Bits and Pieces

You may have noticed my new header picture. It is about the only "bright" thing to happen in the last three weeks. Note the Teddy Bear. Daphne is spoiled! We have had rain, rain and more rain for three weeks. The gardens are stalled out, or drowned. The walks have been limited to paved paths and the photo opportunities almost nil.

I guess that is my whine for the day!

I did manage to get a picture or two of a Great Blue Heron in a marsh at Rotary Park. The marsh is now flooded and the Athabasca River is up to flood level. (Did I mention we have had rain?)

 The Goslings are about the size of their mother now.

 This woodpecker kind of looked waterlogged.

 I did catch up with a Solitary Sandpiper sitting on a log.

 Same Sand Piper different view.

Think dry, and warm!

The Wren Family

Time is flying! T1 and T2 will soon be leaving the nest for good! 

This is the first time that they have been near the door and I am surprised at how big they are getting.

 I took these from my lawn chair, sitting on my deck trying to recover from the +41C weather. What a place! In 6 months it has gone from -40C to +40C. Go figure!

 Mom ( or Dad is vary cautious and has a neat approach to the nest. Land on apple tree branch. Look around. Fly up to the nest.

 I like how the tail is used as a brace, sort of like a woodpecker.

 The end!

What Type of Goose?

I took Brooklyn and my camera for a walk today and found this guy all by himself on the pond.

 I have searched all over the internet for identification both wild and domestic, but have come up empty.

 I first thought "Snow Goose" but the beak and legs are wrong along with the black feathers.

Can anybody help identify this bird? Please.

Little Friends

I was cutting some brush when I spotted this little fellow busily spinning a web.She, and I say she, because she looks very, very pregnant did not take much notice of me.

Araneus marmoreus

 I guess the lens got a little too close at this point  as she bunched up and froze.

Araneus marmoreus

 Also she got a little shy at times, or maybe the anchor point had to go on the other side.

 The butt end view leaves something to be desired.

 You can see 6 of the eight eyes on this view, and the web.

Araneus marmoreus

 Up and down she went for about 15 minutes. I enjoyed the rest from chain sawing.

 OK, OK, Get that lens out of my space. You have been warned!

 That's better, now how about you getting back to work!

Wordless Wednesday

Always Prepared!.....NOT!

Normally, when I go out to work with the horses, I take my camera and hang it on the fence post with the camera on the outside of the post to keep inquisitive noses off.

Today, I did not.

Picture this. I am on the pasture side of the fence grooming Alpine (man is she tossing hair). The other two horses are standing by waiting for their turn when I looked up and saw Boots laying down watching the horses. That dog has a compulsive disorder of some kind. Just behind him are two deer at the salt lick about 30 feet from me and 10 feet from Boots.

I reached for my camera, and..... Somebody give me 12 lashes with a wet noodle!  The camera was in the house!

I was left watching two horses watching two deer who were ignoring one dog.

To top it off, they one by one walked over to the fence and jumped it by a good margin.

No photos today.

Grrrrr.

Elk, Getaway,Part Two of Three

 I took the opportunity to take a few Elk pictures on the trip. We have a few in the area around the Acreage, but they are very elusive, so any opportunity to get some good photos should be grabbed. About 2 months ago, these bulls would be scrapping with each other. Now they are getting along really well.

When it is sunny, and warm, they seem to be pretty laid back.

No trophies in the lot, but some nice bulls. The full curl ram  http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-was-time-for-getaway.html was a ram that would be very high in demand, and worth a lot of money!

The cow elk was very laid back and content just to watch the bulls approaching.

It was time for a Getaway!

Big Horn Sheep

Elaine and I decided that I should head over to the North Shore of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia to visit my son while he was back in country. This was a distance of 1500 km (937 miles) round trip. I was not that keen on driving the Rocky Mountains this late in the year, but the trip turned out pretty good. There was some misery on B.C 5, but manageable. I managed to do some stalking on the way back and came up with some good sheep and Elk pictures, and a few of some moose. Consider this installment one of about 3 to come. It was funny that for the last eight years I have been content to stick around the acreage and enjoy the critters, but this trip proved very enjoyable. The full curl sheep looks a lot better in the wild than on a wall!

Newest Acquisitions to the Acreage

This is what I like about living on an Acreage. You never know what the morning brings. I went out on the deck with my grand daughter  and found these three about 100 yards from the house. The cow moose was looking very good and so were her twin calves of this year.

The calves sure grew quickly. Normally we don't see them up this  way until January. For some reason they were early this year. Boots and Brooklyn both ignored them.

The two calves were bedded down in this hollow when I first saw them. I don't know where the cow was, but I suspect that she was still laying down.

Moose are rather neat things to have around, but not if you are a horse. All three horses were on high alert, prancing and blowing their displeasure.

All in all, though, not a bad way to start out the day!

I apologize for the slightly out of focus pictures, but  at first light, the only steady rest was the top of a fence post. They turned out not too bad for 1/8 of a second shutter speed.

It Feels Like Snow!

Hopefully, it is far, far  away! However, the Sand Hill Cranes, Snow Geese and Canada geese are all heading south. They are up at 5000 feet and going fast.  Usually they are ahead of the professional weather forecasters.

The leaves are pretty much gone, and what are left are drying on the trees. This morning I dug out  my winter toque before heading out to work some more on the land clearing. The wind was bitterly cold and it felt like it was going to rain, or snow.

If you look closely at the above, you can see Biz standing on the hill trying to see if there was any grass yet. She and Alpine are banished to the field farthest from the main road, because they both look similar to a moose when walking through the bush. 

 Brooklyn is quite inquisitive and follows me from spot to spot. She doesn't seem to miss the chickens, nor does Boots. The last of our chickens are now gone, so it will be back to purchasing store bought eggs over the winter. We will have to think on whether we want layers next spring along with the meat birds and turkeys. It was a tough, but necessary decision to put down the layers, but the energy cost this winter made keeping them for eggs a serious money losing proposition.

Tomorrow, I start cleaning out the turkey house and chicken coop. I can use the space to store all the paraphernalia that goes along with keeping foul. I timed the food almost perfectly and only have about 2 scoops left. The oyster shell is also pretty much empty. 

More Visitors

The local wildlife is starting to show up several times a day. The word must be getting around that the grass, salt and water are good! Also, the dogs are lazy and unlikely to chase anything except a few Zeds.

 ONE

 TWO

 THREE

GONE!

Hope your day is going well!

View From The Kitchen Window

This doe came in at last light to try out my salt lick. She didn't mind the horses at all. Her fawn from last year came in also, but a little later when the light was gone for photos.

She seemed to know exactly what she was looking for.  The horses paid them no mind at all. Now, we will get along OK as long as she leaves the garden and orchard alone. It looks like it is time to get a new battery and arm up the water canon for the summer.

Hello, Woody!

This is a fellow that you hear more than you see. He is a Pileated Woodpecker, one of the largest woodpeckers around, slightly bigger than a crow. We had a pair around today and I hope that they see fit to nest. They are very noisy in call, but extremely silent when flying through the woods.

Unfortunately, they do not frequent feeders, or I could get some real good close ups of them. Fortunately, I now have a camera that allows me to "get close" without getting close. Over the next few weeks,I will be looking for a rectangular hole in one of my poplar trees. If I find it, I will stake it out with the camera and a tripod. It looks like spring is here. The exotic birds are coming back!

Our Visitor

I was out back stoking up a good fire in our crusher cone fire pit trying to get a 15 gallon barrel of water up near boiling point when I saw Tucker's ears go up, Boom's ears go up and all three go into startle mode and high tail it to the lower pasture. I figured there was a moose close by, so I snuck up to the hay shelter and sure enough there he was, a young bull. I was very happy not to be on any of the horses! I am not sure how to desensitize a horse to the presence of a moose. I know how to do it with other scary stuff, but a moose is too big to rub all over the horse. Besides, the horse would be long gone!

If you double click on the image, the detail comes out better.

Pesky Critters!

Now, if you will look closely at the water canon in the background, you can see that it is not going off. Why? 'Cause she has learned that if she sneaks in the back way, she can fool it and can eat munchy lettuce , beet tops etc.

I watched her come into the horse paddock with her fawn in order to get at the salt lick. Then both of them disappeared. I figured that she might try this, so i grabbed the camera and waited her out. Sure enough, into the garden she went, but not far enough to set the photo eye and subsequent jet of water off. Who says that deer can't learn.

Here she is teaching the fawn about survival in an acreage setting. The little guy was pretty cautious about getting into the garden, but I am sure he was taking notes for next year.

My dog and the neighbour's dogs looked at them and ignored same. These dogs know they can't catch a deer, so why try?

I hope that I am out when they come back next, as I set the photoeye to maximum scan!

Next I will be getting out my Elmer Fudd hat!