Young 'uns

It is a perversely human perception that animals in their native habitat are running wild. 

~Robert Brault

Summer is that wonderful time of year when we get to see young animals learn to fend for themselves. I've posted about baby geese and raccoons semi-recently but I've collected a few more images of maturing babies to share with you. I hope you enjoy them.



I had a wonderful morning watching a crow family, early in July. The young were almost fully-grown but their behaviour told me that they were still newbies. They allowed me to approach within a few feet - that wouldn't happen with adult crows. Their parents, atop a nearby tree grew a bit concerned and tried to caw-tion them about the crazy two-footed beast with a lens growing out of its face.






The fledglings seemed unconcerned about me but responded to their parents with pleas of "Come feed me!" Note the bright red mouth on this youngster. According to a few birding sites, crows (and some other birds) call attention to their parents with their red mouths. It makes these otherwise black birds easier to locate than by just the sound of their calls.






Last year, we happened upon quite a few robin's nests but I never saw a single one, this year. That doesn't mean that the robin population is struggling - not by a long shot. I've seen numerous fledglings around and about - like this lovely speckled-breasted cutie.






Meet the triplets - Daffy, Dawn and Della. Daffy and Della are quiet but as you can see, Dawn is rather vocal. At this age, they do more peeping than quacking but that won't keep me from captioning this image "The Quack of Dawn."






Della is not amused.






Looking down at the dam, I spotted the triplets out for a little stroll one day. It must have been fowl weather.







Beautiful blue jays - they're sharp, no-nonsense kind of birds. The adults, that is. The young ones are a bit awkward, kind of goofy and awfully cute. This one is looking just a little perplexed about where to find the peanuts that Frank has scattered for them. When in doubt, it's best to call in the experts.







Wings droop and and mouth gapes - international bird sign language for "Take care of me!"







This is a juvenile Black-crowned night heron. He's yet to grow his black cap but he was quite capable of fishing for himself. Aren't those red eyes wonderful?







In case you're curious, this is what he'll look like when he begins to grow into his adult feathers.






This young gull kept a wary eye on me. It's interesting how much their feathers will change as they reach maturity. Adult gulls are mostly pure white with black.






Of course birds are not the only baby game in town. There are several bunnies to be seen most evenings. This little one was keeping very still as bunnies tend to do. I'm sure he believed himself invisible. He's a cute little thing, don't you think?






And speaking of cute little ones, I couldn't possibly complete this post without a photo of one of my favourite little kittens - my sweet neighbour, Lily.

That's it for today. My posting and visits to your fine blogs seems to have slowed down a bit. That's par for the course during summer, for me. I'll be around eventually. That's a promise!

Cuteness

There isn't anything cuter than young children or animals, and especially the combination, as in young animals. This post has all three. Prepare for cuteness.

This photo was taken outside my front door. Skitty is lounging on the fence between my neighbour's and my yard.

Let's start with one of the sweetest creatures I've ever known. Skittles is a gentle, curious, funny and fun feline. A real purry pal to all. In the early days of Benny's visits, Skitty did a lot of hissing, growling and swatting - until he realized that Benny was rather benign - all bluster and bark and turn-on-a-dime agility, who never gave worse than a soft-mouthed chomp, never causing pain nor reason for serious concern. Skitty stopped seeing Benny as a true foe and began acknowledging him as the real pest he actually is. Over time, Skitty came to realize that he actually enjoyed his confrontations with Ben, and would wander across his path with this "come hither" slink that cats do so well. The little brat was seeking him out to engage him in creature combat. I'll have to record their antics again sometime soon but if you've never seen the two of them in action before you might enjoy this video from a few years back.

One of my young neighbours, T.

I watched T playing in his driveway across the street for a bit. He was having a great time sculpting soap suds. "Hey, T," I called from my front deck, camera to my eye, "what are you making?" He glanced at me for a moment, grinned and turned back to the lather. "Oh, just a mess." Ya gotta love little boys.

Everybody loves some bunny, sometime.

One afternoon, I was looking out the back door, noticing how the grass needed to be cut when a pair of teeny tiny ears popped up between the blades of green overgrowth. The grass wasn't excessively long - maybe about 3- 4 inches, so you can imagine how small this little cutie really was. It was no more than 6 or 7 inches, ears included. So sweet.

Goslings are all fluff and cuteness.

Out by the pond in the park, the only goslings I've seen are this pair which I featured a few posts back. They seem to have moved on, now. I've not spotted them for a few days. They sure were entertainingly cute while the were here.

Ready to spring into action.

Rounding the bend, and glancing up, this little guy sprung out at me from behind the tree like a wee, furry ninja. He decided I'd make a better friend than foe, however. I just might have had peanuts.

Meet Snoopy.

On my way back to my house, I pass by a neighbouring home where one of Benny's buddies lives. Benny always tries to take a detour down their driveway just in case Snoopy is available to play. On this day, I was without Ben, and Snoopy was having a "time out" for misbehaving. That sad look comes to you from behind the glass door.

That banana has a-peel.

Little Miss Lily, looking as cute as ever, was quite taken with that banana peel for a while. Until Benny stole it from her, that is.

And speaking of Benny...

No set of "cute" photos are complete without da man (as Sandy sometimes refers to him)! Here he is doing his merry water dance. As long as someone has a hose, he's one happy customer. Summer has arrived - and so has that certain smell of wet doggie!

I'll have more photos to share with you in a few days.