Thursday, August 2, 2012

More Wildlife of the Moose Lake Wetland of The Vermilon River. A Post To SWF.

 The weatherman has forecast rain with thunder and lightening for the later part of the week and weekend. So my hiking has been limited to early in the week. You can see from the skies in the photos that the days are bright. The Moose Lake wetland and the east track beaver pond have attracted my attention because of the Northern Harrier, both the female and the juvenile that I posted last week.
 All the scenic photos are of the Moose Lake wetland, taken from a little trail that I found into the shore. It's dry and wide enough to sit, and quietly watch.

THE POST IS AGAIN SETUP FOR THE SLIDESHOW, SO CLICK ON ANY PHOTO, BUT I'D SUGGEST YOU READ THE COPY FIRST.

A post to SWF, and Camera Critters.
Looking North.

Still Looking North.

 I was really excited to see the Northern Harrier, and to learn she was a female. Repeated sightings suggested that she was nesting in the area. Last week I posted the shot of a single juvenile.

Female Harrier.

 But this week I got this shot, and the one below with two Juveniles perched.
See the one looking at me? I'm standing on the elevated abandoned railway line.
 Here he/she comes!! I guess to see if I'm edible.


Cedar Waxwing.

Same.

 The next series is of White-throated Sparrows, which are common this year.
Feeding on the Choke Cherries.



 The birds in this series are Eastern Kingbirds.



 When I went into Moose Lake on the little path,a flight of ducks took off. Courtesy of NWOBirds, we think they're Black Ducks.
Black Ducks In Flight.

 The sequence on the snapping turtles that I posted earlier prompted some reading on Ontario Turtles. I'm amazed to find out that we have nine species including the snapping Turtle at the right in Ontario. All except one are at some level of risk on the endangered list. The risk comes from loss of habitat, the use of pesticides, natural predators, and poaching or hunting.
 The Province under pressure has required hunters to report their takes. What an incredibly lukewarm response!! The other threat in the Toronto area is the release of  pet red slider turtles into ponds, thus becoming an invasive species that threaten the native species.
 Turtles are successful survivors from the dinosaur age. They are ecototherms; that is,they take their heat from the outside, which explains why they bask in the sun. Some are vegetarians; others eat other pond  life such as frogs. They lay large numbers of eggs, but only about one percent survive. There is no parenting of the young; they merely hatch using the egg tooth, which falls off, to break the shell membrane. They have lungs but are able to stay submerged for long periods by a special arrangement of their throat. They are hibernators here.
 If you're not impressed with these guys by now you should be. There are some good conservation programs here. For instance that of the Nature Conservancy in their wetland holdings in SW Ontario and Manitoba. Also the Toronto zoo has adopt a pond. I joined the zoo's sighting program and have sent in my photos as they requested. All the information is from the Nature Conservancy site at www.natureconservancy.ca and the illustrations are from the Toronto zoo site at www.torontozoo.com/adoptapondnow/Turtles.asp
 You should check your local provincial or state sites for species native to your area. The following photos are mine with ID captions, while the illustration are courtesy of the the Toronto Zoo. They are all the types in Ontario.
Midland Painted or Northern Map Turtle.

Midland Painted- the only not at risk.

Midland Painted.

Bland Turtle 

Northern Map Turtle.

Musk or Stinkpot.

Spiny Softshell

Spotted Turtle

Western Painted 

Wood Turtle.

Harebell

White-faced Meadowhawk.

Variable Darner. All ID'S of Insects Courtesy of NWOBirds

Common Spreadwing

Chipmunk

71 comments:

  1. Love coming to your blog and seeing the various birds and animals you photograph. Just fabulous!

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  2. Your world is so amazing! Love your shots...all of them!!!

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  3. love the harriers and your kingbirds, too.

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  4. As always, a post full of beautiful wildlife & gorgeous scenery!

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  5. So beautiful and I can't wait to do the slide show here, because of those flight shots of the hawk.

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  6. So beautiful. I can't wait to watch the slide show here, especially because of the wonderful flight shots of the hawk - wish I could do that!

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  7. Those are fantastic wildlife pics!

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  8. These are amazing photos! Love the variety of birds, all very well taken!

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  9. I had no idea that there were so man different kinds of turtles. Still loving that Cedar Waxwing and those cute Chipmunks. The Harrier really did come in to see if you looked tasty:)
    Paul

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  10. Beautiful skies - and I love all the shots of wildlife!

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  11. Great raptor sightings--love the young ones. And thanks for the snapping turtles info--we are seeing less and less too. (I was horrified to hear from my neighbor that in his youth he caught them to be eaten.)
    Lovely shots, as always!

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  12. Lovely skies and the usual fantastic captures of the "critters" in your world! Fascinating info about the turtle! Always fun to see chipmunks! Hope you have a great weekend, Gary -- you and the critters!

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  13. Excellent series of photos, I really like, the Northern Harrier fabulous.

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  14. A great serie of photos, great sky post!

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  15. Beautiful Birds of Prey you have up there but the shot of the shy little chipmunk stole my heart!

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  16. Always such enjoyable posts and pictures. Especially enjoyed the harrier and the turtles.

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  17. Great post ... Amazed about the variety of wildlife!

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  18. Great shot of the hawks. And more of my favorite waxwings, too. Enjoy your upcoming weekend!

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  19. great series of photos again. your world is incredibly beautiful.

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  20. Great shots, Gary, love the Harrier ones and the info on the turtles, I seen my first 'snapping turtle' this spring, what a thrill, great information on them, thanks for that, lovely variety today...

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  21. What a treat to see the northern harrier. The chipmunk and turtles were also high points for me. All the shots are fantastic.

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  22. I love these shots--especially the water critters. The turtle info is great, too. I just learned I have some diverse neighbors here.

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  23. Beautiful pictures...Thanks for the lesson on Turtles..and the birds are great.

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  24. It's so nice to see the beautiful wetlands. I'm glad you got your hiking done early. While you will get rain, we will be getting hot weather.

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  25. Love the harriers - and thanks for the turtle info.

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  26. Such beautiful photos...love the hawks and turtles.

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  27. Gary, I love those flight shots of the Harriers, those turtles are very cute. Have a great weekend!

    Shantana

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  28. The dragon fly is my favorite! Happy sky watching and a great weekend too.

    Your comment on my Sky Shot will be greatly appreciated.

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  29. Beautiful and scenic place, with lovely birds.

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  30. Amazing shots. Those turtles are cute.

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  31. Thought I saw one of the turtles that looked as if it had two heads,one on either side of the shell. Lovely photos. Have a nice weekend.

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  32. Great series again.
    I specially love the photo's of the birds of prey in full flight.

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  33. Great shots of the northern harrier! Neat to see the series of turtle shots.

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  34. Lots of great nature shots! Love the turtles.

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  35. You always have the best nature shots. Love those harriers. What a treat to see the whole family!

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  36. Hey Boom & Gary.
    Fantastic - I almost feel that I'm with you on your trip.
    We have not so many of these animals in this country - but I've seen some of them in the zoo.
    Thanks for the beautiful pictures and description .....
    Wishing you a good weekend :)
    Hanne Bente

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  37. The common spread wing is so delicate!. I take it the slideshow is not automatic - that a separate click on the row of shots below is the way to do it?

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    1. Just click any photo, and the slide show will set up. Then click the mini shots at the bottom and the pics will move.

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  38. Bird close ups, so inspiring. Very informative post, thank you. Thinking of getting my grandson a turtle! :=)

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  39. Hi Gary

    Great post I really enjoyed the information on the turtles. I really miss them we had lots in Ontario where I grew up they only occur in Alberta in the extreme south.

    All the best.
    Guy

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  40. lovely nature photos-thanks for commenting on my skywatch!

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  41. Very nice shots, I think my favorites are the turtle since we don't have those around here.

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  42. Great shots, you really work hard on your posts.

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  43. The Harriers are impressive and I really enjoyed the little birds too. I am surprised at the variety of turtles you have the only ones I have seen here are the painted turtles. Thanks,

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  44. What an amazing post! Simply love those Harriers.. beautifully captured.

    Wollreflections

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  45. I am so amazed by these creatures that you have captured with your lens. All I can say is wow and wow. Very informative too:)

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  46. Great photos, my favorites are the ones of the harries in flight!

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  47. My favorite, is the little chipmonk ! I wished we had some here !

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  48. Mother nature is very wonderful. Seeing your post, I always feel like that. I enjoyed your photos very much.

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  49. My oh My, you sure got some splendid images again of the hawks, gorgeous. Love the Waxwings!!! Your dragonflies, oh...you guessed it, everything is wonderful, always~

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  50. As usual lovely captures. Harriers are majestic!

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  51. Nice sky for a great day and what wonderful critter photos! :)

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  52. Hi there - thats another nice set of pictures - we have a lot of different turtles here - but as to what species they are - well that's another thing!

    Cheers - SM

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  53. Fab nature photos and sky shots, the turtles are so cool aren't they

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  54. ¸.•♫°`♡彡
    Esse post. está demais...perfeito, tudo lindo!!!!
    Belos clicks.

    Bom fim de semana!
    Beijinhos.
    Brasil.

    ¸.•♫°`♡彡✿⊱╮

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  55. Beautiful critters.

    Pomeranian, your comment is always highly appreciated! Have a great weekend.

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  56. A beautiful area you live in. I enjoy your photos and narrative immensely - and learn something too!

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  57. You always have the most amazing variety of critters, and I love all the lush vegetation.

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  58. I loe all the photos. You take good photos always. The chipmunk is so cute.

    Have a great week ahead.

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  59. Wow Gary, where do you start, what a post.

    This is blogging at its best, a chronicle of ..... well, life, days out, whats going on, what did I do, stuff to really look back on and ponder and think, yes I enjoyed that

    Brilliant stuff

    Ps
    The Harrier encounters are soimething else and you must feel so privelaged

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  60. As always, wonderful nature scenes and highly informative. Many thanks for sharing.

    Cheers ... visiting from Our World Tuesday.

    Now, here's something completely different:

    http://turningboholano.blogspot.com/2012/08/balut.html

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  61. Great post, I always enjoy your birds and nature scenes. Beautiful photos.

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