Just an average day in Bird Alley

                              

 I decided yesterday morning to take a picture of every bird species visiting bird alley.  It was slow at first until my husband called me to see all of the Red-winged Blackbirds under a bird feeder..  They were quite skittish and moved often as soon as I approached the window, However, they soon settled in and started perching in the trees in Bird Alley.  There didn't seem to be any females among them. Later in the afternoon I put bird food on an old patio table and the blackbirds collected there, as many as seven at one time  Of course the regular daily bird species such as Blue Jays, Mourning Doves and Black capped Chickadees didn't disappoint

  

And much to my delight I spied a American Robin on a tree branch.  I got my stocking feet all wet when going out on an upstairs deck to get a closer picture but the beauty of its red breast was worth it I think.

Yesterday was the second day in the past couple of weeks that an American Goldfinch stopped by.  It has such a sweet looking appearance.  I put out some Nyger seed after its first visit but it hasn't found it yet.  I think I will buy a Nyger seed sack feeder for it and hope that its visits become a daily occurrence.

And last, but certainly not least is this White-breasted Nuthatch.  It has been a faithful visitor

for the last few days and I am starting to count on it to show up daily.  Some days there are two of them.

And now, the morning light is now becoming quite strong so it is time to move to my windows overlooking Bird Alley to see who or what the day brings.  Having such a feature as Bird Alley certainly adds appreciation and anticipation to my day.  Lets see what species are visiting today.  Maybe there will be a surprise visitor.  

A pair of Northern Cardinals in Bird Alley today!

Only once before  have I ever been able to photograph a pair of Northern Cardinals together.
Today I was able to do that again.  We had a pair of Cardinals visiting our feeders again and they were both at the same feeder at the same time.  They also shared the same tree.  
                             

 

In the above photo the female cardinal is upside down.

 A few snow flurries in the air helped to winterize the scene.

  

White-throated Sparrow in Bird Alley

Bird Alley was quite busy this morning with a lot of feeding birds such as: Junco, White-breasted Nuthatches ( two of them) Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, and a Song Sparrow, But the best surprise was a White-throat-ed Sparrows. It has been a long while since I have seen this species.

a Porcupine in a Tree

On Tuesday we went to the Irving Nature Park in Saint John . We decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk and as we started to leave the parking lot we noticed some people with a camera and they were excited about what they were seeing. We

looked also and immediately Saw what was causing all of the excitement! There was a Porcupine in a Mountain Ash tree there which was loaded with beautiful red berries./ The Porcupine was eating the berries! The porcupine was savouring the berries!

When it finished the bunch of berries it had been eating it reached for more.

I continued to take its pictures as we observed it in the tree. The pictures reveal some of the characteristics of the porcupine; such as its colourful orange teeth, it short, stubby nose and its claws.

Song Sparrow in Bird Alley

Bird Alley has seemingly been a bit inactive recently and so when looking out yesterday and seeing two Song Sparrows foraging about the ground foliage I was very pleased. I shall be watching for these two today with my camera ready a

nd I assume I shall also see Blue Jays and Robins around the larger ares of our dooryard.

A Happy Halloween to all

We think that our black cat Shakey is pretty special and this year he has decided to wear a Black cat costume. Here is what he looks like

Bircam fun in Bird Alley with Bluejays

I haven't used my bird cam much this past summer in Bird Alley, however after having refilled our feeders on Tuesday We were rewarded with quite a few hungry bird visitors and I decided to try to capture some of the action.  Due too foraging nighttime raccoon visitors we do not  often leave a lot of enticing birdseed around during the summer for the raccoons as they are such a nuisance.
Yesterday I captured quite a bit of interesting action with the birdcam.  We have quite a few performing Bluejays flipping thrpuigh the sunflower seeds as can be viewed below.

 
Three bluejays feeding together

A Fast Moving Red-breasted Nuthatch for Thursday's Challenge

A Red-breasted Nuthatch at our feeder in Bird Alley.

The theme for this week's Thursday Challenge is "blurry". When I took this photo on Tuesday of a Red-breasted Nuthatch speeding away from our bird feeder I knew I had my photo representing "blurry"!

Blurry is this week's photographic theme for Thursday's Challenge. To view more photos posted on this theme, or to join in on the fun yourself, just 'click' on the highlighted name:

Transition period from summer to autumn

Transition

Yes, I know, the calendar dates now say fall, however our daylight hours recently have been filled with unexpected lovely warm temperatures.  and although our woodlands are being filled with gorgeous colours of the changing leaves  on the trees along our roadsides, our flower beds still contain beautiful colour and growth as well.

The End of Summer

The shuddering wind shook my house
Forgetting to whisper in its summer voice
It boisterously shouted; Jesting in its autumnal tones of summer's end!

Cormorant

The first Cormorant that I saw  in 2013 was this morning, standing on a rock in the Oromocto River at Tracy.  I usually see Cormorants each summer but this was my first sighting this year. Perhaps it is in migration, just taking a rest on its way through the area.

repost of Baby Snapping Turtles Hatching

The hatching of Baby Snapping turtles has always been a popular post so I have decided to repost this post of October 2, 2008.  This year we had  been  hoping to see baby turtles hatching again and had in mind that the date would possibly be around September 24th.  However a check at the egg laying site a week ago indicated from two exit holes there that the babies had already hatched so we missed them again this yeart.  It is not always so east to be so lucky as to be able to see the actual hatching take place , so this post was one of extraordinary luck and it was a wonderful event to be opresent at and to observe.  I do hope you enjoyt this repost!

We had hoped we might be lucky this fall and would get to see a few baby Snapping Turtles emerging from their nest sites at locations where we had seen adult Snapping Turtles laying their eggs in June, earlier this year. We had seen this occurrence a couple of times before but this year found only remnants of shells scattered about where the nests had been. At least three nest sites had been dug up and destroyed by some four legged creature.
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What follows is a description of what we had seen on October 1st, 2000, eight years ago. The pictures, which don`t show a lot of sharp details were taken with my first digital camera which had less than one megapixel, however I feel they are photos worth sharing.

Hello world!

October 1, 2008:
" It looks like you got there at just the right time. Gritty looking bunch, aren't they? It had been so long that you were watching the nest I thought you must have missed your chance ."
Those comments which I had received from my son, after having sent him some of the pictures I had taken of twenty baby Snapping Turtles emerging from their nest reflected my thoughts also; for after having watched the nest site since the laying the eggs on JUNE 27, 2000; I too began to think that perhaps we had missed the hatching.

However on OCTOBER 1, 2000, I arrived at the nest site at exactly the right moment to see a baby Snapping Turtle emerge at 5:51 pm. My last picture was taken at 7:19 pm of turtles number nineteen and twenty both coming out of the hole in the ground. We think that maybe the first one to leave the nest was the one that I had observed upon my arrival. We had kept checking the nest site since about 2:45 pm that day; as an enlarging hole in the sand had been detected by our neighbours, who had also had become members of our turtle watch team. The monitoring of the nest site had taken on a special focus for us and became a reason for a morning walk most days during the summer months. I didn't really expect to experience the exact moment in time of the hatching, but at least thought I could perhaps make note of the time when/if the possible destruction of the nest may have occurred by predators, or perhaps could have noted when the babies might have emerged from their nest by signs of soil disturbance at the nest site.
I didn't know what to expect but discovered that one hole of about 1 1/2" in diameter was the exit for all of the turtles. And as my son had commented, they certainly were a gritty looking bunch, as they were covered with sand as they came out of the hole.
As they dried off a bit in the late afternoon sun the details of the shell could be detected, and the distinctive serrated edge at its shell back could be easily observed. I noticed a couple of them open their mouths. They emerged one at a time with a few minutes between each appear -ance; however the last couple or so seemed to come out closer together. They were so tiny! To visualize their size; place a Canadian two dollar coin in your hand and that would be comparable to their shell size. Then add to the coin size; a head, four legs and a tail slightly longer than the diameter of the coin.

Our vigil ended as darkness approached and the last two baby snapping turtles slowly made their way over the embankment that the female turtle had climbed in June to reach the nest location where she had laid the eggs. This certainly was a unique experience that we were so very fortunate to have observed.

Hello Fall Welcome Back

 Hello Fall

You're back early this year
or does it just seem that way to me?
I've seen the advance notices of your coming

The leaving of the Hummingbirds
an early Junco in Bird Alley the other day
Song Sparrows foraging about in foliage tunnels
of undergrowth in overgrown corners of the bower

Autumn winds whisper change
as they energize the tall summer grasses
and damselflies cling and sway
to ancient choreographed rhythms

The woods and roadsides are scattered with Asters
beautiful blues accenting the late summer Goldenrod
and fluttering Cabbage Whites and Common Yellows
 

flit about in the afternoon sun with programmed purpose

My garden is full of mature colour
deep yellows and pinks of Coneflowers
vibrant reds of Bee Balm and Celosia
and skyblue Morning Glories

as the process of regeneration begins anewseed pods filled with determination for next year's renewal

 
are replacing blooms on annuals
and blossoms fade as somber browns emergeOur neighbor's apple trees fringing our back yard
message enticement with their rosy ripenesswhile baby turtles tunnel their way to the surface
 



from egg filled nests laid during warm June days

Frogs now grown
bask in the strong afternoon sun
and acknowledge my presence with 'bleeps'
as they leap into the tranquil pond waters

Encroaching early evening darkness
proclaims a departure of long summer days
and the reds and yellows and oranges of turning leaves
trumpet your return.... Welcome back!