Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

Commonly known as the bullhead lily, and the yellow pond-lily, Nuphar Variegata's leaves are now well distributed over the surface of Shoemaker Lake and Shoemaker Creek in carpets of floating green. They provide shelter for underwater insects, snails, crayfish and fish. A convenient place to hide from the keen eyes of aerial predators like this Caspian tern. On the surface, the lily pads act as a resting place for insects and occasionally frogs. The plant is also a host for several species of beetles and their leaves and seeds are also eaten by the painted turtles in Shoemaker Lake. But for one female red-winged blackbird they are a convenient hunting ground on which she can easily find food for her fledgelings. And when you're as light as a red-winged blackbird, the leaves of the bullhead lily provide just enough support for walking on. One more photo of the female red-winged blackbird as she set off on another successful lily pad hop fo...

It has been quite a few days since my last post, and that is partly due to the overcast weather we have been experiencing. I have been taking photos, but I felt them too grainy. Today however grainy or not, I had to upload these photos which are a first for me at Lakeside Park. I first sighted this duck as I sat at the table from the bottom edge of the lake at just after 6:30 this morning. The duck was swimming with the mallards, but even with the low light at that time, its markings were to my eye quite different. There was an obvious white mark on its beak: I quickly set up my camera on my monopod, only to realize that the camera's battery was dead. Not a huge problem, as I always carry a spare which I quickly fitted and then focussed on the mallards. Maybe I was mistaken, there were only mallards in the water. I went over what I had seen in my mind's eye and the duck was definitely a different species, but where was it? I scanned the lake with my lens, but could only fi...

I set off with the best of intentions this morning. I had decided that at the risk of simply repeating what I had already taken, I should avoid the beaver today and concentrate instead on birding. I walked to the opposite side of Lakeside Park on the trail, down to the water and then edged myself out on a makeshift walkway made from two fallen tree trunks. I wanted to be able to look back onto the trees with the light behind me. And, there I stood on the perfect vantage point watching two arctic turns hunt while I waited for the sun to rise. And who should swim over to join me? Yes, the beaver was obviously feeling a little lonely or more likely it was just pure chance, but it came to join me! It did its usual paddling in the silt thing and then headed out into the lily pads and fixed its eyes on the ultimate prize: The poor lily pad flower was defenseless: Delicious: Back to what I had set out to do. There was a lot of activity with the birds this morning. So many young...