I got my eye set on you

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfull nature is. I had my gear set up to take shots of people fishing. This female came onto shore just feet away with her youngin's. They didn't stay too long , but I managed to focus a couple of shots of her.

Is nature not beautiful enough as it is?

I have an island out back where I live. There are tall trees that have flourished and deadfall that line the shores of it. Many people say that it looks ugly and would like to see it "cleaned up". As in everything in life nature has done this for a reason. Without the deadfall, there would be no shade for the frogs and the fish that swim by. If there was no fish to swim by , the Heron would not come there to hunt for food. There is a chain here. If you break the chain then you are breaking the laws of nature. Look past the scrub of fallen trees and see the beauty in it. Not everything is perfect in life, but it is beautifull! let's protect what we have to show our childrens children, not just show pictures of what used to be.

Today was a very productive day for photography

Just as the storms had passed through this region I had looked briefly outside and what do I see?

High priced ticket items

These shots are from the laast few days. I live on the Trent -Severn Waterway and anyone on the lake has some sort of transportation on the water or the air. On weekends the boating traffic is sometimes scary. Then you also have to watch out for flying objects as well

Feed Me!

We have one helluva thunder boomer raging here right now. But before it rolled in I had noticed that the robins eggs had hatched. I stood on a ladder with my zoom lens to get the shot. All the time the mother was not far away and she was squaking like you wouldn't believe. I only took a few shots as not to disturb them too much.

The Green Heron

At first I had thought that this was a juvenile Great Blue but I noticed the dark bill and different behavior.  The Green heron is much smaller than the Great Blue Heron. Bothe Herons feed on basically the same food ( Fish , bugs and frogs). However the Green heron uses tools to catch it's prey. It will stand motionless as the Great Blue does, but it uses lures to attract small fish like bread crumbs, worms, twigs and even feathers. Usually found in North, Central and northern parts of Sout America this bird has occasionally found it's way to the shores of England and France in search of food.

Tiger Swallowtail.

Only the male of this butterfly is coloured like this. The female is all brown on the wings.

It's a bug! No, It's a Hummingbird ! No wait.....

I have never seen one of these before today. There was no birds in the sky to photograph and little else of interest. I decided to try and capture a bee out at the lilac bushes out front. Was I surprised to see this. It is called a hummingbird moth ( Hemaris thysbe ). This particular one is also called a Snowberry clearwing Moth (Hemaris deffinis).. Most people at first glance mistake it for a hummingbird as it flies in the same way a hummingbird does sucking the nectar from flowering plants.In the spring it will deposit green eggs on the underside of leaves.

Turkey Vulture

It was a rare sight to see these so close by. Usually the skies around here are dominated by herons and Ospreys. The turkey Vulture is a scavenger and what I mean by that it is an opportunistic bird. It usually waits for something to be killed by some other animal or means. They have a chariacteristic bald head void of any feathers as this keeps its head clean from any disease it might encounteras they ofetn feed on putrid flesh. It is also thought that the bald head also helps in their thermorugualtion of the body.

Distraction

There are many different nests on this property. June is the month when eggs are being hatched and the young ones learn to fly. I have noticed many chicks on the ground making a run for it when I happen to come by. I don't pick then up as the parents are close by watching from their vantage point. This is very common for birds. This robin flies from its nest everytime I turn the corner of the house as if to distract me away from the chicks in the nest.

The Squaking Heron

I'm having a lazy sunday and decided to revisit some shots from last week. Here again is a Great Blue Heron. I don't think he wanted me around when it was trying to catch dinner having to keep one eye out for a swimming fish and the other on me. Yesterday I had three herons within "shooting" distance but was not fast enough for any of them as they flew away.I have a really good feeling that there might be at least one nest on the island out back. However I will not invesigate this as I do not want to disturb it if in facct there is one. The chance that the heron will abandon it leaving it's young is too great a risk. I will seek it out in late fall after they have gone south for the winter season.

Another shot from today.... the Hooded Merganser

The female Hooded Merganser. This is another bird that cathes it's prey by diving under water. It can change the refractive properties in it's eyes allowing it to see better under the water.

The Female Merganser

The Merganser is part of the "Duck" family of water fowl. It is more skittish than the mallards you see in ponds and flies away when approached. This was a rare treat ffor me to pfotograph this bird as they move rather quickly and tend to fidgit a lot.

Batman!

I have taken pictures of the Great Blue Heron for over 2-1/2 years now and this is what I have noticed about them. They are usually very skittish and will fly away at the first sound of a predator. The ones I have photographed don't seem to mind me around as long as i don't overstay my welcome. I have noticed when they fish , that they will remove trigs and branches out of their way in order to get a better strike on a fish. I've noticed that they pant like a dog on very hot days. When they catch a fish , they swallow it whole. When they are not fishing , they spend quit a lot of time preening. And they are better fishers than we are!

Today's Catch

After my walk today I decided to have a cold one out in the yard. i brought my camera just in case and this is what I saw....

Just having fun

there are days when one just has to take it easy. Today is one of those days. The wind is just making it hard to have a steady hand for photography. So , I thought let's have some fun.  and who better to poke fun at than one's self! i was told that I look like a bushman and a caveman.