Flying gray squirrel!

I wrote about Fred's burrows yesterday. They are epic! I have to assure @Karen that there was a very sturdy base with two concrete pads. Sand and large gravel chunks, which Fred managed to move, probably went down with the house. I'm glad we're in the country. 

You can see the work he did. (We're going with 'him' for now, AC. ) It was very heavy to try throw back into the hole. I laughed, honestly. It's still solid. 

Friday, the first daffodils were tipsy in the rain. Percy, and his two pals (one died last week, sadly), have been frigid.

Down by the driveway, actual daffies on Saturday! I ventured out in the rain. This is with my cell phone, in the rain and cold.

These came around to bloom on Saturday, in the rain.

🦝 I haven't noticed many raccoons this year. This one was on the trailcam, but alone. We'll see if they show up. They often do turn up with kits in tow. They slumber over winter, and maybe their systems are out of whack with the warm/cold temperatures we've had.

Butch raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The trailcams themselves have been fairly quiet. Not many coyotes. I guess food is more easily available.

coyote April 6 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We had a couple of turkey hens go by in the forest, but Archie hasn't been around. 

Instead, just a lone hen in the yard in the rain.

2 turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I caught it twice on camera, jumping from the bird bath to the feeder. Hubby has seen it jumping from the horse chestnut tree behind the feeder onto the feeder. April 13. It is a very strong gray squirrel. 

FLying squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters

 I'm so happy to see the sparrows come back!

chipping sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They are interesting critters, wild turkeys!

 

wild turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Brown Creeper – March 29, 2015

This is what they do:

 

Have you ever heard one? I had to look it up on BirdNET, despite seeing it a minute before climbing up a tree looking for lunch. This was this week in mating season.

 

brown creeper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The crows like the cracked corn. I put some out for the ducks, hoping for tenants for my wood duck nesting boxes.

 

frogpond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They like selfies!

 

doe selfie from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thanks to Eileen for hosting. Saturday's Critters # 488

Saturday critters

The critters are out.

The tree frog, in a tree. This is actually from the aquarium. I have to set the aquarium up again and put it back in.

This character keeps appearing on my trailcam.

It's been quite a time. The wood ducks have fledged, all but two eggs. WHEW!

The phoebe babies hatched June 5th! This is an archive photo from 2013. I don't want to disturb them anymore than I have to. 

The robins have given up the nest beside the phoebe, and begun in the shed. They are a bit sloppy!

I nearly ran over a baby rabbit cutting the lawn weeds in the meadow. It was about half this size, but I recalled an archive photo from a previous encounter!

wild turkeys ambled through  <= video

porcupine was back

Porcupine 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

And, the best for last, Junior Bear. He's been nowhere near the house. Thankfully. 

Junior bear from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters #338

I can smell spring!

In the daytime, the cats are vigilant. They are concerned about the red squirrel!

The deer are after my candytuft.

The shoreline of the wetland is showing signs of spring!

Our driveway is melting.

Cancun, Mexico

With so many people I know on vacay and/or warmer climes...

• son and family in Cancun, Mexico
• Ed in Hawaii
• Jennifer in Mexico
• Gaelyn in Arizona
• Dale in Florida
• Daughter and family NZ next month,

the bright green of the white pines is lovely!



The snow fleas, springtails, are gathering in my boot prints.

Then, the crazy turkeys.


The turkeys are hilarious!



Finally, the coyote on the trailcam!

Critter time

We range from small to large!

I know AC does some lovely photography, and I thought of him as I realized the difference between these photos. Mind you, it wasn't on purpose. My cataracts worsen as I await surgery. I'm happy with the autofocus most days. Which do you prefer?


The Question Mark chrysalis under the stove vent eclosed today, too! It's a bit dark, as we are having rain.

I'm so sad, this monarch isn't viable. I found it on the ground. Placing it on a food source, the phlox, I left it be.

Hooper has had a bit of an incident! He has a scratch on his nose...

These are screen captures from videos. We still have monarchs pushing through, several to emerge. This one was flying around the yard.


The turkeys grazed the back yard for us. They are all about a lot of the time.


And now, the videos!
I'd watched trailcam videos of the turkeys, and they were quite quiet. Suddenly, there was a capture of them clucking at the forest. I wondered what was giving them grief!

We've watched these turkey chicks go from small to nearly adult-sized. I love how the females watch over their combined broods, and the males waltz around without worries!


I'm loving how the trailcams capture different moments in the secret life of our forest dwellers. The fox thought it got away – just a blur on trailcam #1, but it appeared on trailcam 2!


I was out in the backyard, filling the fountain, and spotted a doe, followed by two fawns. I was disappointed, as I couldn't figure out where they had gone. I rushed over to the top of the hill, above the meadow, and they seemed to run on the other side. Then, recovering the trailcam footage, there they were!


The butterflies are grabbing the last of the pollen.


Feeder action: this is the silly mourning dove that perched here for a long time. It ignored the blue jays.

Our big buck was curious about the trailcam.

For more critters...

Saturday's Critters # 300

Winter...it builds character

I'll just leave this here...

🚓ONTARIO ROADS 🚗 are a mess.

The driveway is coming along. The warm sun melts the ice around the asphalt. The ice on the driveway is several inches thick. I've been bashing away at it with the chopper.


The birds, the 10 red squirrels and one black squirrel have been enjoying the freshly cleaned birdbath. I did that in our thaw.


He sits and watches for the blue jay bullies.


My wood is frozen to the ground, with the melt. The big logs were too big to fit into the fireplace, but I'm not sure I could split them in the log splitter.


Down in the forest, the fisher or pine marten trips about.
predator from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

wild turkeys 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I love how it herds the turkeys.
Wild turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.