Red Poll

Bits and Pieces

It Has been a slow couple of weeks with temperatures in the 30C range. Too hot to do much outside other than watering the garden and taking drives. This is our new flower garden/ pumpkin patch  somewhere in there ,there are pumpkins growing.

We also had a good crop of sunflowers. If you look close, you will see a bee sleeping through the +6C night. The sun warmed him up and he continued on with his pollinating.

There was a cocky Magpie in our neighbour's Mountain Ash tree watching me very closely.

Elaine finally finished her most elaborate crochet project to date...a baby blanket.

I may have posted this Kingfisher with crayfish before, but I like the shot.

More and more mule deer are coming out to feed, and likely to get away from the mosquitos.

The old crow found something tasty, at least for him

The doe Mule Deer look healthy

This family of ducks is also looking good

The Great Blue Heron thought I couldn't see him!  just couldn't get closer.

It's Been Awhile!

I seem to have migrated away from blogging. Why, I'm not sure. With the pandemic, I have been watching the news, but have backed away from that also. I was getting depressed. Why does nobody push good news? When I was in the paper making business, the joke was "Good news doesn't sell. I guess that today it is even more true. What have I been doing to keep myself going in this age of depression?

In September of 2019, I started serious walking with my dog, Daphne. To date we have walked a total of 1,257 miles, burnt up 152,338 kcal, and taken 2,549,600 steps. Daphne has done a lot more miles as a straight line is unknown to her. We have enjoyed a lot of wildlife and forest trails together.

My goal has been 5.1 miles per day.

My camera goes with us and here are a few of my pictures that I am happy with.

Wolf Spider

Daphne at Rest

Killdeer

Bald Eagle

Canada Geese

Great Blue Heron

Female Tree Swallow

Male Tree Swallow

Savannah Sparrow

Mallard Hen plus Ducklings

Solitary Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Feeder Day

It was a crowded day at the feeder with the Hairy Woodpecker showing up again.

 

The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests.

 There were about 50 Red Polls lined up in the tree waiting for me to put the feed out. They are getting to be very tame.

 As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.

 The Pine Grosbeaks have been around all winter in a flock of about 100.

The pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) is a large member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States,Canada, and in subarcticFennoscandia and Siberia. The species is a frugivore, especially in winter, favoring small fruits, such as rowans (mountain-ashes in the New World). With fruit-crop abundance varying from year to year, pine grosbeak is one of many subarctic-resident bird species that exhibit irruptive behavior. Inirruption years, individuals can move long distances in search of suitable food supplies, bringing them farther south and/or downslope than is typical of years with large fruit crops. In such years in the New World, they may occur well south of the typical extent of winter distribution, which is the northern Great Lakes region and northern New England in the United States. This species is a very rare vagrant to temperateEurope; in all of Germany for example, not more than 4 individuals and often none at all have been recorded each year since 1980. (From Wikipedia)

Female

What's New at the Feeder?

Lots of warm weather brings all sorts of birds out!

 The Pine Grosbeaks seemed to be glowing in the sun.

 They were not in a hurry to get to the feeder, but were content to enjoy the sunshine.

 Now and again it got busy. An air traffic controller would have been helpful.

 Female Pine Grosbeak

 

 Common Red Poll

New Neighbours!

When I built the fence just before my operation, I left 4 posts long and stuck bird houses on top of them It appears the bird below (Phoebe?, or wren?) is making a nest in a big hurry. Sorry, it's a House Wren.

 One of the other bird houses have attracted some tree swallows. They too, appear to be staking out turf. I am walking about, but not very far yet, so sitting on the deck chair waiting for action is more up my alley. Tomorrow, after Church, I am going to try a trip around the block. They say walking is good, and so far, no legs going to sleep, no stumbles and very little pain!

 Anyway, a big thank you to those that forwarded good healings and Prayers to me. They all were much appreciated!

Belated Mother's Day Greetings!

I missed all the celebrations due to a bad cold (Man Cold.. would have killed a lesser person :-{ ). I slept through Mother's Day, church service and a couple of other days besides. Our youngest son took Elaine out for brunch. Thanks, Mike!

 I felt a lot better today, so got the new pasture seeded ready for the monsoon forecast for Wednesday plus 3.

Western King Bird

 Some of our latecomers are arriving. The king Bird will likely take up residence under our front deck. He has been around for about 5 years.

Things are greening up, but we really need a good rain. Boots is still on duty, watching his herd.

These tree swallows are checking out alternate accommodation. They have living in the martin house for the last 7 years. I think they are the same pair because they just arrive, go to the house, ignore the horses, dogs and people.

 Why would any bird choose a hole in a tree over a condominium? Oops, I see some renovations are needed. Maybe I have been reclassified to "Slum Landlord".

All in all, a lazy week on the old Acreage. (Darn that Boots! I can't take a horse picture without him hamming it up!)