Great week for critters at our cottage, a humble wood-frame, 800 sq. ft. structure built back in the mid-1950s. We've got 3 acres of wooded land with 200 feet of shoreline, about 250 km north of Toronto.
Weather was gorgeous all week so we slept with both bedroom windows wide open, looking out toward the forest behind our cottage. Woke up at 6:28 am on Thursday and there was a young adult female deer grazing on juniper berries not 20 feet away. Heard us trying to quietly grab shots on our phones. Huge ears swivelled toward us like a pair of satellite dishes. Just calmly taking it all in before strolling away to munch at another nearby juniper bush.
Day before, we watched a dragonfly slowly emerge from it's larval body on a rock behind our shoreline dock. Amazing spectacle as the larval body split open down the back and the adult dragonfly emerged, vertically at first, then leaning forward to get it's abdomen and wings out. We revere them as they hoover up pests like mosquitoes and deerflies.
Prior to that, an early morning walk offered great views of a family of loons fishing in a shallow bed of reeds. The adults would dive down and emerge with minnows in their beaks for the little ones to devour. Then, the chicks would take turns diving below the water to try catching fish for themselves.
A pair of wood ducks came flapping round the point and as they neared the loons - the aggressively dominant water bird on Canadian lakes - they let loose with big wet bowel movements. I thought it might be deliberate but they blithely flew past and splashed down beside a bed of reeds to continue their foraging.
Pics to follow.
