A Spotted Sandpiper at the pond's edge

I love dots and find them ever so delightful when seen on a Spotted Sandpiper's body. I was searching the pond's edges one sunny day last week hoping to find a Painted turtle sunning itself upon the pond's shores.  Here are a few pictures  of the Spotted Delight that I had seen.

I had meant to post these Sandpipers on Saturday Critters but the day got away from me before I had it organized and under control.  I am hoping to get some Swallowtail butterfly pictures next week as our lilac bush is in beautiful bloom and colour : all ready to receive S2wallowtail feeding guests.  Have a nice Sunday everyone.  Sunny with cloudy intervals here and a bit cool, not such a lovely day.

Cliff Swallows Gathering Mud for Nest building

Yesterday I noticed much active behaviour and wing fluttering of a small bird species around a mud puddle and decided to take some pictures to attempt to discover what was taking place.  It didn't take long to realize it was a small group of Cliff Swallows gathering mud to build a nest which I discovered in the eaves of a house nearby  where a cliff swallow house was being constructed.
The many pictures below need few words to describe the action.

Today I am linking with http://viewingnaturewitheileenblogspot.ca

Have a wonderful; holiday weekend folks.

Northern Shovelor

The Northern Shovelor is a duck that I don't often see, however, on Thursday of last week we saw about4 pairs feeding in weeds along the shoreline of the Saint John river at Sheffield.  At first we weren't sure what we were watching but the the size and shape of their bills left no doubt we were observing Shovelors.

                                          thisduck has a prominent ,wedge shaped bill

 

above , a male Northern Shovelor

                                                 wing spread of a male Northern Shovelor

                              two shovelors ( male and female?)

A Savannah Sparrow for Camera Critters

It has been several years since I have seen a Savannah Sparrow in Bird Alley, but this week I have had one or two feeding there. I didn't really see it until I had downloaded some  pictures of what I had thought was a White-throated sparrow.  I had been confused as both sparrow species have yellow lores and a white throat ( the savannah's white throat is not as noticeable as the White throated sparrow and the white median on the head of the savannah is not as strong as that of a white throated.  You can see by comparing the pictures that I post.  My first picture is of a Savannah Sparrow and you can see its yellow lores ( the region between the eye and the bill on the side of the bird's head.)

above , a Savannah Sparrow, notice the weak white medium( line) on its head.

Above is a white throated sparrow, notice the yellow lores and the strong white medians(lines) on its head and the white throateds as compared to the Savannah Sparrow.

Next , a couple more Savannah Sparrow pictures.

 

So there you are, Savannah Sparrows.  I hope I haven't confused you too much with my mention of White throated Sparrows.  I would be interested in knowing if others have seen Savannah Sparrows often?

I am linking this morning to Eileen's meme, Saturday Critters, which can be found at http://viewing naturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

 

Female Wood Duck

Words are not always necessary!

First Great Blue Heron Sighting

Welcome to the first day of May!  Isn't it wonderful!  I am beginning to see some of our old favourites that have returned!.  Saturday I caught a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron.  What magnificent birds they are!  The one I saw was in the midst of a tangle of bushes and twigs but nevertheless I was able to find it in the middle of the picture  below.

Can you see it in the middle.  Maybe the next picture will help.  I applied a bit of funky focus to help in seeing it!

 Yes, there it is.  Now lets have a better look at it.

Ta Da!

It is going to be a beautiful first day of May with warm temperatures forecast.  Have a wonderful day everyone.  We are planning on going to a favourite annual yard sale today.  I will probably buy lots of books and I am always hoping to find some fabric,  Then later in the day our son will be coming out for dinner.. Oh Happy day in May!!

A Red Fox for Camera Critters

We have been waiting and watching to see a Red Fox since February.  Finally we saw one yesterday while driving past a newly plowed field.  The fox looked like it was in good condition after enduring another winter.

 

 As it hunted over the field it was intent upon watching the ground, then to out luck it slightly changed direction and veared towards us as we were sitting in our parked truck allowing us a more frontal view for picture taking.

It had great black legs! 

I am linking this morning to Eileen's meme of viewing nature which can be found at; http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Male Goldfinches cming into their golden yellow Colour

We have lots of golden yellow male goldfinch today feeding at our niger seed feeder today. Below are three hanging on the feeder.

Also feeding with the Goldfinch are several Pine Siskins

You can see that some of the males are still growing their black head cap feathers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

The Ospreys are back for Camera Critters

We had known the Osprey were back this week as we had seen them flying over the river and also over our yard, however this afternoon we saw two of these beautiful birds on a new nest they had built.  A new platform had been built at this site as Ospreys nest here each year and we wondered if the returning Ospreys would accept an empty platform as an invitation to build a nest?  They did , as you can see their nest on the platform when I took pictures of it this afternoon.  My pictures were quite dark but I like in particular the pictures taken when one of the Ospreys were preparing to leave the nest.  The wings of the departing bird created a nice frame in the background for the osprey remaining on the nest.

How wonderful it is to see these fisher birds back for another season.

I am linking today to Eileen's Saturday Critters at Eileen's meme , which can be found at http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

A Painted Turtle and Coltsfoot

I love to find turtles in the early spring.  We have a pond area where I can often find a sunning Painted turtle resting on a rock, shoreline or extended branch leading into the water.  I found one such sighting earlier this week and was delighted to identify it as a beautiful Painted Turtle!

Also notable this week was my finding many Coltsfoot

wildflowers in bloom in our yard.  Coltsfoot is the first wildflower to bloom in our area.  Last evening I also saw many Dandelions in bloom at the foundation of our general store.  and although I haven't looked yet but I am confident I would find many Mayflowers in bloom today if and when I look.  I guess those will be photo topics for later this week or weekend.  This is such a beautiful sunny day I think I will go searching for Mayflowers after I hang my wash out on the clothesline.  Its a wonderful drying day!

Female Common Merganser

We have an observation deck in our community along the river and it offers lovely views.  Last evening around about 6 p.m. I drove to the observation area to see if I might find something in the river below I looked and spied a duck along the shoreline. The distance did not allow me to id the bird without a vision aid. However I had my 300 mm lens on my Nikon D5500 camera . After downloading my photos upon returning home, I saw that the duck in the river , all alone, none other around it ,was a female Commoin Merganser.  The red bill and lovely red head made this species easily identifiable.

female merganser near the shore

female merganser out in the fullness of the river mid-stream

Flock of Canada Geese for Saturday Critters

On Thursday of this week past we came upon a rather large flock of Canada Geese.  It was rather difficult to get a large group shot as they were scattered around and about and our truck was parked on the shoulder of a busy highway with me using  a partway rolleddown vehicle window  as a tripod. However I love singling out the beauty of the individual Canada and crop group shots a lot so there are a couple of individual portraits shown here crop carved from the large group.

 

 

 

I am linking today to Eileen's meme, viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Have a wonderful weekend folks.  The outdoors is calling me and I must hurry out.

 

 

 

Bohemian Waxwings for Saturday Critters

I have only seen one waxwing all winter but on Wednesday of this week we found a small flock.  We had gone into a Macdonalds for a coffee in Nashwaaksis and when we came out we saw a whole bunch of grey looking birds adjacent to where we had parked our truck where they were feeding on the ground.  As we approached them my husband asked "What kind of birds do you think they are"? And I responded, "It looks like a bunch of Mourning Doves.  His response, "You had better look again".. I did and to my surprise I recognized" Bohemian Waxwings!"  It doesn't get much better than this!

It was wonderful being able to see their distinctive features.

Its beautiful tufted head and the colouring on its face

The red wax on the tiop of its wings and the yellow tail

It is such a beautioful bird!

 

 

I am linking this morning to viewing nature with Eileen.blogspot.ca

Have a wonderful day everyone, Happy adventures in Nature!