Weekend Roundup: Q and R

I missed the weekend roundup last week, so I'm doing 2 letters this week - Q and R.  The prompts for Q from Tom the Backroads Traveller are: Starts with Q, Favourite, and Quiet, and the prompts for R are Starts with R, Red, and Favourite.

Starts with Q:
I'm feeling woefully inadequate for Q this time around.  Here is a picture of a pair of American Wigeons taken last month at the local waterfowl park.  American Wigeons are ducks.  Ducks say "quack" which begins with Q.  (see....really not very inspired).

Quiet:

Here is a quiet bunny.

Did you know that rabbits actually do make noises?  Most people think that rabbits are entirely quiet, but this is not true.  They make a range of noises, but many of them are soft noises that you wouldn't normally hear.  An annoyed rabbit makes a soft growl or grunt noise.  Sometimes Pippin does this when I pick him up and he doesn't want to be picked up.  Sometimes it's also accompanied by kicking feet.  Happy rabbits sometimes grind their teeth a bit (just gently - serious grinding is a sign of pain).  The grinding can make a soft noise almost like purring.  

In cases of extreme distress or pain, rabbits can actually scream.  This is a horrible noise and one that I never want to hear again.  I heard it once, and it was unforgettably bad.  

Starts with R:
This week, the helpful local carpenter (who built my little barn and chicken coop last year) was able to build and install six raised beds for me in my backyard.  I am really excited about this because it means that I will be able to grow some veggies of my own this year.  Raised beds are great because they tend to have fewer weeds and are easy to fill with ideal soil blends.  I will be filling these with some of my own compost as well as some compost from the farm where the carpenter lives.  As you can see, they are positioned near the chicken coop.  In the fall, when the beds are needing to be cleared out, I will make a portable raised bed frame so the chickens can forage in a bed for a day, without being taken by hawks.

The carpenter and his team carried the beds from their pickup trucks into my yard.  The beds are made with extremely thick rough-cut lumber.  They are lined with poly to help them last, but given the thickness of the wood, they will last a looooong time!

Then they positioned them all as I had requested.  This arrangement takes best advantage of the sun that I get in the yard (which is limited due to all the trees). I took this picture from the balcony off my bedroom to show the arrangement with the trees.  This is facing mostly east, but slightly south.  I put some cardboard in the bottoms of them to prevent weeds growing up, although they are 24 inches deep, so they probably won't have a problem with that.

They are constructed with a ledge around the top edge that I can easily sit or lean on for comfort while gardening. He even rounded the corners so I would not hurt my knees while walking around the beds.  It is great to have good help!  He is coming next week to help me fill them.

Red:
Last week I was able to photograph a pileated woodpecker.  It is the largest species of woodpecker we have in this area, and it has a bright red crest.  The male (seen below) also has a red "moustache" along the side of his face.

Favourites:

Here are a couple of favourites from the last couple of weeks.

A mourning dove on a wood stump in my yard having her fill of seeds.

A purple finch on a branch in the yard.  The favourite aspect of this picture is that the buds are swelling and getting ready to break.  I am so very ready for green!

Friday's Hunt v 3.20

It's Friday again, and another busy week has passed by.  We've had loads of rain over the past few weeks here in eastern Canada, and there's more rain on the way.  It might result in some heavy mosquito populations this year, which doesn't make me very happy, but at least I have the screened-in porch to sit in (if I ever get the time) where I won't be eaten by bugs!

Today's prompts from Eden Hills are:  Starts with T, Week's Favourite, and Food.

Starts with T:
Silly me - I did a big post all about my tulips yesterday.  Do check it out if you like flowers and have the time to take a peek.  I guess I can't do tulips again.  This week I took some photographs of a pair of mourning doves who came to eat the seeds under my bird feeder.  The name for mourning doves in French is Tourterelle Triste.

The word tourterelle means "turtle dove" (such as the 3 turtle doves in the Christmas carol).  The word triste means sad.  So the literal translation is sad turtle dove.  This is approximately the same as our English name, mourning dove.

I had not really noticed before, but the tourterelle triste has a patch of iridescent feathers on the side of its neck.  They were glistening in the sun yesterday, and it was quite noticeable.

Bonus tulip, just for fun.  My favourite one.

Week's Favourite:
I really like this picture I took of a blue jay in my yard - they are very skittish and not always easy to photograph.  I was really happy to get this clear shot.

I was also really pleased with some pictures I took of a southern red-backed vole.  They are through the window, so not perfect, but still not bad for such a tiny critter.  This was my favourite picture, with his tiny paws showing.  Absolutely adorable!

Food:
I am very interested in bees.  They are such a vital part of our ecosystem, and they need all the help they can get these days.  I was therefore concerned when I recently noticed a bumblebee on the screen of my screened in porch over several days.  It has been there for at least 3 days, which is the length of time I've been watching a robin make its nest (another post!) and I was becoming concerned about my buzzing little friend.  The bee had not moved at all for the past 2 days, and we have had very wet, dreary and cool weather.  Sometimes, early in the spring (which it certainly is here), bumblebees can get tired and cold.  There are not many flowers blooming yet, so their food sources are a bit scarce and the weather isn't helping.  If they are unable to get enough nectar to retain body temperature, they cannot fly, and they will just sit somewhere until they die.  So, my bee needed FOOD!

I brought my little fuzzy friend inside and prepared a slightly warm solution of about 30% honey and 70% water, in accordance with advice I found on a bee web site.  I put her in a bowl with a few leaves and sprinkled the solution on the leaves, and then poked some holes in a plastic wrap topper for the bowl.  I then set her on my desk near my work lamp where it is warm.  Here is the bee on a leaf.


Within about 30 minutes, my little friend was drinking the honey water and within about half an hour, she was already buzzing around the bowl.  It was remarkable how quickly she perked up after so many days of being immobile.  What started out as a clumsy and stumbling bee was now a normally-behaving, energetic bee.  Here she is with her tongue out - you can see it in the front touching the bottom of the bowl.  She was quickly ingesting the honey solution.  I believe it is Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee.


Every bee's life counts in today's environment, with these critical pollinators being subject to many challenging conditions.  I'm glad that I was able to help this bee get back on its feet.