AstroGypsies

Yes, you have to get up…5:35…”Not a problem!” says Groot! Crunchy time! But it’s got to be pretty spectacular, man am I spoiled or what!? Then it’s the “Do I go down to the canoe, or just enjoy it from up here?”…of course, must go down before the colours fade!

It’s been one of the few windless mornings in a long time! It creates those beautiful reflections, that calm. We got hammered with thunderstorms a short while later so I enjoyed it while it lasted!

No sign of the Loons that morning but one foggy misty one I had wandered down to find the three out there, fishing, visiting, Looning! We’ve never had more than the one pair of Loons on the lake this early in the year so interesting to watch them interact. Larry, Moe and Curly:)

Lot’s of diving, splashing and a few good shakes!

They are always fairly close to each other…bachelors that have hooked up? They all seem to fish together. I haven’t witnessed any fighting since they have been here. They were quite a ways out as I sat on the dock watching them.

The fog was so thick earlier I couldn’t see the far shore, then it finally started to creep back, everything coming back into view. It was still muggy, not a cool day at all! When I made my way back up to the house the the Loons were swimming off as well.

The best way to start the day with nature. The birds have gotten quite quiet, the heat perhaps. Only a few Grackle families with screaming youngsters and a very very loud crow baby that is the worst alarm clock EVER!

The Swan cygnets are busy eating their greens and growing. Mother and father are still keeping a very close eye on both of them! Such amazing birds to watch, just the sheer size of them!

They are often by the road but when it’s hot they must be looking for shade somewhere. I haven’t seen them the last few days.

I do miss my walks down the road. As we drove in today there were hundreds of deer flies following us! Yikes! I’d be stripped to the bone in no time! I need this suit…air-conditoned though;) Ha! I have been watching the bugs around the house, not much in the way of fungi yet, some more rain will have to fall for that!

..and the dragonflies, are you tired of them yet!? Not me! I’m thinking of getting one of those clip on ones for my straw hat to ward the flies away! I was buzzed by a fly earlier today and in swooped a blue dasher, I could feel his wings on my face…then no fly! Yeah Dragonflies! Check out the Blue Dasher noshing on a passing Crane fly!

Not just dragonflies but Sprites and Bluets as well! They are so delicate and such beautiful colours!

..and finally a Swallowtail landed! They have been flitting around the yard, the bush, the woods…never stopping, just flying until now! Yeah! A Midsummer Tiger Swallowtail!

We have had quite a few Skippers as well, no Gillagans, just skippers;) Ha! Even a grasshopper and the coolest caterpillar ever! A White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma) Four white toothbrush-like tufts stand out from the back, and a gray-brown hair pencil is at the hind end. The four white tufts on the larva’s back may mimic the cocoons of parasitic wasps. Touching the hairs sets off an allergic reaction in many humans. I just looked! 🙂

The Japanese Beetles (invasive) finished off the last rose flower…be gone now! Glad to see the grasshoppers coming out, so will Rocket, very tasty fun to chase crunchy snacks he says!

After one heavy downpour stopped, Mike called me out, a visitor from House Slytherin, a Gray Rat snake was making it’s way across the driveway. He had to grab Gamora, she was intent on making contact (either a quick sniff or feel of the tail she said!) for her CAT united nations job…she’s dedicated;) It was a good 4′ long, not the big one from earlier this year but still a fair size! They have such amazing colours and patterns!

Our little Bandit has become a regular, either pole dancing on the feeder, or cleaning up the compost. No signs of babies yet, not like down at the barn. Jennifer is raising one left by it’s mother…pictures in a later blog, need a flash inside the house…it is very small and ridiculously cute!

Hoping the temperatures break this week. Looks hopeful for a paddle to find the Loonlets! Just can’t do 35°…that what it’s saying today! We’ll see. In the meantime, we stay in the shade, are thankful for that and everything else in life! We are so lucky where we live…so very very fortunate. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not mindful of the fresh water we have to drink, the food on our table, and the freedom we have to move. Don’t ever take that for granted!

Rocket on the other hand, would simply be happy eating chipmunks;) The last few left that have escaped detection of the cats and owls…are very very wary! Doesn’t stop them from tracking them in their rocky hideouts…lately, the drain pipe from the roof gutters has been a chipmunk highway! 🙂 The Mewberries are watching…;)

If it does cool down and we get a few more blooms I can go back to stalking the Hummingbirds. While it’s cool early in the morning there is too much shade so not many shots but I keep trying! They are such amazing flyers but I did have a good chuckle as the male has a favourite perch on a dead branch in front of the house…he got chased off by a big bad dragonfly;) Dude…really?

That wraps up the last week and a half. We did manage to get to a car show last Sunday in Smiths Falls in the scorching heat…damn, I didn’t last long but it was fun to reminisce about hot rods, good times and why did I sell mine? It wasn’t going to be a 4×4 car to get into our road in Baja! C’est la vie…you make choices and changes, just hope Brut Go is still out there with it’s flares and wonderful old aluminum wheels;) I’ll leave you with a few beauties we saw…and my passion for that red flared horsepower, in a galaxy, a long, long time ago:)

Saludos amigos! Lets hope we find Loonlets! and yes, I still buy lottery tickets…maybe, just maybe…;) Ha!