Good morning everyone! It is another beautiful, sunny morning, but that north wind still persists so it is a bit cool. But that will be changing, starting Monday, and we will return to some more normal spring temperatures. That will certainly be nice. It’s a bit odd for bird life out here this morning. There was a lot of evening grosbeaks, then they suddenly decided to fly which is not unusual, but this time they didn’t come back. It wasn’t the hawk that scared them because the other birds are still here. Even though it was cool out there, I stood outside on the deck as Sir George came for his breakfast, so I talked with him a bit. He would answer periodically with that little “yep, yep” which is a common way of talking for them.

Then off he went, likely heading back to his mate who will be on the nest now keeping eggs nice and warm. A little later Sir Henry stopped by for his breakfast, so I stood and talked with him as well. Shortly after Sir Charles came, he’s not quite so friendly so I find it best not to say anything yet. There is still many little juncos around, but most of the white-throated sparrows are gone now. It was nice listening to an eastern phoebe, I have been waiting for them to return. There is a pair that nest in the area but I still have not been able to get a picture. A robin has been singing out there for more than 3 hours now, welcoming the beautiful day with his cheery song.

Something caught my eye as I was standing there, a loon was flying past, quite low too, heading north to one of the smaller lakes no doubt. A small flock of Canada geese also flew past a short time later, probably on their way down to the river. I should walk down there myself, a little later today, although that north wind will be felt down there so it will be a bit cooler than here. The crows have just gone after a raven who had entered their territory, those two birds are terrible enemies. The ravens are constantly trying to find the crow’s nest and they are quite successful in doing so. It is quite nice back here with that empty lot full of trees, a great spot for feeding birds, and it’s generally quiet back here, except for the chirping of the birds.

And the squirrels. I have counted at least 9 different squirrels out here now, 5 males and 4 females. It’s getting hard to keep track of them all. I had 16 one summer, 2 drowned and one of the male babies, once he grew up a bit, was a wild brat and he managed to chase all the other squirrels away. That didn’t work out so well when it came time to find a mate though, since he had chased all the females away too. But he finally found one who lived across the street. They both ended up as road kill. But it didn’t take long for another squirrel to find me. But the chipmunks had a good summer that year. Well, time to go feed the birds again. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.