Archive for: raccoon

Lots of changes in the garden as spring approaches

This last ten days or so have seen many changes in the garden. Temperatures have been higher which means we are losing a lot of the snow. The last snowfall was on my birthday (13th) so hopefully that was the last of it.

Lots of blackbirds and grackles are arriving and we have seen several robins. The geese are also about and the flock we have in the woods at the back of us have arrived and are honking happily. We have also had quite a few redpolls, pic below.

Chipmunks are up and about and frantically running around the garden and we still have the deer most days, but I’m sure their visits will be ending soon. But the raccoons are out and about. They are cute but a nuisance.

We are still waiting for the arrival of the killdeer who have come back every year we have been here to nest and raise their young. They usually arrive during the last two weeks of March so we expect them any time soon.

The junkos will be leaving us soon, no doubt. But it definitely feels more like spring now.

On another note I have decided against eye surgery at this time. The $4k price tag is too high to justify at the moment. I will readdress the issue sometime in the future perhaps.

Also daughter Stacey and girlfriend Amy will be visiting from the UK in May, so we are really looking forward to that. Planning lots of trips and adventures, so I don’t think our feet will touch the ground whilst they are here.

Killdeer are back again

Just the other day I was looking back on my blog to see when the killdeer usually show up and over the last few years it has been the end of March, so we have been keeping an eye out for them hoping they would return – and today they did. However, we normally have a single pair each year but today there are four birds. They all seem to be getting along, so not sure if it is two pairs, or perhaps young from a previous year with the parents.

Last year the pair had four babies but they got killed by another killdeer that turned up unexpectedly, so we only had babies for a short while. Hopefully they will do better this year – perhaps the parents have bought baby sitters with them to help LOL. It will be interesting to watch the dynamics as they next and have young.

Other birds that have now arrived include robins and a possible sighting of the flicker, still to be confirmed. The raccoons are about as are the chipmunks and of course the squirrels are always about regardless of the weather. Since we haven’t had any major bad weather the deer are not about as much as they have been in the past which is a shame.

Talking of the weather  - it is all over the place lately. We really haven’t had a winter this year, just a few days of snow here and there and some cold days (including today), but on the whole nothing compared to the previous years we have been here. The weekend looks to be cold and rainy, but next week is looking warmer and sunny.