As Nature’s Springtime is rolling back to our country, Politicians and Would-be Statespersons are Seeking To Counter Donald Trump’s Misguided Continuing Attack.

Robin Red-Breast

Donald Trump is bashing our country with tariff after tariff, and the most serious being the 25 per cent on our automobiles and parts going to the USA. All this is very serious indeed, but the Against the Flow blog today is looking to give readers some peace and comfort with the coming of spring and the awakening natural world after a long, tough winter.

There is no surer sign of spring than the return of our fine feathered friends. Of no bird is more visible and heart warming than the reappearance of the Red-Breasted Robin. The early spring snowfall which farmers see as “fertilizer” for their crops, has not deterred the robins. For the most part, the frost is no longer in the ground, so these birds can dig their beaks into the soil to find their favoured food, earthworms.

After a long, old-fashioned winter, cold with plenty of snow, nothing is more cheering than seeing the robins spreading over the fields and indulging themselves in their special way.

Other birds that fly up from the south in springtime are the beautiful and diverse members of the warbler clan. In a little more than a month they should begin arriving. They range from the beautiful Magnolia, with black and yellow stripes, to the handsome blue and yellow Parula, to the patriotic Red Start. The warblers are a bird-watcher’s dream come true.

Another, very different, bird species that has been inspiring joy of late is the Pileated Woodpecker, the largest of their species, as big as a Crow, but much more interesting looking. They are known, especially, for their red crest and sharp, vicious-looking beak. Exciting when they fly, they then display their magnificent black and white rear plumage.

Like all woodpeckers, the Pileated depends for its living on the bugs in rotting trees. During woods walks nothing is more arresting than hearing one or more of these very large woodpeckers drumming their way into a decaying tree, sounding like a fleet of old-fashioned typewriters, a concertina of the wild.

Not to be out-done, our Red and Grey Squirrels have appeared from their winter haunts, tucking into easier spring-time food from under our bird-feeding stations.

The Grackles are here now too, with their shiny purple heads, black bodies and turned-up tails.  They like, especially, to do groundwork, chipping and cackling all the while.

The ever-plucky Black-Capped Chickadees are here winter, spring, summer and fall. They are tiny, ever friendly and unbelievably hardy in winter cold, snow and wind, as seen this past winter. With the threat of bird flu just now it is wise to keep a distance from wild birds, alive or dead.

One of the Black-Capped Chickadee’s two songs is the lovely five-tone version, with the first note slightly lower and the four following notes all slightly higher. The notes are easy to imitate with a person’s mouth whistle. These kindly souls answer back and make one feel good and in-tune with nature.

The Black-Cap’s other call, which gives the species its name, chick-a-dee-dee-dee is harder to imitate, but a skilled human can encourage a call-back with this song version too.
If you happen to see a Brown-Capped Chickadee, this is important. Try and take a photo of it with a zoom lens, as this species is very rare in our part of the continent, and you do not want to frighten it away.

Like the Black-Capped Chickadee, the Blue Jay is plentiful in all seasons. It is a pretty bird with a distinctive squawky call. Somewhat mean-spirited and pushy around bird feeders, Blue Jays tend to dominate the beautiful red Cardinals around food. Equally, the male Cardinals tend to dominate smaller birds around the feeders. This is nature’s way.

The female of the Cardinal species is more mottled in appearance and prefers the thickets and carrying our groundwork. The patriotic bright red male is a proud fellow and likes to attract females with his clear call from the very top of the nearest available tree.

In nesting season, the Blue Jay teams up with his confreres to pillage the nests of other bird species. It’s too bad the Toronto baseball team to which the Blue Jay lent its name, is not able to dominate (in recent seasons) the way their namesake does. Look for the ball team to burst to greater success after their home opener tonight.

Then there are the larger animals of the woods, the White-Tailed Deer, Coyotes, Red Foxes, Porcupines, and Racoons. Black Bear are out there, but we do not see them very often in these parts.

The White-Tailed Deer are fortunately not as tame in the country as in some nearby towns. They are insatiable eaters, just the same, and we country folk don’t believe in feeding them. The does are devoted mothers and we have a large one that this writer has dubbed, Gertrude, with her twin yearling daughters, Bertie and Sarah. Who knows who their father is, the bucks tend to roam on their own, or with their male offspring.

Does and bucks alike, feast on apples, sometimes picking them right off the trees. All deer also enjoy munching on unfenced vegetables and most flowers. They enjoy many types of trees, but the Red Cedar is one of their favorites. Around fields the branches of cedars are stripped off to quite a height, as the deer arch up on their hind hooves to reach the tender morsels.

The Coyotes tend to strike more fear in people, as well as smaller mammals. At the end of winter, they can appear very thin and scrawny. They are known for having the hair of their prey in their droppings. Coyotes are often loners, but particularly under a full moon, they band together to howl their chilling “group yap” ranging higher and higher.

Foxes are known for their concise, dainty footprints in the winter snow. Then at the height of summer when the grass has grown high in fields, they engage in their famous hunting technique, jumping up, and then pouncing on a field mouse.

Racoons are nocturnal creatures with human-like hands with which they wash their food in water. Like Weasels, Foxes, and some large Owls, Racoons’ prey on domestic chickens, and farmers are wary of them.

The Porcupine doesn’t have many pals in the wild although indigenous artists do beautiful quillwork thanks to the Porcupine.  At their peril, dogs often think they will succeed in tangling with a Porcupine. Contrary to myth, they cannot throw their quills, but they can deliver a mean swat with their tail.

In being one of nature’s misunderstood species, they are said to offer edible meat for a hungry forest traveller. With its sharp front teeth that never stop growing, the Porcupine is compelled to keep eating bark and tender tree shoots to survive and prevent their teeth from growing dangerously long.
 
Finally, let’s return to our flying friends. Canada Geese can now be seen overhead, flying in small or large “V” s. Or they are feeding on the ground in large open areas like golf courses. The returning geese are a sure sign of spring in Canada as these long-necked, honking birds fly North from their Snowbird homes South of the U.S.-Canada border.
 
The friends this writer has lunch with once a week, all find it difficult these days to have a conversation without Donald Trump’s name entering our talks. It is atrocious that Trump has hurt our long-friendly Canada-U.S. relations and failed to respect our sovereignty with his taunts that Canada should become the 51st state of the USA. On behalf of all the species like geese, robins and warblers who travel the entire North American continent as their own, Trump should, as we say, “back off”!