Richard Deer, and other tails

 It's been a tough few days for many. We are doing well, though. We miss our usual Christmas with the kids, but we are warm and dry and have power. Jesse tried to do a Facetime with me on my birthday, Dec. 26, but they lost power and his cell phone was crackly. Whoopsie. It's the thought that counts, plus we had a good chat on Christmas day. There is lots of wind in Vancouver, causing power outages. He texted later and said they had power back. Whew! 

☏ I remember trying to phone long distance to my parents in Muskoka on Christmas morning every year. Often the lines would be busy and we couldn't get through. You'd either wait, or hang up and redial that rotary phone! 

♪ Funny story, when we chatted with Caitlin and the girls Christmas Day, they told me the girls set an alarm for 7:30 a.m., and regaled them with a Silent Night duet to wake them up. Isabelle played her clarinet, and Josephine sung it in German! I was impressed. 

🐾 Monday morning I put the garbage out a bit late, having forgot, but someone reminded me. It was cold. I should have used the snow blower on the driveway. There is a layer of ice from our rainfall, but the drifts made it difficult to drag the cans. There is slush at the end of the driveway, as well. 

Can you spot the cat tracks in the snow? It has to be Oregano. Our cats haven't left the deck. He avoided all trailcams!

I was about to put the garbage out, and spotted my friends. I fed the deer after doing my chore.

morning crew from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🦌 We've buck triplets, and one big buck, as has been the way. We had King Henry visited in January, 2022. Big Jake, in 2018. Big Daddy in 2015. There was Tigger and his brother, back in 2013. 

The coffee was ready when I got back in the house. This was our view out the kitchen window. I've removed the screen, and washed the inside of the window. That helps! I posted the photo on the family stream, and Caitlin named him for me: Richard Gere Deer – a handsome fellow. 

There is much action. Richard simply looks at them and they bolt! Alpha male. The fawns seem to tease him. 

In the afternoon, I got myself dressed, and used the snow blower on the driveway. (Yes, I put the garbage out in jammies!) It was a bit icy underneath, with drifts on one side, but I got it done. 

I spilled some bird seed on the deck. There are lots of little mouse and bird tracks. 

I'd given up putting the trailcams down in the forest. With the load of rain and snow, within 24 hours, I knew they wouldn't show me much. They get ice and snow covered, and fog up. This was fun.

deck birds from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I put a trailcam on the bird feeder for night action. We have triplet bucks. This is one of them. It is the correct time, but the wrong date! Dec. 26th

young buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

cats on deck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Our Christmas Dinner was a very respectable turkey TV dinner. JB did well getting them for us. He tucked away a frozen lasagna for me for my birthday, also very respectable. I supplemented it with pickled asparagus as hors d'oeuvres.  

More snow is on the way, but not as much. We shall see what the week brings.

Zinnia, blue jay, doe a deer

I'm having anxiety issues, still. My stomach is in knots at both ends! Not to whine, but with anxiety and health issues, you must recognize them and do your best to come to terms with it. JB has been very supportive, bless him! I've been reading about other residents trying to manage a gun club in Ontario (see links below).  Then I try to put that down and go outdoors. 

Noise Complaints for Shooting Ranges

1. Residents in the area of the Orono Fish and Hunt Club (OFHC) report (June 2016 – PDF) that they are continuing to have issues with the noise levels emanating from the OFHC. They discontinued professional shooting (RCMP, MNR CP Rail) in response to the opposition. 

2. Judge orders police shooting range near Simcoe shut down and fined the owners $60,000 to be paid to neighbours. 

3. Noise Issues for Shooting Ranges "The most common complaint received by gun clubs and ranges across Canada is noise. Unfortunately noise complaints from neighbours have also resulted in range closures through municipal government actions. Often these ranges were in place for years or decades before the homes of those complaining were built. "

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I've decided not to grow zinnias next year, they really didn't amount to much. Non-mental note! My planters have been hit or miss these days. Instead, I replaced them with the pumpkin that Butch gnawed.

The blue jays seem to have good memories. They are landing on the railing looking for food. We haven't put any out for the birds, since bear has been around. One year I left out a pot with peanuts. How dumb was that?! And Butch raccoon knocked it over (see below). Blue jay took advantage.

I was watching as the jay seemed to come to the window demanding food!

Blue jay from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thursday morning boded well for rain! However, no rain. I woke to rain today, we'll see how well the goldfish pond refills. I'd like just enough to cover up the water lily plants. We'll see. It's going to be cold overnight (2 C.). 

It's hit and miss with trailcams.

 

turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They always seem to begin to run as if afraid of missing out on food!

The young buck was by.

backyard buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

P.S. I had my Spikevax yesterday, 10 minutes in and out. No symptoms, not even a sore arm! 

Saturday's Critters

For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 442 <= visit Eileen's blog.

I'm still watching the bird nests. Phoebes should fledge June 11th. 

The robins have gone. 

The House Wren is still singing from the top of the flag pole, or from the nesting box, poking its head out. 

I was going to use my snake scope to peek in the nest, but the app is no longer working with my OS. I've tried to find a new one but failed. While I was poking around, I noticed a nest in the bush beside the flag pole nest.

This is my non-mental note, reminding me to check it out. The nest is very much hidden.

The wrens built their nest in the Blue Bird nesting box, you see.

The wood ducks should launch themselves into the wetland any day now. The photo of the duckling is from 2014.

The goldfish are getting along swimmingly. I think Percy has grown, as well. The rain we've had has filled and refilled the pond.

The trailcam on the meadow continues to have a frequent flyer! I think it is a phoebe. The video is a bit slow for it. 

I find this so funny! 

bird on a trailcam from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We have a still pregnant doe, as well. She seems a tad shy! This is an image from the video, that's all I saw in the 30-second video.

The other trailcam shows the crows.

crows May 28 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

young buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think Butch racoon stomps to wake the worms up!

Butch in the meadow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Henry the buck

 We've had many bucks visit, but not many stick around. The sons of the tribe hang out with mom the first year, and then hang out with the boys in subsequent years. Tigger and his twin brother were lots of fun. There was Jake, too. Carl was the last one we named. We lost him to the highway. A neighbour stopped after he was hit, and had his son come and put him out of his misery. 

Our latest big buck has been a frequent visitor. I'm looking forward to sharing them. Grandie Josephine suggested 'Henry' and I like that. It's fun texting the grandkids and checking in.

My new trailcam has been a learning curve. Took me days to remember to change the F. to Celsius! The trailcams don't like our cold weather, either!

The old trailcam's piece has busted. I can't use my forest tripod anymore with it. The tripod works in the snow. It screws onto it. I switched this one camera (#1) out with another camera and put a strap back on it. I put #1 on a tree.

Here is Henry on the path up to the house from the meadow. This is trailcam #2, which I moved the next day. big buck 2.0 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

Henry in the forest, on the edge of the wetland. This is trailcam #1. Big buck 2.1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

I captured the young buck, as well. He's had one antler for maybe a week. It is unusual. Usually they drop closer to one another. He might have lost it in an incident. Young buck 1 antler from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Henry is the boss! Big buck 2.2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

This was an experiment. The first clip is from trailcam #2, then Henry moves past that camera into camera #3's range. This is camera #3, which you can see on the left of the following video.

Big buck 2.3 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 422.

Saturday's Critters: young buck Carl

I love this young buck. He was at the frogpond trailcam #2. This is where I'm trying to snag a photo of mice friends. It still hasn't happened. 

We'll need a name, at least until he sheds his antlers (February-ish). After that it's difficult telling them apart, aside from behaviour. JB and I were looking out the front at him. Josephine, who turns 14 in December, suggested Carl! I posted photos to the family photo stream. It was that or Frederic. I think Carl!

He munched on dead foliage, looking for leftover bird seed. (There isn't much of that between the raccoons and birds.)

What was funny is that I'd moved the trailcam to see if I could get Oregano on it, but our buck featured heavily! (Oregano is our feral nocturnal feline friend. He's back!)

He has been on both trailcams beside the frogpond.

Carl was there awhile, then moved to the backyard. 

Backyard buck 

He was there last night, as well! I told him his new name. He wasn't too impressed and carried on eating the grass.

Saturday's Critters # 412 Visit more critters hosted by Eileen!