What I thought was an eastern kingbird has been reidentified as a least flycatcher.
The pair of geese are now a gaggle.
What I thought was an eastern kingbird has been reidentified as a least flycatcher.
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So there it was, between Madawaska and the Spectacle Lake Road, right in the middle of the road at high noon! Bugs must be bad in the bush, that's not the 'right' time of day to see a moose crossing. A young boy.
Lilac bushes are showing colour, soon the blossoms will be full out. Cherry blossoms are in full swing. Well, we've got blackflies. Seems a week late to me. Or Victoria Day was incredibly early.
A light breeze, sunny, mid 20s...it's all good. The bugs aren't even noticeable down by the river. Contrary to the weather forecast yet again, it was a fantastic weekend. No rain since Friday (and that was exhilarating, it was so intense). Boating, beaching, campfiring, funning was had. Kids and dogs.
Great Blue Heron sighting. Just to show the thought processes regarding bug repellent. It makes me a little crazy that people come out of the city to get to clean air and water, and then douse themselves in a neurotoxin. There are better ways.
Having now paid TripAdvisor a ransom to gain control of my listing, there are still some parts that I am locked out of. I cannot affect pricing displayed on my listing without paying them MORE. Then I still do not get to directly post prices. Instead, some wacky formula is used by a 3rd party to come to a price point that is not accurate.
This practice is shameful, and counter to good business practices. I attempt to be clear and truthful in all advertising for my property. This site is the ONLY place where you can find accurate pricing for this premises, as is stated on my log cabins page. Consumer beware! The birds just keep on a-coming.
Have not yet seen golden or bald eagle, great blue heron, kestrel, cardinal, cowbird, crane, kingfisher. They should be sightable soon. There are a pair of pileateds flitting about the grounds today. This time of year I often see them in the pines, but today they are down by the waterfront campsites. Also saw what seems to be a red shafted flicker, but it doesn't quite fit with my ID pics, something not quite right with the markings on the upper breast area. Still searching for a closer match. Photo courtesy Samantha Timbrell
Want to see the International Space Station? This is a schedule of when you can see it in the sky. The home page on the site shows what the astronauts are seeing, updated every minute.
Possible meteor shower this Friday/Saturday, May 23/24. past full moon, and the rise is late, so a good chance to see something if you can get away from the city.
Yellow bellied sapsuckers facilitate hummingbird migration. I noticed here that the hummingbird follows the sapsucker to the tree, drinking from the holes the sapsucker makes. According to Ed Lawrence, the gardening authority on CBC, this symbiosis enables the hummingbird to migrate, as they fly north before blossoms appear in many places along the route.
Simple, elegant nature at work again. Here is the list of bird species spotted on the weekend, May 16/17/18/19.
In no particular order: American bittern American crow American robin red breasted nuthatch northern raven Canada goose rock pigeon turkey vulture blue jay black capped chickadee red breasted nuthatch northern flicker yellow shafted flicker eastern kingbird eastern phoebe American goldfinch ruffed grouse pileated woodpecker dark eyed junco yellow bellied sapsucker brown thrasher hermit thrush red winged blackbird common yellowthroat black and white warbler chestnut sided warbler yellow rumped warbler yellow warbler black throated green warbler black throated blue warbler ovenbird chipping sparrow song sparrow swamp sparrow white throated sparrow barn swallow (other swallow unconfirmed) hawk (unconfirmed species, suspected redtail) gull (also unconfirmed species) ruby throated hummingbird Songs were heard of eastern wood peewee and nashville warbler, but birds were not sighted. Also an unknown low trill was heard. And an unidentified night bird. Spring peepers were also a deafening chorous, and fresh moose tracks and scrapings were observed. The weather forecasting tree beside the office is housing a flicker. Finally got a good look at the emerging bird. Babies on the way...
Finally, I'm seeing cherry blossoms. Progress in the natural world!
Pickerel! Yum! Season is open and fish are being caught.
Beautiful sunny morning, certainly nothing dismal, as was in the weather forecast. It is cool, but on occasion there are morning temperatures near zero in July as well.
Too bad about all the people who decided to stay in the city this weekend. They were fooled. One nature lover here this weekend is a birder, and is ecstatic following the sounds and making sightings. Camera with a big lens, collecting memories. I heard a grouse beating today for the first time. Seems a late start to mating. Oh well, I guess it was too good to last. The water level in the bay came all the way up overnight, and so the expansive beach has disappeared. Obviously the control dam at Whitney was open, and there was quite a lot of rain last night. The falls has 2 cascades, so there is lots of water entering the system from all directions.
The rain is slowing down. Depending on which forecast you follow, it is either supposed to rain all weekend, or it is tapering off this afternoon and be followed by sunny/cloudy cool weather. We'll see... And there is some water where it is a bother. The trail to the waterfall is seriously flooded. Guess that makes it a canoeing kind of weekend. They are such a common sight here, I forgot to mention them. Cousin to the woodpecker, they poke holes in sappy trees, making a feeding spot for squirrels and butterflies as well. Working together for a better nature experience...
With a holiday weekend looming, there is always lots to do. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is looking a bit dismal for this weekend, but it continues to change, and look better. Still room here for lots of campers, but only one cabin available. It could be yours!
Call or email to book. Those birds are insanely loud and auditorily versatile, colourful even. There is no mistaking who is holding the concert. Heard the first one last night before sunset.
We had a power outage this morning, and for the first time ever, it was at this property, instead of the entire township and half of the county. When I heard the bang, I first thought it was someone discharging a shotgun (goose deterrent) except it sounded much too close to my house. 15 seconds later it was obvious there was no power here.
Hydro One was very efficient in restoring power today. The cause; a chubby squirrel was where she should not have been and got fried. Went out with a bang! Farley Mowat has left the building. All environmentalists will, no doubt, remember him fondly.
Our society owes him a lot, our environmental awareness has much to do with his illumination of issues regarding our natural world. There are a lot of booking engines out there. One click, your vacation is booked. Or is it? I don't use booking engines for a lot of reasons. Unbeknownst to me, Hostelworld has been directing my inquiries from TripAdvisor to their site. I have put a stop to this, but have no idea how long it will take for them to clean up their side of the problem.
Book direct. It's the only way. It's been a long day of preparing for tourists. The water is finally in the system. This is only possible because the lines are just below the ground a few inches. Yesterday I had a snag, where there was still frost ground around a pipe leading to a cabin. There is still frozen ground 3 feet down; the installation of gas tanks at the corner store has ground to a halt because they can't dig yet.
Fish are jumping! Under a mackerel sky at sunset, which was a red glow in the northwest sky, as the rest was under cloud. Lots of bird sounds, far too many for me to identify. Birders, where are you? I think there is a pileated in the grounds. I have been hearing him for more than a month, and today I saw the characteristic hole in a tree. The old weather forecasting tree beside the office window is DEAD, and that is what the woodpecker has been working on. Strangely I haven't seen him yet, just a case of not looking at the right time. Either he is working on a couple of trees, or there is more than one in the 'hood. The creek was running backwards today. The dam at Whitney is letting water into the system. Last night, under the stars, the falls was ROARING. |
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February 2018
AuthorSince 1989, I have been known to many as The Red Dear. Most of the rest of humankind calls me Sandra. Categories
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