Spring In Edmonton Alberta Canada

[g]

Just got back from a Cub Scout Cuboree west of Edmonton. Our pack voted to stay the weekend. Friday night was fair. It started raining Saturday morning & by noon 100 of the 140 cubs attending had left. 4 packs stayed until today. 1 inch of rain, 3 inches of snow & 6 inches of mud with -2 Celcius overnight! The vote when we left was best camp ever & can we go again next weekend. Greatest dissapointment was we wouldn't let them canoe in the snow storm.

[RAF128]

Sparrows are a problem around my place too.    That's why I put a 3 - 9 power scope on my pellet rifle.
My martins start to show up end of april or first part of may.   Depends on the weather.   This year they were a week late.

[Captainslug]

And this is 24 hours later.



Alberta - If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes.

[Captainslug]

Off subject but I see the Martin house in your PIC and have put up gourds for 25 years now. When do your birds start to show up?

It all depends on the type of spring we have.  Cold and wet and it could be two weeks later.  But they never show up earlier.  The existing problem with the sparrows is that they are indigenous and they live the winter here too.  So it seems they take up residence before the Martins have.  At least its been that way since I put up the house.  Then again I don't have much water around the house (lakes) so that may be a problem too.

[Quarlow]

In the spring you should clean out the old nests, then block the holes. Then just about a week before you think the martins will show up, unblock the holes. By then the starlings and sparrows will have made their nest eslewhere and then the martins can move right in when they show up.

[TestRocket]

Yep! A good air gun and I hate starlings myself. Sounds like diehard camping to me.  I can't beat the cold camping but many years ago camping on an island over the forth of July some kids shooting fireworks on the back side of the island set the woods on fire. We fought the fire using pine saplings for several hours and had to break camp about dark and it took four trips back and forth to the boat ramp to get everybody and our gear off the island. We went back to a couple of days later and found it was a good thing we got off the island. I can sit here today and say " that was fun"!

[Captainslug]

Q - I usually do.  But I have been distracted this spring.  Been waiting for a good day to take out the new boat.



This crappy weekend weather has been going on all the month of May and I picked up my new boat on the first of May.  Another reason why I only got in two smokes in the month too.  I've been looking out the front window at the boat sitting on the driveway in the rain for the month of May and forgetting (temporarily) about the Bradley.  I hope it forgives me.  I did get in some ribs and jerky.  Planned to eat the jerky on the first boat trip but I will probably have it polished off before I can float the boat!  >:(

[Quarlow]

I can see how you would be distracted with that sitting there staring longingly at you to go have some fun with it. Yeah the weather here hasn't been what you are getting but we have been getting enough rain at the wrong times to put a damper on smoking food too. We get quite abit of wind here now so I don't get to put the cover over the deckawninggazebothingy so that I could smoke under it. Sucks.

[KevinG]

I think it's ok if boats get wet.  ;D

[hal4uk]

Load that Bradley in there, and crank up the Deep Purple...
Smoke on the Water...