Crumbly Acres

It feels like spring is slow to arrive. I suppose the snow storms make us feel this way. This morning it is below zero. It has slowed down the reptiles and amphibians. The birds, not so much. 

It is mating season for a lot of critters. For deer, who were impregnated in late fall, they are waiting to give birth. There were three of them sitting chewing their cud. This is out the bathroom window.

2 coyotes: April 5th, one pees on a tree, the other still limping.

 

They have pink head due to mating season hormones!

Turkey in snow 

   

Osprey can be difficult to photograph. Soaring up above. My reaction times are slow methinks.

This one landed on a tree in my yard. Rather unusual. It pooped in front of me. Silly thing. 

This one had managed a fish.

It is easier getting photos of nests. 

July 2013

 We were out looking for chorus frogs last week. The osprey seemed to think me a threat! They eat fish and snakes and such. Not people. I was still intimidated!

It is mating season. 

 

Labbit is so fast! Such great camouflage.

 

We anticipate a high of 14℃ today. The Chorus Frogs should be calling, as well as Spring Peepers. We shall see what happens. 

Caterpillars, deer and a wild turkey

 The goldfish pond is over flowing, for now. Lots of rain.

Aug. 10 storm from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Out back, Fred has dug another tunnel exit. It's really not a good place in spring, as the meltwater pools under here. 

The caterpiglies are growing still! They are either polygonia comma, or polygonia interrogationis. 

And a different species:

I pulled out my chair to have a sit on the deck, and froggie hopped down from under the chair.  It ended up on the railing, again!

This is funny. There are all sorts of tricks to capturing critters on trailcams. If you tilt it low you capture critters like skunks, but the deer!

buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I was awake around 4 a.m., hearing coyotes yipping away. I got up and came back to the bedroom, outside I could see our skunk. It's a busy spot.

 I hope our young wild turkey survives!

 

Tom turkey Aug. 6 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday Critters

The critters have been out about. The bug situation has helped, since breeding season, and the need for blood has diminished. We had the mosquitoes in May, blackflies in June, deerflies in July, then horseflies. This is all good for the bug-eating birds! Walks in the forest are much better, although there is the odd mosquito. Hubby finds his morning walks are much easier. I was bitten by a blackfly when weeding. That just adds insult to injury. 

The flicker on the trailcam was funny. I haven't seen too many of them since breeding season is over. 

 

flicker in slo mo from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Doe a deer.

 

doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Both the doe and fawn visited the backyard. That was lovely! Aug. 23, 2022.

 

doe and fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐝 HORNETS

Aug. 27th shows the hornet's nest growing. They leave us alone. We leave them alone.

 

hornet's nest from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Aug. 28th – they are fascinating. All working together. All with a purpose, for the good of the nest. 

 

hornets 5 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The lone turkey hen walks through the trailcam field.

 

turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

P.S. We still have a tree frog in the house, as far as I know. Last I heard, it was singing in the bathroom. I sent JB into town to buy some food for it. Mealworms. I put them into a container in the bathroom. Caitlin suggested I leave a trail of worms along the hall, leading it to the door! I bet the cats would be curious!

I hoped to lure the indoor tree frog to the bathtub, where I put the container. Having looked up how to raise them, raising mealworms, I knew what to do. 

 Maple tree frog is still on the back deck. I thought I would test the mealworms on her. She ate one, and I thought I should video the 2nd one! Sept. 2nd, 2022.

gray tree frog from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters visit Eileen's blog: Saturday's Critters # 455.

Those mourning doves!

First, family news. Sadly, my children's stepmother passed away last weekend. It's a tough one.  Ironically enough, her son has been Josephine's music teacher in high school. They are a musical family. She was the kids' Sunday school teacher, and a choir director at the church we attended. 

We used to be friends. Every month or so, Sharon, another teacher, myself and our husbands used to have games nights back before the divorce in the early 90s. I saw them chatting one day at one of these nights, and I thought they would make a good couple. They ended up married. How strange is that?! 

The good news is that I can see our son, Jesse, as he is coming here from Vancouver for the Ottawa funeral. It's a whirlwind visit, but it'll be good to see him in person.

 🐻SNUGGLE Bears

This is so good. "Cards on a snowy day!" I'm not sure they can lift those heavy toonies, bit where there is a will...

The front yard

This arrangement has been great for the bird bath. The shallow, heated bowl is much easier to dump, and refresh the water. It only holds a couple of litres, whereas the cement birdbath holds about 6 gallons. I usually syphon off the dirty water, and add fresh, to keep it clean. The birds tend to poop in it. This is much easier, when playing with water isn't so much fun. Thank you, again, John. 

The mourning doves think it's a great spot. They tend to go arse over tea kettle on the big birdbath! 

The trailcam managed to capture the action one day! mourning dove 

The bark butter is a favourite for the nuthatches, woodpeckers and all. Fat Head is an eager host, even if he doesn't look like it!

The turkeys have begun to visit. We haven't seen them in months. There are 4 of them, and they have left tracks everywhere as they travel through the deep snow.

They really are magnificent critters. This is from October, 2017. 

😼Oregano cat

Wild oregano has been visiting, now that we are deeper into the cold and snow.  Feb. 27, 3 a.m.  oregano cat from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Doe, coyote, Cinnamon

We've had several days of rain. Be careful what you wish for...
I'll get you caught up from some sunny days.

Cinnamon thought he'd try catch a frog. He was not successful.
The goldfish thought he might feed them. I don't feed them much, in the pond. There is a lot of algae and bugs they can eat. However, from time-to-time, I do throw in some goldfish food.

   

The wild turkeys, as seen from the back deck. Just two males. JB and I were out reading. I'm so happy to be able to read!

This poor doe shows how bad the bugs are.

   

 The coyote visited.

 

Who goes there?

This is the action around the house. I selected the very best image, if you don't want to bother with the video itself.

There are three bucks who hang out together. Thursday morning  I went to the meadow to fetch the SC cards, and two deer took off, again! They visited all week. The cameras are in two places. One is up beside the driveway. In the video, below, you can see trailcam #1. Then, across the grass, there is a path down to the meadow.

I like to see who visits in the dark!
porcupine from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

3 bucks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
3 more bucks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Down in the meadow.
coyote, moth, raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.



The turkeys have been amazing. I haven't seen them in a long time. Mommas have been taking care of the chicks. We took one to the wildlife rescue people. [LOOK FOR THE HELPERS!]

They were up top, then moved down into the meadow.

wild turkeys 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
wild turkeys 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

You never know what triggers them. I often look to see if they are followed, but not in this case!
The meadow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I noticed that there were some weeds setting off the trailcam. JB kindly went down to cut them for me!

The meadow 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
For more critters:

Saturday's Critters #296

Birdies, birdies, everywhere

They have been amazing.

The house wren is still working on things. They circle around the nesting box, proclaiming territory from the lilac bush that is nearly ready to blossom.

We have phoebe, whose eggs hatched Tuesday: 🐣Phoebe.

great crested flycatcher

I was looking out a window, and spotted this bird.

Great Crested flycatcher

Wood duck box #1 is cleared out (May 27th – jump for freedom). Box #2 should hatch today, leaving tomorrow. Wood duck box #3 ducklings leave today. (More on that later!)
Here is box #3 yesterday. Once momma flushed from the nest, our morning ritual, I cleared out.
duck eggs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The hummingbirds continue to visit the feeder and the flowers.

The female merganser: as I approached the frog pond, she was circling.

Merganser from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The flicker is attending to business in her nest. I have no idea her stage of nesting. Read more here:

• 🐦FLICKERS

Flicker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We have two female turkeys wandering around during the day. They eat bugs, bless their hearts!

Turkey basting: that's what I called it. She rolled around in the dirt, kicking up soil, having a blast.
They do this, says Standford U, to maintain the oil in the feathers. (Bathing and Dusting: "Excess plumage lipids, including preen oil, are absorbed by the dust and expelled along with dry skin and other debris.")

Turkey basting from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Wild turkeys and cats

We didn't have any snow in the beginning of the week. Hooper, Annie and I put up our tree.


Last year, Daisy electrocuted herself on our wee tree. It's outside as a permanent display.

We had a touch of snow Thursday.


Then, we woke to a massive dump of snow. There weren't many critters out and about. I haven't even bothered to go down and grab the SD Cards from the trailcams.
Hooper launched himself into the snow on the deck. He thought it was wonderful.


We're still separating Hooper and Daisy. Her meds aren't working and I am bereft. Hooper is happier, as we've been putting Daisy in Time Out in a dog crate. He feels safer. It's been so cold (-12 C.) in the mornings, and they haven't been inclined to go outdoors.

Then, we went out on the front deck. Hubby started the snow blower and Hooper didn't like that.


We had about 18 cm, 7" of snow. These poor turkeys were having issues!

Wild turkeys in snow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is so cute

Saturday's Critters #257