Wind and Fire

The prairie wind has been ferocious this year straining power lines to their limit. Tree branches are a particular menace on windy days. Recently, on a harsh, windy, HOT day, a tree branch tangled with a power line in the corner of our farmyard. We saw the fallen line on the ground and tried to contact the power company who had numerous calls already on the go. Not long after, we saw smoke coming from the area and called 911.

The Montmartre Fire Department showed up in record time and got to work putting out the fire. Since the line was still live, the guys stayed on guard for several hours in case the fire flared back up, waiting for the power company to come out and shut the power off.

The Draper family would like to thank the Montmartre Fire Department for their quick response. The damage to our farm and more could have been horrid if the fire had gotten out of hand.

Tale of the Bluebird Tree

Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

One day, a man and woman were driving along and saw a flash of blue in a field of stubble. Oh, how pretty to see a bluebird. Another bird flew past with only a touch of blue on the wings and landed on a nearby tree branch.

Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man and woman didn't think the tree looked pretty at all. It had no green leaves like all the other trees were getting, and the branches were wiggly and sharp. 

The Bluebird tree, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man and woman drove away, but later at home, they looked in their bird book and saw that the bright blue bird was a Mountain Bluebird male, and the one with only a bit of blue was the female.

A week later, the man and woman went back to see the pretty bluebirds. They were surprised to find the male poking his head in a big hole in the dead tree.

Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

As the people stopped to look, the male pulled his head out and flew away. The people were sad they had scared him away, but happy when the female came out of the hole to take a look.

Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

And the people knew that the bluebirds had built a nest in a hole of the dead tree. Soon, baby bluebirds would hatch from eggs laid by the female. 

The woman took a picture of all the trees near the bluebird tree so they would remember where it was, and then they drove quietly away.
 

Before the storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

One week later, a terrible wind blew across the prairie and many trees were damaged near the man and woman's home. They drove out to check the dead tree that held the bluebird nest. 

But where was it? The people knew they were at the same place because they had a picture of it. But where was the bluebird tree?

After the Storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The bluebird tree was gone! Everything in the picture was the same, but the tree wasn't there.

The man walked over to take a look.

Looking for fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

He pointed to something that the woman couldn't see, and then he took a picture of something laying on the ground. 

Taking photo of fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The man showed the woman a picture of a tree on the ground with a big hole in it, and they knew the mighty prairie wind had pushed over the bluebird tree.

Hole in Fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper

Then the man showed a picture of inside the hole. It was empty. Only bits of old grass and small twigs lay at the bottom. The nest was gone. 

Empty hole in fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper

The man and woman were heartbroken. The pretty bluebirds were gone and they didn't know if they had even survived the storm. For several days, the man and woman stayed away. It was too sad to drive by the fallen tree. They prayed that God had taken care of the birds that He had created. 

One day when they couldn't wait any longer, the man and woman drove to the fallen tree. From a distance, they saw that nothing had changed.

But then they saw a flash of bright blue zip past their car. Right behind it flew a bird with a bit of blue on its wings. The bluebirds! Yes! As the man and woman watched, the bluebirds flew past the fallen tree and deeper back into the trees behind it. Somewhere in that bush, they had built another nest, sheltered from the prairie wind. So deep, that the man and woman couldn't see it from the road.

Mountain Bluebird, male, on stubble, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper

It was the last time the man and woman drove that way, but one day, they'll be back looking for new bluebirds. Meanwhile, they look at the pictures and imagine the male bluebird out on the stubble and new crop, watching out for insects to bring back to his family.

Tale of the Bluebird Tree video shows the bluebird pair at the tree.

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This is a true story, but if you like fiction, you can check out my other stories at www.anitamaedraper.com

Wildlife Watch January

The year 2018 started off with bitter temperatures where everything on the prairies tucked down tight except for browsing wildlife and people with things to do and places to go. Nelson was the first of the family to spot something other than birds when he caught sight of these Mule Deer trying to hide in some brush on January 2nd.

Mule Deer, Southeastern Saskatchewan, January 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

On January 7th, Nelson saw the white flash of White-tailed Deer bounding across a stubble field and stopped to get this shot.

White-tailed Deer, Southeastern Saskatchewan, January 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

As posted in Bird Watch January, I was only spotting my usual sparrows, redpolls, and chickadees that stayed the winter at home and it wasn't until I headed to town on January 9 that I saw 2 ravens and a Great Horned Owl. Not only did I see the owl on my way back to Draper's Acres, but I also saw this Mule Deer hiding behind a slough in the middle of a stubble field. 

Mule Deer, RM Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

A few days later, Nelson motioned me to look at the security camera. There was a moose right outside our front door. Well, okay, he was 30 feet from the steps, but still...

We tried taking pics of the moose through the windows without any success, so out of desperation, I squeaked open the front door and ducked my head and camera out into the bitter cold. Nary a sight of it. 

"Where is it?" I stage-whispered over to Nelson. 

"Right there, by the tree," he answered from the kitchen.

I stepped out and aimed my camera at the still-lit Christmas tree, but couldn't see anything beyond it except tracks in the snow. Since Nels could no longer see it either, we locked up for the night and went to replay the security camera footage. It looks confused, doesn't it? 

Moose captured on security camera, January 2018

The next morning I went out for my usual photo foray and immortalized the moose tracks before they got covered by more snow or even melted away. 

Moose Tracks in Snow, Draper's Acres, Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

That was January 12th and later that day as I headed back to the farm after dropping off some parcels at the post office, I took a route further to the west. I don't often go this way in the winter because it involves a couple of steep valleys and I'm unfamiliar with how they react to snow drifts and ice. But it hadn't snowed in several days, a weird January thaw was on its way, and I wanted to see what was out there. 

I didn't see anything driving through the first smaller valley, and I didn't think there was anything while driving through the second valley, either, but as I drove up the side, I spotted movement to the right at the corner of my eye. With the impression that I'd seen a deer, I climaxed the ridge and then turned around at the next approach. I drove back down the into the valley, confirming the presence of several deer on the west side of the hill, as well as several more at the bottom. Apparently, they'd waited until I passed before coming out of hiding. Wanting to take pics in a safe area, I continued through and up to the top of the other side where I could safely turn around. I then drove back down to the valley bottom where I pulled over onto the shoulder. 

Surprisingly, 3 deer stayed on the east side of the road where they searched for food on the frozen bottom of the dried slough. The image you see here is one of the three, clearly showing that it's a Mule Deer from the size of its ears and the colour of its tail. 

Mule Deer, RM Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

To the west beside a large body of water were more deer trying to hide in some scrub brush that was sparse enough to show parts of them, yet thick enough to keep me from getting a good shot. Between them and me was a Game Preserve sign that stated no hunting was permitted, which could explain why they weren't all running away. The last time I was in the area shore birds caught my attention, so between the birds and the deer, I'll check back this way again. 

With sunset approaching, I headed out of the valley, stopping only to photograph the Mule Deer that had first caught my eye. Can you see them in this next photo?

Mule Deer, RM Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

I thought that was the end of my blessings for the day, yet as I drove on with my head moving left to right to catch any movement, I spotted several dark objects on the shore of another frozen body of water. Under the colourful rays of a the setting sun, I pulled off the road onto an approach and scrutinized the landscape to the west.

Coyote Pack on Shore, RM Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

Do you see the white snow bank in the middle of the image? That's where I saw dark spots and out here on the prairies, a dark spot on the snow is a good indication of wildlife. So I pulled out my camera and zoomed in, thinking I'd see large rocks or something. Instead I found a coyote pack.

Coyote Pack on Shore, RM Montmartre, SK, January 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

There were 4 coyotes in total, but only three would fit in my long-range shot. Any closer and the image gets blocky. One coyote left the pack and headed across the ice, while the other coyotes tucked their heads into their legs and looked like the rocks I first imagined. It was time to move on. 

I took a bunch of sunset pics as I drove home, each one showing bokeh spots from the dust, ice crystals and whatnot attained from driving down prairie roads with an open window in the middle of January. 

Sunset, RM Montmartre, SK, January  2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

I'll end our January Wildlife Watch with a video Nelson took on the way to church on January 28th. Although JJ also took video of the same moose with his phone, the quality was inferior with blocky images compared to what you see here. Please remember this was taken with with a cell phone and not our usual cameras. 

Sorry if the video of the moose didn't work for you. Sometimes it does and others...shrug.

Other posts that show what we've seen so far in 2018 are:

Bird Watch January

Owl Sightings

Pins of our bird and wildlife photos can be found on the following Pinterest boards:

Photos: Wildlife

Photos: Birds 

Battle of the Birds and Other Wildlife

After an almost snow-free winter where the only wildlife seemed to be common house sparrows, also called English Sparrows, it's wonderful to see all the birds and animals return.

I spend time every day taking photos of anything that catches my eye and so when Nelson Draper wanted a good camera to use on his daily travels, I gave him my Nikon P500 to see if he liked it. I had upgraded to a Nikon P520 and really like the hybrid camera with it's long zoom, but without the need to carry around extra lenses.

And now we're getting into a nightly ritual of comparing the photos we've taken throughout the day.

Here's the best of our shots for April 13th:

Common Snipe, Southeast Saskatchewan, Apr 13, 2016. Photo by Nelson Draper

My best shot was actually a video of a Long-tailed weasel who had come poking around our yard. Here's the screenshot of it followed by the actual video:

Long-tailed Weasel, Montmartre, SK, Apr 13, 2016.
Photo by Anita Mae Draper

The video is silent because I was shooting through the picture-window of my living room. Yes... it came right into our yard.

I'll be posting more photos and video as soon as I can. Please enjoy this brief glimpse into Saskatchewan wildlife.