Gun Range Application in DNE denied!

Yippee! We fought this for 8 months. We won. https://t.co/4Qahw3FUcm

— Jennifer Jilks🇨🇦 (@jennjilks) April 26, 2023

HAPPY DANCE!!!!! 

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He can appeal, but he has no grounds. I am so relieved. 

The Planner recommended deferral, again. 

The applicant was blindsided... no more blindsided than his application for a gun range. 

We started this in September, 2022. This is the whole saga | Timelines of our work.

Trip to Kingston

 Monday was a marathon. We drove to Kingston to have lunch with JB's friends of 50 years. There were pop up showers, and it was chilly, but good to get out of the house. Nearly 100 km, it was a bit of a drive for lunch, but a halfway-point for all of us. 

There is still tree damage from the ice storm, but the green grass...

Pop-up showers came and went. This dude thought passing on a double line, in the rain, was called from. He passed the car behind us (he was tailing us) , as well as our car, at the same time. Then, passed the guy in front.

I know this is silly, but, the GREEN everywhere!!!! We had to soak it up.

There was a kestrel on a wire. You'll have to trust me. We saw one in the #2a Tupper Lake Trip: The Wild Center. Happily. We have one nesting around here, if my ears are correct, but it is a fast, flighty critter!

It is wonderful seeing the green grass, and the trees in bloom. Muskoka chairs are ready for warmer temperatures.

We drove by Joyceville Prison, where government workers are on strike. I was in a union for all of my teaching career, president of my occasional teacher union, as well as on the executive of my local group, OCETF. I wrote a post about the disparity between the front line workers and CEOs. 

Soon there will be boaters, cottagers and people celebrating summer! It was a tak chilly, as well as rainy, but spring is there!

Here they await for swimmer, and boaters. The Hydro wires rather ruin it, but it is a dark photo anyway!

There is lots of development on the outskirts of town.

The sky began to brighten as we crossed the city.

Fort Henry has some picketers. 

There was bridge work. We only have three seasons, bugs, construction and snow!

That was a pretty good drive. More another day. Tonight is the meeting with our Planner recommending a deferral on this danged vote on the gun range application. It was good to get away.

Flickers & the kids

Tuesday there is a vote on the proposed new gun range. The Planner has called for another deferral. We are all so angry. We are writing emails to convince them to put us out of our misery. 

Anyway, FLICKERS – we've enjoyed the Northern Flickers here. When they fly, you can see the flash of yellow in their tail feathers. They eat bugs in the grass.

One hit the window one year. It was so sad. I always take the opportunity to photograph them, to honour their spirit, and celebrate their beauty.

🐦 I've been hearing our pair of flickers all about the yard. 

I was headed down the hill to the trailcams in the forest. The flickers were above my head, chirping away. Then they roared away, around the front yard, and I kept on my way. Down by the frogpond, they landed right above my head, with more chirping. I didn't get THAT video. They were too fast. I did giggle!

 

Flicker flights from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

At 30 sec.↑ you can watch him establish his territory. It's going on all day, and great to hear.

I have found the nest. They are in the dead elm tree. This was on another trip to the frogpond!

 

☔ We've rain on the way. It won't impact the flickers. The birds are madly flying around nest building. The songs they sing have changed to territorial ones. 

👀 Jesse and the girls phoned from Vancouver on Sunday, asking for a Facetime. We had fun. It was Bryony's 5th birthday on Saturday. (Cluny, Jesse and Stacie have birthdays in May.) It's like Skyping with moving targets, and trickey with the 3-hour time difference. I remember trying it with Jos and Izzy in Ottawa, when we were in Muskoka. It's not ideal, but it is better than the phone. 

We had a visitor!

Our lawn tractor needs servicing, the battery won't start it. Bob came and took it away Friday. Our tree people come back on Tuesday. Barring unforeseen circumstances!

Sunrise on Saturday! It had rained overnight. It was 8˚ C., then warmed up to a very humid 21˚ C., which is a bit much!

Our visitor

🐻First our grandies stopped walking to school through the forest after the ice rain, too many hanging branches in the forest. Now, there are bears in the area! I love that: Do not panic! Indeed. Do not run. They will chase you. You have to be as big as you can. Bells Corners bear update: 

— Ottawa By-law (@OttawaBylaw) April 21, 2023

Speaking of bears, I've been watching for them here. We had rain Saturday morning, and I eagerly looked out to see if the goldfish pond, fed by the water barrel attached to the drain spout, had filled. It had not. I went out in coat and jammies to check. This is what I found... 

 

I had to haul out the drill and reattach the spout to the drain spout. The stick sticks out just in case another chipmunk decided to go for a swim. It wasn't pretty the last time that happened. Oh, the smell.

Back to the garage to fetch the screwdriver and drill. I hooked it all up again. Hoping for the best. The trailcam, just to the left of the water fountain on the septic bed in the background, was out of juice. I'd hoped to see evidence of the culprit. No such luck. 

 

Down to the trailcams I went. This was another sign. I am sure I didn't leave it crooked!

 

He snuffles at the tail end of the video, where he rearranged the camera. They are curious, I think.

After my confirmation of Junior Bear, I looked at the bird feeder again. It looked great from the window, but from the side, it definitely had a lean to it. I'll have to put it away. Bye bye birdies!

It wasn't as bad this time as last time it happened. The new pole is higher, and Junior Bear couldn't get leverage. 

We spent the rest of the day cleaning out the garage. I like to get the bird seed out, which dratted red squirrel has scattered getting into the storage cans. Also, the salt from winter has been accumulating, and I rinsed it out with the hose.

🍕For dinner JB fetched us pizzas. We were pretty tired. He is able to eat a vegan one, which we discovered lately. It's been great. Mine was Hawaiian!  

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

Spring means ducks

Phoebe's nest still awaits its owners, well, builders, to move in. It is very pretty. It's been a tad chilly, again.

We should get our trees cleaned up next week. 

The forsythia is in bloom. I don't know if it will get better than this. I thought it prudent to take photos now. This could be it, or it could have more blooms, or I might forget all about it, since it hides behind a tree in our front yard!

I'm still watching Pepper. Here is a photo of Nutmeg to compare his size. He's not as big as Cinnamon, but Cinn sure is afraid of him.

Pepper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We went for a drive to Narrows Lock in the sunshine. I saw a pair of mergansers and hooded mergansers. I wasn't feeling well, so we headed back home. I have archive photos from Bala, Muskoka!

The frog pond has mallards and wood ducks. These were taken in Muskoka, and Vancouver Park. 

 

I find it impossible to get any photos of our ducks on the frog pond. They spook too easily, seeing me coming down the hill they flee. 

I cannot get photos, but I have set up the trailcam traps. Somebody likes the cracked corn I put out for the ducks!

 

dock tails from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.