Life in Nova Scotia
Dennis writes, from the Valley: “The first one arrived yesterday, buzzed right up to my face and looked in the window as if to say, ‘Where is the feeder?’ Within 10 minutes it was prepped and hanging outside the door. By 6 p.m. one male was giving another a feisty seminar on real estate law. Hours of entertainment to follow….
Post your hummingbird sightings here, from year to year, for the record!
I had the pleasure of going to the Annapolis Valley yesterday on business. The leaves are not really much further along there than here on the South Shore, depending where you are. I noticed a familiar Valley odour, too – a combination of green growing things and the smelly stuff that helps them grow. No apple blossoms yet, but they must be just about to burst forth – like in this video. They always arrive just in time for the Apple Blossom Festival:
I wish I could post the perfumed air that caressed my nostrils when I opened the door this morning so that you could smell it too. These guys on the right may have contributed to it, but the main source is probably all the dandelions that suddenly opened up this morning.
This is my favourite week of the year, when the trees leaf out and the world is transformed.
Where we live, on a tidal inlet on Mahone Bay, it all happens a little later than just up the road, half a mile inland.
The picture below expresses, to me anyway, some of the softness of this morning.
Hot off the press: our first Nova Scotia Photo Album video. It won’t be the last!
This one shows how tide and temperature create an ever-changing landscape on Mahone Bay’s shoreline, from first frost to spring breakup.
The music is an Appalachian tune called Frosty Morning, played by Dennis Robinson on fiddle and Heather Holm (that’s me) on accordion.
It’s a laborious but joyful spring chore for boaters in Nova Scotia: taking off the winter cover, cleaning her, fixing her up, painting her bottom, waxing her sides perhaps, and getting her ready to launch.
Owning a boat means using a lot of elbow grease, unless you’re wealthy enough to hire someone to do it all for you. And contrary to what you may think, boat owners aren’t all wealthy – partly because their boats keep them so. But the ability to get out on the water provides richness to their lives, whatever their bank balance may be.
Yesterday, Dennis Robinson, the Chickadee Dude (see our Chirbles the Chickadee pictures), spotted an indigo bunting, described by the Peterson guide as “casual” to Nova Scotia, in the Annapolis Valley.
The startlingly blue-feathered bird watched the chickadees from afar. But finally, he decided that the chickadees had a good thing going and decided to check out some millet seeds (below).
This specimen is unusual in that his lower beak is light-coloured, rather than black as shown in the field guide.
Anyone else ever see an indigo bunting with a beak like this?
There is a neighbourhood outside the Town of Mahone Bay, on the road to Lunenburg, that is quite overrun with deer. We drove past it today and saw this group on a lawn. We were actually able to turn around and drive back to take pictures without them shying away.
Cute, you think? Only if you aren’t a gardener. Deer will eat tulips, blueberry bushes, the tops of potato plants and many other things one might like to grow – including roses.
Local nurseries will advise you on what is safe. Deer won’t eat daffodils, and don’t usually eat hosta, which is what the beleaguered owner of the garden in the second photo appears to be growing.
If you want to grow a serious vegetable garden, a tall fence is compulsory.
Deer ticks are endemic to the area, and they carry Lyme disease.
But what beautiful tails they have!
Sunny weather is forecast for the next week, with no temperatures below freezing. Time to plant some lettuce. Not for this bunny to eat, however (I hope).
Only a few weeks ago the rabbits I saw were quite white. This little fellow has his summer coat on now. He (or she?) looks quite delighted with the newly greening grass, or perhaps some delectible weed he has found. He was so busy, he didn’t notice me softly walking up the driveway.
How quickly comes spring, when it finally comes. Perhaps even the word “spring” comes from the same root as the kind of spring found in a mattress. All that life energy is compressed, cowering under winter’s weight, until winter rolls away off the bed and, suddenly released, Spring bursts forth to exuberantly express itself … Boing … like a rabbit’s hop when it realizes you’re there.