Oh deer :-)

Two of them, early this morning. First one peeped through the fence behind the pond, then they made their way round to the woods at the side of the house, (hopefully) browsing on the newly-risen briars.

Two young whitetails; look like last year's babies, out on their own now. They are not at all shy: they stare back. And you know they are just waiting for nightfall so that they can eat more tulips. Or nibble the young daylilies.

And that reminds me, I really must move the yew I planted in a big pot. Who would have thought yew was a deer delight...

Patterns in the sand, again

Sand, waves, foam, sunshine... and a whole lot of four-wheel-drive tyres.

Calm sky, raging sea

The air is still, and has been all day. The sky, blue as a sugar egg. The bay is a mirror and the birds are doubled in it. And yet I can hear the ocean from here, inside the house.

The waves are huge. Not much sand to walk on, and the water tries to catch us then sinks rapidly away. Several surfers tonight, but despite seeing them warming up and running bravely into the water, I didn't see one catch a wave. Shame. Maybe next time.

Favourite tree

This tree is on next-door's undeveloped, completely overgrown plot. It will not be choked by vines this year. It is too good to look at.

It will have red leaves soon.

Misty, sunny morning

Another frost, quickly turning to early-morning mist. Sunrise through the haze, dazzling.

Animal magic

Today's new sightings:

- the egret in the garden
- two black squirrels in the huge oak tree near the churches
- and a Giant Possum.

Seriously. Giant. I think he was as big as a dog. At least as big as our cat. And she is one big cat.

The possum was in the woods, just below the pond. He froze and stared when I caught him in the beam from the torch (flashlight). Fury was really excited. Now she's back inside, gazing out of the door, and softly sighing because she wants to go out and play some more.

I wonder if possums make burrows? That might explain some of the holes...

Lunchtime. His is cancelled... for today

I thought this might happen. Bold as brass, he landed at the edge of the pond. I yelled and he just hopped onto the rail. Fury barked, and he just looked with disdain.

He resisted the fish... for now. I'm sure he'll be back.

I'd rather have them carried away by Big Bird than have the raccoons feast on them but...

Home-made spin class

Just get on the bike, and ride... thirty minutes to Smith Point nature station, with the (cold) breeze at your face. Thirty minutes back, with the wind being helpful but legs a little more tired. Hardly any more time than it takes to go to the gym and back, more scenic than a spin class or stationary bike (but you have fewer loonies at 70 mph in the gym than on William Floyd... very glad there is a bike lane).

The beach at the non-dog area of Smith Point, at the end of the long deck path, is beautiful and endless. Miles and miles of golden sand to the west. The pavilion hidden from view to the east. Just the waves and the shore and the dunes and a few seagulls...

Correction to earlier contortion

Dunno why I always confuse them, but I do. The "contorted" tree is a hazel, not a willow: Corylus avellana 'Contorta'. AKA Corkscrew Hazel or Filbert. AKA Harry Lauder's Walking Stick.

Still priced at $99 ;-)

A little more planting, a lot more mulching

More weedblock installed, more wheelbarrowsful of woodchip wheeled and barrowed into place. I'm sure the weedblock won't last its advertised thirty years, due to the water levels, but it should help some, especially with several inches of mulch on top.

Planted a Bailey red-twig dogwood (Cornus seicea "Baileyi") in the front garden. These make nice green shrubs during the summer, but it's in the winter that they really shine. The branches and stems are a bright red. Should be stunning in the snow.

And two new clematis: a white one, Miss Bateman (Clematis x "Miss Bateman") in the bottom-left corner at the back of the house, left of the steps up to the garden, where it should mingle with the new climbing rose. And a "mystery" clematis--labelled "Mixed Clematis", Clematis hybrid, at the front left of the house, against the trellis to the left of the footpath to the downstairs kitchen door. The label shows a pink flower with a pinker stripe, a mauve flower with a very-rose stripe, a purple flower with a yellow centre, and a purple flower with a pink, hairy centre. As my blue hyacinths came up pink, maybe this clematis will be blue.

Reminding me of Egypt...

Early this morning, the lawn grass was suddenly, surprisingly green. It will need cutting soon. There were starlings pecking at the new grass and clustered on the bird feeder. Another bird--it may be another type of starling or jackdaw, with a yellow stripe on a wing, and a blue-black shiny bird too, with white eyes.

And then.

Two ibises were there. Eating the grass.

I didn't see them fly in, had gone to make tea. Was struck, dumbfounded, halfway across room with a cup of scalding tea and wanting not to move and startle them, but to get to the camera as quickly as possible...

These pictures were taken through the window and through the deck railing. Eventually, they did startle and fly away.

I am very happy that they visited. There are many species of ibis, and these are probably long-removed from any relation to Thoth, but they are special birds all the same.

See more about glossy ibises here: http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/957/_/Glossy_Ibis.aspx

Forsythia

The forsythia is blooming bright-yellow everywhere. Many homes have it growing as hedges, alone or mixed with other plantings, trimmed to shape like you would privet.

I would never have thought of that.

On the beach: sun versus mist

We went for a long, long walk on the beach first thing this morning (which wasn't really "first thing" because it's a Saturday, and Saturdays are entitled to start later than usual).

There had been a big thunderstorm in the night. About two o'clock. I know, because even if I'd slept through the lightning and thunder (I didn't), Fury started telling it to go away. Loudly. (It didn't change anything, the storm hung around for about an hour and then went its way, as storms do.)

The morning was damp, not raining, and surprisingly warm. The sun trying to break through, and by the time we'd driven to Smith Point, it had succeeded. We walked a long, long way eastwards along the beach, way past where the four-wheel-drives are allowed on the beach, but still didn't reach the end. The beach was narrowing, the tide approaching, and the mist descending, so we turned westwards again.

There was a tree buried in the beach. Not a big tree; a small pine, a large Christmas tree: it's bark stripped in places down to a smooth suntan. Maybe washed out of the dunes further east?

Some erosion near the fence, but the sand had built up there, too.

We saw parts of a very-large spider crab; one horseshoe crab's helmet; many large, white, scoured clam shells; some sad balloons advertising them against the fence; many small scallop shells; and a golf bag. Yep.

By the time we returned to end of the dogs-allowed part of the beach, the fog had settled in.

What's in the front garden now

I have planted:

- three Mugho Pines (Pinus mugo mughus) at the edge of the lawn/drive
- a Japanese Andromeda (Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire')

The Mugho Pines should grow to about 4' tall by 5' wide... in a few centuries. The Pieris will need to be kept under control size-wise eventually. The label for the Pieris has a picture of an adult deer with a stop sign superimposed, like a traffic sign. If I see the deer waiting in the garden for the lights to change, the Pieris will come out.

Foggy morning dew

Early morning, foggy: reeds rustling gently, a million birds singing. The trees are ghosts.

The coastguard are fishing?

They came from the east, reached this spot, turned around, and look as if they have settled in for a good fishing session. Earlier this morning, a pair of deer were out on this narrow finger of land, looking at the water. I wonder what is going on?

YouTubing

Spent some time on YouTube this evening: was looking for some old favourites, but found that after a while I was following a theme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-thc-sWNcGU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWsGyNsw00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl08n8_b3Sw

But this has to be one of the best, ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtU-9EMSYu0&feature=related

Work-in-progress: front garden

June 2007...

... and today. Don't worry folks, I have only removed all the (several truckloads of) dead stuff; insanely-wild rose, grape vine, long-fallen reeds and various creepy-crawly equally dry-and-brittle creepers. And far too much poison ivy. And no, I'm not immune to it; I have a small blister, evidence of this weekend.

Oh and multitudes of beer bottles, milk bottles, coke cans, several light bulbs (?) and three deflated balls of assorted sizes.

I have pruned the wild roses right back. They will return and flourish now they are not swamped by the other stuff. In fact they are already budding. There are at least three small trees that can now breath, plus a few privets (someone must have tried to plant a hedge, because they line the driveway, but they had no chance of pushing out more than a few leaves a year).

Now the race is on to finish the mulching before everything really starts growing again...

Today's visitors: Mr. Some-sort-of-sparrow

When I have a few minutes I'll search for him on http://whatbird.com/. He is not at all shy, and despite being rather smaller than the cardinal, often hops right inside the bowl to get to the seeds that the cardinal is eating.

OK. Search done. There are only about twenty types of sparrow that might be found in this part of the country. I **think** he is a Vesper Sparrow, but am not certain. Can anyone confirm?

See here: http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/642/_/Vesper_Sparrow.aspx

Today's visitors: Mr. BlueJay

You lookin' at me????