Gulliver Got Blogged!

Last week I shared a photo of my pigeon pal Gulliver on a Facebook page called Weird Toronto.  It's a fun page at times as people from around the city share their weird sightings.  Some really odd stuff comes up at times.  Occasionally I throw in a wildlife sighting of mine, not always weird, but heart warming is more like it, as I can see a lot of people on there dig our common city wildlife like the raccoons.  I like to give a little story to the photo as that keeps it interesting.  I hate those "look what I saw" or "look at my pretty photograph" and there's nothing to it.  So for Gulliver, I said that he visits me everyday.  I called in for a snow day last week to dig us out of this snow storm and not be on the roads.  He figured out I was home all day and visited me numerous times while I was shoveling.  Gulliver was a nice break from my workout.  And the thing with Gulliver is that he doesn't look like your common pigeon, not with that plumage of his.

A number of people from Weird Toronto took a liking to Gulliver, even those who admitted to not liking pigeons a whole lot.  Then I got an email from someone at BlogTO wanting to speak with me about this guy.  I jumped at the chance to speak to someone about him, and that conversation turned into a chat about pigeons, how Pierre started this whole thing with me 10 years ago and I dabbled in our backyard as a whole.  I know I flooded the writer, Karen Longwell, with a lot of story bits, bird and animal species.  She seemed to enjoy the tales.  I knew that everything I told her certainly could not be done in one short blog; and it was going to be interesting to see what she was going to make of this.  She told me it would probably be published over the weekend, which was 3 or 4 days away.  That left me a lot of time to wonder about this in my spare time, but it was good wondering.

Here is the link to the blog she did.

The blog was mostly well received.  Angie and I enjoyed it, as did family and friends of ours who checked it out.  The blog got multiple shares throughout social media pages and I was catching it being posted in various pigeon groups.  I'd say it was 95% positively received by others.  I expected some to not like it at all.  Angie did too, and even before it was released, she asked me to please ignore any negative comments.  I didn't go looking for the comments but if they showed up somewhere, I would view them.  It was a little disheartening how much some people loathe these birds.  One could easily tell that some people never even read the blog and just jumped on a story title about a pigeon.  That's humans for ya!

The majority of people who complain to me about these birds live in high rises and hate pigeons living on their balconies, messing up their little outdoor living space.  Some others just see pigeons as dumb birds who are good for nothing but to feed a hawk, and they get extreme joy from seeing a hawk chowing down on one.  Flying rats is one term I hear often.  Disease carrying vermin is another.  "I wish they would all just die" has been said to me in the past.  Now imagine if there were no pigeons?  What would happen to the populations of birds of prey?  Red-tailed hawks, cooper's hawks, peregrine falcons are examples here in Toronto.  It's kinda fucked up with the love many people have for these big sexy predators yet some seem to be willing to give up their first born to be rid of the primary food source.

I'm currently reading two books about pigeons.  One is A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Understood Bird.  It's an entertaining, yet informative read about pigeons.  The other is called Operation Columba which is based on the use of pigeons by Britain during WW2.  I learned a lot about the second world war in high school but was never taught anything about how pigeons were used for communicating and how some of these messages sent saved many human lives throughout the war.

I know I talk more about pigeons the last little while.  I don't expect people to turn around and fall in love with them.  I just wish more people would have a little more appreciation, heck even a tolerance towards them, and not want to kick every one of them that they pass on the street.  They, like us, and every other creature on this planet, are just trying to live out our lives.

Anyway, back to Gulliver and the blog.

It was fun chatting with people about Gulliver.  I've had people reach out to me to talk about pigeons, share their pigeon friends with me, which has been pretty cool.  Animal lovers in general "get it" about that thing a person can share with an animal.  You can talk to them when you feel no one else will listen to you.  There is a calming effect being around animals.  They are genuine.  You will always know where you stand with any animal; it's people you have to wonder about.  For me, they are a break from the world, such as right now and this pandemic.  Hanging with Gulliver, there is no covid in that moment.  It's just me and this bird who has come to visit me.  Yes, it is mostly for a feed, but he will spend longer moments with me some days, just sitting on my hand, looking at me, looking at the world around us (with me).  I'm a quiet guy for the most part so it's a comfortable silence hanging out with him.

Gulliver and the other's haven't been around since Friday due to a cooper's hawk that has been hunting the backyards lately.  Thankfully with Gulliver's absence, our other (and newest) backyard star has returned.  That is the eastern screech owl.  He disappeared just after that big snow storm last Monday.  He has returned as of Sunday and showed up again on Monday.  I will miss any weekday sightings since I am at work when he surfaces at the hole of the box any time after 4:30 PM.

Having a backyard owl is, well, simply put "freaking awesome".  They can be very difficult to see out in the woods so having one in plain view from the kitchen window rocks.  Plus knowing we are providing a safe, quiet, shelter for this little owl warms the heart.  So many owls around Toronto are taking a constant beating from birders and photographers alike, it's just fucking crazy.  Even when people are visiting the owl just for a few minutes, multiply those few minutes by 40, 50, or more people per day, also throwing in those who spend an hour, maybe even two or more on the owl.  It's just no rest for these birds.  Remember that many of these owls are nocturnal hunters and roost during the day, resting and conserving energy for the nightly hunt.  

Our visiting owl stays hidden in the box until late in the day.  We may get a 10 minute view before he leaves the box to hunt, although a couple days it's been up to an hour.  For the most part Angie and I watch from the window.  I have gone out a few times for photos or just to get a clear view from the back deck instead of looking through our dirty window.  The view of the owl for the most part is just like the photo I am adding.  He sits, almost motionless for a lengthy amount of time, with his eyes as slits.  As it gets darker, the owl becomes more active, eyes open more, he looks about the yard and beyond, most likely taking in what other creatures are still out there, where they are, what may make for an easy meal, any signs of danger...  We have witnessed him fly out of the box, if we have sat at the window until dark.  I can watch this over and over again because A) this is still all new to me B) I don't know how long he is going to stay with us.  He showed up just before Christmas for 3 days.  He disappeared for 9 days and then suddenly came back.  He's been here most of January now, minus a couple days and this recent 5 day absence.  We're just enjoying the little owl show while he is here, while still giving him the yard when he appears.  

He blends in so well with that bark I put around the box hole.

Hopefully we have him for a long time to come but we shall see.

And hopefully Gulliver and the others aren't gone for too long.  I'm watching out for him every day now.  I have seen a couple pigeons pop in, taking a chance at a feed down back, but quickly flying off even though I haven't seen the hawk myself.  They are all in tune to the wild world, more so than we are. 

Omicron & the Owl

Happy new year friends.  I wish for you all, and me, a great 2022.  Unfortunately the year hasn't started off great for the Mueller household as I managed to bring home the Omicron variant of the covid virus.  Ugh!  Despite all our efforts to stay safe it happened.  I know where I got it (from work) but have no idea from who.  Turns out there are many of my coworkers also battling the virus.

Angie and I had such an amazing New Year's Eve day with an afternoon nature outing where we saw a couple species of owls and hand fed some chickadees.  We had a lovely dinner at home and managed to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year.

A great horned owl greeted us to an otherwise empty woodlot.  Zero humans which was A-OK by us and no other birds or wildlife (no surprise).  I haven't had a nice view of this species of owl in about 5 years.  The last time I saw this species of owl in these woods was at least 10 years ago.

Angie managed to spot a couple long-eared owls in another area we walked through.  How awesome!  Again, no other humans anywhere to be seen.  We choose paths less traveled.

2021 wasn't a great year by any means but it sure ended quite nicely for us.

Now, along comes New Year's Day.  I felt rather tired and thought perhaps the big walk yesterday and a late night had something to do with it.  I only had one drink so it wasn't that.  As the day moved along my leg muscles started to ache and only got worse, to the point where walking to the bathroom which is downstairs in our old house, had me think "how badly do I need to go?"

I went to bed mid-evening but woke up around 1 AM to a fever.  I was drenched in sweat.  37.9 Celsius (100.2 F) was my temperature.  Next to come was a tickle in the back of my sinuses and it wasn't long until I was all stuffed up.  Both Angie and I were up shortly after 4 AM.  She managed to purchase some rapid test kits online before Christmas and here was the perfect time to use one.  The wiry swab thing really tickled my nose.  It took everything to hold in a sneeze.  When she put the final bits together for the test, including my sample, it showed positive within seconds.  NOOOOOOOOO!  Self quarantining we go!

It bothered me to think that I picked up covid.  We've both been very careful through this pandemic.  We haven't been social butterflies.  I knew deep down it had to be from work.  Now, this is the messed up part.  I was home for 5 days over Christmas, key word is HOME.  I was only at work for 8 hours on the 29th of December and 6 hours on the 30th.  Of those 14 hours in the plant, I would have had my mask off for maybe 10 minutes in the cafeteria when I have a quick snack a few hours into my shift since we don't take lunch until 6 hours in.  I've been eating my lunch in my car for a number of years.  I like to go out and get a coffee, listen to some tunes and have a 30 minute time out from work.  Sitting in the cafeteria on break is not a break in my opinion.  The work talk at the tables is not my thing.  I'm not afraid to admit that seeing some faces in the cafeteria also ruins my break.  Anyway, somehow in that little span of time, I picked up the bug.  Was it when my mask was off?  Or maybe there was an opening on the side and it got in?  Who knows?

By Sunday afternoon I developed a painful upper chest cough.  My throat got really sore, like it was fiery hot.  So any coughing was very unpleasant.  I tried to zone the day away but it was difficult due to all my symptoms as well as my mind not being at rest.

It was count day for me with project feeder watch.  It was around 5 PM and nearly dark outside, meaning the birds were gone for the day.  I had turned the computer on to enter my bird counts when I happened to look out the window one last time and noticed the screech owl was sticking his head out of the box.  HOLY S**T!  Big surprise because if  you caught my blog not too long ago, you know we had a screech owl in both boxes in the days before Christmas.  The last day that we saw it was December 23rd.  Here we are now at January 2nd and he's back.  I had to go back to the website where I had just entered my counts and happily do an edit, adding the owl to the list.

I grabbed my camera, tweaked my settings and took this shot from the deck.  I love his camouflage against the bark that I added to this nest box.

So, as I have battled Omicron and recover this week (obviously not going to work), I have glued myself to my chair in the kitchen by the window around 4:45 PM every day, waiting and wondering if the owl will show.  He returned again on January 3rd and 4th.  I did not see him on January 5th.  Then on January 6th I was about to write him off as a "no-show" once again, when he appeared much later than past days.  It was 5:30 PM and totally dark out.  I thought I saw him from the window and actually had to step out on the back deck to be sure.  I now wonder if perhaps he did that on the 5th as well?

This little owl has been a gift this week.  A blessing might be another good word to use.  He's been a great distraction for both Angie and I.  

When he sticks his head out, he just sits with his eyes as slits.  As it gets closer to dark, he gets more active.  He starts looking around at the wild world in front of him.  He will look to the cedars down back.  He will look to the pines up here by the house.  He will look out to further off backyards where there are some large conifers.  Then, in a flash, he takes flight from the box and disappears.  Two nights he has gone to the cedars down by the shed.  Another night it was off to the neighbour's trees.  I guess it doesn't matter where he goes, just as long as he comes back.

I'm on day 6 now of this bug.  I started my official count from Sunday when I knew I was sick, and not Saturday when I thought I was getting sick.  I am home until January 12th, so that's 5 more days of R&R, and 5 more evenings where I can watch the box and look out for the owl.  When I go back to work, I will miss him since I work 2 PM to 10 PM.  Angie will be on owl watch then.

I know there are a lot of varying opinions on covid and this Omicron variant.  I've learned through my social media post about getting sick that many others have been sick with it in the last couple weeks.  For some, it was mild and short lived (3 days).  For others, it's been harder and longer lasting.  Whether you take covid seriously or not, it is still a sickness.  I hate being sick.  When I am sick, I stay home.  When I see sick people, I stay away.  That's always been my style, way before covid.  I always wish more people would be as respectful towards others when they are sick and stay home, or at the very least, away from as many people as possible.

Before I finish this, you may be wondering, did Angie get Omicron?  YES!  She is about 36 hours behind me and certainly isn't happy about it at all.  She never got the fever like I did, or the muscle aches as long as I did; but she's dealing with more coughing and sinus stuffiness.  Chatting with others, their symptoms and length of some are all over the board.  Sure it may have been a slight illness for some, but that doesn't mean it won't be worse for someone else.

Okay, enough about Omicron, but I had to talk about it because it is happening here in our house right now...  and the little screech owl has been some of nature's best medicine for us.  One last look at him.  

See you all again soon, in a much healthier state (I am feeling much better than 6 days ago, hopefully a restful weekend ahead will put the final crush to this bug).

I hate this term and cannot wait till it is not used by people any longer...  stay safe.

Happy New Year! Big News!

Just stopping in to wish you all a very happy new year.  I had a wonderful surprise today when a squirrel came charging up to me when I stepped out into our backyard.  He ran around my feet, grabbed my pant leg and looked up at me.  I thought to myself "Ripper?" as I looked down at him, trying to check his right ear for the rip.  As I knelt down, he gently jumped onto my hand.  OMFG!  It IS Ripper!

Ripper has been missing for 5 months.  I last him in the first days of August and then he just vanished.  I kept an eye out for him with my daily wanderings about the yard before work.  That's the thing about making friends with your wild neighbours, there comes a time when they just don't come back.  You never really knows what happens to them most times.

Of course I never forgot about him and was just thankful for the years he was here and all the fun we had out there.  He was a very accommodating squirrel for me with my Santa hat and Halloween mask photo sessions.

So having him show up today, on New Year's Eve day is pretty epic.  What a wonderful end to a difficult year!

Welcome home Ripper!  If only you could tell me where you have been.

Again, I want to wish you all a very happy new year.  See you in 2022 for more of my sightings and adventures.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and thanks for following me along with my stories.  I was looking at Facebook memories the last couple days and some of the pictures from past years put a smile on my face but also pulled on my heart strings just a little.  I do my best to just be grateful for the time I had with these friends of mine.  It is a shame that they just don't live nearly as long as us.

No, not Pierre here but one of my buds that came to be in the years to follow.  He was a very calm accommodating pal during my silly moments.  We named him Sherman.

Our newer backyard pal Gulliver enjoys the one on one time too.  Not every pigeon likes the Santa hat.

Then there's Ripper.  He disappeared late this summer after over 4 years of being such a great backyard friend.  I miss him so much as he was always a great distraction from the crap in the world.

The fun with Meadow.  Merry and Molly try to be as good as Meadow; key word is try.  LOL!

Animals are an important part of my life.  I assume they are with you who follow my blogs.  Can't imagine a world without them, eh?  They make every moment special and these holidays a little more fun.

Anyway, all the best to you all.  I'm sure you have better things to do than be on here reading my blog.

Cheers!

Gift From Nature

For the third time in 5 years on the third week of December we have been blessed to have an eastern screech owl visit our backyard and spend time in an owl box.  Only this time around it wasn't just a one day visit as the owl came back for a second day!  Here's a little bit about the weekend with this owl.

On Friday night I had set up my trail cam down back as I am monitoring that opossum house which I recently blogged about.  So come Saturday morning, before coffee, I stumble outside to retrieve the camera in a half awake state.

I'm walking down the yard, taking in the crisp morning air and getting my bearings.  I'm listening to the first birds of the day as it's a count day for project feeder watch.  I'm mere feet from the trail cam when I look up and ahead, and notice there's an owl looking at me from the box down there.  For a moment I froze as our eyes met.  I was very surprised the owl did not flush as I was so close to it.  This box I lazily set up in the fall after I switched it out with the other newer box.  This box is maybe 8 ft from the ground which is quite low for a screech owl to be using.

After I picked my jaw up from the ground, I slowly back stepped away.  Once I was far enough away, I turned around and ran back to the house.  I had to tell Angie about our backyard visitor as well as get my camera.  She had a good look at it from the kitchen window with the binoculars.  I got some decent shots despite how dark it was outside and the snow was starting to come down.  Then I went back inside and we just monitored from the house.  The owl sat at the edge of the box for the next hour before ducking down inside.

We had to leave for the afternoon around 2 PM and wouldn't be back until later in the evening.  I knew we were going to miss seeing the owl leave the box at dark.  After we got home, I set up the trail camera pointed to the box, hoping it might catch the owl returning at some point through the night.  I was a little sad the following morning when I checked the cam pictures and there was no activity.

Sunday was a usual day for us, going for a nature walk before doing things around the house.  We talked about that owl a few times throughout the day.  I mean, how could we not?  We had an owl in the yard!

Late in the afternoon I happened to be looking out the kitchen window and thought something looked different about the other owl box.  I put the binoculars up to it and was over the moon with excitement that the owl did come back and it went to this other box.  This other box is much more suited for a screech owl as there is predator protection beneath the box which is stove pipe wrapped around the tree trunk so no creatures can climb up and disturb or harm the owl.  There are no branches nearby where a squirrel could jump from to get up to the box.  The box is at least 15 ft off the ground.

I called Angie out to the kitchen so she could see.  I then stepped out the front of the house, sneaking up the side so I could take some photos from the back corner of the house.  The owl just sat at the entry hole, all squint eyed and paid little notice to me. 

From there, I went back inside, sat in my chair by the window and was glued to it until darkness set in when I could just make out when the owl took flight and flew to the back of the yard, disappearing in the tall cedars next door.

Monday I went to work.  Angie is off on Christmas break so she kept watch throughout the day to see if the bird appeared at either box.  She didn't see him.

Last night I set up the trail cam and pointed it at the second box which I hoped it would continue to use.  Unfortunately no sign of the bird coming in at any point through the night.

Two days of the owl here is better than one.  We hope for a return from it through the winter months especially if the weather turns cold and snowy.

All the birds and animals that visit us are gifts from nature but there's something about getting an owl.  Such mystical creatures that most people don't get to see. 

If he does come back, you all will read about it here.

New Opossum Shelter

We have two Virginia opossums coming around although I am certain there are three.  We've got a small dog house down back behind the shed that I packed with straw as an available shelter for an opossum or any other creature to use.  I've seen them use it but so do the raccoons and skunks on occasion.  

Last week while we were on vacation, I was out back one night and got the idea to set up another potential 'possum place.  I've had a wooden box out there for a while now and decided it might be good to try and set it up for the creatures, if they need a place to hide.  It was a rather quick set up, placing the box down back, out of sight, filling a good portion of it with leaves, concealing the box with various odds and sods of wood, branches, more leaves and so on.

I've been setting up the trail cam near this new house most nights and it took no time for the opossums (and others) to find it.  Seeing these images below drive me crazy (in a good way) and give me hope that one will stick around our yard more often.  Anyone who knows me (and Angie) as well as our wildlife friendly backyard, knows this would be a great safe place for one.

Here is one on the third night at 1:21 am.

He, or another is back an hour later.

Now at almost 7:30am.  He didn't spend the day in the box but I am thinking he lives very close by to still be around as daylight is almost upon us.  

Here is the next night.

An early riser, just before 7pm.

Almost 3 hours later.

Away he goes.

Two and a half hours later.

A half hour later he's going back to the box.

Now here is another regular, he's got no tail.  I've been catching this one on the cam for well over a month now.

Here's the next night.  Just a couple shots.  I think you've seen enough for now, right?

Peek-a-boo at 2:25am.

Peek-a-boo again about 3 hours later.

There's at least 3 skunks coming around the backyards the last while and I am pretty sure there's at least 5 raccoons but there could be more.  I wonder if it is because our backyard is such a busy spot that they won't use the box?  Maybe I need to conceal it more?  There's lots of old sheds and garages surrounding, many places for the animals to burrow under.

Oh well, at least I am offering them more shelter if need be.

A lot of people have weird thoughts and misunderstandings towards the opossum.  Such ugly animals, giant rats, probably have rabies, etc.  If only they would take the time out to research them and learn.  

Like seriously, look how cute these guys are!  Both of them were in our backyard.

And baby opossums...  OMFG!  I've yet to see one in the wild.  I would just die.  I *borrowed* this image from Google.

Both Angie and I hope to see a mother opossum with young in our backyard one of these days.  Providing them with shelter could help make this happen.

Here's some bits about the pros of having opossums around our backyards.

Stay tuned for future updates as I have them.

Anniversary Surprise

So yesterday, November 30th, was Angie and I's 9th wedding anniversary. 

We have the week booked off for vacation time and just doing a bit of this and that, here and there throughout the week.  We're enjoying the extra time together and not having to go to work.

At some point in the afternoon of the 30th I step out back and in flies a pigeon.  It was Charlie!  I hadn't seen Charlie in roughly 2 months.  She's been hiding away from here due to the hawk activity, at least that's how I see things.  Some of the birds do this through the winter months.  You may recall Charlie disappeared for a really long spell last winter, 70+ days I believe, maybe 90 (I'd have to look back for a more accurate number but it was a very long time).  I thought she was gone for good but one day she returned, landing on her usual spot outside the back door on the clothes line post.  Yesterday she did exactly that as well.

On our wedding morning, before we started the ceremony in the kitchen, I was having a time out with Pierre at the back door.  I joke that he was one of our witnesses, perhaps even my best man.  There were more animals present at our wedding than humans.  Pierre is no longer with us but this is one of those special memories of him that I will never forget.  That's the clothesline post behind us in the picture.

Having Charlie here with me on our anniversary was nice, especially after her absence. 

I know Pierre was here in spirit.

I don't seem to get a lot of love with my blogs about the pigeons but that's okay.  These birds certainly did change me as a person and it all started with my big boy.

I aim to be back with another blog next week, sharing a handful of catch up bits of some cool creature sightings the last few weeks.  

See you soon!