Wildlife is changing
Now we are getting well into autumn and the trees are changing colour, leaves are falling many of the summer birds are leaving. We have gone from lots of robins in the garden to one or two young ones popping by now and again. The grackles are fewer and our lovely little white breasted nuthatch has come back.
We have also seen evidence of the deer in the garden as there are some hoof tracks in the ground, but we haven’t seen them in the flesh yet. Obviously the abundance of food in the adjoining woodland is drying up so they are coming back to the garden to forage – great!
This morning I spotted a hawk in the trees at the edge of the garden. The blue jays didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered but the squirrels and chipmunks were noticeable by their absence.
Here it is in the trees surveying the land. I believe it is a sharp-shinned hawk.
He only stayed a few minutes then went off to probably find better hunting grounds. We love to see them but would prefer it if they didn’t prey on our wildlife!
The raccoons are out most nights although we try not to leave too much food out for them to find. They are looking really fat and fluffy at the moment as they seem to have their winter coats ready for the time they will spend huddled away.
Temperatures are going down and yesterday was only 9C but it felt warmer in the sun. The rest of the week is apparently going to be warmer with temps in the high teens, but I think the temps in the 20′s are a thing of the past (well at least the +20′s are).
The weather man mentioned snow for the first time in Ontario the other day as apparently Sudbury had some fall. Hopefully we are still a couple of months off that, but you never know!
