Critter of the Day: Black Capped Chickadee

I’ve uploaded another batch of photos from the camera in the living room.  I’m so happy!  There were so many good shots, it was hard to choose which ones to post.  I’ll be putting them up, little by littler, over the next few days.

First up, we’ve got this adorable little puff ball.

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I’m not usually able to catch the birds while they’re in the lilac bushes.  The camera on its tripod is set up facing the feeding station.  By the time I’ve spotted a bird in a spot I can see with the camera (sometimes, that means quickly tilting over the tripod!) and turn the camera, they’re usually gone.  They do not stay anywhere for long!

:-D

A Day of Rest

Today was a very quiet day; I’ve learned to really appreciate those!

I posted some photos of the outside cats on my new Instagram account when I went out to feed them this morning.  Butterscotch came out, and I tried to see how the wound on the back of her neck was doing.  The fur was no longer matted and damp looking, but quite clean, so some grooming obviously happened.  Though I could feel where the wound was, she wouldn’t stay still enough for me to see anything.  It’s clearly not bothering her, though, which is good.

I’ve yet to see any deer today.  My older daughter thinks it might be too wet.  I’m hoping they come by later on.  The squirrels and birds will eat only so much, and as damp as things are, the seeds might start germinating – or rotting, depending on the conditions.

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Nasty Crime Boy entertained us for a while.  At first, he seemed to be watching something up the tree, though nothing that we could see from our window.  Mostly, though, he was just starting at the tree trunk.  Perhaps a bug had caught his attention?  I was able to get his attention for a photo, though. :-)

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Trüllbus the Crime Eater took over Rolando Moon’s favourite spot.  He had joined me when I was putting their food out this morning, but he would not let me touch him, or even go too near him.

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The redpolls were out in full force, but they were so active, I didn’t even try for a photo of them.  Instead, I managed to quick shot of this little feathery golf ball of a chickadee!

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Only one blue jay visited today.  Looks like it was a day of rest for the critters, too.

It’ll be an early bed time for me tonight.  I’ve got my first turn taking my mother to a doctor tomorrow morning.  One of her eyes had suddenly turned blood red.  Thankfully, my sister was visiting that day and able to take her to see a doctor.  The local clinic was closed, however, so she had to go to a clinic in the next large enough community.  That’s where I need to bring her back to tomorrow morning.  It’ll be about 40 minutes drive, plus the time it’ll take to pick up my mother.  Who knows how long we’ll be in the waiting room; they only told her to come back in the morning.  No appointment made.

I think I’ll bring along a small crochet project.  And maybe some extra yarn and hooks for my mother. :-D

My daughter has already offered me the energy drink she had been saving for another day.  I’m going to need it! :-D

The Re-Farmer

The Deer Came Back – plus insurance update

First, an update on my medical insurance situation.

I got a call back from the insurance company “about my rejected claim.”  So that’s how the failure to get coverage on my prescriptions showed up at their end.

When I spoke to them before, they were confused to find that, while everything looked as it should in one area, in another, it showed that my file was closed.  They were going to contact the employer’s carrier company to find out what happened, which is what she was calling me back about.

They were told that I had opted out of the plan.

Huh?

Nope.  I have never done anything of the sort.  In fact, the only thing I’ve ever done has been to use my prescription coverage.  My husband has been the one to deal with them, since he’s the employee.

My guess is that when there was a screw up that affected his coverage, mine got messed up, too.

The insurance company told me I’d have to contact the employer to get it fixed.  Well, I can’t, but my husband can, so he has sent an email off to them.

Hopefully, I will have coverage again, soon!

My thoughts yesterday, of putting deer feed out in a trail past Scary Eunice the Snowman, was foiled when my younger daughter went out to feed the cats ahead of me.  As the deer hadn’t made it to the feed yesterday, she didn’t add more.  So I was going to go out later and do it.

I never got a chance to.

Hungry Girl and Barbecue were already out!

They were still nervous around Eunice, and were giving her a wide berth, which also meant they were coming closer to the house.

Interesting.  The deer were less nervous about us moving around on the other side of the window than a snowman!

I imagine they’ll get used to it soon.  Or the warm weather will melt it down.  Whichever comes first. :-D

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Hungry Girl was pretty enthusiastic about burrowing and digging into the snow to get at the feed.

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And making faces at us in the window.  Not so much in this photo.

Gosh, she’s so cute.

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Barbecue was certainly enjoying himself.

What a difference between those two.  Hungry Girl is all scruffy looking, while Barbecue is so sleek and fat, his haunches jiggle when he moves quickly.

In the next while, we’ll find out if he really is a he.  March is usually when the antlers start to grow in.

Later on, Mama and the twins came by.  They, too, kept well away from Scary Eunice!

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This is one of the twins, coming back after being chased off by its sibling, using the boot trail near the house left by my daughters.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them go this close to the house before!

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There was a fair bit of digging into the snow in some of the spots.

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And burrowing of faces.

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A bit of aggressiveness, too.  I wasn’t able to get a photo of one of the twins actually kicking at its sibling, enough that his leg even got hung up over the other one’s body.

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But that didn’t keep either of the twins from coming back.

Look how deep that snow is!  This area doesn’t get as deep as other areas, such as the open garden. It’s definitely making it harder for them to move around.

And now a bonus photo…

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One, adorable, fluffy little chickadee!

The Re-Farmer