Searching for a White-tailed Deer

Ever since I viewed a photo of an almost white White-tailed deer earlier this week, I have been searching for it every morning.  I know the area where it had been seen and every morning for the past few days I have hopped in my car at 6:30 a.m. and have gone searching for it.  But , although this seems to be a good time to see deer feeding, I have not found the white one yet;  although I have seen other deer in the area.
This morning I saw three deer; one was feeding in a meadow and two others were alongside the highway Following are pictures of the deer I found this morning.

          I was sitting in my car as this deer crossed the road and we were looking at each other.

    Be careful on the road dear deer!

.                        I most always see a deer or two feeding in this meadow each morning!

A catchup posting day

Sometimes I find that if I do not post almost immediately after downloading recent pictures then my photo files get backed up and often many do not get posted.
For example the deer photos in this White-tailed Deer Collage are from four different  downloads, Some one had seen and posted a picture of an almost all white deer in our area and I have been hoping that I might find it and get its photo, No such luck on my part however I do seem to encounter deer every time I go out looking for it.

.  Thus my recent results are in the collage posted below.

Many of my nature finds have been when I have been looking for something else.  When you know when something usually happens then a search is often initiated at that time.  As well as looking for white deer I have been looking for Snapping Turtles laying eggs recently for it is almost the time for their seasonal egg laying.

.  Earlier this week I was scanning a pond for these huge amphibians ( I have seen them in this pond other years,) I didn't see any turtles there but I did see  and hear quite a few noisy frogs.  The presence of so many frogs in the pond suggested to us that there were probably no snapping turtles in there.The

frog shown above was a handsome specimen of a frog which we had found in the pond:
I love to find American Bitterns as they are such a large bird.  Last week I found one along the shoreline of a small pond.  The Bittern didn't seem at all threatened by my presence but it did maintain its usual 'cautionary stance', that of pointing its long beak skyward.  I have heard that Bitterns take this positioning,  assuming that their long beak and striped body will help them take on a camouflage

appearance of a shoreline weed and thus blend into their surroundings.  Nope, it didn't work this time buddy!  I saw you! and so did my camera.
And lastly , but definitely not least as we haven't seen any hares a.k.a: rabbits recently, until yesterday that is.  This little one was standing on the roadside shoulder and it stayed there not moving as my husband brought our truck to a stop beside it. Unfortunately I could see that it was infested with a few ticks on its ears, face and back of its neck.  What a pretty little woodland creature this hare was. I do hope I see more of them in the coming  summer days ahead.

 And another beauty I want to share!  The wild Lupines are in bloom everywhere , along the roadsides, in empty fields, their colourful beauty is seen everywhere!  Another blue wildflower being seen is Blueflag, which is definitely a cousin of the Iris family. I must take a few pictures of blueflag in the coming days.  We now have an Iris in bloom in our garden.

                         Lupines growing along the railroad tracks.

Great Blue Heron in Flight

Sometimes you just have to point your camera skyward and cross your fingers in hopes that you can get a photo.  Such was the case last week one day while standing on the shoulder of the Branch Road when I spied a Great Blue Heron flying overhead. Herons are such magnificent birds!

Earlier the same morning I saw this heron ( shown below) on the shore of a large pond nearby!

Poppies for Mosaic Monday

I had noticed earlier last week that I would soon have poppies in bloom; however I was surprised when I returned home on our  rainy Saturday to see several in bloom.The surprise was that it wasn't the ones in bloom that I had expected to bloom first, rather it was others that I hadn't noticed these to be so near blooming.  I do hope we get some sunny days this week in which to enjoy the magnificent  blooms and colour for these blossoms are always such a highlight to our summer garden.  May their beautiful blooms continue, no matter the weather that prevails.

 

I am linking with Mary  at her dear little red house at :http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.ca/ for  her Mosaic Monday meme.

A Mother Wood Duck and her Babies

Yesterday, while crossing  the highway bridge I thought I had glimpsed a large bird sitting on a rock in the river.  I asked my husband to turn and go back so that I could check it out.  It was raining as I hurried down a slope to an observation deck overlooking the rive there.  I didn't see any large bird but I did see a duck with a few little ducklings swimming behind it as they swam around a large rock in the river there. Perhaps it had been the Mother Duck perched on the rock that I had glimpsed when crossing the bridge above it.  I was delighted with such a find!  And although it was raining I didn't care.  I continued snapping pictures of this beautiful duck family and as I watched the mother  duck shepherd her family safely to shore and  I sensed my husband had the same shepherding instincts as he beckoned me to return to  the waiting truck.  As I have titled my blog 'Nature Tales and Camera Trails':I will tell the story of this duck family with the pictures I was able to get . As soon as I had downloaded the photos I could see by the distinctive white eye of the female that it was a Wood Duck.

 

The first sighting I had of the female Wood Duck was of her and a few of her babies rounding a rock in the river

 

Once she was around the rock I could see that she had a sizable family swimming along behind her.

 

It might be a little difficult to count but she has eight baby ducks accompanying her!

After all had safely rounded the rock the mother duck ushered all of the babies ahead of her

Above we can see that the family is headed to the nearby shore.

  All is well that endswell as the babies are no longer in sight.  I assume they have reached and disappeared into the shoreline vegetation.

Rest well Mama Duck!  May you and your babies fare well in the coming days!

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

A female hummingbird  is finally here, it seemed late in arriving this spring

!  I'm sure our resident male will be pleased with the added companionship.

Above, waiting out the rain and this little male hummer has chosen a rather appropriate place for drying out after the rain, perching on our clothesline!

A personal photochallenge : Looking at a waterfall with a seasonal perspective

Fot this challenge of perspective and composition I have chosen a favourite location and topic.  It is of or at a small waterfall which we had found during the late spring or early summer of 2012.
This waterfall is only a few kilometers from our home. I go to see it and photograph it as often as I can.  My most recent photo of it was taken on Sunday of this past weekend.

  I have also been experimenting with a slow shutter of 1/4 sec. and I love the result of slowing down the action or movement of the water so that it appears white as is shown in the photo below.  Also the spread of the water at the base of the falls is white and frothy.

At the same occassion I took a picture of the falls without a slow shutter so you can see how the falls appeared naturally with no shutter adjustment as is shown above: notice the difference in the appearance of the fall of the water. The last photo above shows a choppy appearing flow. The change in shutter speed has made quite a difference.
I have tried to photograph these falls in different seasons. The next photos show snow on the ground although the falls were flowing freely.. The water movement over the falls seem more controlled in these photos. I don't know if the frigid temperature was an influence or not on the water movement.

 

Attempting to photograph these falls in all seasons the next two photos were taken in the

fall.  The first photo shown  below is a favourite of mine.  And although it was taken with a point and shoot camera it seems that the shutter might have been somewhat slower than usual as white waves or caps can be seen in the river above the falls

This photo below was taken on a beautiful sunny day in October.

And I was intententionaly leaving my summer photo until last.  Our summer of 2012 was very warm and so when my son and his family of three children arrived to visit I thought it would be a treat for them to visit my special waterfall.  It turned out to be rather a joke on me.  For due to the summer heat the waterfall was only a trickle!  What a surprise it was to see it in this condition!  I do hope that when they visit again this August they will be able to really see my waterfall!

So there you have it : A waterfall from the perspective of all seasons.

The waterfall is the Scribner Brook Falls along highway# 785.  You can find this highway from the Duplesia Road at Central Blissville, NB.  I hope you have enjoyed the waterfall visit.  May it  evercontinue to flow!

Donna at   is the host to this meme A personal photo  challenge.  The challenges are always interesting and challenging.  If you would like to see this present challwenge please visit Donna at:
http://apersonalphotochallenge.blogspot.ca/

Swallowtails feeding on Lilacs

I have been waiting for a Swallowtail butterfly  to feed on our Lilacs (which is a yearly happening), but although I had seen several swallowtails they did not feed on our Lilacs , until yesterday sfternoon that is!  Welcome Swallowtail, although there was just one of you and the visit was very brief, Please return with a few of your other flutterby buddies! I am waiting in my window with my camera for you!

Another Warbler in Bird Alley

 One positive result from having had so many rainy, wet, damp days recently has been an increase of bugs!  No, not for me, I do not love bugs but insect eating warblers do.  I had mentioned previously that we often have warblers visiting Bird Alley, but not for the bird food which I provide in my feeders but for the munchy bugs they can find about our trees and flowering, blossoming trees there.  This morning I spied movement among the leaves and I could see a little bird furtively moving about.  So, I waited ready with my camera, assuming as often will happen the bird will show itself.  My wait was rewarded with this

picture of a female Common Yellowthroat Warbler feeding there among the leaves and branches.  She is a beautiful little common  yellow throated warbler

A beautiful little butterfly!

I love butterflys and eagerly await their arrival and presence each year.  Earlier this week my husband described a little butterfly to me thatr he had seen in our dooryard.  From his words I told him he had probably seen an American Copper.  So when I saw an American Copper today across the street fro9m my house I was not surprised.  Luckily for me I also got its picture!

Gray Catbird Seen Yesterday

When you by chance might hear a slight mewing in the woods, do youknow that that sound is not necessarily made by a cat? Yes, there is a bird that meows! It is the Catbird!  And I saw a  Gray Catbird yesterday!  I usually see one each year in about the same location but yesterday's sighting seemed to be a bit early to me.  Catbird's like to nest in wild rose bushes.  That is how I first became accustomed to seeing them.  We have an old wild rose bush in Bird Alley and one year a Catbird pair built a nest in our rosebush. Our Rose bush used to be huge but we have since pruned it back.  It was so out of control and rambling. There is no sign of wild rose blossoms in Bird Alley yet and there won't be for a while.  That is why I say that the Catbird I saw yesterday seemed to be an early sighting.

The Catbird is a handsome slate gray bird with a black cap.  This photo is of the Catbird I saw yesterday.

Waning full moon in the Morning Sky

I missed the full moon on the 25th, but it was  large and beautiful and waning

in the sky this morning, easily seen and photographed from my driveway.

Brightly Coloured Goldfinch

It was with pleasure that I took this photo of a brightly coloured Goldfinch in Bird Alley yesterday afternoon, for it has seemed with the recent duration of rainy , dark days that all beauty and bright colour had left.  We have had very few bird visitors recently, thus this bright goldfinch attracted me.

I was assuming this was a male Goldfinch until I saw my next Goldfinch photo which had a full black cap! , and then I realized that in  my first photo pictured , although the Goldfinch had a brightly coloured lemon yellow body , it did not have a black cap!

Then looking carefully and by cropping I got a closer look at the first Goldfinch picture, and yes, I  

could see the beginnings of black starting to show on the bird's head.  So, yes I am calling it a male, but is it a mature male just having undergone a spring molt? or is it a young male just coming into its own by growing in its distinctive black cap?
Its not a big problem or an issue to me, just a reminder to me to look look carefully at what I am seeing before I jump to identification conclusions.
Nature has so much beauty to observe, just enjoy its beauty by taking that second look.
Have a great sunny, warm day everyone as such is forecasted today!!

Recent Rain Forest Weather!

There is nothing wrong with my camera, but its just that this is what our weather has been looking like the past few days. We are expecting sunshine this afternoon!!!!!!!  Yea for that little bit of weather optimisim!

Rain Filled River

It has been raining for days and it has turned our river into a taging, frothy picturesque scene

I went down  to the river with my camera and set my shutter at a slower speed and I am very pleased with the results of the action in the river by using a slower shutter speed at 1/4 second