pollen on Stamens for Macro Monday 2

In our gaarden are many beautiful Tiger Lilies and in the center of each are tall stamens.  The tips of each stamen are covered with golden life-giving golden pollen which is distributed to other pants of the same species by insects, bees, ants, etc.

                  Above can be seen  golden pollen of a Tiger Lily. Beautiful , fragile golden grains of  pollen ready for distribution,
I am linking today to Macro Monday 2 which can be found at:http://macromonday2.blogspot.ca/

Duck with five ducklings for Saturday Critters

Above are five baby ducks following an adult duck into the reeds.  The adult is in the reeds to the upper far right.

These two little  yellow-headed ducklings  were more independent straggling on their own. I hadn't expected to see ducklings at this time of year, thinking it was too late to find baby ducks but I was wrong.  

I am not too sure of the species of the adult ducks but I am thinking Gadwell or Pintail?

Above is the adult duck leading the babies into the reeds. notice the sharp tail of it. Pintail?

Looking carefully you can see a slight orange colour to the bill of this duck.  a Gadwell has  orange  on its lower bill and below is a closeup of the orange on its bill.

But whatever the species they were they were a welcome delightful sighting as it has been awhile since I have seen ducks!  I am connecting today with Eileen at Saturday Critters found at:

viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Have a wonderful sunny Saturday everyone! 

sunset for Thursday's Challenge

Seeing as this is a rainy day,( thankfully!, our bedding plants have been drying up!) I have had to resort to my photo

archives for this picture of a setting sun  which was taken from Sunset Beach at a camp ground in Marathon,  in the Florida Keys in 2000.I used to walk to the beach to watch the sun setting each day.  It was always a a beautiful experience.
I am linking today to Thursday's Challenge which is hosting the theme of 'sun' today. The links to Thursday's Challenge can be found here:http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Primrose Moth for Macro Monday 2

Its always exciting when I see that Common Primrose are in bloom for among the petals of its blossom I look for a beautiful pink treasure and that's what I had found last week, a tiny pink  and white moth nestled snugly within the petals of a Common Primrose blossom. I cut off the blossom and placed it with the moth within in an insect box that I often carry with me so that I could take some close closeups ( macros)  of the moth.

     above , a primrose moth within the blossom of a Common Primrose wildflower.

                                At the end of the day I returned the moth to a Common Primrose blossom.
I am linking today to Macro Monday 2 which can be found at:

http://macromonday2.blogspot.ca/

A Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

I had been wondering where this little moth was this season as I had not seen it previously.  Early last evening I had taken a drive to a nearby Common Primrose plant to release a Primrose moth that I had captured earlier in the day and it was then that I had spied this clearwing hummingbird moth feeding on some Milkweed in bloom.

I am thinking that this afternoon I will be able to get some more pictures of this delightful moth in a milkweed patch.

Z is for Zebra for ABC Wednesday

I remember being thrilled when I found a Zebra butterfly in Florida in 2000. Wow! Having left our New Brunswick winter of snow and ice behind what a wonder Florida was! My camera was  in joyful overload!

I have found that there is a fascination in  fashion design with the beautiful black and white striped  pattern of the zebra; for example I have a black tee with a zebra striped pocket.

  And also I  have a shoulder bag purse with zebras featured on it. Just perfect I thought to use when wearing my zebra pocket tee.

I am linking today to ABC Wednesday which can be found at:

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.ca/

Baby Sparrow Feeding Time

We have a few sparrows around Bird Alley this morning and I know some of the Sparrows are Song Sparrows and maybe one or two  are Chipping Sparrows. Also some of the sparrows are hungry babies as can be observed in the following open mouthed sparrow picture shown below.

And I watched as Mama Sparrow placed a seed in the baby Sparrow's open mouth.

And I cannot exactly id these two sparrows ( Song Sparrow or Chipping Sparrow)shown below; one adult and one baby.

To all American viewers I wish you a happy and safe fourth day of celebrations.

Ann

A Rosy Maple Moth for Macro Monday 2

The  joys of nature are  many and often are so awe inspiring  and surprising! This morning I went out with my macro lens on my camera to see what I could find, Just across the street from my house on a public building that leaves its moth attracting outside lights on all night I found a Rosy Maple Moth on the outside wall of the building.  When I first saw this species several years ago I was astounded with its beautiful pink colour... I found it unbelievable!  And I loved it!.... And every year since I always watch for this moth to appear. Below are photos of what I have found this morning!

shown above is the top side of this moth

                                       Above with its beautiful pink underparts is the underside of this lovely looking moth.
I am linking today with Macro Monday 2 which can be found at
http://macromonday2.blogspot.ca/
Hopefully by next week I will have found a tiny  pink Primrose Moth which folds itself up tucked within the petals of a Common Primrose bloom. I have noticed that some Common Primrose plants are now in bloom so I have my fingers crossed for posting a picture of this beautiful little  pink moth nestled up among yellow petals of the Common Primrose by next Monday.

A Stray Cat for Camera Critters

For a few years now we have watched a stray gray and white cat hunting through our property. We used to discourage its presence by shouting at it to get lost and be gone. It used to be that to connect with  it by looking it in its eye would be enough to cause it to run away.  then somehow this winter we got into the habit of leaving some cat food in a bowl on our back step and we found that this stray cat would appear each day and empty the bowl of cat food we set out.

.  My husband even named the cat. Assuming it was a feral cat, he game him a rhyming name and so that is how Daryl came to be our daily visitor.  actually now Daryl shows up for breakfast and then supper as well.

We think Daryl was once and maybe still is  a cat owned by someone.  He wants to come into our back porch but each day I verbally remind him by saying, " No Daryl, you don't come in". When we step out to refill his food bowl he rubs against our legs and stands on his hind legs to get closer to us and the food bowl in our hands.  Daryl enjoys sunning himself on our back doorstep.  Our regular indoor cat does not approve of Daryl and he lets us know that as he hisses at Daryl when he sees Daryl on our back deck through our French doors.  However, we will not abandon Daryl as we think that has happened previously and so we continue to watch for Daryl and we feed him each day.

• We think Daryl has endured a few scraps now and then. He is much thinner looking  than he looked during the winter, and he has a recent scratch on his nose.  My husband brushes Daryl and he looks much better these days. He has a gentle thankful look in his eyes when he greets me each morning with his regular , ": you got any food for me?" Meow.

You're not so feral anymore Daryl as you know you have a welcome outdoor home with us.

I am linking today to viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Today is Canada's 150th birthday!  Happy Canada Day everyone