Drainage Pipe Waterway

As the ice and snow begin to melt and the water level rises, this drainage pipe under the railroad bed will soon become a waterway connecting two ponds on either side of the tracks; allowing for movement of ducks from one side to the other. In this picture, taken from my photo archives, Wood Ducks can be seen swimming into one of the two huge drainage pipes located here under the tracks. This is one of my favourite locations for watching wildlife, and later on as the seasons progress, Painted Turtles can be found here also.

The Ducks Are Returning!

While in Saint John last week, a visit to Falls View Park, at the mouth of the Saint John river gave me an opportunity to photograph these beautiful male Common Mergansers. There were no females within this group.

To the right is the view from Falls View Park where I saw these Common Mergansers.

Travelling further up the river we stopped at Westfield to take a picture of the car ferry there and saw, downriver in the open water; Ring-necks and Black Ducks and also a few Common Goldeneye. These ducks were at too far a distance to get their pictures but further up the river we saw a larger group of Common Goldeneye. There were also some females among this group. The female common Goldeneye is the one with the brown head and the male is the one with the prominent white circle between its eye and bill. And yet another surprise awaited me when I downloaded my pictures for I found that amongst the Goldeneye there was a Scaup! This had turned out to be a rather nice day for seeing ducks. We had seen 6 species in all:

Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks, Black Ducks, Common Goldeneye, one Scaup and earlier in the day we had seen Mallards at Lily Lake.

Update on Ice Circles

Yesterday I had posted photos of a fascinating find of many ice circles near the base of a waterfall near Wirral, NB. This post today is a follow up of yesterday's; however, in a sort of way it might be considered its prequel , for today I saw what were the beginnings of more ice circles being formed.
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The video below shows the transition that has taken place since I had first found the ice circles.

What I found very interesting is that although a solid sheet of ice had been formed in the area where the ice circles had been previously, some of the circles could still be seen under the ice. (see photo above)
Today a lot of foam had collected near the upper left corner of the newly formed ice sheet and in the following close up views you can see cookie-like circular shapes of accumulated foam which have been formed there.

I was initially disappointed not to have found the ice circles again, but in retrospect, although not as beautiful, these foam cookies were equally as fascinating.

Recipe for Ice Circles

Stir up a batch of foam cookies near a waterfall

then toss into Mother Nature's deep freeze until frozen.

Ice Circles

When I stopped at this waterfall yesterday, beside a bridge along highway #101, near Wirral, I found a group of fascinating little icy discs there; floating in the water. I call these small ice circles, ice discs, for lack of a better or more accurate name, for I do not know what they are or how they were formed. I suspect though, that the action of the swiftly moving water of the falls and the foam on the water's surface have something to do with their creation.

So surprised was I at stumbling upon this unexpected phenomena that I did not think to estimate their size at the time. Only after downloading the pictures did I wonder about that. I would guess that their diameter might range somewhere between about 4 or 5 inches, more or less? ?

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Below is a short video which I made showing these ice discs moving about on the surface of the water.

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Earlier this year, in February, the same sort of icy discs were seen in Connecticut by blogger, Sandpiper. Sandpiper had never seen this ice formation before either and you will find her explanation here as to how they may have been formed. (please scroll down to the third photo on Sandpiper`s post)

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You will find a link to Sandpipers Place, as well as links to other great Nature Blogs, located in the righthand column of this page.

Notched Branches

When I came across this notched branch towards the end of last month I thought that someone must have taken a jacknife and cut, or notched it; for it seemed to have a rawness around the cut below the bud. But then, when examining the branch closer I noticed that other parts of the branch showed the same 'cut-like' appearance Then seeing that all the branches had the same back to back,'notched' patterns, I knew that I had stumbled upon, yet again, another of Nature's unique, fascinating designs.

I guess then these branches would perhaps be part of a bush, or a shrub? There is no main trunk so I don't think I could call it a tree. The snow covering is too deep as yet to examine their base but there are many branches, all of uniform size, and they appear to grow near the ground, in a clump. And they are taller than me. Perhaps I will discover that these are the commonest of shubberies and I had just never noticed them before. But no matter of its commonality; I think they are outstanding and would really appreciate any comments anyone might have to share as to its identification.

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Editing note: identification update: March 16th

I received an email this morning identifying these notched branches as those of an Acer negundo, a Boxelder. A photo here looks the same as the ones which I had posted. This photo originates from the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at the University of Wisconsin.

It was also pointed out that the part of the stem, or branch that appears to be cut, or notched is where the end of last year's leaf was.

Thank you Dave M. for your input. It is much appreciated.

Fox, Ermine and Deer

I missed a couple of really great photo opportunities yesterday. The first was of a Red Fox crossing highway #7 . I had seen it a fair distance ahead of me on the snow bank by the shoulder and thought perhaps I might reach its point of crossing and be able to get its picture, but it was too fast for me and by the time I neared the point where it was crossing it had already reached the other side and disappear -ed into the woods. It looked big and red and beautiful; much like the fox in this photo above, taken last April, 2007.

The second missed photo opportunity still leaves me full of disappointment for it was an Ermine (Mustela erminea)!! Also know as the Short-tailed Weasel, the Ermine's fur turns white during the winter season. The little one I saw yesterday was very small, and tall and slender, and white overall except for a dark dot on its tail. This is a strange sort of comparision but when I saw it standing by our shed, it reminded me of 'Gumby', the little, tall, slender green character, made of clay that had been created in the 50's. It was the length and slenderness of it when it stood and its big eyes that brought the similarity to mind. I had only seen one of these little mammals once before and that was several years ago. This sighting was in my own yard and it went under our garden shed in our feeder area so I am hoping that I might see it again.

The third opportun -ity; and I had my camera lined up on it very clearly while I stood in the shadow of my window while it approached one of our feeders: was a hungry White-tailed Deer. Then suddenly: it leapt and bound away in a flash and I then saw my neighbour in his back yard getting for a load of wood for his furnace. Still having my camera on the deer I took a video as it 'shot' through my feeder area. I have slowed the motion of the video speed so as to capture its powerful leaping movements

Burdock Husk

Being eager for spring, as many of us are, I went for a short walk yesterday having decided to follow one of my summer trails to see what I could find. Climbing the snowy embankment was easier than it had been the previous time I went this route because the newly accumu -lated snow was moist and damp and I could make sideways, footstep gouges with my feet; like creating my own staircase as I climbed up. The last time I had gone this route I had made it up the steep hillside okay but had suddenly landed on my hands and knees at the bottom, (and so did my camera.. ouch!), on the descent when returning home. This week I was more cautious and wary; and surefooted. Standing there in the snow, beside an old Brudock patch, looking for movement of any kind, other than mine, I looked down and I saw a single Burdock husk lying in the snow; and I thought it was beautiful.

empty husk of seed

once prickly head of burs

wind thrown on the snow

Great Black-backed Gull

Living only an hour's drive from the coast, I often have the opportunity of seeing this largest of North Atlantic gulls, the Great Black-backed Gull, in a beautiful natural setting of rugged coastline and powerful Fundy tides. The grace- fullness and dignity of this large gull seems more aptly portrayed there, than of those gulls photographed in a farmer's field or a mall parking lot. With a wingspan of around 65" just imagine the size of these gulls! Other identifying features of this adult gull are its pink legs, white head, red orbital ring around its eyes, and a yellow bill with a red spot.

This last photo, above, from my photo archives, is of Great Black-backed Gulls looking for Gaspereau along the North Oromocto River.

A Song Sparrow Story

I was very surprised yesterday to see a Song Sparrow at our feeders. Surprised for two reasons; one I hadn't seen this species since early November, and secondly, there was so much freezing rain coming down throughout the day there were hardly any birds about! It makes one wonder where these 'out of season birds' come from? I think this one perhaps must have over- wintered somewhere nearby to be around this early. After feeding for a while it sought shelter on the ground under some tangled branches that had been beaten down by the snow during the many winter storms we have endured. And its a good thing that it had left the relative openness of the feeders for suddenly a Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped down, and landed on a branch nearby! The Song Sparrow was suddenly no where to be seen and the Sharp-shinned flew up and perched in a big, old Pine overlooking our feeder area; and waited. The Song Sparrow had hidden itself under the tangled brush and there was no way the hawk could get it from there. Meanwhile there were three Gray Squirrels chasing each other about on the ground and as one ran over the Song Sparrows hiding space it emerged for a moment; but then quickly ducked into the brush again. The hawk stayed in the Pine tree for a long time while I stood and watched from my window, but eventually it gave up and flew off.
And the Song Sparrow stayed and was seen around the feeders for the rest of the afternoon.

update: March 10th

There are now two Song Sparrows at our feeders and there has been no sign of the Sharp-shinned Hawk since the 5th.

Red-tailed Hawk

I had stopped my car by the side of the road to take a picture of this interesting shaped cloud. I then noticed, at the bottom right of the cloud, a large bird on a branch of the tallest tree; and I thought to myself, .."that's not a crow!" Quicky switching cameras for the one with a telescopic lens; and getting out of the car to stand on the shoulder of the highway, I saw that it was a hawk. I knew that a hawk was around in the area for I had seen it a couple of times previously, but I hadn't been sure if it was a Red-tailed or maybe a Northern Rough-legged.
It was a Red-tailed for sure! How beautiful it was in flight. I shall have to find it again and at a closer range to try to get some sharper photos. The distance between the hawk and myself remained the same and I was only able to reproduce these closeups through photo editing.

You may see more photos of the Red-tailed Hawk by clicking on the video below.

Above, from my photo archives, a Red-tailed Hawk displaying its tail while standing on a power line.