Last evening, about 10pm our satellite internet connection went out so I went to see if snow on the dish was the cause (it was). While I was on the deck I heard scrabbling behind me and saw a northern flying squirrel eating sunflower seeds under the bird feeder. These are small nocturnal squirrels that are rarely seen. We often hear them as they glide in from the trees to land with a thump on the balcony or roof of our house en route to the feeder. They clamber down the chain that holds the feeder so that they can settle in for a hearty meal. They apparently love the taste of sunflower seeds.
Anyway, this little guy was on the deck and could care less that I was almost stepping on him. After I got the snow swept off the dish I ran in and grabbed my camera. he was still scabbling in the snow for whole seeds that the birds didn’t get. I had lots of time to snap a dozen or so pictures and the flash didn’t bother him one bit. I was able to get the camera within 40cm or so of him. 
I have never been that close to a flying squirrel before. It was a neat experience. I wanted to touch him but knew enough not too. Wild creatures don’t like to be touched and react badly if they are. There are two things to remember, they are incredibly fast to react and that reaction usually includes biting.
And then – while I was on my knees taking pictures I heard a small commotion behind me and assumed that another flying squirrel had arrived for supper. When I turned to look instead of a flying squirrel there was an apparently confused female redpoll trying to get fly through the patio door (which was closed ) towards the light. I have no idea what woke this dumb bird, perhaps the flash on the camera. It ended up perched on the door sill so I took a photo of it.
I’m not sure what was going on last night, it wasn’t a full moon but there you have it two very unusual sitings in one night. BTW I had to pick this little bird up (it sure squealed) and throw it up into the air so that it would fly away and not into the house when I opened the door.Who says nothing ver happens in the country.
We live in a rural part of the island and it is fairly common to have wildlife in the yard. Our visitors range from a variety of small birds who come routinely to our feeders to white tailed deer who love the taste of Val’s flowers and my vegetables. We’ve seen raccoons, foxes, a weasel and one warm summer night about 4 years ago a bobcat who had a taste for cat meat. Poor Mulder 
. Bad bobcat!
White tails survive northern Ontario winters because they have learned to expend the least amount of energy possible to acquire the most calories possible. That means that if they find a source of food, especially high energy food, they don’t go far. They regularly come right to the edge of our deck to vacuum up shells from the sunflower seeds that the birds love. Deer also have big brown eyes and when they can relax they look right in the windows at us. When Val sees them and I hear “oh they look so hungry” I know that I will shortly be going out to put some whole corn down in the driveway for them. Every winter I promise myself that I won’t do it but every winter it happens.This winter is proving to be no exception and late last week I heard those fateful words and Friday afternoon I dumped a pail of mixed corn and oats in the driveway. They were immediately discovered by a pair of blue jays who apparently love the taste of whole corn. Saturday – no deer, Sunday – no deer. Monday – same thing. Just those jays getting fatter by the minute! Yesterday about 9.30 am I looke dout the window intot he yard and this is what I saw:
15 wild turkeys came walking down the driveway and right in to that pile of corn. This not the first time we have seen them but it is the first time we have had them here in winter. They stayed for 15 or 20 minutes and then headed back down the driveway. But, before they got the road them seemed to settle down as if they were just going to rest there for a while. They are very wary animals and would rather walk or run than fly.Late in the afternoon they came back and were in the cedars in front of the house. They didn’t stay long this time but we are hoping that they come back again.
Last Friday I walked out of the house at about 05:20 hr. At that time of day, at this time of year, at this latitude it is still very very dark. Where we live there is no ambient light to interfere with our view of the sky and all its natural beauty. Sometimes it is just inky black and you know that there is heavy overcast and clouds. Sometimes the fog is so thick that even though you can’t see it you can actually feel it. Sometimes it is so clear that you can see every star there is, or at least you think you can. I know, depending on the time of year, where to look to find the big dipper or Orion’s belt. You can, if you stand still for a few minutes, usually find a satellite streaking across the sky. But Friday it was really special. Before I walked out I knew that it was bright. And when I walked out there was something special. There was an almost full moon still high in the southwest, well above the treeline and in front it was a layer of high broken cloud. It was perfect. There was a halo around the moon, caused the light reflecting off the clouds. It was relatively mild, -10C or so I just stood there in awe. What a sight. And, there was no sound: no cars, no trains, no boats (we can, on a quiet night, hear the freighters blowing their horns as they make a turn at the foot of the island). It was eerie and I almost expected to see a witch on a broom flying across the face of the moon. I didn’t want to get into the car and head in to work.
Some of the best parts of living where we do are so free and so natural and so available that all you have to do is stand still for a minute and take them in.