I’m always surprised at how hefty groundhogs look as their diet consists mainly of grass and the contents of people’svegetable gardens😏. They hibernate from late fall through the winter so right now they’re working on their fat reserves.
People we met on the trail pointed us in the general direction of this barred owl. Unlike other owls who often keep close to the trunk or inside a tree cavity, barred owls often are quite easy to spot if you know where to look. This owl was my first of the year.
A lot of older homes here are built of brick and have wonderful wood trim. In need of a little paint and yard work, this house still has considerable charm.
As we followed the path down to the beach we saw an egret standing in the long grass. After a while it turned towards the river and we left it to its wandering.
There are several laneways nearby that can make for some interesting walks. No one parks in the garage anymore but it makes for a creative canvas and a nice spot for a basketball hoop.
I heard the pileated woodpecker before I saw it. As we got closer, several people were gathered close to the tree the bird was excavating.If you look closely you can just see its tongue darting into the hole it had drilled to retrieve its meal.
It is still very much summer but the landscape is slowly showing signs of fall. There’s a bit more yellow in the fields and milkweed pods are opening to release their seeds. I like photographing these changes.
We recently visited a favourite nature reserve that had a variety of birds the day we were there. After taking a good number of photos, I slowed down to catch my breath and noticed this scene.I’m glad I saw it, there’s a lot we can overlook when our eye is on the “prize”.
Somehow I missed taking photos of poppies this summer until I came across this one in a wildlife garden. It’s approaching the end of their season so I was pretty pleased to get the photo.
I don’t much care for these gulls in the city but on the river my opinion of them changes. They fish and fly and even pose quite nicely; and you don’t need to keep “an eye to the sky” 😏
One day in June we were treated to a mallard and her chicks swimming along close to shore. They had passed a gull earlier on who didn’t glance their way and this Great Blue Heron who was very preoccupied with finding its next meal.