I enjoy seeing ring-billed gulls on the water, although we often see them in city parking lots and public parks scavenging for food. I liked this photogenic group; note the mottled bird on the left, it’s a juvenile. These gulls take three years to reach full maturity.
The groundhog was fattening up for his long winter sleep. In our climate they will hibernate in their burrows from October through March or April. We’re under a winter storm watch today, so I think they have the right idea. 😏
Luckily, the sparrow decided to stay put for a few minutes!
It was a good year for wood ducks. This young male was one of many I enjoyed seeing this summer.
I was disappointed with the detail in the orb spider but I think its web and the background colours compensated for it.
I often see waterbirds in the shade of this wonderful tree. I always pause here for a while and take it all in. It’s one of my favourite places.
I was looking across the lake and happened to glance down from the platform and saw the wood ducks resting on a log. Not an angle I favour but it did show them off quite nicely.
We associate robins with springtime. Yet, if they can find enough berries to eat a few remain all winter.
We stop by this marsh every autumn and take in the beauty of the place; and if no birds appear it doesn’t really matter.
The duck seemed to know how to navigate the choppy water and I watched it as it moved with the waves.
There were plenty of seeds in the feeder but they weren’t on this blue jay’s menu. 😏
I don’t see hooded mergansers very often and when I do they’re usually in the middle of the lake. Not this one though.
Black squirrels are very common here. They are actually a melanistic subgroup of the eastern grey squirrel. Their black fur gives them a thermal advantage during our cold winters.
It’s cold and grey outside, so I thought a bit of summer was in order. I took the milkweed beetle in July; it’s going to be a long winter. 😏
We discovered this pond late in the season as did a number of waterbirds. This is one of many photos I took that day of geese and cormorants.
There are plenty of logs at the lake for birds and turtles to climb onto when they want a break from swimming or just have a look around. I caught this young wood duck doing just that.
When I was a kid you either inched your way into the freezing lake or dove in and got it over with. I think the goose fell into the latter camp. 😊
It’s cold and grey outside (we had our first dusting of snow) but it definitely was sunny when I took this at the beginning of October. Quite a difference a month makes.
Wild Turkeys are not the prettiest of birds and can be quite aggressive during mating season. A local reserve closed its walking trails this past spring for several weeks when a trio of toms were harassing people. Conservation Officers had hoped to capture the birds and relocate them but they evaded capture. I took this photo at the same reserve in August, I kept a wary eye on this bird and waited for him to move along before I continued my walk.
The only thing nicer than one butterfly is seeing two on the same plant. I believe these are fritillaries… This was taken in early September.
I took this in early August at a local reserve. The young wood duck had recently emerged from the water with its siblings. The young are quite fearless but its mother was close by.
Chipmunks are getting ready for winter; gathering as much food as they can and preparing their dens for the cold months to come.
I turned around and there she was. I would have liked a bit more space between me and the duck but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. Wood ducks are still in our area, I hope for a few more photo opportunities before they fly south for the winter.
On a cold wet day, a return to summer is in order. A goldfinch provides a needed bright spot.
I’ve read that male ducks will often puff themselves up to fend off predators or to attract potential mates. I think this one just had an itch. 😏
I saw the heron in a city park that borders the river. The bird was perched on the embankment of a man made lake. Not sure what if was hoping to catch.
I liked the strong contrast of colours and the flowers’ spiky appearance. 😏
I have a soft spot for mallards and feature them quite frequently on my blog. They are pretty hard to resist. 😊
One of the ducks found some shade beneath the asters on this hot September day. I saw the bright flowers first and then these two.
Staghorn Sumac is a flowering plant native to Eastern North America. Its leaves turn beautiful colours in fall and remind me of party streamers.
I watched as the heron made its way out of the underbrush and started patrolling the shoreline. All the time I was there it didn’t get a bite.
I’m not a fan of most flies but this one has attractive colouring and great eyes!
I always enjoy seeing a chickadee. It was a windy August day and the bird seemed to have a tenuous grip on the edge of the rock. It appeared to be molting too.
The woodpecker had been drilling away at the tree for some time when he suddenly looked up, perhaps taking a break from all that hammering.
We began to see cabbage white butterflies in April and we continue to see them. I think we’ve now seen several generations of this butterfly and they are by far the most numerous around here this year.
There are still flowers about but on some recent walks, the gardens are looking more like this. As for the trees they have begun to show off their fall colours.
Many of the older homes here have been built with red brick. It does provide a nice backdrop for these late summer flowers.
I like these large ducks, close relatives of mallards. They’re often seen swimming together and also tend to be a little less vocal 😏
Japanese beetles are a form of scarab beetle and were introduced to North America in the early 1900’s. They have beautiful colouring but are highly destructive to plants and crops. This one was balancing on some Queen Anne’s Lace.
We tend to see more goldfinch in the late summer and early fall as flowers dry and form seed heads, their food of choice. This male looks like he’s beginning to moult.
