Old dog, new tricks

 As many have said, sometimes one must avoid the news for mental health reasons. My circle of influence is small. I know most of you are up on pressing problems in the world, local and national and international. What helps, as my readers have said, is to focus on a hobby. 

My old camera is pretty worn out. The new one came with a mid-zoom lens, and uses the old lens. I've the camera set up on the bird feeder with the big zoom lens. As long as it sits nicely we are good.

Barb had wise words regarding my new camera features: 

"Just keep on doing one new one each day, and repeat the ones you like."

This is a learning curve! It has Wifi, which interests me. I haven't figured it out! It was a bit of frustration yesterday. OK, a lot. It involves QR codes to do the set-up, and that didn't work well. By the time I load that up on the phone, then send it to the lap top. I just can't work on the iPhone!

All of us need something fun in our lives. Things are so dreary outdoors, with days of rain, snow, mud. I like snowshoeing, tracking the critters in the snow. Speaking of which...

This is the view out the back deck. My little daffodil garden sleeps. The now is melting. Can you see the meadow vole tunnels, slowly melting in the snow?! 

This is a meadow vole one of the cats brought home. I captured it in my ball cap and hustled it outdoors. They are ubiquitous!

Back to the camera. This was my first try at night. You'll have to imagine that the waning moon was shining brightly. By the time I grabbed the camera, trying to get a photo... the moon itself was gone. 😣

These are the yard lights. This isn't bad! 

The funny thing was it ended up snowing Wednesday. All this is now recovered with snow. Be careful what you wish for!

It is so peaceful, and it protects flora and fauna from the bitter cold. This is Dec. 9th. The same thing happened Wednesday! We are white again. The cats are pretty frustrated! 

Forest walkies

 Tuesday it poured rain. But no ice rain. Happy dance... some of our friends in Muskoka and northern Ontario have had snow. 

This was Monday morning↓! Pretty cold out west. We warmed up. You can smell the petrichor in the air.

It was a fun walk. 'X' marks the spot! We get lots of saplings falling over.

Down the hill he ran. 

The first stop was to The Point. Cinnamon went island hopping. This is typical wetland here. The critters tend to avoid walking through it. Cinnamon is anxious for it to freeze so we could go walkies out there. He told me so!

 

The next stop was the trailcam. The buck has made a scrape here. Peeing on its glands to mark its territory. Apparently, Cinnamon thought it a great spot to roll around??? We've had rain, and I don't think the buck has been back to this spot. We'll go with that!

 

The cats were grumpy in the rain. Well, not Cinnamon. He hunkers down on the front deck watching for the squirrel. Monday afternoon we needed to get out and about. We went walkies. He sat there on the dock.

We went down to the frog pond. There were bullfrog tadpoles everywhere. Although, I didn't know what they were at the time. Popping up for air. It looked like rain drops falling. 

Bullfrog tadpoles spend two years in this form. Our other frogs, leopard frog, green frogs, etc., are hatched, and morph by summer.

We brought in the garbage cans, and I spotted the Meadow Vole tunnels. They are ubiquitous these critters. And the cats' main prey. 

This is a meadow vole, AKA field mouse!

Bird watching

 Wednesday morning – we woke to snow! It since melted. The sun came out, and the blue sky was lovely. It is -12 ℃ this morning and it's a biting cold. Our heron have returned, a bit early. There aren't any frogs or fish out.

I drove home from my client's house, past the old heron rookery. The nest blew down a couple of years ago but I had photos from 2013. One nest has been rebuilt, and I saw a heron up top. I must find a sunny day upon which to commemorate said nest. There is more snow on the way, however!

It meant lots of action at the feeders. This I took with the zoom lens, through the front window. 

Not too bad and much warmer indoors!

Sharing: female cardinal, mourning dove and a grackle.

The mourning dove had a nap on the bird bath! 

The red-winged blackbirds are so pretty!

More sharing!

Not sharing:

The grackles are in full SPRING mode. Making that noise they make and puffing out their feathers. 

The bird songs are wonderful. In this video you can hear the grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and the cardinal.

 

deer friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Prior to the snowfall, Cinnamon snagged a vole.

 

Cinnamon's vole from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We stop feeding the deer when they have food. The lilacs are budding, and the saplings, and they have all but disappeared. I don't know if Duke made it through winter. He dislocated his ankle. Our trio, doe and twins, have similarly gone to summer yards. All we have left are a small doe and her very wee fawn. 

last feed March 14 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Woodland Vole & Deermice

 🦌We had 11 deer on Tuesday. It was cold and snowy. Cinnamon and I went walkies Tuesday morning. He was atop the caterpillar upstairs, and I asked him if he wanted walkies. His eyes got big and wide and he maintained eye contact – staring intently at me, then he jumped down eyeing my coat with anticipation. 

First, some back up. This is a vole. They are fatter than deermice, with a shorter tail and big teeth. I've always called them field mice, but they are voles. And they bite for defense. 

 

This is our mouse hole. 

This is a great spot. The bird feeder above drops seed. Now, if you feed birds, you know you draw other critters. Thankfully the bears and raccoons are sleeping. 

 

tree sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The deer mice likes this spot. 

 

deermice from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I am afraid to fill it up, as we'd have dead mice in the walls. We certainly don't get many mice in the house. Just the odd one, which the cats take care of. Dorah would sit and watch for mice friends. I saw one scamper up here once.

I'd put the trailcam out on the deck, I assumed they were deermice. Not so! They are voles. They worked for hours: 8:20 p.m. => 10:30 p.m.! This is just a snippet. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Funny story, Dorah was bitten by a Woodland Vole back in the day. She had a mark on her nose for weeks. Last week JB was watching Cinnamon out back in the ditch. Cinnamon drew back quickly, and we think he was bitten. He was pretty leery Tuesday.  I think that explains this.

Back to my story, out we went. I spotted something dark in the snow. A Woodland Vole. This is one I took away from the cats once upon a time.

We call them 'mice friends,' a family joke relating to the cats! Turns out they are voles. I don't know how they fit into the hole. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Remember we were doing walkies?

Cinnamon and the vole from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is a woodland vole. Cinn didn't know what to make of it. The vole ended up under some fallen pine tree branches. Some call them field mice.

I've done some research, after this video. Shorter tails, teeny ears, fatter than deermice. Woodland Voles (some call them field mice) are of special concern. No one has assessed the population in Ontario. I would say they are thriving here at their northern range limit. I am surprised to see them going in the mouse hole. I am really surprised they fit! 

"The woodland vole is protected as a species of special concern provincially under Ontario's Endangered Species Act and nationally under the Species at Risk Act."

Daisy found a vole under the snow. They tunnel only as deep as 10 cm, no more.

Daisy hunted a field mouse
out in the snow, in winter.
She sat and listened, then pounced!
It was tunneling under the snow.

Things are easing up!

Is new Blogger driving you crazy? It is me. I cannot bear it some days. Old dog, new tricks. 

COVID–19

Interesting announcement yesterday! We (Ontario) are moving into Level 2 in this pandemic, in all but Toronto, and a couple of health units hard-hit near the US border. People will be able to eat out on patios, but not inside restaurants. They are opening up day camps and water parks in the city. People can get their hair and nails done, as well as tattoos! I began to wonder at the priorities, but realized that there are a lot of people who depend on this work for their livelihood. The middle class can help this part of the economy again.

We're going to have the girls over the summer. We said that if their regular day cams opened up we weren't comfortable taking the girls for a week in July and August, as we usually do. Happily the girls chose us over camps with their peers. They really do help my mental health. My respite client is quite ill, and they now have homecare 8 hours a day. I am not needed, anyway.

If one bundles up, hoodie and all, the bugs aren't horrible!

Freedom

People are getting out and about, as we did. We saw this red convertible. It was funny that it passed another convertible (third photo) and the 2nd driver did a double take as he saw the car go by!

Parham in shock after shooting, destructive fire

We had an unsettling crisis in Parham, with another white man going nuts. It's about 50 km away, as the crow flies. The OPP were amazing, according to the mayor, going door-to-door to help people. 

As if we need any more worries. Both of us got outside. I gardened and JB read, did a couple of walks around the yard. 

Outdoor play

We've been sitting outdoors. I reorganised the deck. It was too cold to sit in the shade! We'll put up our kiddie pool on the lowest deck soon.

Both of us now have our coughs back. I was awake by 2 a.m., and listened to a couple of podcasts. The first called 'Not That Kind of Rabbi", and a radio show your about the history of toothbrushes. Finally I took some sleeping meds and woke at 6:30.  

Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare)

The far end of the backyard lawn has some wildflowers the butterflies like 'blueweed'. This is where the septic bed is located. 

Last year, these beautiful blueweeds died in the heat of the summer, and didn't bloom. This year I shall water them. The soil isn't very deep here. It's the reason why many settlers gave up their land, like ours. It is not arable.

I've decided to let this section of the lawn go to wildflowers. The area where we planted daffodils, and clover, I plan to spread seeds from the front yard, the poppies, for example. Then, transplant some iris, etc. I can't plant a bush, I don't think, but I'll have to check. Any suggestions gladly accepted! 

I've been doing walks, as has JB. It really helps with stress relief, leg muscles, balance, and all that. He's back on meds for his shoulder and arm. 

I hope you enjoy the greenery! 

The forest

Take a walk with me.

Ferns

Isn't Cinnamon a hoot?!

Back up at the house... this is 'Oliver's Lot' and it has shallow soil cover, and the previous owners regularly cut this with the lawn tractor. I've been letting it grow for most of our 10 years here. The sumac are barely hanging on with drought and heat. I've transplanted a few trees: two spruce, and the lilac, which bloomed this year! I had two apple trees from the nursery, and they have both officially died. So sad.

The flickers appear to be working on their nest. Here is an archive photo.

A second brood, perhaps? Listen carefully! 

Maggie Magnolia is nearly done!  She is well-wrapped with chicken wire, to keep the deer away!

Meadow vole tunnel. 

They are ubiquitous. I stepped out onto the back deck mat to light the BBQ for dinner, when I screamed like a girl. I had stepped on a dead vole. It was awful!