Cliff Swallows and their nest building

This photo shown above I had taken this morning. The header photo was taken yesterday morning. The nest is lopsided and we maybe are seeing the work of an inexperienced builder. And it has taken a long time for the nest to have reached this stage. The photo shown below was taken on June 1st. The Cliff Swallow seen in the nest above appears to be alone. Perhaps it hasn't been able to find or attract a mate? I shall continue to monitor its progress easily as this location is just across the road from where I live. Perhaps it will abandon the nest or find a mate?
If you click on this url you will find a post I had written last year about the Cliff Swallows at this location you can see a photo of what a completed Cliff Swallow nest looks like..http://naturetales.blogspot.com/2010/07/home-for-thursdays-challenge.html

This photo of a pair of Cliff Swallows was taken at this location last year on May 27th 2010.

Cliff Swallows
Happy in love
in their mansion of mud.
May their household prosper!

Yesterday's Gleanings along a roadside

This season is rather full of bugs. To walk along an road in a wooded area is an invitation to black flies and mosquitoes to feed upon you. I usually come home with a multitude of bites . Not so yesterday however, as I have developed the technique of driving very slowly ( about 5 km/ hr.) with the car window on the driver's side unrolled and as I drive along I scanned the vegetation as I pass by looking for butterflies, Skippers and dragonflies. Yesterday there was no traffic on this dirt road as I drove on its left side and I was able to find a butterfly, a couple of skippers, ( they look like miniature butterflies, and a beautiful dragonfly.My first find yesterday was this orange butterfly which I hsve id'ed as a Northern Crescent. Its beautiful isn't it?My next find was a skipper! This is what I had been looking for!!!! Wow!. I think this might be a Hobomok Skipper Skipper. I love finding these little creatures!

Next my next great discovery hanging on to a Purple Vetch blossom was A magnificent Dragonfly!!!! Here it is shown below.I have tried to id this dragonfly and the best I can come up with is that it is maybe a Stream Cruiser.

So that was the results of my roadside cruising yesterday. I think I will do that again this morning as its a lovely sunny day here. A great day for butterflies and other flying creatures to be out and about.

Young Canada Geese for World Bird Wednesday

This watchful parent is doing its parentage job well by heeping a watchful eye on its young brood as they are feeding near a pond.
They didn't stray too far from the adult Canada and I imagine they would all take to the pond quickly if danger threatened. I knew this goose family would probably be here as I had seen them swimming in the pond earlier this week.
I see one little gosling has found its voice, its open mouth suggests it might be squawking.
You have a wonderful looking family Mamma or Papa Goose. You are doing a wonderful job guarding them! Keep taking care with them!

Got pictures of birds you would like to share? Why not post them on Worldbird Wednesday? http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/To find out how, please scroll down the right hand side of this page until you come to the worldbird logo, click on it and follow the directions from there.

A Goldenrod Crab spider for Mellow Yellow Monday

This Goldenrod Crab spider spider can also be called a flower spider, as it often sits and waits for its prey on a flower, This small spider can change its colour from white to yellow. It does not spin a web. As shown in the picture above this spider has a couple of red slashes on its abdomen.I remembered seeing a similar spider in my garden a couple of summers ago. I posted about it here:http://naturetales.blogspot.com/2006/09/spider-webs.html and I was able to id it by goggling goldenrod crab spider and then I clicked on images and compared my picture to others on the web. To learn more about this little spider you may visit here:http://www.spiderroom.info/va_crabspider.html

Got pictures with yellow that you would like to share? Why not post them on Mellow Yellow Monday, a delightful meme that focuses on the colour yellow?Just clink here:http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/ to access this mem

Grand Falls for Scenic Sunday

Shown above are the falls and gorge at Grand Falls NB,on the Saint John River: At this location the river flows over a series of rocky ledges for a drop of 23 meters.


Scenic Sundayhttp://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/ is a meme where you can share the beauty your camera has captured for your enjoyment and for the enjoyment of others too. Please scroll along the right side of this page to the scenic sunday icon and click to share with others and also to view what others have shared. Have a wonderful day!

A Swallowtail against the blue sky for Skywatch Friday

Every year that our lilacs come into bloom I wait for the Swallowtail butterflies to show up to feed uponthe lilacsi and they haven't failed me yet. These pictures were taken on June 7th. Also a yearly visitor to the lilacs have been clear wing hummingbird moths. as shown below. Skywatch Friday is a long standing meme where sky views from all over the world are posted at:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/Why not participate as well.

a first dragonfly of the season

I find dragonflies fascinating with their intricate detailing and structure! This is my first close up photo of one this spring. I took this picture in my yard earlier this week but I haven't been able to id it yet. Any suggestions as to its possible identification are welcome.

Watching poppies unfold for Ruby Tuesday

This flower bed of poppies shown above holds much potential for beauty.There is a multitude of unopened pods just waiting to show their red beauty folded within.

A few of the blossoms have started to open. Their delicate tissue thin petals are beginning to unfold as the pod holding this delicate beauty splits open to reveal the red petals folded within.
This is a fascinating process to watch as a little more red shows each day. As they become fully opened, its a surprise each morning to look out and see how many new blossoms have opened.
The opening blossom shown above is exposing some of the black center of the blossom h.within
Got photos with red? Why not share them by posting them to
Ruby Tuesday. To find this delightful red focused meme, please click here.http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

a Cabbage Butterfy and a dandelion for Mellow Yellow Monday

Above is the first cabbage buttertfly that I have photographed this spring. It is a female cabbage. I enjoy so much finding the id of these beautiful little winged creatures. I have learned that the two black spots on this butterflies fore wing determine that this is a female. Knowledge is power isn't it? Its delightful to know about who's who, in our outdoors nature environment. If I were starting over again , I might like to study science. As a child one of our elementary school subjects was called Nature, which I loved. When I began teaching, how I missed that subject not being on the curriculumn. but I was able to introduce nature in my own way. One of my favourite lessons at this time of year was outdoor sketching and we would study the dandelion and create a watercolour. What beautiful paintings many of the students created!, and we would discuss thejagged tooth like edge of the dandelion leaf and thus its name, 'dent de lion"
Got pictures with yellow that you would like to share? Why not post them on Mellow Yellow Monday, a delightful meme that focuses on the colour yellow?Just clink here:http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/ to access this meme

Mourning Cloak Butterfly.

Finally I was able to get a picture of a Mourning Cloak butterfly! . I have been trying to do this since April when I had first started to see them on an old dirt road. Yesterday I had gone to a small pond hoping to see something to take a picture of when I saw something small and dark cross the road in front of my car, a dragonfly , maybe? I inched my car up to an approximate location when I had seen it enter the roadside bushes. Then I saw it! A beautiful Mourning Cloak draped on a small branch of a bush.
How delicate its ivory lacy edge looked and its beautiful blue spots on its black border were so lovely and distinct.

A raccoon visitor to Bird Alley

A handsome, healthy looking raccoon dropped by Bird Alley early yesterday evening, looking for a lunch of sunflower seeds and it found it! No matter how cute and sweet looking it appears to be, we don't want it here. I am concerned about a possible encounter and what might happen between the raccoon and our dearly loved cat. Hopefully I will have no story to relate on that topic.

This creature had a very beautiful looking ringed tail!

A Cliff Swallow and nest building forWorldbird Wednesday

I had taken this photo yesterday but didn't download the picture until this morning. I was very surprised, but pleased, to see a Cliff Swallow lying in the beginnings of its nest.I hadn't know the bird was there when I took the picture The nest is built of dabs of mud and a nest is built here each year. You can see the muddy portion on the building above the beginnings of this year'a nest, where the nest had been last year. Unfortunately last year's nest had been removed which is against the laws relating tothe migratory birds act. I hope that similiar nest destruction/vandalism doesn't occur again this year. I shall have to moniter its progress and hope there will be no cause for alarm regarding this!

Got pictures of birds you would like to share? Why not post them on Worldbird Wednesday? http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/To find out how, please scroll down the right hand side of this page until you come to the worldbird logo, click on it and follow the directions from there.