It is that time of year to think about putting out some tasty treats for the birds. One of the most popular posts I have is for all season suet. Through trial and error I have found the birds prefer this suet mix to the store bought kind. I make up a couple of batches at a time and keep it handy in the freezer. We recently purchased a long coil feeder. This is suitable for holding a cob of corn or some suet balls. The starling loves it as he can perch on the top and peck at the
Continue Reading
Archives for Lens Friends
Good, Bad and Ugly
Caterpillar refers to the larval stage of a moth or butterfly or Lepidoptera. The word is Latin in origin and means hairy cat. During the year we see different caterpillars in the garden. The good, the bad and the ugly! Here is a Swallowtail caterpillar, Papilio polyxenes asterius. These like the leaves of carrots and parsley. I think I grow the parsley just to entice the swallowtail butterfly to lay eggs so I can photograph the caterpillar. These photos were taken late June. This turns into lovely yellow and black swallowtail butterflies. Monarch caterpillar or Danaus plexippus is munching away
Continue Reading
The Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron has been spotted at many places we visit … down by the bay, the pond, out west, and in wetlands. It was a challenge choosing some of my favourites to share today. This heron is a large wading bird, in fact it is the largest heron in Canada You can’t see me, I’m hiding in the shrubs at the pond. At Whiffen Spit, BC, the heron sits on a log perch looking out over the water. The herons love to preen themselves and take on some amazing poses while doing it. They appear to be blue-grey
Continue Reading
Black Crowned Night Heron
The black crowned night heron was sitting on a log in the turtle pond down by the Bay of Quinte. How patiently he sat there watching the water. I very quietly walked through the trees to the shore to get some closer photos. He was perched on an old tree stump in a still pond just off from the bay. Through some Google searching I discovered that this heron is the most widespread around the world. It is most active at night feeding in the same spots as other herons. His legs are shorter than other herons, and he has
Continue Reading
Green Heron
A favourite water bird to spot and photograph is the green heron. It is hard to choose which photos to share as we take so many of them. They can be found in lakes, ponds, and marsh areas. I took numerous photos from different angles but they all turned out rather similar. I love the way the colouring shows up on this one. The green heron is sitting on a plank of wood. Be sure to watch the short video further down in this post to see him walking carefully along, always watching the water for some food. They eat
Continue Reading
Splish … Splash
Splish Splash I was taking a bath. Does your memory stretch back to that song by Bobby Darin? I do believe I have that song on a 45 record … have you got any of those? I had made 2 different birdbaths, one for the front and one for the back garden. The one in the back garden had more visitors than the one in the front garden. One day it got knocked over and the top came off, and part of it cracked, so it got put in the garage cupboard along with the other one and I
Continue Reading
Feathered Friends
Many varieties of birds are returning to the garden for spring and summer. The camera is always ready to snap photos. We are always thrilled to see the indigo bunting in the garden. Unfortunately it is only a passer through and we usually don’t see it again except at the end of May. A leucitic dove has been spotted several times. Leucitic means when there is a partial loss of pigmentation which results in white or patchy colouring. Doves are year round visitors in the garden. A leucitic grackle also visited the garden awhile ago. The catbird has been checking
Continue Reading
The Pileated Woodpecker
~ What a thrill to see a pileated woodpecker in the back garden. There she was at the base of the old dead tree drilling away in search of insects. A bit of research in the birding books told us this was a female. On the male the red on the head goes all the way down to the beak. Also the males have a red stripe to the side of the beak. At other times she visited the feeders. Here she is trying out a bird cake recipe that I make. Homemade suet is quick and easy to make and once
Continue Reading
Slate Coloured Juncos
~ The little slate coloured juncos are frequent winter visitors to the gardens. Juncos are found across North America and they vary slightly in appearance from east to west. Here in my part of Ontario, Canada we see the slate coloured juncos. They are mainly end of Fall, winter, early spring visitors. They certainly enhance our winter bird viewing. It has a solid black/dark grey head, neck, back and wings. The rest of the little body is white. The males are a bit darker than the females. They are mainly ground feeders and can be seen in groups under the
Continue Reading
Partial Albino Grackle
~ We had a rare visitor to the flat feeder August 10, 2018 – a partial albino grackle or a leucistic grackle. Thanks to help from an online friend Elaine, some bird forums, and internet searches we were able to correctly identify this bird. The head of a grackle is usually all bluish, but this one has white features throughout. The eye has the same yellowish circle with the black pupil. You can see similar features to the common grackle – the longish tail, sturdy beak, and long legs. Here are a few more shots as it moved to different
Continue Reading