Swallowtail Butterfly

The guys came this week to mow our incredibly long lawn. It has been raining so much lately that they hadn't been by in 3 weeks. Once they were done we had a ton of grass that needed to be raked up... 2 acres worth! On Thursday was a beautiful morning so we decided to start raking. It was then that I noticed a butterfly feeding from one of our lilac bushes.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis)

It was very difficult to photograph it... every time I was about to take a shot, it fluttered to another stem of flowers! 

Knitting... and Coyotes

For the past few days I have been doing a lot of knitting. I think its the weather lately that has inspired it. Although the thermometer says 20-25C, it feels much cooler in the house. Maybe that's why I've had the impulse to knit a shawl (Malabrigo lace, Citron shawl), and a shrug knit from 100% alpaca. Unfortunately, I ran out of the alpaca yarn last night, so that project is on hold until I can get some more. Next up on the needles: baby gifts.

As for the coyotes: David and I were in the office the other night, I was browsing Ravelry and David was playing a game, when I thought I heard something from outside. It kind of sounded like a dog, but it was coming from an odd direction. One of our neighbours has a dog that likes to bark, but they live across the road and down a little ways... this barking sound was coming from the property bordering our backyard property line. I went to the back deck to see if it was what I thought it was. Although it was very dark and no moon, I knew what I was hearing was a coyote (you may remember that we saw a pair crossing the back field earlier this year). It sounded like it was communicating with another pack on the other side of the highway. 

I think the sound half way through might be a cat

going through the cat door...

Squeak!

Our cats always enjoying hanging out in a window in the basement, and we always thought it was because it's right below our bird feeders. On Sunday, I finally saw the big attraction...

Coyotes!

I happened to look out the window this morning, and saw something running across the neighbour's field. I grabbed the binoculars just as it stopped on a small hillock north of our property line, and saw it was a coyote. David saw a second one that ran and caught up with the first one. They stood there for a couple of minutes, surveying the field, before moving off into the woods. It was unbelievable! Last spring David woke to the sounds of coyotes and pups yipping, so we're hoping that their den is in the nearby woods. We'll keep our eyes and ears open in case we see or hear them!

Unfortunately, there are no pictures since my little point&shoot wouldn't zoom in close enough, and my older SLR has no film or batteries. That will be soon remedied.

New Feeder and New Visitors

We picked up a new suet feeder for our woodpecker friend, and found we have a little female downy woodpecker who has discovered it!

Of course the chickadees were fighting over the new feeder as well... =)

Snow Angels and Feathered Friends

David saw the most beautiful snow angel the other morning. I went outside and tried to get a better picture of it, but the best one was taken from through the window:

While I was outside I was being watched by several curious chickadees and a hairy woodpecker. Actually, almost every time either of us go outside, we hear him calling and he always likes to perch nearby... I guess in hopes that we have a tasty snack for him =)

Bird Feeders & Visitors

We've had many feathered visitors since we put up our bird feeders this past spring:

Goldfinches, hummingbirds, sparrows....

Juncos, Bluejays, Chickadees....

Mourning Doves, Northern Flickers (woodpeckers), cowbirds...

And of course, lots and lots of geese migrating!

Canadian Geese

Snow Geese

And we thought the first one was bad...

The wolf spider we saw in the spring was nothing compared to the huge orb weaver in our rosebush!

Needless to say we will be leaving it in peace...

Tommy the Toad

I was enjoying the cool basement today, when I looked up at the window to see what had captured Caesar's interest... there was an american toad by the window!

Spider of Epic Proportions!

David and I were enjoying the afternoon out on our deck, when I noticed something on the gutter... a huge wolf spider!

David wanted to brush it away with the broom but when he moved the broom towards the spider, it turned around and looked the broom... and again with David's second attempt. We finally decided to let it return to its home in the gutter rather than deal with the fearless creature!