Posted in May 2012 …

Spiders!

Today has been a spidery day. Not really my favourite kind of day, but interesting nontheless.  First, the girls found a nest of baby black and yellow garden spiders on the side of their slide. The little things ball up close together and then spread out before balling up again. The fully grown version can … Continue reading →

The sun has got his hat on…

It was a lovely warm, sunny May day today. Time for the cold-blooded critters to show themselves! We found a little red back salamander under a log today. The red back is a small woodland salamander. I suspect there are many living in the boggy areas of our woods. Last summer we found a few … Continue reading →

The black flies are biting my children

I want to record the date for posterity (and future avoidance planning). The black flies came out this week (May 8/9/10) and started biting the children in my family yesterday. We booked a trip to Europe for the month of June in hopes of avoiding the worst of the black flies (yes, I am willing … Continue reading →

Raccoons

There aren’t any raccoons in the UK (or in Calgary as far as I know) so I still get excited whenever I see one here, despite their reputation as pests. Last year we had to tie up our compost bin as they emptied it out all over the yard on a few occasions. They have … Continue reading →

Owl pellet

From fairy puke to owl vomit in a 24-hour period… Lily and her friends found an owl pellet in the woods by the swing today. It was big — about 15 cm — so I’m guessing it’s from an owl, although we haven’t heard or seen any. We found a similar pellet in the woods … Continue reading →