Me and the ocean have a bit of a love affair so part it’s a large part of the reason why I live in the Eastern Passage/Cow Bay area. It’s about a 10 minute drive for me to get to Rainbow Haven for a swim or beach walk with the pups.
It’s also a great place to bird and see wildlife like these Red Fox.
I think one of the kits from that litter grew up to be this Poppa Fox I photographed the next year, and it was why he was not frightened by me but ran away from other people. He was guarding the den where Momma fox was pregnant or perhaps had very young kits.
They had to relocate this little fella as people were feeding him. Please don’t feed wildlife they often lose their home or their life as a result.
Once in a while there are seals close to shore and this one was actually in the shallow waters close to the main parking lot. They have really sharp teeth so be careful not to let your dogs near them!
In the winter it’s a great place to see American Tree Sparrows, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Pipits, and Lapland Longspur. Also Buffleheads, Mergansers, and other winter ducks.
In the summer you can swim with the shorebirds flying over you, one of my favorite things to do!
And many herons visit, there are resident Great Blue Herons and I’ve seen Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, and Great Egret.
It’s a great place in general for waterfowl there are large groups of American Wigeon sometimes and once in a while there is a Northern Shoveler.
Also a huge visiting group of Short-billed Dowitchers every year and a large overwintering population of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Really you never know what might turn up there and it’s beautiful all year round.
Kejimukujik is a magical place. There is nothing remotely like it anywhere else in Atlantic Canada as far as backcountry camping goes.
the “Sisters” at sunrise on Kejimkujik Lake
I have canoe camped at Keji many times and stayed at almost every backcountry site in the park, even a few in the mighty Peskowesk.
During the summer the entire park feels like a nature nursery. The woods host a huge amount of migratory breeding birds who arrive in spring, raise their young in the park, and fly south in the fall. One of my favorite birding moments in Keji was discovering a family of Black-throated Blue Warblers making their way out of their breeding location to fly south.
The park is also home to many other critters and I’ve been fortunate enough to see Black Bear and Blanding’s Turtles and even a Marten. You can hear the Coyotes singing at night off in the distant on the high ground. I’ve lost many hours watching the 7 species of frogs in the park and listening to them counter-sing.
The trees in the park are simply majestic. Old-growth forest throughout much of the park so tall you can hardly ID the birds at the top. Flowers and insects are also incredible in the park. Some favorite memories are of camping on an island covered in Lady Slippers, and being surrounded by hundreds of Swallowtail Butterflies while camping on a river site.
Time moves slower at Keji. The spirits are close. The magic is real.
I can’t wait to get back there one day as a piece of my heart resides there.
So yeah, hard no for me. And makes no sense anyway as the birds of prey will eat the rodents. And honestly I don’t want the rodents dying a miserable death from poison anyway.
So, rats were what we had to deal with. Norway Rats are super cute and not much of a concern frankly if not in the house.
As long as nobody in the neighborhood is using poisons that kill the Owls and Hawks then the rodent population will stay low as they are a source of food for raptors. See, Mother Nature has a plan.
I was unhappy to have to kill any critters at all but because the rats were so well established in our crawl space for many years, I had no choice but to trap them. I killed 4 in total, and they all died super fast and happy with a taste of peanut butter being their last experience. I got super strong heavy duty plastic traps that were specifically for rats. You must use the right size trap (don’t use a rat trap to kill mice or a mouse trap to kills rats) so it works instantly and not cheap out on the wooden ones. The last thing you want is an injured animal suffering. It’s bad enough you must kill them so quick is best. Don’t use traps outside either, you run the risk of injuring or killing other wildlife and birds, and for the love of all things good never use a glue trap.
Rats don’t go very far from their nest. And they like familiarity. They like food and nesting materials. Temperature is not as important. And because they stay close to the nest if they venture out they are quickly exposed to predators. So if you can discourage them from being close to the house that also helps nature take it’s course more quickly.
The crawlspace under my office has a dirt floor, and the rats were tunneling into the space because it had batts of insulation they like to nest in. So, sealing the tunnels and removing the insulation were step one. Of course, we tried trapping the rats first to hopefully encourage them to vacate the area, but again too well established so they ended up sealed in and trapped. Then we removed the insulation which was no easy task. Rodent urine is not good for you to breathe in so had to be done by professionals and I had the space spray foamed at the same time.
Also, the crawl space had some spots where rodents might enter the proper basement. That would be a problem and thankfully none were coming in but picked up heavy duty steel wool that is designed for rodent control and sealed everything up and covered over with heavy poultry wire.
There are also 4 mature apple trees in the yard. And when I first moved in I was overwhelmed with home repairs so lost control of the apples on the ground so was actually feeding the rats. They were dragging apples into the crawlspace to eat. Oh my. So, I’m also much more mindful about that now and did a lot better this fall. Made a few apple pies, and the rest went to friends with horses and the odd apple gets thrown in the woods for deer. I’m not a fan of feeding wildlife but try to find some balance of course and if you leave them on the ground the deer eat them anyway so I just try to do my very best. And I figure a green bin full of apples won’t be good if a Black Bear comes through the yard either.
It’s been about 6 months and there is no sign at all that any rats have come back so problem solved. Now the crawl space is clean and conditioned and heated too, so it makes the room above warmer, and there is nothing bad to breathe. Money well spent.
I mean you could just keep paying 100 bucks a month for people to bring poison and never have your problem solved, or you can do things right on your own.
Depending on what type of rodents are entering your space, different solutions will be needed but it’s all the same. Make it so they have no access. Clean so there is no food or nesting material. Trap the ones that are already in. Lather rinse repeat as needed.
Any rodents that are outside will be very quickly eaten up by birds of prey. And who doesn’t love to hear an Owl or see a beautiful Hawk fly by?
Our resident rodent eaters include Barred Owl, Northern Harrier, Northern Goshawk, Coopers Hawk, and Sharp-shinned Hawk. I have seen all of them in my yard, here is a Sharpie doing a quick flyby.
There are also Great-horned Owls in the neighbourhood although I haven’t seen or heard one since I moved in. I saw them once at my other house about 2km away in Eastern Passage.
There are also Bobcats around, and we’ve seen a Short-tailed Weasel. Of course, lots of Fox too.
Mother Nature has a plan. It is possible to coexist in harmony and do as little harm as possible.
Being a nature lover and hobby wildlife photographer, I want things to survive and thrive. The most annoying critter we had visit the yard yet was a porcupine. I mean they are cute and quite harmless but with two dogs that is not a creature I want hanging around my hard. But just picking the apples from the tree the next morning sent him packing.
All creatures need to eat and have shelter. You just need to do some research and stay a step ahead of things to enjoy a little wildlife in your yard.
Beautiful critters are all around and don’t generally cause much harm unless humans create problems. So that means keep your garbage bins locked up, clean up fruit and veggie gardens. Don’t use poisons. And enjoy the results.
We moved in May 2022, and I did a lot of planting in June and through the summer into fall. I also had a large portion of the yard fenced for the dogs which make the property look a little more loved somehow. I garden both inside and outside the fence and can plant things inside the fence that the deer would usually eat like Tulips. We got quite a show of Tulips this year!
There has been a ton of cleanup required on the property which has made it challenging to make any headway on landscaping or fun things, but we have just picked away at it.
Really I just saw a blank slate. All the before pictures here were from the first day I took possession of the property then we had the new septic and the fence installed right away before moving people and dogs in completely.
Day one…a blank slate.The hardscaping is starting to take shape. Need more Stone Crop Sedums, Irish Moss, Thyme, Dianthus, Rainbow Rock Cress, Creeping Phlox, more stepping stones, and less grass! Trying to divide some of my own plants but waiting for the right time to do it. Brought some from the old place, and some of those came from friends. Plants can really get around!
Cleaning up deadwood was a top priority as there was a lot of tinder dry deadfall from hurricanes and old Christmas trees etc. in the woods surrounding the property. Initially we hadn’t really thought about fire risk, but considering recent events I’m happy we took on the task. The neighbours agreed to let us clear deadwood out of adjoining wooded areas and were thankful for the help.
My friend Fulton is an avid birder and naturalist, and he suggested that if any wood was already decomposing or had moss on it leave it as it’s becoming part of the ecosystem but if it’s dry and recently fallen clear it out. You can also cut some of the bottom branches to reduce fire risk but if you do too much the tree will get top heavy and may come down in the wind so you have to try to find the best balance and hope for the best. Over the course of about a year we had controlled fires in our burn barrel on a regular basis and just finished up the last bit right before the fire ban and subsequent NS wildfires so felt very thankful to have completed the project. It didn’t help that 4 giant spruce came down in the last hurricane and we had to deal with those too but it’s in the past now…whew!
Day one and some of the deadwood.A year later deadwood cleaned up and a fence added.
We also inherited a rotten falling apart Chicken Coop with 2 huge trees laying on the roof that had to be removed before any demolition could take place, along with a bunch of barbed wire, poultry fencing, vinyl tarp, and a bunch of rotten packing pallets.
When I first moved in I thought I would try to turn the old chicken coop into a wildlife blind but the sad reality sank in over time that it was completely unsalvageable and had to be removed bit by bit.
Rotting deck and rotting garden borders meant there were many wasps and ants close to the house, and getting into the house on a daily basis. Rotting windowsills didn’t help much either but we fixed those up and bought some time instead of replacing them. The rotting rail ties that had been used as garden borders have been moved down to the Garlic bed as perimeter marking for mowing and it’s fine if they are full of ants and wasps down there fine spot for them in fact.
Anyway, over the course of a full year, it was just a matter of picking away at it. Lot of garbage on the property too and in the crawl space so there probably has not been a garbage day in a year that we didn’t have a large item and black bag on every pickup day.
But I think we are at the end of that now and can just focus on landscaping and maintenance of the property.
Rocks are the thing I use most in landscaping as I use them to protect things that have been newly planted from sprinting Border Collies, to cover up weeds I don’t feel like dealing with, and to create definition for random plantings. I like rocks because they don’t rot, and you can move them later if you want to. The fire-resistant thing is less of a draw for me but not a bad thing.
This rock garden keeps getting bigger as I pull weeds and spread the rocks out and add more rocks. The goal is not to be whipper-snipping by next year. For now whacking down the weeds takes their strength away and lets other things flourish.
Anyway, dug up some before and after photos and it’s also all a work in progress so will be quite a bit different next year too. I tend to plant things and as they spread, I drag the rocks out further and make the garden bigger. Most things have only been in the ground a year or less so need quite a few more years to grow to maturity. I tried to leave the appropriate amount of space for each plant at full maturity. I chose dwarf varieties of some shrubs/trees, so they won’t damage any septic.
There is a lot of maintenance this year as I continue to weed and move little bits and bobs of perennials around but it’s starting to take shape. The last thing we want is lots of lawn to mow and obstacles to mow around but it will take time to get it all right as trees grow into one another and create their own little areas and gardens spread and push out weeds.
This is a little Stonecrop Sedum I picked out of the driveway at my old house. You can often find it along railway tracks and curbs. I think it’s Biting Stonecrop and is a European variety that has naturalized but I’m no expert. It spreads very quickly and is replacing the mess of Dandelions and other weeds that were in this spot.
On that note the lawn has a lot of wild areas. I may not be able to xeriscape that much area, but we can let a lot of things get one bloom. So, groups of wild daisies, European Knapweed, and tall Bugleweed all get their chance to shine before being mowed down to refresh for next year. Even with a lawn tractor it would take forever to do it all at once so rotating tall and short paths seems to work well. We found that the Monarch Butterflies and the Hummingbird Clearwing Moths were especially attracted to the Bugleweed and Knapweed so leave lots of strips and patches of that to flower. We also leave strips of tall grass and wildflowers, so the Ring-necked Pheasant babies and other birds have places to hide as they cross the property. Always trying to find the balance between natural and tidy.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who says the Tri-Colored Bumblebee is their favorite.
The eventual goal is to have ground cover at the edge of gardens so if you mowed up to the edge it really wouldn’t matter too much. Otherwise, I will surely run out of rocks and we’ll go crazy trying not to mow down perennials.
Well, that’s enough talking now for some pictures of pretty things! Some areas before, after, or just because. Oh and I definitely think it’s a goal to have cut flowers from my own garden in the bathroom whenever possible. And to fill all my vases for that matter!
It’s been raining here for almost 2 weeks and my Peonies are rotting faster then they can bloom, so when the sun breaks this week, I will just watch birds, bees, and flowers and take photos. There are so many species of bees, wasps, hoverflies, etc. and most of them are benign like the Dark Paper Wasps. One exception is the Bald-faced Hornet which is a beautiful wasp with an amazing facial pattern, but super aggressive, in fact the most aggressive member of the already aggressive Yellowjacket family. The Queen was around trying to make a nest for a few weeks she was docile, but we kept discouraging her and not sure where the nest is but hopefully in the woods somewhere we won’t get a surprise. It’s handy to have binoculars or a long camera lens to identify stinging insects. They are good for the garden, but you don’t want to be stung so don’t let them build nests near your outbuildings or other areas you will need to access to. Last year the Bald-faced Hornets took over a rose bush on the front lawn and we had a 6-foot radius around that bush we couldn’t mow and the end of the summer the Pheasants ate all the hornets up!
Chicken Coop on day 1 and before the fence was put in.Yeah, maybe I held on too tight, that thing was rotten!Now the Chicken Coop area is being turned into a sitting area outside the fence where I can put a bird feeder out sometimes and not be disturbed by the dogs when I want to take photos. Going to leave a lot natural so moss and ferns can grow in but will add a bit of deer resistant perennials for color for photos. Balance is hard to achieve as I wanted the property fairly wild so I try to add, not subtract and keep things from going rogue/invasive.Day 1 the blank slate.Just this week made a big dent in the garden near the driveway. The Cranesbill Geranium were inherited and they are a bit hit with the pollinator crowd and deer resistant, highly recommend. There is also some nice Sedum mixed in and some Canadian Wild Garlic. Didn’t want to dig it all out when I moved in because wanted a chance to revive some of what was established. I’m sure many moons ago the previous owners did a lot of gardening and couldn’t keep it up as time moved on. But the owners before then were farmers so many pollinator plants like the knapweed and goldenrod. For a farmer, these are not “ditchweeds” but tools to help food grow!
When I looked at the house in March 2022 I thought it was a sign that I should buy it since there were lots of crocuses in bloom. This year on February 19th the inherited Crocuses started to bloom. There were hundreds followed by Grape Hyacinth a lovely show.
Followed by the 70+ Tulips I planted.
Then the perennials started to bloom. The Lungwort Dad gave me was an early bloomer on April 23rd. It was a small transplant and is starting to root deep and spread out this year.
Garden year 3 will be the showstopper but enjoying this year immensely!
I like to rescue sale plants from the slow death of the clearance shelf. It can take plants a while to recover. This is a White Rhododendron. I’ve never seen one and it’s actually a zone 7 plant but we are now 6B and I think it’s going to make it. Been in the ground just over a year and sloughing off the dead wood and has tons of new growth. Fingers crossed for white Blooms in summer 2024. I like to use my blog as a diary of sorts btw.
These are Narcissus which are just fancy Daffodils I think. Anyway, they are deer resistant and was great to have some early spring colour outside the fence and around the larger property so will plant some more this fall.
The big project will be a bigger spread of the bulbs the deer really hate, Garlic. I planted about 80 last fall and will probably do 200 or so this fall if I’m able to pull it off and sell some depending on how much we use this winter. In truth, I just can’t figure out what more to plant in that area that the deer won’t eat so for now more Garlic, and more flowers.
Just a little deer resistant flower garden next to my Garlic bed where I can sit and take a break or just have a bit of color near by when I’m digging in the dirt and need some inspiration. Alium, Coneflower, Beebalm, Lamb’s Ears, and Sage.
I thought I would plant Potatoes there because the deer aren’t very fond of them, but they are prone to blight and pests that can spread to other plants so for now will stick to my Tomatoes and Peppers and such in pots inside the fence.
I did plant some really nice Sage shrubs at the 4 corners of the Garlic/Vegetable garden though and the the Rose Marvel Meadow Sage is a real showstopper. Dad gave me some Lamb’s Ears which are apparently deer resistant so I planted those next to the Sage. Deer really don’t like Sage it smells very strong and they don’t like Lamb’s Ears because they are fuzzy. The plan was to surround some veggies the deer might eat with things they don’t like but you know I’m just going to have a big Garlic garden surrounded by deer resistant flowers right? Maybe one day I’ll put a greenhouse down there which will be dual purpose. In no rush even though it seems like I’m gardening like a woman gone mad, gardening is a lovely, slow, hobby.
And in the end, it’s all to get photos of my dogs in the flowers inside the fence, and birds in the flowers outside the fence.
Macy, my rescued Border Collie mix.Milo, my working lines Border Collie, young crazy boy.
It’s hard not to keep reaching ahead and my new mission is to find some Abelia in good shape at a price I can afford, and maybe some Barberries as they are showy and deer resistant so can have some colour further from the house toward the road for cheerier arrivals. And definitely need to get a pair of Jack and Jill Hollies. I don’t think I quite appreciated until I had this rural property with lots of wildlife how great it is to have broadleaf evergreens that are deer resistant and also have colour in the winter. Holly gets a bit lost in urban subdivisions but is going to be wonderful here on the homestead. Apparently it’s better to plant it closer to the fall so lots of time. Well there is never enough time, but I will try to be patient.
What are you growing? Drop me a line. Happy Summer from Angela (and Macy & Milo)
