dark, cloudy skydrama for Looking at the sky on Friday

A sudden change in the sky accompanied by thunder rolling overhead alerted me to a sudden possible storm approaching but that was all that happened; the: sky did not cry. I didn't feel or experience any rainy sky tears. An hour or so later the sky returned to blue overhead, but it rained overnight as the ground is wet this morning. But thunder and rain showers are forecast for later this afternoon, we shall see. Happy Friday to all. We have newly returned bird visitors in bird Alley this morning, three White- throat d Sparrows.  And, yes, their pictures will be posted later

Wood Ducks for outdoor Wednesday

Of the photos I managed to get yesterday, this one above is my favourite, clearly showing the white eye of the female.and, in the photo below is the very colourful handsome male with his very distinctive markings

Usually I expect to find Wood Ducks on water, because they are ducks! But I have on occasion found Wood ducks perched in trees. This is not so unusual as Wood Ducks nest in tree cavities. I love finding a Wood duck in a tree! These photos below from my photo archives.Shown below is part of the wonder one can find outdoors!a male Wood Duck in a tree

a female Wood Duck perched on a tree branch

I've been hoping to get some pictures of these Wood Ducks lately, although this year they seem to very elusive. Yesterday I found these five shown above;three handsome males and two white eyed female beauties. The pond water they were in appeared quite brown, the water probably has been stirred up by recent rain. This pond (shown above)used to part of a magnificent beaver dam. The dam has sincebeen successfully dismantled a few years ago due to possible danger of the pond overflowing onto the road or its surroundings. So far this year, I have found two great blue heron at this location and one kingfisher. I usually check out this pond every day. My special mayflower location is just a short distance up the road from the pond.. maybe I will look for the mayflowers there today

Outdoor Wednesday is a delightful meme that invites you to share the outdoors with others. The theme encompasses the outdoors, a topic within the theme of your choosing. to learn more of this meme or to share your view of the outdoors please click on the 'outdoor Wednesday' logo on the right of this page. Happy Wednesday outoor gathering to all

A Red-backed Salamander for Ruby Tuesday

When my husband overturned a rock he called to me. "I found a little red snake!", but it wasn't so for to first appearances and conclusions we were mistaken, for snakes do not have legs and this little salamander does.)Please double click on the picture above to see its legs!

.It spends most of its lifetime under rocks. The red-backed Salamander does not have lungs as most salamanders do and you can learn more about this little salamander by clicking HERE
"Home Sweet Home among and under rocks". This little salamander does not live in water!

Happy Ruby Tuesday to all. Ruby Tuesday is a meme hosted by Mary, the Teach, that celebrates red. To see more contributions to this meme or to share your own red for
Ruby Tuesday please click on the HIGHLIGHTEDRuby Tuesdaywords on this page .

Shovelling Water!

No I'm not chasing it. I am standing on the highway in front of it with my camera. I was very happy to find these Northern Shovelors today. I haven't seen any recently or during the last couple of years. They are ducks 'in migration" I think their brown colour is so rich and beautiful; I was so pleased that this duck raised itself up, out of the water so we could get a better look of its full bodied colour, looking like a . a moist earthy colour to me and their big shovel- like bill is is interestingto see and so very helpful to them as they forage for food.
Hurry, hurry, I'm not going to harm you,I'll only take your picture at Jemseg, N. B.

Mayflowers for Today's Flowers

Mayflowers (Trailing Arbutus)

While standing alongside an old dirt woods road I couldn't believe my eyes when I thought I saw little white flowers at the wood's edge. But I did see them!!
. I soon recognized them as Mayflowers (Trailing Arbutus), a most beautifully scented little wildflower. I have a favourite location where I find them each year, which I shall have to check on this week to see if thy are in bloomthere yet, but this is early for me to find such blossoms. Now I have another location to check on each year. As a young girl my best friend always seemed to find spring blossoms first, but now I know where to look and can share my exclusive information with others. It is such a joy to find wildflowers in bloom!. Next , I hope to find a purple trillium or a trout lily in bloom. It is wonderful to go for a woods walk with such a purpose. I am all the more richer today because of this Mayflower find this afternoon.
Thank you to Luiz,and Denise of Todays Flowers, for this opportunity to share beautiful flowers with others. For more flower photos please click HERE.

My find of the day; a Kingfisher for Camera Critters

Its early , but they're back! A wonderfu sighting in place of the Wood Ducks I didn't find this morning. This is a pond with a lot of potential, I saw two great blue herons here earlier this week. Do you see their pictures? No!!!

Camera Critters is a meme that features critters, any kind, any size. To see more of this meme please click on the CC logo which can be found on the right sidebar on this page. A happy weekend to all.

A second red fox sighting of the week

I was fortunate to have seen a red fox earlier this week[ please scroll down fot the posting of it] and didn't think that luck held another sighting for me again so soon:, but yesterday we had stopped by a flooded area along a roadside where we had seen two Wood Ducks swimming, so hoping for a picture of this most beautifulduck species we had stopped and were sitting in our parked vehicle when my husband looked up and saw a fox running along the side of the road towards us. When we started our vehicle it [the fox]suddenly turned and ran up the roadside that it had been running on. The pictures are not too close but this is the best I could get. We followed it up the road
.

Dashing for safety and maybe to cache its food., to save it for another day,
It's best to run away.

My husband had seen that it had something large size, duck- size? in its mouth In the above photo you can see that the fox has something in its mouth but it is not too distinct; it might look more like a shadow to you.
Shortly the fox left the roadside and disappeared over the edge, As we pulled alongside the location where it had disappeared it was just standing there looking at us. It no longer had anything in its mouth. We figured it probably had hidden it somewhere. This wasn't much of an adventure, but we found it rather exciting.

What a great week having had two red fox sightings!

Finding Beauty for Friday

. The essential features of the countryside, sky, water , green grass and trees all combine to create pastoral beauty in this setting.

Friday: Finding Beauty is essentially that, find it! share it with a photograph! and go to the meme Friday:Findind Beauty by clicking on the logo for this meme on the right sidebaron this page. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. Take your camera with you today.!

Looking at the sky on Friday

telegraph pole

street light on hydro pole

long arm street light

Crocus in bloom, spring growth for Thursday Challenge

Like a Lovely lady wearing a frilly gown

You're just a little tardy for the spring opening party,
While keeping in step like a graceful lilt showing your yellow frill under your white overskirt as the breezes blow:

You bring graceful beauty to my gardens!
I enjoy and celebrate your presence.

To learn more of Thursday Challenge and and this week's theme of green and spring growth please click on the crocus photo on the right sidebar on this page. Have a great day!

A Red Fox for Outdoor Wednesday

A solitary hunter
steathily browsing through dried grasses
preying for a mouse or vole,
hungry red fox



Outdoor Wednesday is a delightful meme thst invites you to share the outdoors with others. The theme encompasses the outdoors, a topic within the theme of your choosing. to learn more of this meme or to share your view of the outdoors please click on the 'outdoor Wednesday' logo on the right of this page. Happy Wednesday outoor gathering to all.

RedFlowers on a Red Maple for Ruby Tuesday

. We have two very old Maple trees standing alongside our driveway

They are aflame with colour this time of year when they produce red flowers. Soon, our driveway will be carpeted with red as the flowers drop to the ground. On Sunday evening I tried to take a picture of a distant sunset while standing on our second story deck,The light from the setting sun was a wonderful backdrop for this picture and it highlighted the 'red'maple flowers.Happy Ruby Tuesday to all. Ruby Tuesday is a meme hosted by Mary, the Teach, that celebrates red. To see more contributions to this meme or to share your own red for
Ruby Tuesday please click on the Ruby Tuesday icon on this page on the right hand side.

Tree Swallows- They're Back!

Their cheerful noisy bird chatter alerted us to their presence! This is early for Tree Swallows and usually they are around for about a week before we see that thay have entered the bird house. Not so this year. Tthere was one inside the house already this morning.Fortunately the bird house had been prepared: cleaned and painted last week in anticipation of their arrival!We think it helps to advertise. This sign was made by our creative daughter Riel Nason several years ago. It has worked every year as we always have occupancy and we have enjoyed these lovely birds around our garden each spring/summer season ever since we put the house up several years ago.Welcome Back feathered Friends!

Crocus , Juniper and sun pillars for Mellow Yellow Monday

I had been hoping that this crocus blossom would be fully open for today:but maybe later. Our temperatures have been quite cool lately without a lot of bright sunshine. But when fully open there will be many beautiful blossoms. However there is more yellow in my garden. We have several Coltsfoot plants still in bloom and this hardy, early wildflower has spread to another garden, which I consider to be a wonderful happening.We also have many Juniper shrubs which are tinged with yellow. This is not a negative thing but a choice we made when we bought these Junipers with yellow foliage. they are quite beautiful to see with their golden branches.

And last for my yellow theme for this morning, but definitely not least are these gorgeous golden sun pillars which I photographed last night radiating from a break in the clouds at suns I do dislike wires so much!I do dislike wires so much!

Happy Monday to all! To view a wonderful variety of yellow-themed photos from other bloggers around the world, just click on the link below
mellow yellow

A rainbow outside my window for scenic sunday

Its softly filtered but if you look carefully you can see a rainbow in the sky. This is rather special as it is seen through a new bay window we had installed in our dining room earlier this week. If I had of seen it earlier it would have been much better, but oh well, another time view will have to do.

Scenic Sunday is an opportunity to share your scenic surroundings with others. To learn more of this meme or to share your own contribution please click on the scenic Sunday icon on the right of this page. Have a great Sunday everyone.

Shadow Shot Sunday

I have never noticed this view of the end my house before, from inside looking out. Its like a drawing a child would make. No, no smoke from the chimney, that chimney has been purposely blocked of f for years, before we bought the house..

To learn more of Shadow Shot Sunday and perhaps to make your own contribution please click on the icon on the right sidebar of this page to go to the meme homepage. Happy Shadow watching to all