Traveller

In the village this morning, two women exchanged moans:

“I am so over this weather!”

“I can’t believe I’m still using a heater at night!”

Which shows how different we can be, because I enjoyed a private chuckle thinking that despite gloomy predictions, I have been quite pleased with Spring so far.

Grey skies we’ve had aplenty, but never without a break.

And I’ll take cool over warm any day.

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Recent reports spoke of snow in the Sierra Nevada, record heat in the Pacific Northwest and the possibility of a cold summer in the Northeast.

The first two are already proving accurate but I will be surprised it the latter occurs, though I seem to recall that last summer was not nearly as unbearable as usual. I really can’t pretend to suffer though, since we have central air. My only discomfort was witnessing the countryside dry up in the drought.

Meanwhile, Spring brought more returnees:

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The Rose-breasted grosbeak.

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So far we’ve not seen the female. The above is from some years ago.

They make a very sweet couple but in recent years they have not stayed around for long, presumably finding better nesting or food elsewhere.

We have a rather rowdy gang of diners at our feeders.

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An even more infrequent visitor is the Eastern towhee which stays so briefly, I seldom manage to capture any sort of image, never mind a decent one.

The sweet nothings I sing to it are ignored, I fear.

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The bird that suddenly appeared yesterday flew off before I could lay hands on a camera and they are not usually as cooperative as the above Catbird that posed two years ago.

We don’t see them often, but we know they are around because of their cat-like calls.

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This afternoon while I gazed out of a window a copper-coloured bird landed in a bush.

Excited, I went to call Grant : “The Thrasher is back!”

We don’t call ourselves birders, but we always get excited to see returning friends. Wildly excited if we spot a bird we’ve never seen before!

How I could kick myself for not having paid more attention to birds while I travelled!

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This viewing was unusual because soon a second Thrasher appeared under the hedge.

It may be the only time we’ve ever seen a pair.

Grant encouraged me to wait by the window to capture a better shot of the two birds together. But soon we decided the other bird had departed…

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The original bird really did seem to be looking for its mate!

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Squirrels are almost never in short supply although they do sometimes desert us for a period. But I never tire of watching them and noticing their peculiarities.

The above individual is obviously quite young as it is so perfect.

No battle scars and the fur is so pristine.

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It is noticeable for its white paws, so I call it “Gloves”.

It could easily be a descendant of the pale grey squirrel we called Grayson.

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Later on, I thought Gloves was back but the above has white eyeliner and a less brown face.

It was also new looking and very elegant…and hungry.

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Little Red’s descendants are all just as cheeky as Grandma.

The trail-cam caught one yesterday making off with an entire large carrot.

That’s like a caber tosser trying to carry the thing in his jaw.

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To finish up, here are recent photos of Baldy, one from Sunday.

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And one from Monday when I thought she resembled some sort of shamanic dancer.

The trail-cam picked up her movements too. She is quite a traveller!

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