20 October 2024
Hello Everyone,
It is 18 C with clear blue skies and no wind in the Annapolis Valley. The leaves fell with the wind we had yesterday making a crunchy cushion when walking. The high tide is here and it is almost level with the drive at Evangeline Beach. We did not go to Hall’s Harbour but I suspect it is over the road and flooding some areas.
The Bald Eagle couple whose nest is on the grounds of the Grand Pre Memorial were sitting on top of a utility pole together as we headed out Saturday morning.
Saturday was Homecoming at Acadia University and the traffic was lined up all the way, bumper to bumper, from Grand Pre to Wolfville. To avoid it, we went up over the mountain roads past at least six vineyards.
Pumpkin patches also dot the landscape – from large planting areas to tiny.
This is the patch we have passed several times on our way to Canning. It is my favourite village in all of the Annapolis Valley. If you are in the area there are three shops to check out. For a healthy and delicious lunch, you can do no better than Art Can Studios and Kitchen. Next door is the Village Coffee Shop with the best chocolate chip cookies – seriously better than the ones Neiman-Marcus used to make. Then there is Denise Aspinall’s Pottery Studio. For a small village, it has everything a person could want including a doctor and grocery store!
The area used to be the site of a major shipbuilding industry.
This is what the site looks like today. (below)
On the way back to the cottage at dusk, we spotted two Turkey Vultures roosting in trees near the old Blacksmith’s Shop on the grounds of the Grand Pre Memorial. It is a beautiful place to take an evening stroll. The fields were full of Icelandic gulls and some small songbirds were doing murmurations from the utility wires along the road. I do not know what species they were, but hundreds were really putting on a show as we drove past.
I am going to miss the rolling hills, the incredible food, the shocking red of the Sugar Maple trees, the crunch of those leaves beneath my feet, the Bald Eagles soaring above me (there were at least a dozen seen on Saturday), and the hawks hunting in the fields. It has been a great trip for walking and enjoying being outside before winter sets in on the Canadian Prairies.
My plane returns to the Prairies far too early on Monday morning. So please bear with me. There will not be a post tomorrow, Monday the 20th and there might not be one on the 21st, but there will be on Wednesday the 22nd for sure! The Girls will, no doubt, want all of our attention! How can I refuse them?
As Halloween approaches, please be mindful of our wildlife.
I hope to attend by Zoom. If you can, please do as well. It is so important to the lives of the ospreys in the Bay.
Our Melbourne Mum F23 doesn’t mess about! She wants those babies to stay in that scrape.
‘A’ remarks: “The littles at Collins Street were left alone for most of the afternoon in between feedings. Periodically, the three were fed, with all three finishing each feeding with giant crops. Mum is good at ensuring all three get fed adequately, and the chicks are all very good at competing for bites, grabbing food from each other’s beaks if necessary, but ending up with everyone getting a good meal.
It is worth noting that summer is suddenly about to arrive in Melbourne, where tomorrow is forecast to reach 25C and Tuesday is meant to be 30C. These are high temperatures on that ledge if the littles are left unshaded, so tomorrow is not a day to leave them alone. The sun will hit the scrape relatively early, because of daylight savings, but should clear the scrape by about 1pm. It will be very hot though, particularly on Tuesday, so I am hoping mum is diligent and aware of this danger.”
Wilko and Kasse had a late night supper.
Xavier had breakfast in early at Orange. Gosh, isn’t he the cutest. It is like Xavier knows we are watching and he poses just for us!
They were stuffed! https://youtu.be/fsg0TEsksYU?
The Currawongs are starting to become a real bother to the White-bellied sea eaglets on the nest at the Olympic Park in Sydney.
‘A’ gives us the report from Ranger Judy: “October 19: A brief storm in the night had the eaglets flapping on the edge, the wind was strong with rain and lightning. Later, they were settled- wet but safe. Early morning SE33 walked up the left-hand branch and flew back, when swooped by an early currawong. A favourite perch this morning and later. A long wait during the morning until Lady brought in a juvenile gull at 12:27. SE33 grabbed it and spent ages preparing it, feathers flying. It only ate a little before SE34 stole it at 1:13pm. Lady came after a while, ate some herself, fed a little and finally took off the remains at 14:25 – a long feed. Swooping neighbours added to the chaos. Dad brought a small fish later, at 16:14, which was grabbed and eaten by SE33. Lady was seen down on the river after an eel in Ermington Bay. She delivered a late eel meal at 5:30 – feeding both eaglets and finishing it off herself. A good prey day. Then more at 18:50 – Lady with a bream – though she ate most herself, with Dad nearby hoping, and currawong still swooping..”
Bubba by Mum in the nest at Growing Home.
Everyone appears to be doing well. Our adults have been incredible. The only issue is the Currawong, who realize that the eaglets are ready to fledge and are persistent in their desire to chase them from the forest. We can only hope these eaglets will ignore them and follow the parents to the Parramatta River, where Dad and Lady will teach them how to hunt and fish to become independent and seek out their own lives.
As you know, I love the European Starlings that visit the feeders in our garden. There have been as many as 35, but never a sight of murmurations such as those seen at various spots worldwide. Their feathers are the most glorious iridescent and the little dots that tell us if they are breeding or non just add more interest to a rather spectacular body. The Guardian has a lovely little article on how Starlings conquered the minds of many worldwide – invasive species or not! And they are not the bullies at my bird tables – the Little Red Squirrels are the culprits.
Thank you so much for being with me. Take care everyone. See you Wednesday.
Thank you to the following for their videos, notes, streaming cams, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A’, Village of Canning, Menhaden – Little Fish, Big Deal FB, 367 Collins Street by Mirvac, Port Lincoln Osprey, Olympic Park Eagles, Charles Sturt Falcon Cam and Cilla Kinross, Cilla Kinross, Growing Home, The Guardian.
