Spring ! HA ! Wildlife 2013

We've had some winter days that we thought would never end ... these pics are all taken through our kitchen window

Snow Day - with a Redpoll in the deck banister snow

 

Our resident Black-eyed Junco hanging out with a Redpoll that seems to not be liking all the wet snow

The Junco only shows up once in awhile and is a very shy bird.

Our resident Woodpecker

the following are taken with my new camera

I swear the Gold Finches (males that is) are changing their colour!

 Incoming!

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Come Take A Peek

Shelamo is proud to be the Feature Breeder for the month of February on Sheltie Strut, helping to contribute to the fund raising efforts of Pennylynn Woodruff, who has been doing an amazing job for our CSSA National event.

Thank-you to Jan & Tim Secord & Mary-Anne Yolkowskie for also contributing.

Our newest AOAC hopeful pictured @ 6wks of age.
We're calling him "Journey"
(Am/Cdn Ch Apple Acres Expedition ROM ROMC x Gralochs Blueberry Tart)

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Dear Deer, Please Don't Play On The Road

Saturday on our way out to a dog show, don't we get a glimpse of one of the two fawns heading across the road. I've seen one mother with her 2 fawns over the last few weeks, just never had my camera with me. Well, it was right behind my seat, so I slowed down, grabbed it and shot these pics through the van's window before the last one went off into the bush.

can you see it? just off to the left

we were able to get a little closer, then it disappeared

We stopped the van in the area we saw them cross, but no signs of mother or her fawns in the bush.

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Enjoying Our Winter Birds

Our tiny bird, with their black hood, white throat and grey body is called a Chickadee, and their call is just like that chick-a-dee-dee-dee. They are getting more and more trusting of me that I can move in closer. I've also set the picture 'beep' to off as that seems to scare them.

Last Wednesday I captured this one during a fluffy snow storm. I have a suet ball hanging and then the blown glass holder than mom gave me as an Xmas present.

They come in one by one, take a mouth full and then fly off to the surrounding trees.

Here you can see 3 chickadees sitting on the clothes line waiting their turn. Yeah, sometimes we'll see one on each side of the suet ball, but that is rare.

This little one gets to feast all by himself.
I find it amazing that as soon as the sun starts to go down, they all disappear.

A red headed woodpecker showed up yesterday, but when I went to open the patio doors to snap a picture, it was gone into the bushes in a flash.

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Time of Year for the Monarch Butterfly

The monarch butterfly, as it fuels up for the long flight south for the winter. I remember as a kid on many of our camping trips, capturing the monarch caterpillars, watching them form into a chrysalis in a jar, and then into a butterfly. Just an amazing process.

This is a female.

Afternoon sun as it shines thru its wings.

Oppss!! A little breezy!

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Morning Dew Spider Web

As I go down our basement stairs to the dog kennel I can see out a window to the front garden. Yesterday morning was a foggy, dewy morning and don't I see a semi-circle of what initially appears to be a clump of loose dog hair. Hummm ... a lot to be dog hair and it's quite a ways from the kennel area. Once outside I have a closer look, and nope it's a spider web! It was one of the most awesome ones I've seen. Not at all the usual kind you see in the octagon form. In the middle was a tiny spider, with a bit of yellow on it. The main web seemed to only be held to the adjacent plants by about 5 strands. I moved what leaves I could without disturbing the form to get this picture.

Just had to share one of mother nature's creations. Don't see it this morn.

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Squirrels In The Spring - Why Barking Dogs?!

Yesterday (same as it is today) is beautiful! Above freezing temps, sunny, just LOVELY ... feeling like spring, altho we know March can go 'out like a lion' and we aren't done with winter yet.

I couldn't figure out why the dogs were barking, down at the back fence in our yard. I finally 'caught' the reason why ...

A red squirrel appeared on our pool's decking ... he sat there eyeing the yard.

He then scurried down the deck onto the snow where there were these long 'holes' ... now what are they? and what is he eating?

It's the bread crusts! Last Saturday, we had prepared over 100 sandwiches for a family funeral get together, cutting off the crusts of the bread and had bagged them to not only make fresh stuffing, but to scatter the rest for the birds & deers. Mike scattered the remaining ones out off our backyard deck, which looks onto the pool and the back end of the dog runs, never thinking the commotion it might cause with the dogs!

The bright sun cast such a glow onto the icy snow crystals that are now forming ... it was like little stars shinning .... So here was this brown squirrel happily gathering and chewing up the crusts, paying no never mind to the dogs barking ... guess they are now used to them.

OOPPPPSSS!!! I've been spotted on the deck!

It's time to high tail it for now ... plus chase another squirrel who was busting in on his 'buffet' dinner.

He'll be back, and I'll know 'cause of the dogs!

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Loon - Looks More Like It?

OK ... Penny ... Here's the pic again, only with a bit of 'fix-up' in Adobe, as per my 'photo guru' expert has shown me :) Think it looks more representative now ... Memories of 'talking' to them while on family camping trips made me do it :)!

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DAAAHHH?? It's A Canadian Loon!

Kinda surprised I didn't get comments/emails from my Canadian friends that this carved duck picture I posted from Xmas is a Canadian (Common) Loon!

DAHH ... how could I have forgotten? I remember my dad teaching me how to take a long, thick blade of grass (took some doing to find the right one too), holding it just so, between the length of my thumbs, cupping my hands and then blowing to make that long, lovely call called the 'wail'. This call is mostly heard on calm lakes as the evening sun sets in the summer. If you get the grass reed calling down right (gosh do I know about practising it!), you can sometimes get the loons to answer you back. It is used to keep in contact with other loons on the lake.

If you've never heard it here is a link .... listen, think of a warm summer's evening, the sun setting on the horizon .... and other than maybe crickets, this is all you hear ....

Wail (474 K AU)

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Kingston Show - A Bit Of This, Bit of That

The drive down to Kingston @ 7:am am was a foggy one, but it soon lifted an hour out. Eventually the sun came out around 10am, only to have it feel like 32 C, hot and muggy.

Row upon row of trailers, tents & canopies lined the various roadways as everyone tried to get a spot close to the rings. One still had to dodge, or carry our shelties across the muddy areas to get to the main show area. This year they had 2 large marque tents up. Here's just 1/2 of one of the areas.By noon with the sun high in the sky, and only a few large trees around the tents it would get crowded as people sought out shade to watch the show.

Chinook chilling out with her stuffed toy.

Chinook's foot seemed OK with all the TLC last so we gave it a go and showed her. Both girls placed 1st in their class; thanks to Penny Woodruff for taking Flirt in again for me. No points today, a lovely blue merle from the classes, owned by Cheryl Pike took the Breed and went on to win a Group 4th.

This site/camping grounds has just about everything ....
Upon leaving I captured this rooster strutting his stuff. Do you think he'd turn and face me? nope, not on your life!
We were wondering where the duck was .... then we spotted it under a bush. I say 'it' as I have no idea what kind this is and whether it is a male or female.

Off to soak Chinook's foot again, clean up the puppies and head off to bed.

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Oh!!! NO, Skunk Be Gone

It was another trip into town last night to pick up Mike's car that has been in the shop for 3 days. On the way home dusk was settling in, air cooling off. Not far from the picture of the bails of hay taken the other day, don't we see a SKUNK waving its tail by the side of the road.
I was edging up, trying to drive and capture this guy as he waddled along the side, all the while hoping he wouldn't decide to diverse out into the road.

The pics didn't come out very good as while I was taking them through the windshield it was starting to fog up with the lower evening temps. Try driving slowly, watching for country traffic, get the heat turned up a bit to remove the windshield moisture, and hold the camera steady ... needed more hands!

We didn't hit it, it slowly wandered off into the bush, but, don't we drive in the driveway and find a dead raccoon :( It looked like it had been hit on our road and had been able to just get up our lane way before it succumbed to its injuries.

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