Gadding About Ontario

Do you have a bucket list?  We are developing one about Ontario at the moment, trying to see some of the highlights within our region.

We started getting serious about it a couple of weeks ago, and went to Sudbury for 2 days.   Sudbury, you ask?  The city is home to two fascinating museums, one called Science North, and the other called Dynamic Earth.

We spent a full day at Science North, much to our surprise, because there were so many things to see and do.  One could argue that Science North is for children, because there are so many ways they can interact with the displays.  On the other hand, some of us seniors held our own in getting to do things.

One of the first displays we saw was a 4-D display on firefighting wildfires.  Yeah, we had the screen and the special glasses, which gave us a terrific 3-D picture.  Then, our seats shook as the water bomber took off to deliver a load of water, raindrops fell on us as the load was delivered, and mist arose when we were following the groundfighters into the smoky forest.  Wow!  What a bag of fun!

Most displays had information explaining natural forces and then opportunities to see how they worked.  Doesn’t this remind you of playing at the curbs after a rainstorm?

They had an excellent bug museum where everyone was encouraged to hold the insects and spiders.

In addition, a butterfly museum challenged photographers to try and catch the insect on the wing.

A collector’s trading place allowed kids to bring in whatever rocks, insects, pressed plants, etc. they had collected to earn points.  Those points could be used to “purchase” other collectables.  The rock samples were to die for—I almost came home to get mine to trade in.  Staff helped a collector to use the library provided to correctly identify their samples, and points were awarded not only on the relative rarity of the sample but the knowledge of the collector as well.

As you went up the stairs to the topmost level, a huge dinosaur skeleton hung overhead.

The topmost floor was dedicated to space (naturally) and participants had the opportunity to participate in a gyroscope that trained astronauts on their new orientation to different perspectives.  The guys toughed it out, but the women always screamed.

The best part about Science North was there was never too much on any one topic; there was just enough to stimulate curiosity and interest and make us plan to come back soon to see more.  (And play with the toys when the damn kids weren’t around!)

Our second day was spent at the museum called Dynamic Earth, but was best known as the Big Nickel.

This museum focused on mining and the history of mining.  We got a tour (merely 70 feet underground) which depicted mining from the 1800’s to today.  What I didn’t expect was all the water dripping down the rocks (it was raining outside), and realizing how miserable it must have been in the primitive conditions the early miners experienced.  Our tour guide gave us lots of useful info.

Today’s mining mostly comprises machines underground that could be remotely operated, and you could try your hand at it at different points in the museum.  Apparently it is an acquired skill.

Dynamic Earth also featured fossils to some degree, and had a special feature on sharks.  The ancient ones were BIG.

All in all, it was a wonderful Ontario adventure, and we are looking forward to the next one.

A Walk in the Forest

We went out to walk our property yesterday to see the state of the forest.  The summer had been so dry and hot this year that until last Tuesday there were fire bans everywhere and our lawn was brown and dormant.  Then, on Tuesday, we got 42 mm of rain.It did help, but we still have a long way to go to fully replenish the soil.

Our first pleasant surprise was there were lots of apples on our apple trees (or on the ground) which would have been good news for Mr. Bear who has plagued our back yard continuously this summer.  A sure sign of a red squirrel in the forest is a carefully stashed apple in a crook of a branch.

There were signs of Mr. Bear around as well.

I have probably never mentioned that our property was actually a farm at one time, with the back part used for crops or pasture.  The way the farmers marked the lines of their fields was partly with the big rocks they hauled out of the ground, partly with tree stumps and partly with maples that were planted.  We have several lines of maples in the back, and all of them are impressive size since they were planted well over a century ago.

With autumn approaching, the goldenrod has come into bloom and provides bright colour among the grasses.

I released the six baby squirrels I had under care and at least three of them have figured out that if you come to the back door, you will get treats like almonds.

Like any other squirrels, these guys are gathering nuts, but like many other babies they are somewhat unclear of the process.  Look at the nuts they have gathered below!

My rocket-science babies have harvested the plastic nut-covers on our lawn chairs!  This happened yesterday, and we replaced them all, only to find a similar story this morning.

We had another big wildlife drama, although I have only one very blurry picture to show for it.  We had a couple of juvenile Cooper's Hawks visiting our back yard on a regular basis to check out the bird feeders.  These guys were clearly unsophisticated babies as well.  One chased another, and to my horror the chasee hit a window screen, injuring itself.  I could see tissue injuries and so took it up to my wildlife vet, who determined that the bird had ruptured its crop, and needed surgery, which the vet promptly did.  Apparently, birds heal quickly, because it was released in our back yard 8 days later.  It partly needed a quick release because it was fighting the confined space required to let the wound heal, and if it ruined too many feathers it couldn't fly.

This is a very blurry picture of it springing out of the carrier.

All this had done is add a lethal mix to the back yard.  Coopers Hawks are supposed to chase birds,  like doves and blue jays.  However if you are young, hungry and inexperienced, you might try for squirrels instead.  This does not work when you weigh about 370 gm as this one did, and baby squirrels weigh at least 200 gm (adults weigh more).

Anyway, we now have a number of squirrels in the back yard with mysterious wounds on the top of their back.

Let's hope all these babies survive to adulthood despite themselves!

Welcome to our New Family Members

We have two new family members, named Dexter and Sinister.  We saw a them as concrete statues on the Isle of Arran (Scotland) years ago, and have searched for them ever since.  Because we had no luck, we ended up commissioning a woodcarver to create our own.

Voila!

Naturally, there is a story behind these guys, who represent warrior monks from medieval times.  

Dexter (based on Latin for "right") opposes Sinister (based on Latin for "left").

They glare suspiciously at one another and are obviously a caricature of heraldic emblems.  As it is, they make us laugh every time we see them.  The carver has done an exceptional job and we are thrilled with our most recent "Art".

Events here and there

Some interesting things have happened since I last posted, some from afar and some from home.

Brian and I volunteered to be marshals at a Couchiching Conservancy Nature Day.  The Couchiching Conservancy is an organization that owns and manages properties dedicated as nature conservation areas for the future, and they have some outstanding nature-based events.  On this day, they had a falconer come in to do a Birds of Prey presentation, and we got some really interesting (and close) looks at some local species such as Great Horned Owl, Turkey Vulture, and Red-tailed Hawk with their handler.

Then he brought out a Falcon chick.

And some Red-tailed hawk chicks.

As you well know, when you are taking baby pictures, it is rare that you can get everyone to look at you at once.

And when feeding time begins, no one is going to look at you.

When speaking of babies, we had a surprise one appear at home.  It may be difficult to see, but there is a single chick close on the right of the turkey hen.

The protective colouring of the chick is excellent (lower left hand corner).

When the hen appeared with the chick, we knew the chick was at least two weeks old, because they can fly at that point, and it is now safer for them to venture out.  Once they are out in the open, the feathering becomes more obvious.  They have been regular daily visitors and the chick is growing rapidly.

And speaking of visitors, look who turned up again!

And look what the nice cylindrical peanut feeder looks like after his visit!

As usual, things are generally wildlife-oriented here, with the latest rush project to build an outdoor squirrel cage to house the fast-growing babies under care.

The cage is meant to be modular, so it can be easily taken down and moved, so it started with a basic base and walls.

Once it got erected, it got temporary sheltering on some sides to protect from the elements, which will be replaced with some nice bark pieces this weekend.

The inmates seem to enjoy it, and the cage is apparently so desirable that the chipmunk decided to dig in yesterday.  He is merely one of many.  A few days prior, I noticed digging around all sides of the cage, and was a little worried about coyotes.  This was not the case at all.  A day later, I caught the criminals in the act.  It was Mom Coon and 5 kits!  I could just see her showing the kits how to dig, and them all copying enthusiastically. 

In the meantime, my new little flower garden in the back yard is showing excellent results, thanks to contributions from my gardening friend Norma.  Once I get the cage completed, I will start on a little more landscaping this year.  More pictures will follow……….

Update at the Wild Malloys

The weather has finally become warm enough, and the bugs diminished enough, that now we can sit outside on the patio and keep an eye on everyone out there.  Our water fountain needed a little spring refurbishing to repair some hose, but now it is fully operational to everyone’s delight.  We even saw a hummingbird water bathing on the lowest shelf one day.

 

 

Mr. And Mrs. Phoebe are now very busy feeding chicks.  They like to stage on top of the wind chimes before and after bringing food to the nest.

In the meantime, Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker comes daily to the peanut feeder so I assume she has chicks as well.  Those ones I would like to see!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of our other regular rodents:  the chipmunk.  One lives under the well cover but likes to make itself at home in the garage.  When we inadvertently shut it in, it merely chewed through the rubber base of the garage door at a convenient depression in the concrete.  Now it has its own private entry into the garage.

With the improvement in weather, the garden has started to flourish, and I have some rather spectacular onions blooming at the moment.

I have two building projects on the go; and the comparison is not quite apples to apples.

My six baby squirrels are growing quickly and need to be moved to an outside cage.  The problem I have is that the old cage is gone, and the new one currently looks like this:

 

The other project is making bibs, one for every day of the week.  I’m about 1/3 done and work is ongoing.

Hopefully the next pictures will be those of finished projects!

Back in the Saddle at 5204 Line 6

We came home to the first real signs of spring, and have been enjoying the outdoors ever since.  The trilliums and forsythia are still in bloom, but the best part is how the leaves have erupted from the trees.  Only buds showed a couple of weeks ago, but the forest has made up for that shortfall.

 

 

Regrettably, Nature has been extremely bountiful in less welcome creatures.  The mosquitoes are the worst we can remember in years, and the black flies are out as well.  Normally, we would have our morning coffee out on the balcony, away from the grass, but even that is fruitless.  Thus, ANY activities outside include full hazmat protection.

About 10 days ago, I received two baby squirrels within hours of one another.  Unfortunately, one died, but the other was doing extremely well, and needed buddies to learn how to be a real squirrel.  I called one center and we arranged a reciprocal trade agreement.  They took mine to bundle it with others of its age, and in the meantime they gave me 7 younger ones!  The picture below is not great, but I will get better ones once I get caging sorted out.  The next week is going to be busy with full-scale construction.

Feeding all seven at once is truly three ring circus, but at the moment they are still teenagers who take the good food into the box to eat in bed, and they sleep a lot.  Still, one of them started playing race rodent this morning and will soon get a taste for lots of running and hopping.

We made the decision to take our house off the market after two years of trying to sell unsuccessfully.  We found that the place that had everything we were looking for was the one we were already living in!

Thus, we started clearing out junk that should be taken away rather than merely hidden, and today was a gangbuster day.

Finally, clogging lessons end this week for a 3 month break.  Some of us volunteered to demonstrate in a couple of sessions for our instructor to promote her classes and find new students.  We were in an outdoors venue, dancing on 4 sheets of 4x8 plywood, which was a little confined for 10 women!  Friends showed up and took some pictures, and I was a bit surprised to see that I was the white-haired lady in the crew.  Ah, well, at least I am still dancing.

I will post as soon as the squirrel cage construction is in good shape--stay tuned!