Snowy Owl sightings

According to many reports, Ontario is seeing a record number of Snowy Owl's this winter.

 Snowy owls live in the Arctic tundra, north of the tree line. 

 According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y.  the irruption "likely has to do with a bounty of prey in the owl’s breeding areas. With lemmings (the snowies prey of choice) plentiful, more owlets survived and flourished. With a sharp upswing in population, many of these young birds were forced to vacate their frigid northern homes, expanding their hunting areas further south"

I have been lucky enough to see one of these majestic birds in my own yard on several occasions.

 

 

 This guy seems to like my antennae, and spent quite a bit of time perched there yesterday.

 

 It didn't seem disturbed by me at all. In fact,  it was almost posing for me.

I think this may explain the lack of rabbits in my yard this winter!

 

 

 

It is the heaviest owl in North America, with females weighing an average of 2.3 kg and males 1.8 kg. This might explain the condition of my tower!

As I got closer it finally had enough of me and perched on a tree on the other side of the paddock.

I feel very privileged this beautiful Owl has decided to call my neighborhood home this winter.

Beautiful Autumn colors

My Mother once told me "the older you get the faster the time passes".

I am realizing this is very true!

October is here, and I can hardly believe it.

Seems like just last month I was planting my veggie garden and putting in annuals.

Autumn is such a busy season ... time to put away all the patio furniture, take down the pool, clean up the gardens, harvest the last of the veggies, get firewood, move compost, clean the eavestroughs, bring in the goldfish, get heating fuel ... the list goes on and on and on.

But I always try to take some time to enjoy the gorgeous fall colors.

Last weekend was picture perfect and I was in awe of the beauty in my neighborhood.

 

And a few from my yard

Enjoy the beauty of Autumn while you can ... it won't be long until winter is upon us.

A lesson about ducks

I noticed something odd in my Maple tree after my dog walk early this morning.

Look a little closer

It's a DUCK!

In all my years, I have never seen a duck in a tree!

My hunting friend informed me it was a Wood Duck.

After a little research , I discovered this to be true.

I love living in the country! I'm always learning :)

The beauty of winter

Sometimes winter is so beautiful!

Trail Camera

The trail camera has been put to use down at the front of the property.

I had hopes that I would catch the Buck that used to travel the path down here and rub up on the young trees. So far, no luck.

I have, however, snapped photos of a lot of CATS.

I'm not sure who they belong to ... the small tabby belongs to the barn next door. 

There is a beautiful Manx too. 

Another cutie, not sure where it comes from either.

A cottontail

 

And Jack is back!

Still no sign of that buck, but the others had better watch out!

Mr Coyote is on your trail!

Where the heck are the Monarch Butterfly's?

I haven't seen a single Monarch Butterfly this year.

The Butterfly weed and Milkweed usually have loads of caterpillars feeding on them by now.

Where the heck are the Monarch Butterfly's this year?

Sad results from the trail camera this year

We only got ONE photo from our trail camera this year

I had better luck getting deer photos last week at work!

On my lunch hour I decided to sit out behind the buildings near the woods.

I heard something sneaking up on me

 Do you see it peeking thru the trees at me?

Then another one snuck around the trees. It didn't see me at first and then it thought it would make a quick getaway!

I eat my lunch out there every day now!

Birds everywhere!

This year, the birds have returned to our yard in great numbers. There is a family of Tree Swallow's living in the birdhouse my husband made a few years ago.

The Swallow's are used to me and allow me to walk near their house and within a few feet of where they like to sit on the clothes line.

There are Robin's nests all over the yard...in the hedges and even on the woodpile!

I've been watching with interest the Robin that has made herself a nest outside my kitchen window in the Lilac tree. I thought it would be great for the kids to be able to see the eggs hatch and the little ones growing and fledging.

 This morning during the rain, I looked out and noticed that she had her wings spread as if to make an umbrella, so I knew that her eggs must have hatched.

While sitting inside just a few minutes ago, I heard the Mama Robin very upset and I went to the window and there were 2 black birds near the nest that was now tipped over!  I banged on the window and ran outside to chase them away and noticed that there were several Robin's now putting the chase to these Black Birds. I ran back to check the nest and found 3 bald babies in different area's - 2 on the ground and one hanging from the branch.  I once was told never to touch baby birds as the mother would reject them. If I didn't do something they would surely die, so I quickly picked up the nest and carefully put the 3 babies back in the nest, making sure to lodge the nest securely in the branches. There were all moving, but I'm not sure if they were hurt?? I went around the yard to make sure these bad Black Birds were gone and then went back inside. I saw the Mother Robin return, frantic that her nest was gone, but she suddenly spotted the nest, checked out the contents and then got right back to business of keeping the young warm. Phew!!  I sure hope those little guys are OK!

Monarch Butterflies in the garden

Every year, I look forward to the return on the Monarch Butterflies. Monarch's are the only Butterfly here that migrate. Every year, Monarch's that have hatched mid summer in Ontario will fly 3000 km to reach the mountains of Central Mexico by October. They leave in March, often producing the next generation in Texas that will continue on until June - which is about the time they return here.
 To create a butterfly haven in your yard, you need to have the plants (and flowers) that each of the 4 stages of it's life needs to thrive.  The eggs are laid and hatch on Milkweed, which is the larva's only food. The eggs take about 2 weeks to hatch, and once they do the larva goes on a feeding frenzy for about 2 weeks.

I planted Butterfly Weed (Asclepias Tuberosa) for them in my garden, and I must admit it was a little alarming when they devoured the entire plant. But don't worry folks, it grows back!  We also have stands of common milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ) nearby which they seem to prefer.
 After feeding for about 2 weeks, the larva spins itself up into a Chrysalis and hangs for another 2 weeks.

 An amazing transformation happens, and soon a new butterfly will emerge

Butterflies are the most active between 10 am and 3 pm. It is quite a joy watching them flutter around the yard. Adults feed on nectar and are most attracted to blooms that are red, orange, yellow and purple. In September, large numbers congregate here and feed for fuel for their long migration to Mexico. In my experience, they like Golden Rod, Asters, Black Eyed Susan's, Echinacea, Yarrow, Joe Pye Weed,  Sedum, Zinna's, and Cosmos.  Plant some Milkweed and some of these other plants in your yard and you will be certain to attract Monach's to your garden.

Kildeer in the veggie garden

Last summer, I had a couple of Kildeer set up nest in my veggie garden. These birds make their nest on the ground in small nests of gravel. They lay 3-4 eggs in the nest and these eggs need 24-28 days of incubation.
The parents take turns sitting on the eggs and the other stands guard. If they see anything they consider a threat, they run over and pretend to have broken wings all the while luring the threat away from the nest. When it thinks that you are far enough away from the nest, it will suddenly fly off, laughing as it flies.

The eggs are spotted and blend into the background making them very hard to see. The Kildeer in my garden was upset that I didn't leave when she played her broken wing game and after many attempts she settled back onto her eggs and watched intently as I planted my tomato's and beans. The spot she chose to make her nest was the spot I had chosen to plant my zucchini so I would have to wait until these eggs hatched!

Luckily, Kildeer chicks are born and start running before their fluff even dries. They are like mini replica's of their parents and boy can they run! They look like little pompoms with feet. Unfortunately, these eggs hatched and ran before I could get a photo of them, but I'm sure they will be back this year. But you can be sure I won't let them build a nest in my garden again!