A Great Spangled Fritillary for Saturday Critters

I know I can always find fritillaries at a certain Milkweed Patch, however I am also quite sure that sadly I will not find any Monarch butterflies there, So with my eyes scanning the Milkweed leaves in hopes of seeing a Monarch caterpillar, I am excited when I find some beautiful Great Spangled Fritillaries feeding there as I just did this morning.

I am linking this morning to Eileen's Saturday's Critters at viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

the pattern on a Chipmunks back for Thursday's Challenge

We are blessed with a view on nature when standing in our living room, However we encourage nature a bit by providing food for the taking for the many and varied visiting creatures.  Just last week we spied this beautiful striped Chipmunk helping itself to a newly filled cage feeder and I had left the top off of the inside cylinder so that the Chipmunk was easily reaching the food. The 5 stripes
pattern on the Chipmunk's back adds much to the pleasing visual beauty of the feeding creature.

                       

.I am linking today to Thursday'sChallenge.  Today's theme is: "NEAT" (Orderly, Tidy, Trim, Uniform Pattern, Clean,...)

If you wish to contribute to Thursday's Challenge today you can find the linkup at www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Camera Critters at the Milkweed Patch

One of my favourite places at this time of year is to visit a milkweed Patch.  A variety of flying creatures can be found there, and each day the group visiting there may change. 
Just the  other day I found one of my favourite warblers there.  A male Common Yellowthroat, but because of its black mask like feature  over its eyes We have nicknamed this warbler;

The Lone Ranger- bird

The main reason why I am enticed to a Milkweed patch is in the hopes that I might see a Monarch butterfly; and for sure I often see many Cabbage White butterflies there as shown below. there and also often Swallowtail butterflies, shown below, can be found there,

y there. I have seen no Monarchs there lately. A Milkweed Patch can also be quite buggy, with creatures such as this fellow which takes its name from this location.  This Red and Black Milkweed Beetle ( see below) is often present along with other bugs, bees and wasps.

 Other winged creatures around a Milkweed patch are often dragonflies, Sorry I didn't take the time to id this one.

I am linking today to Eileen's Saturday Camera Critters if I'm not too late for the link at:.viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

A Monarch Butterfly for Saturday Critters

Last year we didn't see any, but yesterday we saw two. I almost didn't believe our sighting but I took several pictures and when I downloaded them I said to myself, "Yes, a Monarch butterfly.
There are two milkweed patches in my area that I like to visit often when the milkweed is in bloom. Not all blossoms are now out , but many are.  I am hoping that I will be able to find a Monarch butterfly caterpillar and bring it home and watch it as it goes through its metamorphosis process. I have done this two or three times already and its magical!

I am linking today to viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.ca

Snapping Turtle Laying Eggs

Its that time of year again and the search is on to find Snapping Turtles laying eggs.  I had searched yesterday morning, looking for turtles but had , had no luck.  However today was my lucky day. I was almost ready to give up and go home when I saw a turtle walking toward my car along the roadside.

There was no action to see other than the turtle wandering around and a couple of times tried to cross the highway, however I directed traffic calling attention to the turtle on the road by gesturing toward it  and drivers caught on, saw the turtle and avoided hitting it.  I took a few pictures of the turtle nosing around on the edge of the roadside.

    These huge reptiles are big, ancient  , pretty ugly looking things; but I still find it fascinating when their rhythms of nature can be tracked every year.  After my first turtle sighting I went home and downloaded my pictures and then went down to the river area again AND  this time I found a turtle laying its eggs in a hole dug in the sand alongside the roadside.  Wow!!! What a lucky day I was having!  The exciting thing about this second sighting was that I got a picture of a turtle egg being dropped into the hole it had dug.  As soon as the egg dropped the turtle immediately put its hind legs in motion to draw sand from the sides of the hole to cover the eggs it had laid.

                 The turtle egg is the round, white ball in the center of the picture above.  Good job Mama Turtle!!!
I shall mark September 20th on my calendar as a reminder to check on the possible hatching of  this nest site.  The average incubation period for these newly laid eggs will be about 90 days!

                                     Above the turtle can be seen covering its eggs nest with a sweeping motion of its strong, powerful hind legs.

Finally a female ruby-trhroated Hummingbird

We have been watching our hummingbird feeder hopefully waiting for a female hummingbird to show up and finally , earlier this week we saw both a male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding at our feeder.. "Oh Happy Day"

male hummingbird feeding on the left and a female hummingbird feeding on the right.

!

American Toad

Garter Snake

I don't often see snakes ad so I was rather pleased ( Not that I like snakes) to see one in my yard earlier this week. The striped body suggested to me that it was a Garter Snake and I feel quite confident identifying it as such.

shown above the Garter snake, head and body

above , the head of the Garter Snake.  I like its yellow eye!

Bye, bye snake . I shall be watching for you during the  coming summer months.( please do not creep up upon me in surprise!, as you might frighten me!)

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

We have seen few ruby-throated Hummingbirds this year.  Usually the sightings are plentiful and we enjoy watching their visits to the feeds in sight of our windows.  But this year their visits are quite infrequent.  In fact I bought a new feeder and hung it in full view of our dining room window over a week ago. this morning was the first time I saw a hummingbird feeding at the new feeder.  Go figure? Following are a few of the best Hummingbird p[pictures I have been able to get so far this spring.

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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