Crocus sprouts for Mellow Yellow Monday

Some of you might have to bend your imaginations a bit to see the yellow here, can you see the yellow colour in the middle sprout? I am definitely in a spring readiness mode, especially when I spied these Crocus sprouts in my garden yesterday. They weren't here last week when this bed was still covered with snow, but determination is a wonderful source of renewal and these sprouts glow with healthy colour of new growth. One of my planned chores for this week is to buy some seeds and potting soil to begin some inside plants. Especially on my mind is to have yellow tomatoes in my garden this summer, that is what I want to get started this week.
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

Reflections of Canada Geese for Scenic Sunday

What a treat it was yesterday to come upon this small flock of Canada Geese all lined up on an ice floe showing their reflections in the Saint John River .

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Hummingbird shadows for Shadow Shot Sunday

I had posted pictures of this fence in late summer or early fall about the time my husband had finished it, Plese click on the fence picture on the right sidebar to read more about this fence.I have been looking at it all winter on sunny days wondering about shadows but did not walk across the deep snow on our side lawn to check it out as it was a difficult challenge,

The snow surface has now hardened and I can cross the lawn easily on the hardened surface and when I peeked behind the fence it was as I had suspected!Hummingbird shadows on the snow! It was worth the wait until I could check it out!

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

Getting the day started right with birds!

What a treat when looking out at Bird Alley this morning to see a bit of colour rather than the usual Goldfinch grayish winter brown. A rosy male Purple Finchwas feeding on the ground with the Goldfinch. Its been a long time, Buddy Bird, Welcome!
Feeling a bit optimistic after seeing the purple finch I collected my car keys and headed out the door to my favourite open water area. In a field adjacent to the water I saw several Canada geese feeding there. Wow, no matter how many times I see them I find them exciting and beautiful to look at. What do you think? It was a small grouping. There were only about 8-10 of them there.

I think this weekend might prove to be rather visually delightful. I hope so. Now for a Robin and a Common Grackle. My Grackle sighting is overdue!... maybe today?

Weekend Reflections of springing forward

How I wish I could say this was a recent picture, but it is from my photo archives.Upon reflection I used to see Goldeneye at this location each spring for many years, but I haven't for the last couple. Perhaps there are no recent migrants to remember this location. I keep checking here each day but perhaps I should discontinue the search as perhaps the only memory of their presence here (there) is mine! The beautiful take off reminds me to say "spring forward, don't forget to put your clocks ahead an hour tonight!
Weekend Reflections: a meme where you can view beautiful reflections captured by others. Just click on the logo on the right to see what others have captured with their cameras. Today promises to be a fine sunny one, I hope you fare as well with your weekend weather.

Four Gray Jays

I actually found some birds today "in the wild!" I used to do this a lot, but such discovery has been quite a missing factor in my birding experiences recently. I was driving along an old wooded road when I saw two birds showing a lot of white as they flew across the road and landed in a tree. I stopped my truck and was going to get out and stand beside it to take a picture. That is until I hear a barrage of noisybarking! from a dooryard nearby my truck.That scary sound influenced me to change my mind right away So I decided to be satisfied with what I could take through the windshield.
I was quite satisfied with my find for the day, when on the way home I saw a bird with a round fat tummy hopping on a lawn.( A Robin crossed my mind, but I hadn't seen any red, just white on the head! I drove on until I could find a place to turn, then drove back to my sighting location where I found two more Gray Jays. The Gray Jay above had a nicely rounded tummy and it had been hopping Robin- like!
One stayed while the other flew off so I drove down the road and turned again. When I got back I was able to get a picture of the Gray Jay that had flown as it was perched in a tree on the lawn. It looks like it has something in its mouth.

I have seen Gray Jays in this area before, but have experienced very few sightings this winter. so I was quite happy to have seen these four today.

Special spring hot spots to anticipate

This is a special place on the Oromocto river locally known as "The Gaspereau Falls". It takes its name from the multitude of Gaspereau that are very active in this area usually during the month of May when they make their way upriver to return the place of their beginnings to spawn. You can usually tell when these fish are 'running' by the cries of the gulls which gather there to catch the Gaspereau as they try to make it up over the falls. This is a very active place in the spring. The river is already quite open at the falls. I eagerly await the annual Gaspereau Run as its a wonderful photo opportunity.

Looking out my window for Outdoor Wednesday

Cedar waxwings
American Goldfinch
These pictures pretty well the sum total of my window watching birding recently, I should perhaps add a picture of a Crow and a Mourning Dove to make the sightings report more accurate. I am hoping soon to see a Grackle or a Red-winged Blackbird and a Robin, for in the past springs they have brought excitement to my inside viewing while standing in my living room. This has been a very poor winter for birding excitement from inside. Several years ago we put a bay window in our living room after, having bought a 100 year old house that needed some remolding and renovations we planned our new windows with a twofold purpose.(lighting and birding) We have replaced most of the windows in our house and shall finish with replacing them all in a few weeks for we have plans of a new bay window in our dining room. I am quite excited with all of the possibilities for more birding from inside that it will offer. Now for the birds to return to their cycle of frequent visiting and to find my binoculars.
Hairy Woodpecker
Black -capped Chickadee
Northern Shrike

Outdoor Wednesday is a delightful meme where you can enjoy almost any aspect of outdoors. This meme offers a wide choice of topic. To view contributions of others or to post your own contribution, please click on the Outdoor Wednesday pic on the right sidebar on this page and enjoy. A Happy Wednesday wish to all.

A viewing suggestion: A new blog by my son,Davis, to view and to "listen" to as he shares his songs.: please click the icon on the top right or : http:// share the songs. blogspot. com/

Thinking about cats!

Breakwater Cat

This is a repeat post from February 2008. It must be a very harsh difficult life for a cat in the winter wildliving on its own. We buy cat food and put it in dish on our doorstep. Every now and then we see a feline wanderer in cross our yard. We used to have cats but not since Brave the 'best cat in the world',days ended The cat in these pictures looks a lot like Brave did. I shall have to look up some old pictures to post some day.
Can you see it? I didn't right away but my husband did. At first; finding this black and white cat sitting among the black and white and gray rocks of this ocean breakwater was as difficult as finding a white rabbit in the winter on a snowbank!
What a handsome cat this was! Perhaps it is a feral cat, a creature of the wild? It had a bit of an unkempt, wild air about it; or perhaps it was just out for a daily hunt and lived at the house just up around the bend.

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Perhaps a Short- tailed Shrew

At first I was calling this little creature seen in the photo above a mole or a vole. I had thought it might be a vole as I know voles make tunnels under the snow and live in them during the winter. I had seen this little shrew a couple of times in Bird Alley as I had watched it dash over the surface of the snow and then disappear down a hole in the snow. It was always so fast I had despaired of ever being able to get a picture of it, but Saturday when refilling the bird feeders I had accidentally dropped some seeds on the snow surface under the feeder. The shrew had found them there and stopped to feed and then disappeared in its snow tunnel and then returned to feed a few times again.I considered myself to have been so lucky to be standing there by my window with my camera After downloading the photos I noticed its pink snout and feet. It nose didn't look like vole pictures I had looked at. After some more researching I found a website with pictures more similar to mine. I have concluded that this busy little creature is perhaps a ' short-tailed shrew or a shrew of some kind'. How interesting!.! The little creatures that share our earth with us are so fascinating!.You can learn more about this little shrew by goggling 'short- tailed shrew' . I hope you enjoy the short video I have included below which shows the little creature in action disappearing back into its hole in the snow.

Feeling Blissful in Blissville

above a handsome male Hooded Merganser
above a pair of Hooded Mergansers at Blissville

I found them this morning in Blissville. What a handsome pair they were!: Hooded Mergansers. "YES, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus"! "I believe" "Spring is definitely on the way!" My first duck sighting of spring is always a very special event for me! It is reassurance that winter is on its way out and that the birds are returning. Change is about in the land! The cycle is continuing. At this time last year I was spending most of my days sitting in a wheelchair looking out of a hospital window while recovering from a stroke. In a way I missed spring last year and most of its magical happenings. That is why today's sighting was so "blissful" when I saw these very beautiful ducks this morning in Blissville. It was reassurance of a belief that "Life is good". The cycles of nature and the returning ducks fulfill a promise of renewal and continuation. This is just a beginning. There is so much ahead of us to celebrate in the coming season. Enjoy Nature. It is intoxicating in its beauty and surprises!

My favourite pond for scenic Sunday

Now that most of the ice has gone, I check here almost everyday at this my favourite pond for my first sight or sign of returning ducks, However, none so far. But I haven't checked yet today!, but here I go!. I will post photo results when I find my own particular sort of spring magic floating there.

To view more photos of Scenic Sunday, please click on the logo in the sidebar on the roght. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Shadows within a covered bridge for Shadow Shot Sunday

I took a detour today on my way home from the drugstore to take this picture. It is a lovely old covered bridge and I always enjoy driving through it.This is the Patrick Owen Covered Bridge at Rusagonis, New Brunswick.

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. Ann

A Northern Shrike for Camera Critters

AT first it seemed to be floundering in the bushes seen behind it, I had noticed movement and because of its size thought it might be a Blue Jay, but when it righted itself and perched on the rounded metal trellis a glance brought 'Mocking Bird' to mind for there is strong similarity in appearance between a Mocking Bird and a Northern Shrike. Bird Alley was completely devoid of birds except for the Shrike , but it stayed for perhaps A full minute before flying off.It couldn't have chosen a more perfect backdrop than if it had been posed in a nature studio. The muted shades of the overcast sky and the wintry white outdoors of muted shades of black, white and gray matched the bird perfectly!What a healthy , handsome looking bird this was. It appears to have wintered well!
Cmaera 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.

Weekend reflections of an ice floe

There is lots of activity going on in our rivers daily with the breaking up of rivers and the movement of ice floes.
Earlier this week I spied this reflection on one of the floes in the river. Also reflected were some dark tree branches of the trees which were alongside the stream. In February 2008 I did a post on my reflections of the river ice moving out. The break up of a river is always a dramatic event. I have included much of the 2008 post below. please enjoy!

Personifications of a River Break-Up

As a child, the time of the 'ice going out' was always an anticipated event.

I can remember my brothers and I lined up by the old fence on the top of the hill; watching and listening to the drama of the powerful ice floes floating by in the river below.

This time of year, when the end of a long, cold, snowy winter is in sight; the changes taking place in the river ice are always strong reminders that there is definitely a seasonal change in the air.

The River Break Up

Pelting rains and furious winds
spurned slothful winter

and woodland streams swelled their banks
with prideful freedom

while disintegrating river ice abandoned its frozen grasp
and stretched its icy fingers towards the shore


geometric ice shapes played
layering and shuffling games

while jockeying for positions
along the swollen river banks

as tranquil mainstream remained in its solidity
reflecting in the strengthening afternoon sun

hillside grasses and dry stalks overlooked the changing scene
while springtime memories stirred in their roots

and jubilant waves and rushing rapids
raced down the river and disappeared around the bend.

source: http://naturetales.blogspot.com/2008/02/personifications-of-river-break-up.html


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