Just before dawn, when the fingernail of a crescent moon shines brightly in the sky, I revel at the flamboyant maple in all its orange-red glory; but in the back of my mind I wonder, “Why haven’t all the leaves fallen down by now, like before?”
There was a very weird noise coming from the backyard last night–about an hour after sunset. I thought the aliens had landed or the neighbours were fooling around.
I called my husband to listen with me in the kitchen. I asked him, “What is that sound?”
He said, “It’s a horse!”
We went out the back door to take a look; which was probably a mistake, because the noise then ceased.
He went to bed and I googled, “nocturnal animal or bird that sounds like a horse.”
I then discovered that my equine friend was in fact an eastern screech owl.
It’s a wonderful new bird I can add to my birding list. But maybe some more experienced birders can tell me; can I add it to my list if I only heard it?
I was studying in the back garden; getting ready to help run the local polling station for the upcoming federal election. I was learning how to get people ready to vote and enable democracy while not taking any sides.
Out of nowhere, on the back fence I heard the loveliest warbling and trilling and looked around to see the house wren bouncing up and down. I had never seen one before and I thought he looked like a sparrow, but certainly did not act or sound like one.
His song was very beautiful and I found his bouncy behaviour very amusing. I will always be grateful to Elections Canada for inadvertently introducing me to the house wren.
My son ordered a pizza for delivery–small size. I wondered what the shuffling noise was coming from the porch.
I opened the front door and I was so surprised and secretly delighted to have the privilege of seeing a beautiful big racoon with a loaded pizza hanging from her mouth. She looked at me and then dashed off; probably taking it home to share with her family.
The female cardinal sits on my front porch eating her breakfast, slowly and methodically. Her muted scarlet hues accented by the rosy colour of the tiles on the porch.
She is caught in the moment by the sunshine and her presence lights up my heart.