A week ago as I walked along the driveway, small birds flew up out of the grass. It got to be where I knew where their nests were. But this morning as I surveyed the water surrounding our farm, I realized the nests were about a foot down and the momma birds were nowhere insight.
Which got me thinking about an American coot couple (yes, that's a coot couple and not a cute couple, although they are cute). A pair of coots took up residence close to the corner where the driveway passes the shelterbelt. How had they fared with the flood situation?
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Apr 25 - Height of the Spring Flood
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May 6
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May 7 - First sight of migration and nest building as waters decrease
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May 13 - Black dot is Coot looking for nest material
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June 1 - Coot nest above water, below top of old Bullrushes
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June 4 - Coot nest hidden amongst last year's bullrushes
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June 6 - Last years bullrushes have broken off and their litter shows the high water line
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June 22 - Recent downpours have filled the field and water covers the road.
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June 22 - The nest has risen to the height of the bullrushes although I don't know how the coots do it. Only 3 nests are visible in the whole slough and all of them are American coots.
I don't know how other nests have fared, but Nelson saw one duck with a tiny duckling trailing behind earlier today so I'm hoping the nests were hidden and spared.
Meanwhile, our basement is still flooding. Our dehumidifier broke down - it was over 20 yrs old - and there's a shortage of them in the city due to all the flooded basements.
And yet, we're much better off than so many others. I heard on the TV tonight that the good folks down in Minot, ND will have to raise their dikes 8 feet to contain the Souris River. Eight feet!!! That's the height of a normal room. And then there's all the flooding in Manitoba. Och!
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