Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

Having moved from the UK to Canada almost 19 years ago, I have to say that I do at times miss some of the native British birds. For example, the different finches with their bold colours, the kestrel which can hover motionless in the strongest winds, the dipper from the rivers and streams which swims under the water as it hunts for food and is aptly named for its bobbing motion. But on balance, what I miss has been replaced by birds that are just as captivating. One definite plus in Ontario is the cardinal with its flamboyant head crest and its ridiculously bright red feathers. These photos were taken on a gloriously mild and sunny February the 3rd. The contrast of the bright morning sunlight really brought out the vivid red of this cardinal's feathers.  But why are cardinals so red? Well, they do say that you are what you eat, and cardinals do love red berries. Cardinals do actually create the redness in their feathers from the red foods in their diet. Without ...

This morning started off quite cold. I tucked my camera under my arm, keeping my hands warm in my jacket pockets. Everything was covered in the morning's dew including this banded garden spider in the pollinator meadow: And this dragonfly whose wings were bejewelled in water droplets: Where there are insects, there are birds, and the warblers came through Lakeside Park in waves this morning, seemingly blown by the colder easterly winds. At times it was hard to pick out the warblers from the swirling fall leaves; both seemed to merge in one fluent colourful movement. Not just warblers, but blue jays, crows, robins, northern flickers and starlings appeared to be amassing in their own individual groups. It was at times difficult to know which way to look for the best photo opportunity. I decided to concentrate on one area of bushes and managed to pick up where I left off on my last post, with a much better photo of a white-throated sparrow as it moved through with the warb...

No sooner do I mention a grebe (yesterday) than one visits Lakeside Park. At least that is what I thought the small bird was. Looking through my lens from the main seated area, I could tell that it was much smaller than the mallards and it was also diving. It had to be a grebe. It kept diving and surfacing, moving to the far end of the lake: I followed the path around to the top of the lake and found a good place to chain my bike. Looking out over the lake from the side bank, I should have been able to see the grebe, but there was nothing other than mallard ducks and a great blue heron on the far bank. I waited for the grebe to appear, and waited, nothing. I looked around for something to busy myself with and found this curiously striped and spotted caterpillar on the stem of a grapevine. A good chance to use my DIY macro lens. A later google search came up with an eight-spotted forester moth caterpillar: I had given up any thought of seeing the grebe. It must have lef...

A very overcast morning had me second guessing if I should venture to the lake. No light at all for really detailed photos, but then again, these are the types of days when I tend to see more wildlife than usual. Also, I thought, as I'm on holiday for the week, the bike ride there and back would do me good, and so it was decided. True to form, I saw much more than usual and I was able to take very little of what I saw, as it was so dark. What I did manage to salvage from my grainy photos was this tiny little woodpecker: A downy woodpecker I believe: Sorry, I had to add another. It is just too damn cute: Lots of activity in the trees of which some are providing lots of fruit for our feathered friends. The young robins love mulberries (This one appears to be surrounded): As does the blue jay and as you can see, they are both sticky and delicious: Copyright  ©  wildlakeside.blogpot.com 2019 Scott Atkinson All Rights Reserved.