A Personal Photo Challenge.."Simplicity"

Today I am participating in a new meme which I found from a comment on my blog from Mary of North Carolina and her lovely blog, a breath of fresh air.
/http://abreathoffreshair-mary.blogspot.ca/
The theme of the personal  photo challenge this month, weekend is simplicity at:
http://apersonalphotochallenge.blogspot.ca/ The photo representing simplicity that I have chosen to share is nature at its best!  A lone Canada goose is sitting on the ice at the waters edge.  Its reflection, and those of the bare branches behind
 the goose is reflected in the open water in front of the goose. You might want to 'double click on the picture to enlarge it to see its details clearer.  The first photo shows the water much darker than the second photo.  In the first photo I used the 'all levels' choice on my photo editing.  The second photo is the scene as it was before any photo editing.

A RuffedGrouse

 
We had been driving along the branch road and as we turned a corner I shouted "Grouse!" to my husband as I had seenonr sitting on a snowbank by the side of the highway. (I have circled it in red for you to see its location) I then said, " We have to go back!, and so we quickly looked for a place to turn.  i love finding Ruffed Grouse and it isn't often that we do.  We returned to where the grouse was still! sitting on the snowbank.  Unbelievable that it had remained there as these birds atre often off like a shot whwen they sense danger!  about all I was able to get was a couple od pictures! You're wondering about the snowbank?  This was a couple of weeks ago, although looking out my windows this morning I can still see snow covered Fields.  GO AWAY WINTER! As you can see in the first photo, it was a lovely day as the sun can be seen coming around the corner also.

 

This handsome Ruffed Grouse( a.k.a.  Birch Partridge here in New Brunswick) allowed me a couple of clear shots before it burst away!

A few Canada Geese found at Keswick

   Each year in April we anticipate our annual trip to Keswick where we take our tax information to our accountant who has her office in that area.  Of course our anticipation  focuses on the hope that we will perhaps see many ducks and geese in that area, which has often been the case during previous years.  Last Monday our first trip to this area revealed nothing, a disappointment, however, a return trip yesterday to pick up our completed tax return information rewarded us with a medium sized flock of Canada Geese.The area is large and the group of geese we saw did not even come close to half filling up the space.  But a goose is a goose and we were pleased when we saw even a few, although the photos do not show many gaggles to giggle about. this is a lovely area.

WE continyed our day by driving dow highway #105 which borders long the Saint John River.  Along ou way we spotted a few Goldeneye in the river before we crossed at Oromocto.
All in all it was an enjoyable pleasant day.  Until next year.  And, by the way, i will receive a tax refund this year, so that information added a few +++++'s to my day.

Dandelions and Coltsfoot in bloom at Oromocto and more Osprey!

                                Shown  above are the first Dandelions in bloom that I have seen this spring!I found them nestled at the base of the Public Library building at Oromocto yesterday.  They become a nuisance plant later on as the season progresses, but to me they are a pure gold sighting at this time of year when many of us are wondering? Will winter ever go away? and When will spring unfold its gentle warmth and spread forth in growth welcoming all the beautiful retuerning birds and butterflies?Yesterday's sighting is all the more valuable to me this morning as I look out at our snow covered ground from an overnight snowfall!!!!!

    Another beautiful wildflower in bloom yesterday were these Coltsfoot, also found at Otromocto behind the Sobey's gasbar and the  Needs Convenience store  at the gasbar on Miramichi Road.  We look for early Coltsfoot blloms at this same location every year and yesterday was our lucky day. This location is another of our nature secrets. Knowing where to look is  treasured knowledge in the spring!
I also checked out the Osprey nest yesterday at the Sir Douglas Hazen Park at Oromocto and we found a pair of Osprey  on top of the nest there. This was another great sign assuring us that, "yes!", it is spring!
  

We found to our delight that the Osprey have returned to the nest  There were a pair upon the old nest there!
  Below you can see the nest in the background of the picture showing the park signage.



 Another bird that I took a photo of at Oromocto was this Ring-billed Gull and it is a species for all seasons!  There are always gulls to be found at Oromocto.  but I believe all species deserve their own time to pose for having their photo taken and to have their day being posted on a nature blog!

To be posted later today pictures of Canada Geese that we found at the Keswick Flats yesterday.

The Osprey are back!

   I found this pair of |Osprey yesterday afternoon on top of this nest at the corner of the Post Road and the Mast Road at Three Tree Creek. We have been watching this nest for several years now and its always exciting each spring to see these magnificent birds take up their  residence  there again. This afternoon I shall check the Osprey nest at Hazen Patrk in Oromocto to see if it is occupied again?

Female Brown-headed Cowbird in Bird Alley.

                                       Late this afternoon I saw this female Brown-headed Cowbird feeding in Bird Alley.  As is characteristic of this species it accompanied Red-winged Blackbirds which were very prevelant around our feeder area today.  Yesterday I thought I had seen a male Brown-headed Cowbird in our feeder area.  Having seen this female Cowbird today I think I probably was right in assuming I saw the male of this species yesterday afternoon.
spring is such a wonderful, exciting time  when watching for and seeing the returning birds.  Hmmm... What will be next?  I am hoping for a Fox Sparrow as there has been many reports of several Fox sparrows having been seen in the province recently.

Also in our feeder area today were many Juncos, Mourning Doves, Chickadees, a few Song Sparrows and one male Downy Woodpecker and one male Hairy Woodpecker,  many Red-winged Blackbirds and just a few Common Grackles, and a Red Squirrel and a Gray Squirrel or two.

Another returing duck species sighting!

                                        This morning I found a male Common Merganser!

Spring Confirmed by Yesterday's Sightings!

Yes, it is spring despite the cold temperatures we have been experiencing and the snow covered ground seen on some recent mornings past.
Yesterday, in my own garden, I found my first wildflower bloom!  Wow!  I loved it!

 A Coltsfoot, shown above, and another soon to blossom as can be seen by the hint of yellow at the center core by the second growth to the right of the one in bloom!

And then, in the afternoon we saw our first Wood Duck pair of this spring season. 

  Wood ducks  are one of the most beautiful of duck species that I have seen.

                                                   The handsome male Wood Duck above.

                                                  The beautiful female wood Duck above.

 I was taking the photos from our truck and as soon as the ducks became aware of our presence they flew up and I managed to get this photo of the male taking flight.
Today I shall return to the pond and take my larger zoom lens , hoping that these ducks will be there again.

Goldeneye

I continue to monitor and look for new duck arrivals daily.,

                                                  Do you see its beautiful golden eye?, the source of its name?, and the facial white dot is so distinctive in identifying this species!

On Thursday,I found Goldeneye in my favourite roadside pond which I frequent daily.  It used to be that Goldeneye would be the first species that I found each spring, but the last few years it is Hooded Mergansers which have taken over the role of first species seen, along with Mallards and Black Ducks, so it was with absolute delight rhar I viewed this handsome male Goldeneye species on Thursday.  I have looked for it since but I guess it was a 'once viewing' occasion. However, maybe I will see him again today when I drive to the pond for my duck yearning viewing later this afternoon.

Juncos; newest arrivals in Bird Alley

The daily rollcall of returning birds to Bird Alley continues to brighten my days.  Yesterday a new species arrival: Slate-coloured Juncos, a little favourite that I haven't seen in quite a while,this species was  probably last seen in Bird Alley in the fall.

Yesterday's species roll call included: Juncos, one Song Sparrow, Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds and the frequent visitor, the little male Downy Woodpecker,

 

and many, many more handsome, colourful Grackles.

I wonder what today will bring? hopefully more sparrows and more little Juncos.

 

 

Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived

  Yesterday on April 5th, 2013 we had large numbers of Common grackles in our yard.  They were very skittish and flighty but by the end of the day I was able to approach our windows

without seeing a mass black sheet of fleeing birds blocking my view as they left en masse.  Also we saw our first Red-winged Blackbirds of the season as several were mixed in among the Grackles.
A glimpse out my windows this morning sees many Grackles feeding already today.
Yesterday we only had one Song Sparrow feeding in Bird Alley, as well as Chickadees and Blue Jays.  The jays haven't been around much recently. Yesterday we were able to count 8 Mourning Doves feeding in the Alley as well as one male Downy Woodpecker.

 

It must be spring: a Chipmunk!

 I was pleased to see another sign of spring earlier this week:  a Chipmunk in Bird Alley. Also on the same day , a small group of Grackles, although the Grackles are very flighty and I have not gotten any photos of them yet.

 I have also been finding Canada Geese recently, and that is a sure sign of spring for me.

The tomato plants that I have started inside are stretching their flimsy stems towards the sun in my windows and they are gaining height each day.  I have yet to find a Coltsfoot which is most often my first wildflower sighting.  My daughter had one in bloom in her yard as of last week, but then her area often boasts the first Coltsfoot sightings.  I have some that do grow in our yard, but that will be later.  It is too early for mine to be in bloom yet, but I continue to check for it daily.

 

Weasel and Male Hooded Merganser

On March 19th, 2013 I found my first duck of the season, a handsome male Hooded Merganser, and that is not all I found.  While taking pictures of the merganser in an open area of water 

 I spied a small brown animal running  in my direction on top of the thin ice edging the water area.  It was too big to be a groundhog, but it was brown with a bullet shaped head  when headed in my direction from my perspective of sitting in the car.  I was disappointed at first that I didn't get many  pictures  when I first saw it,but I was focusing on capturing  my first duck sighting.  I stayed parked in my car beside the pond for a while and it was then that I noticed the little brown animal again running over the ice alongside the shore.

                                        
There is a big drainage pipe in this area leading from the pond under the railroad embankment there.  The little creature was very frisky in its movements., Almost as if it were running and jumping for joy!  Sometimes it would slip into the water and swim into the drainage pipe as the Hooded Merganser did

 I finally was able to take many pictures.
 One overexposed picture gave me a clue as to what this little animal might be.  In the overexposed picture I was able to see that it had a black-tipped tail , like an ermine has in the winter when the rest of its fur is white.  An ermine is a winter version of a weasel and so I have identified this little animal as a weasel. I love these pictures.  I have seen ermine twice but never had been so lucky as to photograph a weasel.  Oh happy day it is that I am able to post weasel photos!