Friday, May 13, 2011

Part 2 of the New Trail of The Vermilon River. A Post to Camera Critters and Scenic Sunday.

Norman Wetland


This trail is an interesting one as the wetland which you're now looking at parallels the actual river, but owes its size to water run off and the beaver. In the final photo I'll point out the beaver dam. We left off at the river itself, but as I had to make my bus, I elected to take the gravel road to return. It runs between the wetland and the river. I don't think you'll find the RR touching much of this dam as the sudden flood would wash out their maintenance road. Always on a first hike I like to get my bearings, and this means I miss a lot of photo opportunities because I'm noisy, and have no idea where to take an extra effort to be quiet. And I missed a Great Blue Heron just sitting there ripe for a series of shots.
End Of Beaver Lodge


Full Beaver Lodge.



The beaver lodge is fairly large and their dam sites are well maintained.

The Male Hairy Woodpecker and the Northern Flicker were co-operative although I would have preferred a front shot of the Flicker.

Male Hairy


Northern Flicker


Robin






I think Robins hang around the fringe of the wetlands, because it's easy access to their favourite food supply the worm. These pair of males don't look to be starving.
Robin


Male Purple Finch


Female Purple Finch


I don't know whether there are a lot of purple finch this year or I'm just lucky. As I said before the male is bright but the female has incredible markings.

Male Purple Finch


White-throated Sparrow


White-throated Sparrow.






I heard some scampering in a patch of brush and it was these little guys, who I'm always eager to see.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.




This my second spotting of the Yellow-rumped Warbler. That now makes two warblers because I posted the Nashville Warbler in a prior post.


The American Goldfinch is a male sporting all his courting splendour.

I was equally happy to get the Chipping Sparrow.

Male American Goldfinch.


American Chipping Sparrow.


Yellow-bellied Sap Sucker.


I was pleased with all the sightings and all the photos except the Goldfinch. But the real find is this guy. A Yellow-bellied Sap Sucker. These are woodpeckers that drill holes to actually suck the sap and eat insects. Listed as being in this area, I've never seen one before. This is a male, I think, because he has a red bib under his beak No wonder they're hard to find, He blends right in,but he's another for my list of woodpeckers.




I put this Turkey Vulture in from another hike, so I could say a few words about his size. These guys are 25-32 inches long with a wingspan of 67-72 inches and a weight of 2-5 lbs. They are carrion birds with an acute sense of smell to detect the gasses from a carcass. I checked my own pulse to make sure it wasn't me he was looking for.





Buzzard or Turkey Vulture




End of Trail and the Wetland.






This is the end of trail, and I put this photo in because you can see on the mid left of the photo the beaver dam that holds it all together. I also keep telling you I live in a wilderness, and it's out the door and onto the trail. Here you can see the street sign. The last and weak vestige of civilization, and across the street the forest.


A Post to Camera Critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/  and Scenic Sunday @ http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/


The temperature is about 22C and even overcast it is way too hot for Boom to accompany me.

24 comments:

  1. thanks for including the view from your street! definitely puts things in perspective! greatness!

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  2. Olá, amigo!
    Passei para uma visitinha.
    É muito interessante ver a diversidade da fauna no seu país e no meu... tão diferentes.
    Os castores e quase todos os pássaros que estão documentados no seu blog eu não conheço... mas sempre há exceções...
    Sparrow-garganta-branca... no meu país, chamamos de pardais e são uma praga... estão em todo lugar... comem qualquer coisa... acredite... até chips... que é uma coisa parecida com isopor, que eu não sei de que é feita... só sei que tem um cheiro horrível e que as crianças brasileiras adoram comer no lanche da escola.
    Amei seu blog.
    Brasil

    

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  3. Wow - some of these birds are so lovely with their distinctive markings and their vibrant colours. Wonderful shots indeed!

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  4. Great collection of bird shots! Also like the beaver dam. Have just seen one in my life and it was very far away, in southern Argentina, where beavers were introduced and, actually, are causing a lot of damage.

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  5. Wonderfully clear and detailed shots of the birds. Envy your lenses!

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  6. Beautiful birds, so many of them.

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  7. That beaver dam is enormous! Our beavers don't build anything quite so impressive.

    I can see what you mean about the spring being much greener here. Yours looks to be about three weeks behind ours - bbrrrr....

    I really love your bird shots - the variety and the bright plumage is incredible and you get such clear and sharp pictures. Really greaqt to see and learn about it all.

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  8. Thanks for taking us on the tour, Gary!

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  9. Fabulous, Gary. I always envy you your birds, and there was a time when I would have liked living away from civilization so I could see the wildlife, but that time is long past, so I'm grateful to be able to visit your blog!
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  10. Bautiful birds as usual. A few days ago I want to kick myself for not having a camera with me because I just saw a beautiful Cardinals.

    Camera Critters On Stamps

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  11. Wow, what an outing - such a variety - fabulous pics.

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  12. Nice collection of critters :)

    You and Boomer have some pretty awesome days on that river.

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  13. Beautiful shots of the birds!! Living in an apartment area I don't get the chance often to get so close to wildlife..thanks for sharing!!

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  14. I love the finch pictures! I always wanted zebra finches for pets as a kid!

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  15. Hi Gary,
    Many thanks for your sweet words on my blog.
    This is such a great series of photos of critters. These birds are just gorgeous and your photos are stunning. I see that you DO live in wilderness!
    Have a wonderful day, Gary.

    Yoshi

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  16. For me personally, I am so 'into birding'...we here have the whole coastline of water fowl and then go inland and see incredible winged treasures. Your photos are sublime!! Really!!!! I especially like the woodpeckers. Again, an incredible post.

    Mission Bells in Shadow

    Thanks for stopping by Saturday...hope your weekend has been terrific so far!!

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  18. Congratulation with 100 followers, Boomer and his Master. Terrific series of shots!

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  19. Hi Gary

    The Purple Finch and the White-throated Sparrow photos are great. I also really liked the turkey vulture. Hi to Boomer.

    Regards
    Guy

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  20. you are lucky to have it that close. :) You really got a lot of bird sightings. And great oens.

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  21. You have posted so many beautiful images of birds. Well done!

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