No Place Like Home

Summer sure is flying by. It's already the August long weekend. We like to spend most of the summer here at home in the backyard so that's what this blog is about. There really is no place like home. I'm sure anyone with their own backyard and into nature will agree.

No shortage of Raccoons as we have 2 families roaming the 'hood plus a couple males.

The fountain is a popular spot on the hot nights. The kids monkey around and knock the river rocks out of the tiers and one of them detached the hose from the pump. Little s**ts! But I love 'em.

What a face!

Shy boy.

Big daddy. The young ones flee when he makes an appearance. The males have nothing to do with the mom nor the kids.

Whisky Wednesday is a little more entertaining at this time of year.

One of the kids has something wrong with it's back left leg. He holds it upright much of the time. Angie noticed it on Sunday night. I happened to see him on Tuesday with my own eyes. Craziest thing was while walking out back, and focusing on him, I neglected to notice a smallish Skunk in the garden. I passed it by with about 6 ft between us. The Skunk immediately hissed and stomped his feet. That's a warning if you did not know. Next thing it did shocked the hell out of me though. He chased me! I've never encountered that before. I never did stop moving when I first realized he was there but my pace certainly quickened with this pursuit. He stopped after 10 ft or so and then disappeared in our tall flowers along the fence line. GREAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! For added adventure my head lamp was fading out. I'm down by the shed, some 100+ ft from the house. I watched the Raccoon for a brief bit, making mental notes. No visible signs of a wound to his leg but definitely holding it up to his body when moving about. He could climb the trees as well as his siblings so that's good. I planned on speaking with a wildlife rehabilitator in the morning about him. The mosquitoes were happy that I was out and buzzing around me, trying to suck my blood. Time to go back inside.

I'm creeping my way back to the house. I don't know where that Skunk is and am doing my best to let him know I am coming through. I am jingling my keys in one hand. I have my claw rake in the other, which I am using to stomp on the ground for further noise (no I am not going to use it on him). I'm near our picnic table where everything opens up more. I'm in the clear. Who comes out now but that Skunk. He again gives chase to me. WTF?!?! Four long strides and I am up on our deck. Home free now. Still puzzled by this one's behaviour. My best guess is the young Raccoons had already agitated him. They don't know what Skunks are until they get sprayed so in the meantime they can follow a Skunk around as it digs for grubs and whatever else, then try to steal the food from them. Maybe?

A good place to be when this Skunk is around, eh.

Other than that, we have random sightings of a male Hummingbird, usually near dark.

We have a new family of Robins that have literally just dropped into the backyards on August 1st.

A big first day out, hopping all over the backyards. After many feeds in the evening, this one had a 30 minute nap here. I was concerned he was going to stay there and be vulnerable to the creatures of the night but come near dark he hopped further down back and joined the others. They were all out again the following morning. Entertaining stuff for nature lovers like us!

My Pigeon pal Charlie, who has been coming around for over a year and a half now, finally has a "friend". They were smooching a lot the first couple weeks...

and now just pal around together a lot.

A male Downy Woodpecker has taken to roosting in one of our bird boxes. This seems to happen every summer after the nesting season is done. The Woodpecker will use the box right through the winter as well. Then come spring, when it's time to nest again, they disappear. Rumour has it that they prefer to make their own nesting cavity. That's alright. I am happy the box is of use to them through the other part of the year. It's a safe dry place for him.

After inside, they usually like to peek out the hole for a short while until it gets darker. Now my after work backyard strolls will have to be quieter and I will stay as far away from this box as I can.

We've baby sat this young Hairy Woodpecker throughout the last few weeks. He flies in and sits on the deck, picking at seeds and nuts, then taking them to the trees to bash and eat. He was flying in with his father but it seems he is now on his own.

I've been working on the back garden since last summer. I had forgotten some of the stuff I planted. So this summer I've been paying close attention to mystery plants and waiting to see what came of them, hoping they weren't weeds. It paid off with this gorgeous bee balm I forgot about. A Black Swallowtail and a bee going for the same bloom.

Pollination in process on this lily.

A stunning colour of cone flower that I bought last year has been a popular spot too.

Thanks for stopping in. Wishing you all a great and safe long weekend. Cheers!