Some photos my husband got this morning.
He’s been coming back every morning, lately.
Then there is our special “bird.”
We had a cat on the bird feeder, and the birds were on the ground! :-D
The Re-Farmer
Wildlife out our window
A Deer Returns!
Note: I’m trying something different with my photos this time. We’re close to our storage limit on our free WordPress account. I don’t want to reduce the number of photos we post, and we’re not in a position to upgrade yet, so we now have a Flickr account and I am going to try embedding the images. Please let us know in the comments, if you are having any problems with the images loading, etc. Thanks!
My darling husband has taken on the morning feeding of the critters. With the bird feeder, this includes scattering seed on the ground for those birds that prefer feeding that way, and for any deer that happen by. We’ve seen the odd deer, but they haven’t really hung around.
Well, this morning, one did!!!
He’s a young one, and I’m sure he is one of the little ones that visited us in the winter. There’s something about that swoopy snout that I recognize.
Just look at those little antlers! :-D
Getting the photos was a bit of a challenge for two reasons. One, we keep the telephoto lens on the camera (for those new to this blog, we keep a Nikon D80 on a tripod in our living room window permanently, to photograph the wildlife out our living room window). The deer was almost too close to the house for the lens!
He looks like he’s laughing at us, in this next one!
The other challenge is reflections on the window from inside. At the time I was taking these photos, I had to contend with reflections of my avocado on the glass. :-D
If it seems like he’s looking at something specific in some of these photos, that’s because he is …
Sometimes, it was us in the window.
Most of the time, it was…
… Doom Guy!
I wasn’t able to get a photo of it, but at one point, they were nose to nose! So adorable!!
He was quite attentive to all the noises around him, but not at all skittish. Which is good, because it’s warming up today, and after all the snow yesterday, it’s falling off the trees with clumps. We are hearing “phwomph” noises all over.
Also; avocado tree reflections. :-D
Then we got another curious kitten!
In this photo, the deer had moved to the far side of the bird feeder, and The Outsider was on this side, watching him, while Doom Guy was on the other side of the feeder base, though he had left by the time this photo was taken.
I’m so happy to see deer back again!
I also managed to get some really fantastic pictures of The Outsider after the deer left. Those will get their own post, next. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Blue Jay Watching
Lately, they fly away as soon as I get near the camera. This time, it hung around to watch me take its picture. :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Critters, and technical difficulties
First up, I want to share a couple of photos from our living room camera.
This one was taken a few days ago. With the birdseed running out, there have been much fewer visitors of late. Which means that, of the ones that do show up, they are less active and easier to get photos of. :-)
While doing our Costco shopping, I made sure to pick up a bag of mixed bird seed. I even figured out how to pop the roof off of the bird feeder, so I could fill it. I also added some seed to the platform part of the stand.
The birds haven’t really rediscovered it yet, but this squirrel did!
I know squirrels aren’t supposed to be good for feeders, as they eat so much of the seeds, but I really like these guys. They take cat or dog kibble, too. Back when this place still had a wood burning furnace, when it was time to gather wood from the big pile outside to throw into the basement, we would sometimes uncover a cache of kibble that the squirrels had hidden in the logs. :-D
My dad really liked the squirrels, too. Sometimes, he would sit on the concrete steps out the main entry and lie back in the sun and fall asleep. At least once, he woke up to find a squirrel on his chest, checking him out!
With another scorcher predicted for today, I headed out early to try and mow the lawn. I don’t like working with loud equipment in the morning, but I wanted to get it done before things got too hot. I got most of the lawn done, and was just doing the last couple of bits around the main garden, when I ran out of gas. After refilling it, the mower wouldn’t start.
While I was trying to get it started, I jostled the fuel line filter, and it popped off! I got it back on again, then got a screwdriver to loosen the clamp, push the filter nozzle as far in as I could, then tightened it again. Then I went back to trying to start the mower.
No go. Literally.
I ended up pushing the mower all the way back to the garage. My daughters and I headed into town in the afternoon, then back again soon after we returned (but for good reasons… ;-) ), so I wasn’t able to try again until almost evening.
It started beautifully.
I guess it just needed a rest!
I finished the last bit of lawn. Though it took me maybe 15 minutes to do it, it was about 30C out there, and wow am I glad I started early in the morning, when it was still relatively cool!
But at least that’s done, now.
And that’s the extent of outside work for today!! Looking at the forecast, it looks like early mornings, or late evenings, are going to be the only times we’ll be getting outside work done for at least the next two weeks.
The Re-Farmer
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The Squirrel. Sees us.
My daughter got some pictures of a squirrel at our feeder stand today.
It would go up onto the platform, then stretch out to catch the bottom of the hanging planter, pull it closer, then climb onto it.
It saw my daughter taking pictures.
Now, there’s a face that can haunt dreams! :-D
Sure doesn’t seem happy with being watch, that’s for sure. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Birds and Buck
I moved the bird feeder stand closer to the house last night. Here are a couple of pictures I got this morning. (click on the images to see the larger version)
This evening, while heading out to pick up my daughter from work, we saw a deer on the road, then another dashing across when we were almost home.
What I didn’t expect was to see one outside our window! We got a visit from a young buck, and there was enough light out still that I was able to get a few shots.
When I first saw it, it was coming through the tall grass in the main garden. It stayed and grazed by an apple tree, before making its way over towards the house. Then it started enthusiastically eating some elm leaves! It was here for only a short time when something startled it, mid chomp, and off it ran.
The deer are so much more brightly coloured, this time of year. This guy is all legs! :-D
I am so happy to still be seeing them in the yard, and to actually get some pictures, too! :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Father’s Day is for the birds!
A Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there! Especially to my wonderful husband. Thank you for all you do for us. <3
My husband has front row views of the bird feeders out our living room window, and has been getting some photos, as well. He got a bunch from yesterday.
The feeders had masses of goldfinches on them for the past while, with the occasional nuthatch popping by. Yesterday, they were outnumbered by another bird. I’d thought they were some of the ones we’ve been seeing for a while, until I could see the yellow in their wings.
From what I’ve been able to find, they are pine siskins – and they sure love the platform feeder!
This morning, the crowd of them was back. Just as I was getting up to take some photos, they got chased away by this guy…
Finally, I was able to get a good photo of a blue jay! For the past while, I’ve found myself wondering if they can somehow feel the camera’s sensor, because as soon as I try to focus on them, they fly off. :-D
I am thinking of looking over the area in front of the living room window to see if there is level ground closer to the house I can move the feeder to, so we can see them better without having to zoom in so much with the camera. :-)
The Re-Farmer
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Royal Colours
More goldfinches came, en masse – with a purple finch joining them for a bit!
My older daughter took the photos with the purple finch. :-)
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A Golden Opportunity
Redwing Blackbird
For the past few days, we haven’t been putting anything out at the feeding station; there was no point in continuing to put out deer feed this time of year, so I didn’t bother buying more when we ran out. When next we buy seeds, I hope to get mixed bird seed, and have a bird feeder out the living room window to put it in. :-)
There are still enough seeds left on the ground to attract birds, and today, I got photos of a male redwing blackbird (the females look VERY different).
This particular bird has very little of the red showing through its wing. Perhaps it is transitioning from juvenile to adult?
The red is certainly there, though under black feathers.
I really wasn’t expecting to see them in our yard, since they prefer wet and marshy areas.
Not that there are much of those right now.
I’ve read in the news today that there are 3 fires threatening some communities to the west of us. Not close enough for us to see any smoke.
We also got weather alerts today, for the heat. Though our local temperature is at “only” 19C, the next town is at 29C. I wish I knew where our local weather readings are coming from, because they seem to be on the low side. I’d like to see the weather station and how it’s situated. The station in the next town over is a class A station; about as perfectly situated as a weather station can be.
Stating tonight and through to Friday, there are possible thunderstorms but all for the southern and western parts of the province. They will likely miss us, though I hope we at least get rain. Temperatures are predicted to hit 23-25C, with humidexes of 31-35C.
From the weather alert;
Residents of and visitors to the above mentioned regions are advised to take the following precautions to protect themselves, their families and their neighbours;
- drink plenty of water even before you feel thirsty and stay in a cool place.
- reduce your heat risk. Schedule outdoor activities during the coolest parts of the day.
- the risks are greater for young children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and people working or exercising outdoors.
- Outdoor workers should take regularly scheduled breaks in a cool place.
And that is why we aren’t doing yard work during the day!
I think we might want to move the bird bath over to the East side of the house, too, once we clean it up.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 