We didn’t have any hot days during this last week and we had rain on-and-off during the week, just enough that I didn’t have to water the garden. I did, however, have to water my tomatoes in the buckets, which are more like small trees. So far, it has been a wonderful year for the flowers. The deer had hosta at the salad bar this week, while teaching her fawns which ones to eat and which ones not to eat.
The bear came this morning, but there was nothing out there for him to eat, so he just sat there waiting for me to put up the bird feeders and the electric fence gate. He hasn’t tested it yet since getting the feeders when it wasn’t on a week ago. There isn’t much in the way of wild food for them to eat right now but grasses, grubs, and ants, not many honeybee hives in this neck of the woods. Blueberries are popping up, which they feed on in the Moose River Area, and then they hit the raspberries and blackberries.
Loon Census 2022, observing hummingbirds, bears and deer from front porch
A little rain kept my garden growing and flowers blooming. My bee balm has come out, giving the hummers a new place to eat in both the front and back yards. Karen and I sat on the front porch
yesterday (July 17) and the hummer feeders were a beehive of activity all afternoon. In the morning we had a mother bear come through with two of last year’s cubs checking out the bird feeders. The mother and one cub walked around the electric fence. The other cub got confused as to where the others went. It tried to go through the fence, but took a shot and backed off. Then it circled around looking for mom and hit the fence again. It left in a hurry that time, and probably will not try that again.
A few minutes later, there was a doe with twin fawns who were nursing together out in front of the house. It would have made a great picture as they were right in a sunshine spot, but the camera was in the truck. Many birds have been bringing their young ones to the feeders for a snack. Several Blue Jays with young have been coming every day. I set the Potter traps yesterday and caught five of the young ones. I also caught an older Jay that I had banded as a juvenile in July of 2014 which made that bird 8 years and two months old. That is one of the oldest returns I’ve had of a Jay. They usually eat and run never to be seen again, but not this one. I also caught some juvenile Slate-Colored Juncos who were still sporting some pin feathers.
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