small wonders

PHOTO POST

Flowers. Birds. Bugs. The first two generally come as part of package deals that include the latter.

Around here we happen to like cherries so we’re glad when pollinators discover the blossoms.

Cherry Blossom Special I (click photos for full-screen views)

Cherry Blossom Special II

Deeper into woodlands, the forest floor has been carpeted with Wood Geraniums.

Wood Geranium I

Wood Geranium II

In the treetops a Baltimore Oriole eats bugs by the dozen. (Sweet nectar is a nice dessert, but insects are the primary food, especially in springtime.)

Hunting in the Canopy

A springtime visitor patrolled the marsh edges for about a week in May. The Least Sandpiper (who might also be called the Least Mudpiper) is the world’s smallest shorebird, weighing in at 30 grams or less. It flies north of the treeline for summer nesting, perhaps because it’s hard to beat the abundance of bugs under the midnight sun on the tundra.

Least but not Last

Dunlins nest even farther north along arctic coastlines, and though they put on an air show here one recent afternoon, they appeared to have departed before night fell.

Choreographed Chaos

A flock of about 50 made repeated landings on the beach, but on some invisible signal they would rise up and fly swiftly out over the water, making turns together in tight though apparently random formation. Just as suddenly they would settle again just a few meters down the shoreline.

Flock of Fifty

Dunlin Trio

As I walked along the beach to get a closer look at this murmuration, I met an elderly gentleman who was grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve lived around here for more than 60 years and I’ve never seen birds like those,” he told me. “Made my day!”

A few more swoops around the bay and they were gone.

A Thousand Points of Flight

Banked Turn

Some birds pay us the briefest of visits, but others like the Grey Catbird will stick around all summer. Sometimes they sing a beautiful, long, complex song – and other times they play the comic, letting out a convincing cat’s “meow”.

Sunset Song

At last, a noisy bunch of Grackles (plus free bonus Redwing) take up watch from a tall dead tree. It is time for the night.

Grackles Guard the Moon

Photo at top of page: Colour of Sunshine (click here for full-screen view)

 

water colours

PHOTO POST

April showers bring May flowers – and while it hasn’t been a wet spring we’ve had our share of dewey mornings, stormy skies, and a few rainbows. On schedule, all kinds of colours are popping out in garden, meadow, forest and marsh.

Some of the colours, to be sure, are left over from previous years, as with this bit of fern in the ivy.

The Fern & Ivy (click images for full-screen view)

Even on a sandy slope Stonecrop Sedum always manages to look lush in springtime, and a blade of grass provides a nice accent.

The Stripe & Speckle

Euphorbia in their many guises are also scattered among the sedums.

The Thirsty Midge

A late-afternoon shower, followed by a ray of sunshine, calls attention to a blooming Bleeding Heart.

The Heart of Pinkness

McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve gives many species a place to thrive in its lowland forests, savannas, swamps and shorelines.

Among the many trees and shrubs in bloom right now are several varieties of what I think are flowering currants:

The Twig & Blossom

Frogs wait patiently for insects to wander just in front of their mouths.

The Frog & Fly

The water is so still that the frog’s breathing motion produces a pattern of ripples.

Froggie Makes Waves

The wet woodlands are beginning to go green.

The Squirrel & Wood

On a massive fallen tree trunk, fungi have been hard at work for years.

The Primeval Log

Back at home that evening a chittering chorus accompanies the sunset. The Swallows have discovered the clouds of midges over lakeshore and marsh. While they feed, we watch their flutters and swoops until light fades to darkness.

The Swallow & Sunset

You may have noticed that the titles of the photos above could also be used as names for new pubs. Feel free! I have not trademarked the names, and I will not send squadrons of lawyers after you if you choose one of these names for a new pub in my neighbourhood. Just saying.