AstroGypsies

At least in the morning it was sunny after flurries and snow blanketed the ground all night! It was a glorious day despite Winters last laugh! Spring will come regardless of the last tantrums of the Winter Gods;) By noon it was gone! Already wildflowers are poking their heads through the piles of last years leaves, yellow trout lilies and their beautiful patterned leaves, trilliums as well as a few new ones to me, field pussytoes, now there is an apt name for flowers near us! The Serviceberry bushes are all blooming as well, the bees must be happy!

…and we have bugs! Blue and green bugs, brown intricately patterned bugs, flying bugs, nasty blackfly biting bugs, recognizable bugs where I’m not scratching my head going…”What the heck is that?” If you are ever scratching your head on a a regular basis, and you don’t have fleas but need information iNaturalist is a great go to place to post photos for possible ID’s.

It seems as so many changes happen in the matter of hours, or overnight! Buds sprouting form the seemingly dead branches, bits of grass and wildflowers poking their way towards the sun…that sun…it is high enough now to make a difference. In a protected spot it is downright warm,. a few days, I might add hot;)

The ladies are out as well. We hadn’t seen the female Red-Bellied Woodpecker for weeks but she is back! This lovely lady is remarkably shy but she will land on the trees about 20′ away, as long as I keep that distance she says all is fine:) Here you can see why she is called Red-Bellied, just a tinge of colour on her undersides, vs Red-Headed (that must have already been taken;)..) What a beauty-the yellow around her beak/bill seems more intense, maybe because of breeding season? Their territory is much smaller than I expected .016 to .16 of a square kilometer! and to all of those preoccupied with the banging on antennas and siding, it should settle down soon unless you have termites or carpenter ants. A Pileated picked all the ants off our logs last summer, we should welcome them as free pest removal;) They are partial to oranges as well to anyone trying to attract these beautiful birds to their feeders. The boys all seemed to have stopped banging their chest for now and arguing, busy feeding babies I would think!

All matter of creatures have paid us a visit this week. We have known about the fox as it likes to pee on a certain tree that the cats feel obliged to sniff every morning:) It was a treat to see it in person. It grabbed something under a black tarp I have covering our future vegetable garden and ran off a ways to eat it. I snuck outside quietly and was surprised when it trotted back to finish it’s snack. A few expressed worry for the cats. A typical adult cat is almost the same size as a fox and has a well-deserved reputation for self-defense, so foxes are generally not interested in taking on cats, unless they are elderly or very young, I think Groot and Rocket outweigh our local little bushy tailed fox easily! 

Porky, well, he/she hangs about, climbs a few trees, sunbathes, yes, sunbathes, wouldn’t you after a cold Winter, and waddles about in a rather ridiculous way:) Like the comic relief at the circus:) These are truly fascinating, much maligned creatures. They don’t throw their quills and run when they can. According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation: “Porcupines are strict herbivores, but their diet changes with the seasons. In winter, they feed on the inner bark of trees such as fir, cedar, and hemlock. In spring, their favorite is maple bark as well as the catkins and leaves of willow, poplar, and alder. In summer, they eat the leaves of herbs and shrubs including clover, thorn apple, and currant, as well as water lily, and arrowhead. In fall, they switch to acorns and beechnuts. Porcupines also love salt.” I’ve heard the rumors of them eating car tires (most likely nice salty Winter Michelins), breaking into cottages to get at salty tool handles, toilet seats ( Yes, there goes that nasty old sweaty toilet seat, what a loss…) If a porcupine breaks into your cottage and you are crying the blues, me thinks your front door needed replacing anyway, suck it up! For every tree they damage, which is generally minimal, you, as a human being have consumed a hundred fold more just building a deck, or some miscellaneous project, so put away your gun and learn to live with nature…we ARE an eco-system, although the animal population may be looking for a “humanicide” to get rid of us…wait…maybe they did;) Rant done:)

The henchmen and thugs around the bird feeders have tapered off. I’m referring to the Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown Headed Cowbirds. I stopped their daily ration of corn with the nicer weather and they are off to the swamps and grassy areas to feed on bugs. They did make a re-appearance during the snow much to the chagrin of the Woodpeckers and Blue jays, as they are chased off without a kind word. The little birds figure it out and dash in when the bird mafia is otherwise predisposed or arguing amongst themselves;) Life goes on…

At the end of the day I am thankful for our dear friends and family, and for many less fortunate than ourselves. The wind may be howling today, and there are whitecaps on the lake but the calm will return, “Along with the bugs!” Mike just yelled. I nearly gave Gamora heart failure when I came around the corner of the house donned with my hat and bug netting. I’d left her sitting in the catnip bush enjoying some cat mind altering substance, while I checked on some plants sprouting, I must have looked like the creature from the Black Lagoon as I ambled happily around the corner, she lefty skid marks in the gravel running away, leash flapping behind her, her velocity was so great…she could have been a racehorse! Note to self…get her used to the bug mask slowly, carry cat treats, try not to look like a Halloween horror creature:)

We have our appointment for our vaccines! Very excited! Things seem to be looking up here in Ontario, it’s slow going but in the Eastern portion of Ontario covid cases seem to be gradually returning from what looked like the pathway to hell. Our hearts are with our doctor and nurse friends who are on the front lines of this pandemic. Anyone who chooses to naysay, go spend a day in their shoes…I doubt they would have the fortitude to do so. Maybe by the end of Summer we can enjoy the company of our friends at fish taco feast, or a birria bustout! Yum! Wear a mask, keep a good distance, and for gods sake is it too hard to follow the arrows on the grocery store floors??? It’s not like you can say..duh, I can’t read?!” hahahahah…pendejos! Virtual hugs to all of our friends out there…love ya! Saludos y abrazos.