Are you smarter than a 5th grader?!

I am. For sure. I taught gr. 5 for many years, from JK to gr. 8 all told. I am not smarter than Fred Groundhog, though. 

 What did I expect? Petunias are the flower of choice! This is a wooden planter, and Fred can climb. The flowers have been eaten, including the pansies. I put an upside down tomato cage, wrapped in chicken wire. Weighed down by rocks! Fingers crossed. I have to laugh. They provide much entertainment. 

 

I am hoping I've barricaded my zucchini plant. Fred has nibbled 3 blossoms. Don't tell them, but there is another plant on the other side of the sidewalk. Shhhhh! 

 

I have an antique school bell. I managed to refit it with a new stand. It's an old bed post. Perfect size to fit into the cement brick stand. I have a chain on it! The grandies used to ring it.

My hops vine has worn it self out. It used to host Eastern Comma and Question mark butterflies. This was July, 2023. Well, a lot of us are past our prime. As Joe said in the grocery store, to a fellow shopper, "The first 60 years were easy!"

July 2023

It's a shady spot. I'll have to figure out what to put here. The vine climbed up and it was pretty. I pulled it all out as it was rotten. There are lots of Bleeding Hearts self seeding. 

The frog pond! 

I ventured down to check out Barry Beaver's spot. I think he has moved back into the wetland, but still working here to deepen the little canals. I heard a Veery here. The trills were wonderful. 

Back out front, the Cedar Waxwings are eating bugs from the Spruce Tree! You can hear the goldfinch singing in the chestnut tree beside it. Our little Cedar Waxwing squadron is happily waiting for the Serviceberries to ripen.

Have a great week, all! You know what I'll be doing...

What a day for critters!

Twas an adventure. Driving along Lanark County roads, I came around a corner, and spotted a deer and fawn on the road. It's hard to spot on the dashcam video, but momma heads right, into the bushes covering the fence. Fawn stands in the middle of the road, then sprints left as a tractor rounds the corner.
These are stills from the video, followed by archival photos. I haven't seen any fawns this year. They are deep in the forest, avoiding our bugs.


It's no wonder that week by week,  we average about 10 deer collisions in the region.
Fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, I arrived home. Look up on top of the tree trunk! Can you see it? I stopped right beside the tree and it didn't move for the longest time. This is our regular visitor, a sharp-shinned hawk who likes to fly along the driveway.
This is a bold hawk. It returned Wed., July 26th.



Sharp-shinned hawk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, there are the backyard birds happily catching all those bugs.
phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Mrs. Grosbeak from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then there was the robin, who was watching the veery pair!
backyard birds from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.