I watched as the house sparrow perched on the brick and window sills of this old house. I looked to see whether it had a nesting hole somewhere in the brick, as sparrows often build their nests in buildings, but saw nothing. It’s a busy time for them,
Geese are returning after a long winter. I took this before today’s snow 😏
Late last spring, I saw this young robin perched on a park bench. I didn’t see any adult birds around, so I guessed he was on his own. He’ll be all grown up now.
I believe this is a leucistic Canada Goose, it lacked the usual pigmentation of the other nearby geese but otherwise resembled them. I hope he joined the group after a while, he looked a bit lonely 😏.
We’re lucky to enjoy these birds all year round.
Around the city there are several parks and green spaces that we go to as the weather warms up. We’ve seen the same photographers at these locations over the years and at the beginning of the season it’s always nice to stop and catch up. I liked the way the dog was looking in the same direction as the photographer.
I like the shape and colours of this flowering plant. The flowers contrast nicely with its dark leaves.
I saw two robins recently when the weather was a bit nicer. It’s been a stormy weekend. Hopefully, that’s it for the snow and ice and scenes like this are around the corner.
The Blue Jay landed on an old electrical insulator as I followed its flight down a laneway.
It’s nice to see chipmunks putting in an appearance.
There are no bees out yet, and still a bit of lingering snow. I like the way people paint these electrical boxes, this one is particularly welcome.
Sometimes, that’s just the way it is 😏
A simple wildflower can really shine in the right light.
On a recent walk, several house sparrows flew past me and landed in a nearby yard. This one had a mouthful of fluff that I imagine was going to be used in nest building.
A warm March sun brightens the neighbourhood.
Yesterday was a beautiful day to finally get out with our cameras. We went for a walk in a part of town that has a mix of old and new buildings. This restaurant/tavern has been in operation since 1934. Note the sign above the side door. Bars at the time served drinks in separate rooms to men and women. Only “bone fide” escorts could enter the ladies’ bar 😏.
Many of us are wondering what exactly is going on right now 😏
I took this photo at the beginning of April a few years ago. The water had begun to thaw so I imagine he found something to eat. I had never seen a heron return this early before or since; usually they wait until the ice has melted and the locals come out.
Fleabane daisies symbolize a kind of innocence as well as being tough and resilient.
It’s not quite daisy weather yet, but the temperature rose to 9C today and I saw a few people wearing shorts 🇨🇦 !
Males mallards seem to chum around more than the females. This can lead to a portrait like this.
It won’t be too long before the Scilla push their way through the dried leaves and brighten the landscape.
Usually black-capped chickadees don’t stay in one place for long. I’ll raise my camera just to miss them as they fly to another tree, I was more fortunate with this bird, it stayed put long enough for me to get the shot, Another year round bird here.
I think I’ve said it before but I do love these ducks 😊
A common sparrow, yet I think her stance and the spring setting set her apart.
At least I think milkweed beetles are 😊.
It’s snowing (again) but before too long spring’s turn will come. Here’s a preview of coming attractions…
Getting her colour back. I took this photo in late summer as her feathers were growing back in.
Regular readers will have noticed that it’s been a few weeks since my last post. I was out of town for a while and then picked up a nasty bug (yes, Covid is still very much out there). I’m on the mend now and what better evidence than to feature one of my favourite ducks 😊
Every spring, house sparrows construct nests in the crevices of this office building. In the winter as the wind whips around you can see them sheltering there, like this male house sparrow.
I’ve been enjoying the photos of Snowdrops some bloggers have been posting recently. It will be some time before they appear here along with these wild violets that we see in spring. As we slog through February I needed a bit of colour.
It looked like someone had called a meeting but few showed up 😏 . I think fungi and mushrooms make interesting subjects but they were pretty scarce last year. I’ll keep my eye peeled as things warm up around here.
A sight I love at the end of the day😊
This is the only time I’ve seen a groundhog emege from its burrow. Although I’ve posted the photo before, I thought it was a timely encore.
We see barred owls year round in our woods. I was hoping the owl would open its eyes wider but he was content to doze and I was happy just to have seen him.
It’s getting closer to sights like this again 😊
We see red squirrels quite often in the woods usually giving chase to the larger eastern gray squirrels.
Another little bird that is often overlooked. It was nice to see her perched on some long grass.
I do appreciate these birds as individuals, not as much in flocks when they can be aggressive and messy 😏. This immature ring-billed gull made a nice subject.
She must be enjoying some warmer temperatures right now like the other Canadian “snowbirds. They’ll all be back once the snow has melted and the nice weather returns 😊
Hummingbird Moths are spectacular looking insects and good pollinators. I don’t see them every summer so when I do spot one hovering by a flower it’s pretty exciting.
BELINDA GROVER PHOTOGRAPHY 