These jewel-like bees are very small yet stand out due to their brilliant colour. They are also called sweat bees as they are attracted to the salt in human perspiration. Not the nicest name for this attractive bee.
Anticipation
Seeing a Red-winged Blackbird is a sure sign that spring has arrived. This photo was taken last year, around this date 😏.
ONE MORE BITE
A house finch sure likes what’s on offer, a few seeds to augment its berry diet.
TIPTOE
I enjoyed watching the young goose tentatively explore its environment.
BEE PATIENT
The calendar says spring but the temperature is struggling to reach double digits. No snow though so maybe we’ve turned a corner. 😏
CORMORANTS’ COURT
This small man made lake attracts a lot of waterbirds during the nicer months. The water is crowded and the birds seem to get along. I liked the way the gulls appeared to form a guard around the sunning cormorants.
STILLNESS
I took this at a nearby conservation area I should visit more often. A boardwalk winds its way through this section of the popular reserve but looking out it feels like you’re the only one there.
SNUG AS A BUG IN A RUG
Late each summer grasshoppers show up in great numbers. They’re skittish and scatter as you walk along. I watched this one as it jumped off the path into the grass and nestled in the leaf.
SEEN ON A WALK
I enjoy taking scenes like this. The fall foliage casts beautiful reflections on the river.
BY THE RIVER
Balancing rocks, another public art gallery to enjoy while walking along the Ottawa River.
REGAL
Viceroys, another one of summer’s delights.
COMING ATTRACTION – 2
Stopping to stretch my legs at a highway rest stop, I heard the familiar honking of geese overhead. Looking up I caught the team as they flew by. Another sign of spring’s return. 😊
A LITTLE COLOUR
It’s been so grey lately it was time for a little colour. Although taken in late summer the flowers didn’t fade quietly.
COMING ATTRACTION
Late last fall we discovered this pond while on the way to another location. There was so much activity on the water that we never made it to our original destination. We’ll be heading back in a couple of weeks when spring migration is underway.
JUNIOR
This is a first winter ring-billed gull or at least it was, when I took the photo in October. It is still speckled and has a pink bill. You can appreciate these birds on their own when they don’t blend into the colony.
WAITING FOR THE WEEKEND
Playgrounds look best when filled with kids.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
These birds are among the first to return in the early spring. We’ll just have to wait a few more weeks. However, I did see a pair of Canada Geese flying overhead. What a sight at the end of a long winter 😊
WHITE TRILLIUM
Trilliums grow wild in our woods in late spring. Another thing to look forward to as winter fades.
TIME OUT
Cormorants and gulls found the same outcropping to enjoy some sun on an early October day.
BRISK
Sometimes you just have to plunge right in.
RUFFLED
This female northern cardinal had just flown back from a feeder. If a bird can look put out this one certainly did.
FLOWER POWER
Spring passes quickly here. Yesterday we had record breaking warm temperatures, today we’re back in the deep freeze. A few flowers were urgently called for…
THURSDAY TURTLES
Sun loving painted turtles dig into the mud at the bottom of lakes and ponds over the winter. Their metabolism slows down and they can survive without food and very little oxygen. They’re not stirring yet but as spring returns and the days get warmer we’ll be seeing them again in great numbers.
SEEN ON A WALK
California Dreaming. 😏
DOWNY WOODPECKER
Another occasion where I heard the woodpecker tapping away before I spotted him.
LOOKING IN
While taking some photographs on the grounds of the Canadian Museum of Nature I passed by a window of this imposing 1910 building and saw the geometric design of the staircase. It was quite a contrast to the exterior of the museum.
BEE AND WILD ROSE SEASON
There is a patch of wild roses that attract bees of all kinds every summer. This one was doing a little happy dance .😊
PRETTY IN PINK
I watched the cabbage white move between the flowers taking samples as it went.
ROBIN
I haven’t seen a Robin yet but I keep looking. We associate them with spring but I have seen the occasional one in the winter.
SEEN ON A WALK
Our neighbourhood is close to the downtown core and still has a good number of older homes mixed in with the new. I liked the way this house was illuminated in the sunlight and thought it had a welcoming look to it, gargoyles and all!
DAY LILY
A little bit of colour on this cold grey day.
Happy Feet
I featured this green heron a few days ago as it came in for a landing. Here’s a parting shot. 😏
Uninvited
Japanese Beetles are a form of scarab beetle. Despite their attractive appearance, they are an invasive species in North America and parts of Europe and very destructive to many crops and flowers. They do make interesting photography subjects though.
TA-DA
I watched as the green heron searched the shoreline for something to eat. Without success it flew off only to come in for a landing a short time later.
LAZY AFTERNOON
These American Black Ducks had the right idea.
COMING SOON…
On this sunny February day, with the temperature above zero, it’s easier to imagine a scene like this before too long. 😊
YOUNG FEMALE WOOD DUCK
We are fortunate to see quite a few wood ducks during the warmer months. They return each year to a nearby lake, breed and raise their young and then migrate at the first frost. I took this photo in late summer.
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
I didn’t see the Daddy Long Legs, in the bottom of the frame, when I took the photo . The beetle obviously did. I hope it managed to make its getaway.😏
EARLY SPRING
Yesterday was Groundhog Day in Canada and the United States. Two famous Canadian Groundhogs, one from Quebec and another from Nova Scotia predicted that we will have an early spring as neither saw their shadow. It seems their American pal is in agreement .😊
COMMON BLUET
It’ll be a while before we see any damselflies but in the meantime I thought I’d revisit a bit of summer.
BELINDA GROVER PHOTOGRAPHY 