Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

On such a beautiful morning, I chose to forsake the sunlight for shade and the pleasure of watching the beaver. I found a safe spot for my bike and after a little searching, a good hiding place for me to sit on the bank, camouflaged behind a cover of leaves: The beaver was in construction mode at Lakeside Park, splitting its duties between its den and then working further upstream: Disappearing under the water, leaving a trail of bubbles as the only clue to its whereabouts. It would then resurface, depositing a heap of mud from the lake's bed in a pile. It's a very mucky business: The beaver submerged one more time, but did not resurface. After a short wait, a telltale line of bubbles appeared for me to sharpen my focus on, but instead of the beaver, another huge snapping turtle appeared for a moment before it too disappeared: I could tell that the beaver was still active. Occasional ripples over the water's surface betrayed its presence, but it did ...

A beautifully sunny morning saw the aerial hunters performing over Lakeside Park. The arctic tern has been a frequent visitor in the mornings but just for a short while before moving on. Back lit as the sun had just moved up over the trees, and even though the focus isn't quite there, I had to include this photo which recorded all of the tern's splashes on the lake's still water: The kingfishers do not appear to like me at all. They will complain and take off to the farthest side of the lake whenever I am sighted, telling the whole world of my whereabouts. This morning though, one let me get a little closer than normal. Not looking the prettiest that I have seen, a very bedraggled kingfisher: The kingfisher does look much prettier in flight though, gliding down for its next meal: I feel very lucky to get any half-decent photos showing flight as my 500mm Tamron lens is manual, which requires a degree of judgement on my part and as I said, a lot of luck. This...