Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Wednesday’s Wanderings #18.
Good morning everyone! Happy September to you as well! It’s a beautiful, sunny, fall morning today. And really, quite mild for us with a temp of 57F (14C). As a brief update on our forest fire situation, there are still 79 fires burning, 15 are either under control or being held while the remaining are out of control or just being observed, which means they are not fighting them since they are too far away from people and property. But most no longer have open flames, they are mostly burning underground where it is very difficult to fight them. Some of these fires could burn well into winter. But it’s certainly not like it was and our fire season is basically over. Unfortunately western Canada and other places around the world are still having a bad time with fires.
Sir George was back last evening for his snack and Sir Charles was here this morning. So my gulls are still around, sometimes anyway. Must not be good fishing out on the lake these days so they are coming around for extra food. But soon they will be gone until next year. There was a nice treat yesterday morning though, after writing my post, one of my bird friends came that hasn’t been around since spring. Can you guess who it was? You’re right, it was Theodore! I figure he must have had to travel a good distance to find a mate. However, there could be more of them in the general area. But it was nice to see him back anyway.
My friend and I went out for a short area road trip yesterday morning, stopping in at several of the smaller lakes. I was able to get some nice new pics which I will begin to show starting today. There were several dragonflies around which was nice to see, and I got a pic of one. It’s one of our smallest dragonflies. One variety just would not cooperate by sitting down so I could get a picture, which was unfortunate. There are probably some along the path to the river so I will have to check that out. Hmm, chipmunks and blue jays are calling for more food. And it’s time for more coffee, but I shall be back later as we start a new mystery story today. Have a wonderful Wednesday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (top picture shows part of Dogtooth Lake)
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Bird Of The Week #2.
Hi everyone! Today’s bird of the week is the “Canada Warbler”. These little birds prefer a mix of coniferous/deciduous forests with lots of shrubs underneath. These birds are the last of our warblers to arrive from the south and they leave just shortly after the young leave the nest, so they are not here for very long. Up to 6 eggs are laid in a nest on the ground, often under the roots of an uprooted tree. Incubation period is 11 to 12 days and the young are in the nest for about 8 days. They spend their winters in northern South America, a trip of about 3,000 miles (about 4800 km). All for a stay up here of less than 2 months. They eat various insects and spiders. The oldest known Canada warbler was a male that was 8 years old, from the time it was banded to when it was caught and released again. So it obviously was older since it was an adult when banded. These are rather uncommon warblers whose numbers have fallen by 62% since 1970. This is largely due to forestry practices of clearing out underbrush from forests. Loss of nests from cowbirds is another, though lesser, reason. They breed here in Canada from northern B.C. through to Nova Scotia, and in the U.S. from northern Minnesota through to Maine and south in the Appalachians to N. Carolina. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 