Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

My morning started well with a sighting of the beaver, just before it disappeared under the water as it  headed home for the day. Its schedule is nocturnal, as is mine: Just beside the parking area at Lakeside Park is the Greenbrook water treatment plant. It is surrounded by a fence, trees and shrubs and that is where I spent almost my entire morning. I had no need to move at all. There was something special about one fir tree in particular which was attracting lots of attention. First I heard and then saw the young kingbirds in that tree. They have finally left their home in the highest tree at the park I could fill this post with photos of the kingbirds; they were everywhere, and I took so many, but more interesting is my first photo of a tiny hummingbird on the same fir tree. Not my first sighting, as I saw them much earlier in the year, collecting nesting material from last year's reed heads, but I was unable to take any photos then: There were young Baltimo...

Last comes first in this post. The last thing which I took a photo of this morning, were these hairy, white caterpillars which I almost rode into on my way back from Lakeside Park. They were suspended from a black walnut tree, right over the trail, at head height. There were lots of gossamer threads strung from that tree, all with their own abseiling caterpillars, which were wriggling a dazzling dance in the sunlight: If there is such a thing as a deluge of birds, then I experienced it this morning. I was literally surrounded at one point, with woodpeckers, the northern flicker, a nuthatch, chickadees, young robins etc. And as usual, I missed more photo opportunities than I took. Here is another photo of a juvenile baltimore oriole with what looks like a grasshopper in its grasp: A female rose-breasted grosbeak, which I had to include even though the pose and photo quality are not that good: This young bird, which I had to use my Merlin app to identify as a young warblin...

Berries are the theme for this post. Partway up the kingbirds tree, this little chipmunk decided to take a break. Seemingly out of no'where, it produced a red berry. One second its hands were empty and the next it was munching on the berry. Perhaps from its cheek pouch: One of the chipmunks cousins, a grey squirrel was also enjoying the bountiful supply of berries around at the moment. The mulberry tree is still attracting a lot of attention from the birds and squirrels: This young Baltimore Oriole was also in the same mulberry tree when I first saw it, before it moved over to this maple tree: I have decided that it is an oriole and not a flycatcher. The colors are way too strong and it lacks the obvious head crest of the flycatchers in these photos: Lastly, no berries, but a night heron hiding out in a willow tree. I really like how well hidden it is, with just its eye peering out: Copyright  ©  wildlakeside.blogpot.com 2019 Scott Atkinson All Right...

I was late leaving work this morning and also had to be home in a hurry, so I was a little more rushed than normal. Plenty of activity though at Lakeside Park. Lots of young red-winged blackbirds squawking for their parents to feed them. The kingbirds are still guarding the surrounding area of the tree they are nesting in. A large hawk flew over the trees from the far bank, carrying prey in its talons. That caused a huge stir among the neighborhood birds. I had hoped to see the night herons again, but there was no sign of them, or they were tucked away, well out of sight in the willow trees. I hurriedly visited my usual vantage points, missing way more shots than I took, and then a beautiful little goldfinch came to rest in front of me and started to sing: My time was almost up and so I quickly switched location. A little red squirrel was really curious to see what I was doing. Peering from around the side of a tree, it came so close that its tail was completely cropped out...

The nights are gradually starting to move in. Leaving me more time to get settled before the suns rays hit the trees on the trail side of Lakeside Park. The moon was still peering down on me as I arrived at the lake: The night heron was also waiting for the sun to rise: There were three night herons in a willow tree on the lake's edge. Two adults and one juvenile who was really tucked away, well out of sight. Its eyes pierced through the willow tree's leafy embrace: The birds at Lakeside Park are now, I feel, getting more used to my company. I could be wrong, but it seemed as if one of the adult herons even waved at me: And then had a laugh at my expense when I slipped trying to get a foot hold on a wet, fallen tree trunk: Seriously though, the night herons were doing exactly the same as what the great blue herons do in the mornings, warming up in the sun's rays before preening their feathers: I look at it as a bonus whenever ...

I had to venture out again today, just to pick up a little something from a local grocery store. It's a short walk which crosses Highbrook Park and the edge of the Borden Wetlands, so a good excuse to take my camera. Highbrook Park is a small pond with a path running alongside. It has the usual, ducks, geese, muskrats, etc. Lots of  butterflies and dragonflies, so I snagged a dragonfly (male widow skimmer) photo on my way: A song sparrow's singing caught my attention. After a few choruses, it flew to the ground and then did its best impersonation of a pufferfish: Looking nothing like a song sparrow at all. It was of course sunbathing! I crossed the busy Fischer-Hallman Road, taking the shortcut along the edge of the Borden Wetlands, not expecting to see much of anything and of course, there right in front of me was a coyote. No time to focus, just raise the camera and a few quick clicks as it disappeared into the wetlands. This is obviously not in focus, but I...

Another overcast morning saw my futile attempts at photographing the arctic tern hunting. I'm not sure why this is so engaging, perhaps the almost impossibility of it all in this light. I did though happen to catch a great blue heron in flight as it headed for the tree tops. There were three great blue herons at the lake this morning: It was during my apparent time-wasting with the tern that I spotted something in the middle of the lake which did not look like a mallard or a Canada goose. Here is the first photo from the seated area of Lakeside Park: I initially thought it was a grebe of which we had two this spring, the horned and pied-billed, but identifying would have to wait until I returned home. It moved further out as I tried to snap a few more photos and so I decided to move to the trail side of the lake. The light shimmered on the ripples on the lakes surface from that side: We played a game of tag over the length of the lake, back and forth, swatting...

Very rarely am I ever gifted the chance of taking any half-decent photos of the belted kingfishers. That all changed this morning: Busy watching the great blue heron, I was hiding in the undergrowth, feeding the resident mosquitoes and snapping a photo here and there: I could quite clearly hear the kingfishers and was thinking to myself; "That's awesome guys, you always let me know you're there and that you know where I am, but you don't ever let me take any photos". Well, this little guy must have read my mind and promptly came to rest just above me: Then moved over to the other bank and quite happily posed for me: As it was so overcast this morning, I took a ridiculous amount of photos. I at least wanted to be sure by chance alone that I had one or two decent shots out of what I took: Going through the photos took hours this morning. I may never want to see another kingfisher photo again: Just kidding... they are stunningly beautif...

Do birds play? Young animals do, so why not birds? This family of young wrens appeared to be having a great time playing this morning: Darting in and out of cover, chasing each other. Perhaps honing their survival skills: The split in a dead tree trunk, which looked as if it had been folded in half, made the perfect hiding place: I am no expert when it comes to Canadian birds. You can probably tell from my accent that I am from the UK, and I am still learning all about the birds in Ontario. So, if anyone can help identify this bird then please let me know: A juvenile, but I am not sure if it is a flycatcher or an oriole? It was seen feeding on the same mulberry bushes as in my post yesterday. I also found a few bushes at the side of the trail on my way home with some fruit within arms reach. I picked what I could and left what I couldn't reach for the birds. I love mulberries too: My post titled "Catbird Sings" showed a photo of a coopers hawk ...