Bears

April 18 – they were cold and tired, and went back to bed.

April 20 – Royal Family Photo; God Save The Queen

Cinnamon and I went walkies down to the forest. 

Cinnamon on a log

Cinnamon frogpond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This morning I heard the cardinal, phoebe, and other birds singing their spring love songs. We've so many birds returning from migration, as well as those already here and ready for mating, that it is simply delightful. I heard a bird, videotaped it, and played it while running the BIRDnet app.

Flicker in forest

Northern Flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Even the turkeys are doing their dancing.

wild turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.