Bits and Pieces

It Has been a slow couple of weeks with temperatures in the 30C range. Too hot to do much outside other than watering the garden and taking drives. This is our new flower garden/ pumpkin patch  somewhere in there ,there are pumpkins growing.

We also had a good crop of sunflowers. If you look close, you will see a bee sleeping through the +6C night. The sun warmed him up and he continued on with his pollinating.

There was a cocky Magpie in our neighbour's Mountain Ash tree watching me very closely.

Elaine finally finished her most elaborate crochet project to date...a baby blanket.

I may have posted this Kingfisher with crayfish before, but I like the shot.

More and more mule deer are coming out to feed, and likely to get away from the mosquitos.

The old crow found something tasty, at least for him

The doe Mule Deer look healthy

This family of ducks is also looking good

The Great Blue Heron thought I couldn't see him!  just couldn't get closer.

Bits and Pieces

 I figured that I should maybe post a blog before I forget how! Its been very slow in the great outdoors probably due to the miserable weather. Everybody is in hibernation mode, including me.

My faithful companion is always up for a walk in the woods, or a trip to the Dog Park. Whitecourt is blessed to have a facility as great as Rotary Park! I caught this little guy sitting on a rock wall having breakfast. 

There are still a few Mallards hanging around. If it were me, I would be

in the deep south by now instead of freezing my tail feathers off!

 I have bee adopted by about 6 Blue Jays that are eating my bird seed like its going out of style.
 Then, there is always this guy that figures he should eat for free also. Hopefully the weather improves and I can go farther afield for some photos.

The Smoke Has Lifted!!

Here is another first for this area! Two Mourning Doves! I have seen them elsewhere but never here.

They are not the sharpest photos, but were the best I could get under the circumstances.

The young Pileated Woodpecker is still in the area. It appears to be a bad hair day.

Mr. Crow is looking a little bedraggled to say the least. It is great to be able to get out now that the smoke has lifted and the sky has cleared. All the sources are predicting a bitterly cold winter for the Western Prairies. I sure hope they are wrong!

At the Swamp

It appears that it is nesting time for the crows. I saw several today hauling sticks. Hot work at 30C

The Marsh Marigolds are starting to show up in the swamps.

I was sitting by a beaver pond hoping that something exciting would show up. This Robin ws the only thing to come along.

This was the first Common Loon that I have seen this year.

It was a quiet, but peaceful morning.

More Riverside Shots

More and more different birds  are coming back to the area. This Green-Winged Teal is my first of the year. Believe it or not, more birds back and the ice basically gone, means they are spreading out more and harder to find.

Green -Winged Teal

 The geese are paired up now and starting to nest

Canada Goose

 I saw this mallard coming down the river and he was kind enough to pose.

Mallard Drake

 Another Mallard enjoying the sun

Mallard Drake

 The lesser ducks are also paired up, but still heavily into feeding.

Buffle Head

 The next three shots are of Ring Necked Ducks.

Ring Necked Duck

Ring Necked Duck

Canada Goose

 Old Mr. Crow  was keeping slightly ahead of me on my walk.

American Crow

 I have come to the conclusion that I could use a longer lens, but alas, my Canon won't take one.

Hodge Podge

A walk with the dogs today turned up a few critters. I missed out on a Pileated Woodpecker, but I now know where the nest is.

The chipmunk found a bonanza as someone dumped some bird seed on the trail (not me)

 The crow had his eye on the dogs and let it be known that he was not pleased!

 The Chipmunks, 6 of them were very active.

 The river side was full of geese doing their thing, mainly resting up.

Five Minutes in a Tree

The choke cherry tree next door is very busy! The berries are ripe and attracting all sorts of birds. The Downy Woodpecker was cleaning up the trunk. I didn't see him eat any berries, but he might have.

 The Robin was also getting into it, putting on weight for the migration.

 He was quite acrobatic in trying to get at the goodies.

 Got one. Toss it up and down the hatch!

 The crow was more sedate in his feeding, but ate a lot of berries!

 Yep, pretty laid back!

Not bad for 5 minutes watching.

Waiting for Paint to Dry

Eventually, there comes a time when you have to sit back and wait for the paint to dry. Repainting the kitchen cupboards while Elaine is away is probably a good way to gain some Brownie points! Brooklyn has to be right in the middle of things!

 The weather has improved enough that I grabbed the camera and wandered over to the Athabasca River to see what is happening. Mr crow kept a close eye on me.

 The river is pretty much ice free and starting to rise.

 The geese are back and staking out turf. Noisy little devils!

 This is not a good place to make a nest since it will be under water in a few weeks. Probably just sun bathing!

 This guy spotted her pretty quick. "Hey Babe,'Sup?"

Alas, some days the paint dries too fast! Back to it.