Sunny Spring Wednesday.

Posted on April 10, 2019 by

42 Comments

Welcome once again dear readers to my little part of this big world of ours!  First of all I want to thank all of my readers/followers for joining me on my journey through Steve’s Country!  I truly am thankful to each and every one of you and I hit a milestone for me this week, one that I really didn’t think I would ever reach when I first started blogging and that is I now have 200 followers!  Actually, as of a minute ago it stood at 211.  Wow, that to me is really amazing and I couldn’t do it without all my faithful readers/followers!

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This female is getting ready to fight with another female.

It is definitely a beautiful sunny day though it still is a bit on the cool side and there is still a fair bit of snow on the ground yet as well.  It has been such a long winter.  But spring is slowly coming out of hibernation.  And speaking of hibernation…there is a big black bear around and has been for several days now.  Now generally speaking, bears will run when they see or even here people in the area.  But spring is a bit different.  These bears are hungry.  And natural food is not yet available.  So they come into town looking for some easy meals.  And these bears are not exactly afraid of people.  They have gotten used to being around people.

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A nice male purple finch, at least some of these have come back, only males so far.

Last night I was in the kitchen washing dishes.  Muffin came running in and she looked rather scared.  Hmm, must be something outside.  I went and turned on the deck light and looked out there.  Nothing.  Muffin hears things sometimes.  However, I noticed I had not brought in the bird feeders for the night.  If I don’t do that the raccoons get at them. Or bears.  And they always like to break them.  So out I went to bring them in.  Sometimes I get this feeling like I’m being watched.  After the feeders were in hand I turned and…

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A female rose breasted grosbeak from last spring. The males managed to avoid my camera, but maybe this year.

There is that big bear down at the bottom of my steps.  In between us is the door to my apartment.  I’m about 6 feet away from the door.  He is about 12 feet away.  Now, I can certainly move fast enough when I want, but that bear could make it to the door before me.  Easily.  I have seen them move.  Doesn’t matter about size.  They move fast.  And this bear decides to arch his back and paw at the ground.  I have seen this before.  They do that just before attacking.  Some say it’s just a warning.  Bears don’t just give a long warning.  They don’t have to.  I have watched them.  But I move quietly and slowly to the door and once there, then I am inside fast!  The bear did come up on the deck and looked in the window, but didn’t do anything else.  Poor Muffin.  She was terrified.  She wouldn’t settle down for 2 hours.

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A junco. Not a colorful bird but very friendly. They will hop around and on my feet and I have had them sit on my hand too. A few of these have returned.

 

And me out there without my camera.  Not a very good photographer.  Not that I ever claimed to be anyway.  So I decided to stay up a little later than normal to see if he would come back and maybe get a picture of him.  While he was here he stood up by my landlord’s deck which is almost 7 feet off the ground.  He didn’t even have to stretch to see easily over and on to the deck.  That would make him nearly 8 feet tall.  He is going to be one big bear by fall.

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Here is Rusty, from earlier this afternoon, filling his cheeks with peanuts.

 

Birds are slowly coming back from their southern vacation.  And I mean slow.  Hard to believe there are not more back now, there should be.  A lot more.  Oh well, one of these days.  I need to live someplace warmer.  All year warm.  Sigh.  One of these days.  Hey, I can dream.  Sometimes dreams come true.  Sometimes.

Well, not quite what I had expected to write about today.  It was that bear.  Made me change my thoughts.  Which is okay.  Until tomorrow I hope you will have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.

Category: Birds, Black Bear, Chipmunks, Country, Country Living, Country Pleasures, Spring, Spring Thoughts, Uncategorized, WednesdayTags: , , , , , , , , , ,

42 Comments on “Sunny Spring Wednesday.”

  1. It is so good to see, that they are not afraid of people and you can communicate with them so easily, the picture are very beautiful, specially of the birds, they ususally afraid of camera🌸🤗☀️Is good, that is getting warmer, you may see more beautiful creatures arround you!

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  2. OK! Rusty is sooooooooo cute!
    You should write a book full of Muffin stories! They are all so neat!
    Congrats on hitting your next follower # goal! That’s great!

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    • Yes, I really didn’t like seeing him in that posture! I’m hoping to get a picture, but through the window. It actually wouldn’t be hard for him to break his way through my door that’s for sure. Thanks so much Ryan! God bless!

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    • Thanks Peregrine for reading and the offer! I’m waiting for him to return tonight, probably won’t since I’m ready for him. I’ll take the pic out the window though.😄

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  5. Lovely pictures! I’m glad you were able to outsmart the bear and get to safety, same as Muffin. Hopefully those bears satisfy their appetites and return to their normal habitat and not town. Take care of yourself til they do though! 🙂

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  6. I agree about the bears . Heard today in a town or to from us a black bear attacked a horse and some how managed to drag it out of the fenced in area it was in and then the coyotes got to it as well . It’s so sad the poor. Horse . So their looking for the bear . I just can’t imagine how the bear managed this .

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  8. Good morning Steve, hope you’ll have a good day ahead! Congratulations for the 200+ followers! Wish you many more to come 🙂
    OMG a bear? Thanks God you weren’t attacked! Take good care and hope next time you’ll be able to have a picture from inside the house, I mean don’t take risks!
    Of course Muffin will be terrified, I mean a bear!
    These birds are so beautiful and Rusty is so busy eating 😀 he will certainly become a bear haha

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    • Thanks so much Huguette! I certainly won’t be taking any chances with that bear, no pictures unless I’m inside or at a safe distance! Rusty likes his peanuts, that’s for sure. Thanks for reading and the great comment Huguette, hope your day is going well! Mine has just begun.😃

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    • Well, he certainly didn’t look too relaxed! I have seen them do that several times and always before they are ready to charge at something. Thanks for taking the time to read! Have a great day!

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  11. For real, you had the perfect photo op with a black bear and no 📷. But your safety is way important than a photo. Maybe you will be able to get one as he/she is walking around scouring for food on the ground away from your deck.

    I also noticed the © on your photos. Good call brother! They are all beautiful photos!!

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  12. Thanks for sharing your story about the hungry bear as well as your amazing photos. I have appreciated hearing the return of so many songbirds here in central Ohio. While winter is over, I still appreciate living in a place where I can experience all four seasons.

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    • Thanks so much for reading and your great comment! It can be nice having four seasons, but after 3 winters in a row that were extra cold and extra long I think I could handle a place with no snow anytime!😂 Enjoy your day!😃

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      • Steve, I understand your concerns with too much winter weather. I hope that next winter is not as much as a bear! Oops, perhaps I shouldn’t encourage that beast.

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      • Very good!😂 This is actually the first time in more than 70 years that we have had 3 such bad winters in a row, according to weather records. We have already gone more than 6 months with snow on the ground!

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