Air Traffic, CRA & Cinnamon walkies

✈ Air Traffic 🚁

I've been watching air traffic around Ukraine 😭. It is good to see the other countries flying nearby just in case. It is simply awful, and I cannot believe the madness. 

Look for the helpers. There are planes from the US, Canada, NATO (NATO11 – flying in from Turkey), and Brittain (RAF: KAYAK31), there for support. The US had a Sikorsky Blackhark helicopter in Poland, as well as a series of helicopters: DUKE 50, 51, a Cessna (DUKE73), which I noticed while President Biden was there. There was a big plane (FORTE 11) circling the Black Sea. I am learning more geography than I have learned in a long time. 

There are several planes coming in from Cyprus, where there might be ships. Vessel Finder tracks those. 

LAGR 221

KAYAK 31

NATO 11

CFC 4226

✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈  ✈

Thank you, all for your positive, supportive comments.  I had a couple of anxiety attacks this week.  I've been wrestling with taxes, again. And I can't figure out how to plug in to TurboTax my change from a LIRA to a RIF. At 65 you have to switch them over. So far, the program tells me we owe $44,000+ in taxes. I signed up for the extra money for extra support (you don't pay them till you finish, though), and they were useless. The woman I spoke to sent an email with directions, but they do not work. "I'm not a tax expert," she told me. 

I think I am still missing a tax receipt. I contacted my guy, and he sent a couple I was missing. They don't have to send them until the end of March, legally. Taxes should be done by the end of April. I'm not ready to give up, but I am close. The frustration is terrible, and triggers me after I've wrestled with Canada Revenue for this past year. [💰Canada Revenue Agency😓] I took my meds, and we relaxed watching tennis and curling. I want to conquer this tax year, but the jury is out.

OK, done venting. Thanks for listening! They truly are small problems, compared to all going on in the world. I take my meds and hope for the better days to come.

Cloudia, you are right: "You and I are both very lucky people to be in beautiful restorative places and to be able to distance as we need to. " 

Karen, I loved your story about your German friend and his nature church! 

💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸 💸

Cinnamon Walkies

Look at the frogpond! It is half thawed and soon our little creatures will wake up.

There is about 20 cm of water on top of the ice. More rain yesterday, only a couple of mm. Currently it is snowing, just for fun. Another cold front, but this, too, shall pass.

Mar. 22 vs. March 25!

You can hear the crows bickering, and I kept filming because of the other birds. Then, I showed the meadow, which is full of water and snow. The hill where I stood is all lovely and leafy. Things are melting.

At the end, Cinnamon stayed down on the dock, having himself a drink of water.

 

Cinnamon walkies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Above the pond, the crows were keeping busy: 

Above the pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌

We had three deer in the yard. I post the second photo, because you can see how much smaller the juvenile is. The other juvies seem larger. The deer on the left is King Henry, who shall be growing new antlers soon. They must be family. They are happy the snow is gone.

Camera Critters

I'll be happier when we settle into Spring-like temperatures. The critters think it is Spring, but we expect snow tonight, with a cold front coming in. 

Butch has woken from its slumber, and was cleaning up under the feeders.

Butch raccoon from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

You know it is spring when the turkeys get excited! 

We have had 6 turkey hens on a regular basis. On Thursday, March 24th a male appeared. JB called me to the kitchen window. He seemed to like this harem, and was on full display. On Friday, there were two toms, as well as the 6 hens.

 

Tom Turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The song sparrow continues to celebrate spring. I sat on the front deck, watching spring unfold.

 

song sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is nothing new, deer in the forest, but I liked the way the setting sun shone on them. The little one nibbled on a sapling. They will be happier when they've more greens to eat.

 

forest deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 432!

Wild Church!

I heard about it on the radio. 

Many of us have written about forest bathing, but this guy was a Wild Church leader. There is a Wild Church network, as well. It is basically the same thing, only you have a leader to tell you what to look for, and how to find God! And, yes, there is a book about it!

"The Wild Church Network is here to encourage and support people who are starting Wild Churches. The Church of the Wild book offers inspiration for those who feel the call from Spirit and Earth herself to create a spiritual community that reconnects us to the rest of the alive and sacred world."

I'm not part of organized religion anymore. Between my social anxiety, and COVID, I am happier toodling around in the forest by myself. That's just me! Numbers are going up, poor Isabelle, has to stay home as the school is having trouble getting teachers. A restaurant in Ottawa had to close temporarily due to staff absences. 

Tuesday the outdoors called me. Cinnamon was exhausted looking for his squirrel friends. We've 3 red squirrels and two black ones.

Outside, I spotted a cricket, awake after sleeping through the cold winter. A sign of spring!

Even though we've snow, the sun is warm and wonderful.

I took myself down to the meadow. As I walked across it to check out the dock, I sunk down into the water under the snow. It was a bit of a shock, and I screamed with the surprise after I sunk down. You'll have to imagine it. I snickered afterwards.

I looked down, and found a lot of meltwater under the snow cover.

The frogpond is melting on the shore line, where the trees reflect and/or retain the heat. I saw something move in the water, too. I'm not sure what it was, maybe a bullfrog tadpole? They spend two years as a tadpole, unlike other frogs. 

This is for reference, the water is quite high at the end of the dock, with lots of melt water on top. 

Speaking of frogs, we are getting set to do the Western Chorus Frog surveys again. They cancelled it last year, but we are excited about it. I was sent my 4 locations, and mapped them, but I am sceptical about a couple of them. Here is where they have observed them. 

🍃veggies grow

Back at the house, my squash, pumpkins and zucchini are coming along. I did begin too early, but I needed the distraction.

In this photo, I managed to capture some buds on the orchid cactus.

I moved the trailcam, as it can no longer sit in the snow, and the ground is frozen. I have 75 videos of Butch raccoon to process! 

These are from Wednesday, after even more snow melt.

By today, after 20 mm rain, things are opening up.

And, the crows are still frequent flyers. We'll see if they nest in the yard, again.

crows March 18 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Narrows Lock Birding – Part 3

I decided to chop this trip into three posts. It didn't last all that long, but serendipity being what it is...  As I was watching the common mergansers in their aerial acrobatics, I noticed a weasel run across the road from one side of the lake to the other. That got my attention. I walked over.

I found a long-tailed weasel, Mustela frenata. It ran across the road as I was standing there. It went back across the road from whence it came. 

As I watched it leave, I turned back to the water, and found there was another one! I had my zoom lens on the tripod, and it was tricky, but rewarding. It wasn't as fast as other critters, and was quite curious and/or tolerant of me.

It ran up and down the rocky shoreline.

I watched it capture a frog in the water. It wasn't too worried about me. You can hear the miserably cold wind on the video. I was standing there holding my camera and tripod, and filming with the videocamera. The sun was so bright I could barely see in the viewfinder. I didn't do too badly, after all. 

weasel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It decided that was it, and galloped across the highway.

This was the best I could do, as it ran all along the shoreline, behind the blockhouse, around the lock itself, catching the attention of the geese, who were a bit worried.

This one went back to the other shoreline, and skirting the shoreline I followed it from behind the blockhouse to where I was standing on the concrete locks. The geese were a bit worried. I tracked it along the shoreline, dragging my tripod, my zoom lens with me. I looked back but couldn't see it.

Following it, the geese were paying attention. I lost sight of it. 

Again, serendipity, I leaned over looking for it, and noticed some very large fish in the water. Big fish in Big Rideau from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We toodled off home, done for the day. It was a lovely couple of hours, away from news in the sun, and we found lots of critters. I like the thin ice warning. 

There is some snow left, although we had 🌧 20mm of rain overnight, and if we go back it likely has further diminished.

Back in Lanark County...

Vultures have been here for a week or so, migrating back for spring. I spotted several.

As we arrived home, I snagged a photo of our three crows.

It was a great drive in the sunshine. Quite healing. 

• Narrows Lock Birding – Part 1
• Narrows Lock Birding – Part 2

Narrows Lock Birding – Part 2

 This is what we found at Narrows Locks: Canada Geese, Mergansers, and a busy spot for all. I was really happy that I brought my tripod. I think I might like a monopod at some point. I dragged the tripod with me around the road. It was comical.

Narrows Lock Road crosses the lake and it is a great spot for birds at certain times of the year. 

 

The single width bridge is closed for trucks. So the signage says! That's where JB parked, in the parking lot beside the blockhouse, and then the mail truck came along. He was happily waiting in the car, as the wind was really cold.

First to be photographed was the mute swan – all by itself. It was eating something just behind the blockhouse. I was happy to see that. I liked the reflection in the first one, although I got better using the tripod as I worked at it.

 

From here, I walked to behind the blockhouse, and onto the big dock.

There were lots of Canada Geese standing on the ice. 

Then I spotted a healthy flock of mergansers.

Cottages await their owners. Soon it'll be time to turn on the water and hydro.

This is where the lock is situated, and more birds in the shallows.

You can see the bubblers moving the water under the dock.

Big Rideau Lake is rather shallow (110m at its deepest), lots of rushes at the side of the lake.

The wind was merciless. As more geese flew in, the others either complained, or honked in recognition. It could go either way! geese at Narrows Lock:

 

There was a lot of grooming. Maybe in preparation for another big flight north or after their partial flight here!

The males guard their females:

Walking across the 2nd bridge, I noticed more birds. In the 2nd photo, below, you can see a male chasing off another male. 

I was at the other end of the road, and found a pair of mergansers all by themselves, seperate from the group on the ice on the other side of the highway. I wasn't sure if they were loons or not. The sun was so bright, my viewfinder made it difficult to see for sure. 

Happily, I'd fetched my heavy coat from the car. It was cold and windy. You can hear it on the audio: Narrows Lock in March from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I scared them off as I approached. I felt badly. They roared around in the air, and this is where a monopod would have come in handy! 

I've always enjoyed watching common mergansers. We had them in Bala in 2008:

I thought that was it for our adventure, but something caught my attention beside the bridge. More on that tomorrow! Stay tuned... 

In the meantime, we expect snow, freezing rain, and/or rain tonight. I am really glad we went for a drive in the sunshine.