Such Agreeable Friends

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions - they pass no criticisms.

~ George Eliot

This is my son Jeffrey's cat, Hunter, sitting with Benny. The photo was taken from outside looking in through the sliding doors at them looking out at the various birds, chipmunks and squirrels which were busy snapping up seed on our deck. Benny wanted to be outside chasing squirrels and Hunter wanted to be outside catching whatever he could. In order to give the outdoor critters some peace, that door remained closed. Hunter is now staying with Jeffrey's dad in order to restore some peace in my older cats' lives.






At just about any given time, you can look outside and see at least one bird flying through your line of vision, so it's not much of a surprise when one flies into a camera shot. It might be a surprise to see all of these autumn colours since we're well into snow season. But these photos were taken quite a few weeks ago so that explains that.






This one was a little more expected. I watched it soaring for a while before snapping an image.





This one was very unexpected. It flew a little too close to the house and probably thought that the lake and sky in the glass reflection was just more open space. Sadly, or thankfully, it died instantly. We're thinking it was a juvenile Pine Warbler.






Here's an adult perched on our hanging basket a few days later. Hopefully it wasn't the mama missing her baby.

A couple of days later, we had another collision incident. Frank's son Francis was visiting and he was all the way down into the bowels of the basement watching television. I was at my desk a few rooms away from the living room. And Frank was napping a little bit closer to the source but his door was closed and his fan was running for white noise.

BAM!


I got to the deck first and saw a large feathered body lying quietly but clearly breathing. Francis, who had heard it from his distant location came up to have a look at what happened, as did Frank.






The bird was the generally very shy and elusive Belted Kingfisher, and he was recovering from the blow by resting on the deck with his mouth agape. Not five minutes later he tested his wings and found them to be reliable. He flew off toward the lake. I hope that all is well in his kingdom.






Flight is amazing. Although their means of getting around doesn't qualify as true flight, these adorable visitors to our feeders every night are Northern and/or Southern Flying Squirrels. I've learned that the latter have made their way up north and might well be breeding with our Northerns. They don't fly but actually jump and glide, and they do it so incredibly quickly, that you'd think they were every bit as capable of flying as the birds.






They're also incredibly friendly (although the smaller ones are skittish) and will take peanuts from our hands. I had the camera lens (without flash) about six or eight inches from this little face. At last count Frank has seen up to seven of them at one time. They're a joy to watch and be watched by.






And back to a couple of our domestic creatures. I couldn't help but notice that Hunter was showing his love for us by eating and removing his food from the bowl in the shape of a heart. We love you too, Hunter. And miss you (Except maybe for Skitty and Zephyr).






And Skitty, like any self-respecting cat enjoys being in a box. I can't remember if I was scratching on the cardboard or if I had the laser pointer but he was going full speed ahead with those sweet little front paws.

And that's it for this creature feature. I'll have more images for you coming up soon.

Fine Feathered Friends

I'm very lucky to have an interesting variety of feathered friends in the area. Some are year-round residents and others stop by for a short visit while on their migration elsewhere. All are intriguing and very enjoyable to watch and photograph. I have a number of bird images to share, all of which were taken over the last month.

We have Mallards on our local pond which hang around all year. This handsome fellow was finding something to eat beneath the water's surface. Isn't he beautiful with all those sparkling water droplets adorning his radiant green head?

This guy drops by for at least a few weeks every year. He's the Double-crested Cormorant, and he works hard at depleting the pond's fish population.

He seemed a bit suspicious of me and my camera. I took one step closer to him after I snapped this image and he decided that was close enough. He was in the water before I could snap another shot.

Our Canada Geese tend to stay for the cold weather too, despite several bloggers considerably south of us who also welcome them for the winter.

This handsome dude is the Belted Kingfisher. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to his visits. He's been seen in any season that doesn't see the pond frozen over but like the Cormorant, he rarely stays for more than a few weeks at a time. I also find that he's very difficult to photograph. Always on high alert, he seems to take off in flight the instant I look at him, unless it's from across the pond as was the case with this image.

On a different day, he was being far less cooperative in the posing department and he kept teasing me by flying across the pond just out of my shooting range. Therefore, this isn't much of a clear image but I appreciate that he flew into a small patch of sunlight just in front of the dock across the pond.

Who says that Robins are the first sign of spring? Ours don't quite stick around all year but they are often seen well into December and seem to return again by early March. They appear quite at home surrounded by the colours of autumn, offering in return, their matching red breast.

Is there any bird cuter than a Black-capped Chickadee? There might be but I think these sweeties are adorable with their "dee dee dee" and their hopping and bopping and flitting all over the place.

They're curious and friendly, and can be encouraged to land on your shoulder or hand while feeding them. I've not had the thrill of that experience but my friend, Daniel has a brief video on his blog which shows how the Chickadees have come to trust him in the short time that he's lived in his new home. Go on over and have a look. I don't mind waiting.

One more Chickadee image - because I just find them hard to resist.

This beauty was spotted by Frank as it flew into his maple tree. The lighting was not its best and it was eying me as I took small steps forward to try to get him into sharper focus. I'm not sure what he is, exactly. A Merlin, perhaps?

That's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed my feathered friends.

Wing Pairs

Below are a few pairs of images, each sporting a pair of wings. They were all taken up at the cottage earlier in September. I hope you enjoy them.

One morning, we glanced out the window to see a large figure sailing through the air, just above the surface of the lake. Mr. Blue landed on the dock. He squawked a few times and had a good look around.

Thankfully, he waited around while I made my way outside to snap a few photos. He obliged me with a few glances my way, while he walked along the dock and took off just before he made his way to the shoreline.

Another blue beauty, this blue jay found the bird seed on this fairly windy day. I liked the way his feathers were all ruffled by the wind.

Another blue jay at a different feeding post.

A lovely dragonfly with gold-tipped wings and a red body, which isn't visible in this image.

But it is in this one. This magical winged creature was resting on Frank's cozy shoulder. Having rested my own head in that same, general vicinity, I can't say that I blame him one bit.

For a few days, we were hearing and spotting a Kingfisher around the cottage. They're quite elusive though, and it seemed that every time it realized I was aware of it, it would take off before I could snap a photo. Except for this time. He flew into the bay to the right of the dock. I never saw where it landed and I used my camera as binoculars to scan the trees on the opposite side of the bay. A few seconds later he was filling up my viewfinder, giving me just enough time to snap this shot.

And then one more as he took off once again.

Last but not least, a solitary image of a sky which appeared to sprout wings of its own as the sun took flight for the night.

Birds of a Feather

All images were shot around my beautiful park pond, just a few steps from my front door. Come walk with me, will you?



On this very hot day, three Mallards took shelter in the brush of an old fallen tree. The dappled sunlight danced on their moulting feathers.




This young robin was singing a cheery song. I interpreted its music as "Come take my picture!"




A pretty female cardinal hopped along the path, close enough to wander into camera range. There's a family or two of those residing at our park.





Like most bodies of water, ours has the ubiquitous sea gull. This one was just shooed off by the newcomers to our lake...




The Caspian tern. There's a family of them which we've seen daily for the past few weeks. The parents seem to be teaching the young to fish. They're a noisy lot, and very difficult for me to capture in flight.




But I did. Hopefully it won't be the best shot I'll ever get but for now, I wanted to share this elegant, streamlined bird.




This feather was floating in the water close to the dock - just not close enough to reach. It might belong to a gull or a tern.




Along with gulls and terns, we have several species of fishing birds. Among them, is this magnificent beauty - the Great Blue heron. He's a regular visitor each spring through autumn.




Earlier in the week I was gifted with seeing two of them in flight together. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a really clear shot of them but I was so thrilled about seeing the pair, that I wanted to share anyway.




This is a related bird - smaller but every bit as lovely. He's the Green heron. I've only seen him once before at this pond but this year, he's a regular visitor.




Another fishing bird is the beautiful Belted Kingfisher. You can hear his rattle-like cry which announces his presence.

I suppose the fishing is decent at our little pond. This is a relief to know after last spring's infuriating oil spill which killed a few of our beautiful Canada geese. It's been wonderful to see life thriving at my little oasis. Thanks for joining me on my walk.

This was a scheduled post. If all goes according to plans, we're probably back up at the cottage for a few days. I'll be around to read comments and catch up with your blog posts shortly after I return.

Queens, Kings & Wings (Summer Shorts 5)

Once outside my front door, a left turn and about one hundred steps will take me into a lovely park complete with pathways, a pond and an interesting variety of animal life. If the weather is pleasant, and I don't have a very persistent Jack Russell Terror urging me along, I can spend a fair bit of time looking around and shooting photos. On one such day, I spent a hour or so doing just that. Below are some of those images. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.


A close-up look at this Queen Anne's Lace revealed about a dozen of these little red insects roaming all over the head of the flowers. I don't know what they are but there sure were a lot of them. (please click to enlarge)




An even closer look reveals why. (please click to enlarge)






This Mallard and I watched each other for a while. I thought he had a beautiful and intelligent look in his questioning eye. (please click to enlarge)





The elusive Kingfisher. This one patiently waited for me to take its photo from across the pond. Earlier in the week, we saw a family - mature Kingfishers teaching their fledglings how to fish. It was later in the day, and light and distance did not allow for good photos so I was lucky to snap a few shots of this beauty. (please click to enlarge)




Some time later, this Great Blue Heron waded along the shoreline, hoping to find a fish or two for dinner. (please click to enlarge)





Slowly, he inched his way along, ever so silently. He cocked his head, suddenly aware of something moving beneath the surface of the water. (please click to enlarge)






He was very swift to capture his reward. (please click to enlarge)






This fledgling Robin perched on a nearby tree while I sat on a bench across the way. Doesn't it have lovely markings? (please click to enlarge)







Nearby, another Robin was feasting on recently-ripened berries. (please click to enlarge)





Until something spooked it. (please click to enlarge)






At dusk, yet another Robin was singing its goodnight song atop a branch high above me. (please click to enlarge)


I hope you enjoyed my day with Queens (Anne's Lace), Kings (fisher) and other winged critters.