Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Leucistic Purple Finch, Great blue Herons, Warblers and Magic Scenes Of The Vermilon River.

 The weather has been great for hiking with cool mornings, about 10C, rising to 20C in the afternoon. This type of weather adds a mystery to the forest with rising mists everywhere, and interesting colours. A trip to the Long Lake wetlands was therefore in order. Mystic Lake feeds this wetland;while it in turn flows into the witches cauldron of the east track. All of that magic in this one spot and one post!


AGAIN THE POST IS SET UP FOR A SLIDESHOW, SO CLICK ANY PHOTO, AND ENJOY YOURSELF.

A post to Sky Watch Friday, and Camera Critters.


 We were up early, even earlier than usual, as you can tell from the angle of the sun to catch the heavy mists. The previous shots and the one opposite are of the lower end of the wetland.
Reflections on the lower end.

Looking North.

Looking North with the sun in the background.

Single sun in the water.

Sun climbing over the ridge.


 Well with all that magic, let's look at this Purple Finch. All the information that I'm going to give you comes from www. birds. Cornell edu/. But any Google will give you numerous sites to check out, which I did. There are two conditions that relate to the genetic inability to distribute melanin normally. The first is Albinistic, commonly called an Albino. In this case the bird would be white with pink eyes.
The second is Leucism, a genetic defect which prevents melanin from being distributed normally.


The bird in the opposite photo has some colour, and I think has brown eyes. So it would be Leucistic. I think it is a female purple finch. I included some photos of males and females below.



A side view. The other purple finch treat this one normally, although they may be more vulnerable to predators because of a lack of camouflage.
Normal Male Purple Finch turning red. 

Side view same.

Female Purple Finch.

 The close up of this female makes me think the Leucistic is a female.
Blue Jay.

Hairy Woodpecker peeking at me.

Song Sparrow.

 There was a group of song sparrows playing around. They're always good for a few shots.
Close up

Different view.

A friendly Raven.

Canada Geese on the ground.

Canada Geese in flight.

Palm Warbler.

 Chestnut-sided Warbler- note the light brown stripes, a female or an immature.

Female Common Yellow Throat.

Same

Same

Now She's in a flutter.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Male Redstart.


I took these shots on the west side of the River. I'm quite proud that I didn't spook this one.


GBH on a beaver lodge.

Meadow sweet

 We've, thanks to Mary and others, established that this is Sedum, a domestic plant. That makes sense as this photo was taken on the west side of the River. The town was at one time on the west side of the River. The plant has survived all that time although it has not spread. I'm going to return and get some for my garden.
Toadflax

Evening Primrose.

Fireweed in seed.

49 comments:

  1. Fascinating photos and info on the purple finch. Love the misty photos of the river.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Gary

    Just when I think you have put out one of your all time best blogs you up the ante with another even greater one. The mist over the wetlands made for outstanding photos and I was fascinated by your shots of the leucistic purple finch. The Great Blue Heron was magnificent and a joy to see.

    Hi to Boomer.
    Guy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reeling in the summer heat here I dream about that kind of weather! Another great series of pictures. That sedum is beautiful. It's interesting to see what grows in the wild in your area. And I always enjoy your bird pictures.

    BTW, I'd be delighted if you check out a video on my blog where my son plays the drums.:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovley your photos ,its fun to see birds of different kinds in other countres .The flowers in your nature are much the same as ours ,Nette

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, Gary, these foggy scenes are awesome! You'r right - sheer magic!

    ReplyDelete
  6. always love to see your sweet warblers. the albino finch is rather pretty in a very subtle way. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. How cool that you took that photo of the Leucistic Purple Finch!

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is my first time to visit your blog and I instantly became a fan! your photos are really beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely photos and a very interesting post again,Gary!Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The rising mist is fantastic. Such a beautiful place to hike and photograph. Fantastic shots of the birds and landscape.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Really speechless! Wonderful and pleasing to the eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love that mist! We get it when it's so hot and steamy. Send those geese our way soon!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The sun flares and reflections are beautiful in these nature set. Thanks for the visit and happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love the variety of birds and flowers you have captured! But my favourite photos are those with the romance of the mist rising from the waters! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I especially love the purple finch photos and also the mist coming off the wetlands. You still have lots of wildflowers in bloom. Our temps are getting close to freezing here in the Mts of CO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The rain rejuvenated the wildflowers, and now we're back into heat again.

      Delete
  16. Beautiful shots of the mist on the water. Enjoy your weekend with Boom!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely, misty skies, wonderful birds and flowers! The purple finch is terrific! Such a great variety of it all, Gary, as always! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  18. gorgeous shots of the lake, I love the mist. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. so many beautiful photographs; the morning mists make fr wonderful photographs, and I really like the male Purple Finch and his new reddish colours

    ReplyDelete
  20. Cool sighting of the albino finch? Lovely scenes and photos. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  21. The water pictures are pure poetry.

    Wonderful last one as well. Please have a good Friday.

    daily athens photo

    ReplyDelete
  22. Stunning misty captures Garry ...Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love those wetland photos with the low mist, gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great series of photos! Love the fog on the water.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Another super nice photo series showing.
    All the pictures are beautiful - I particularly like those of the heron
    Wish you a good weekend :)
    Hanne Bente

    ReplyDelete
  26. I like these photos, especially I like the fog and sun, wonderful.
    Saludos.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Loved the ambiance captured in the 1st few pics and the images of the flora and fauna are terrific as always!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wonderful photos as always. Those sun shots are spectacular.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Terrific captures especially the 7 or 8 on top!
    ...birdies are lovely too!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nice captures. All of these photos are very beautiful.
    There are almost same flowers in Japan such as Meadow sweet and Evening Primose.
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Fantastic shots of the birds and landscape.
    Greetings Irma from the Nederlands

    ReplyDelete
  32. Love those misty shots.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Those misty wetlands are incredibly magical.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh wow - such beautiful shots. Love the heron and those misty shots.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Love the mist! Guess Boomer deserves some credit too for not spooking the heron :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. So wonderful, I love it all! The first pictures with the mist are so magical!

    ReplyDelete
  37. All are lovely and yet wow those opening scenes and your Great Blue Heron images...whoosh...very nice~

    ReplyDelete
  38. Those river shots are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  39. your slideshow was a feast for my eyes - the morning mists, the birds, the flowers, etc...and I learned about 'leucistic' mutations.....

    ReplyDelete
  40. Oh the misty scapes are just magical! The albino is very interesting. I have never seen an albino bird in the wild.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Beautiful series of shots!I love the misty sunrise!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Beautiful walk (I'm catching up on posts and wouldn't have missed this for the world!)..... the first shot of the pond looking North makes the mist look like it is one of those steam pots in Yellowstone. Your piece of Paradise is beautiful in every weather condition -- and thanks to both of you for getting up early before it gets too hot on this kind of a day. Very interesting about the finch!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks everyone for your kind words. Boom & Gary.

    ReplyDelete