Coffee Time #107. Fantastical Friday!

Posted on April 23, 2021 by

67 Comments

Good morning everyone and Happy Fantastical Friday! Yep, that is a word (fantastical=adjective form of fantastic). And it is a fantastic day! Coffee is ready for everyone, it’s a cooler, windy and cloudy day today, so a cup of coffee hits the spot so nicely. Yesterday we hit a high of 65F (18C) with sunny skies and a nice warm south wind. It was just beautiful, our nicest day yet this year! So I spent a lot of time outdoors and down by the river. There wasn’t much happening at the river which was a surprise, although I did see my first white pelican of the year soaring so beautifully against the blue sky. I didn’t get a picture though since I have trouble looking up while using the camera, I tend to fall down, so I try to lie down.

Evening grosbeaks at my main feeder yesterday.

But where I was there really wasn’t a place to lie down, without perhaps rolling into the river, which wasn’t a fun thought. So I just enjoyed watching it soar. There will be other opportunities. That nice day did take away a lot of my birds, like I thought it would. More than half are gone now, heading out to their breeding territories far and wide, most heading much further north. They will stop in again on their southward journey in the fall. And others will soon replace them here in the coming days as more different species of sparrows begin to show up. Some sparrows are already getting to be quite late in returning.

Close up of the female evening grosbeak, their beaks have changed from light yellow to green now.

The white-throated sparrows and song sparrows should be here by now, and a few others. But not one so far which is very odd indeed. But I’m sure they will show up soon, once the weather warms up again. Speaking of bears. Bert was here again this morning, at 8am. I wasn’t expecting that. I had just sat down to do this post and I heard a crash. Oh no. I go look and sure enough Bert broke one of my new feeders and was after the second one. I opened the door and told him to go. He just stood there looking at me. No, no, wrong thing to do, that means you are supposed to leave. I try again, more forcefully this time. He starts to walk away, then stops across from the door and looks at me.

Male evening grosbeak.

Right now we are 3 feet away from each other. Bert, leave and I point toward the stairs. He walks slowly away and goes to eat the seeds he dumped out of the feeder he broke. Hey, I want my feeder back! So I go down there and he runs off into the neighbors yard. He is kind of cute. But…I need those feeders for the birds, not for bears. They are not meant for bears. Sigh. That’s 3 feeders that he has broken now. I think this one can be fixed with a little wire support. I’m actually surprised he could even reach this one. Oh well. It’s still a fantastical Friday! I hope you enjoy the pics, have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.

Category: Beauty, Birds, Coffee, Country Pleasures, Friends, Fun, Happiness, Photos, Positive, Relax, Spring, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , ,

67 Comments on “Coffee Time #107. Fantastical Friday!”

  2. Haha I use the word fantastical too. It’s totally a word! By the time I get to your coffee it will be cold, so I’m brewing a pot of coffee right now! ☕️

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    • Yep, it’s a great word, and lots of people have never heard it before and don’t believe it’s a word until they look it up! Such fun. That’s smart, bring your own coffee! Have a great day! Finally got my first vaccine shot today.

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      • Yay for getting the vaccine shot! 💉 😷 I still have to get mine (currently studying for very intimidating exam on Monday) and will look into getting it after that’s done.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, you should get in and get it, worth it for sure. I was amazed, at our vaccination clinic it was set up to handle 50 people at a time, yet only 12 of us were there. So many people are refusing to get vaccinated.

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      • I have to wait a minimum of 14 days to get vaccinated, so I haven’t set up an appointment yet. I am expecting a wait-list, but then again, there might not be one. I will see if I can get the vaccine next week, or at least schedule the first vaccine next week… once this dreaded exam on Monday is over.

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      • I question the efficacy (effectiveness) of the vaccine if we have to wait 4 months. The doses should be given close together in order for it to work properly, within a matter of a few weeks. 😕

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      • Yes, I agree, especially when the manufacturers say it should be 4 to 6 weeks. The biggest problem though is we are not guaranteed getting the same brand vaccine for the second shot and I’m just not sure about this mix and match idea, especially when they are not made the same.

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      • Considering how bad the pandemic is in Canada, I’m not surprised that they can’t even get the vaccine schedule right/medication administration right 🙄

        The US is actually doing better than Canada is in terms of controlling this virus. They have more herd immunity than we do.

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      • Yes, we need to step up our vaccination program quickly if we want to get things under control sooner. And now with another major variant, the one from India, having come to Canada, that will only make things worse.😬

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      • Indeed. It’s gotten so bad that they started treating the UK variant as “normal” cases because they can’t keep up with the influx of cases.

        Variants that we know of come from the UK (which they are disregarding because at least half of the cases are linked to that variant), Brazil, South Africa, and now India. Yikes. 😐

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      • Here about 70% of cases are now the UK variant. BC and ON have the most cases of the new Indian variant. They don’t know much about that one yet, but it’s likely to be more transmissible than normal, similar to the UK variant.

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  3. Steve, your photos are great. They really let us see a bit of your world. Thank you! But you need to do something about Bert. He has found an easy source of food and is a coming too frequently. A quick internet search said a radio tuned into a talk radio show might deter them.

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    • Thanks so much! Yes, Bert has become a bit of a problem, but I don’t know if a radio would deter him for long, animals learn fast what is real and what isn’t. I don’t even have a radio, haven’t had one for 20 years now. I’ll have to check Amazon and see if they have any radios, it will likely take a while to get one, they have gotten so slow now. Thanks for checking on that.

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      • Leaving a radio tuned to a talk show can make it sound like someone is home and may persuade bears to leave the area. It’s the human voice that does the trick; music doesn’t seem to have any effect. If you’ll be gone for an extended period of time, you can put a radio on a timer. Some people have found this to be an effective technique in chicken coops as well. https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Education/LivingWithWildlife/BearDeterrents.pdf

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      • It would have to be loud to hear it outside, even though their hearing is better, but Bert doesn’t seem to mind talking or even people watching, as my neighbors were doing both today and it didn’t bother him a bit. He actually charged, snorted and growled at me today, 5 times. I don’t like that, but there is no food for these bears in the bush right now, it’s been too cold, so they are getting too bold. But no one wants to do anything about them. Thanks for the link.

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      • Here are some more suggestions from https://billings.wbu.com/kathy's-%20corner-dealing-with-bears-at-your-feeders
        Sometimes a simple solution is change the bird food Feed bird foods coated with hot pepper or capsaicin products which can effectively deter squirrels and other critters. People, rodents, and other mammals feel the burn when they eat peppers. Birds do not. The heat of a chili pepper is not a response by taste buds. The burning feeling actually comes from the body’s pain response system. The capsaicin found inside the pepper activates a receptor protein in a mammal’s tissue called TRPV1. When it does, it alerts the brain. The brain then responds by sending a pain response back to the affected part of the body. While this pain is unpleasant, at low concentrations, capsaicin does not actually damage tissue.

        One basic principle of bear-proofing bird feeders is to hang the feeder beyond a black bear’s reach. A very effective method for bear-proofing bird feeders is suspend them from a wire spanning the distance between buildings and/or sturdy trees. The feeder can be reached to refill by using a long pole with a hook or any long-reaching device.

        The height at which you hang feeder is critical. Since most bears can’t reach much beyond 10 feet, hang feeders so that the bottom of the feeder is at least 12-13 feet from the ground.
        The use of 150 lb. test down rigger wire is recommended. The advantage of thin down rigger wire is that bears cannot put enough pressure on the wire to break it without the thin wire putting uncomfortable pressure on their paws.
        There are also commercial sources for bear-proof bird feeder pole systems.

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      • Can’t buy anything but regular bird food here, no specially coated stuff. I rent an apartment, all I have is a small deck, so no other way to attach bird feeders but the way I’m doing it. I might be able to extend them out a bit further, but he would likely try to tear down the pole they are attached to which I can only loosely attach to the deck railing. Right now I can’t do any changes since we are under strict stay at home orders and all hardware, lumber and other non essential stores are closed. I may have to resign myself to stopping feeding the birds for the summer since my landlord is now worried about damage being done to the deck. Since he has shown hostility now, I am a bit more nervous about walking back to the river too. This could really hurt my ability to get pics this spring.

        Liked by 1 person

      • You have reason to be concerned. Bears are not always predictable. Praying for your safety. Trust your lockdown will end soon. It is a bummer not being able to walk to the river or have all the birds, chipmunks, and squirrels for photos and writing. Speaking God’s protection to you and your neighborhood. God’s blessings of safety to you!

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      • Yes, when bears lack food, they can become dangerous and it has just been too cold for anything to grow yet and even ants are not out which is one of their main early spring foods. Thanks so much! I appreciate your concern.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Maybe Bert doesn’t speak human🤔🙄 or maybe his hearing isn’t so good?🙄🤔 I know I often just stand and stare when I can’t hear what they said. 👂🙉

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  8. Oh sad, hope you restored your feeders 😱. How terrible these things happen 😳 these bears needs to be taken care 😼Muffin should do something😺

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    • Actually Muffin tells me to do something,🙄😾 she’s getting scared to look out the window🙀 and she jumps whenever there’s a noise out there.😲 Yep, I fixed the feeder but how long will it last?😳😬🙀🐻

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