Bright Skies, Wetland Scenes and Wildlife of the Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

Big Wetland

Big Wetland

 We had a day of rain, and then a return to blue skies, as you can see. These shots are of a large wetland to the south of the others, that runs indepth probably close to a mile. There are interior trails, but those trails are narrow. The trails show tracks and scat of racoons, black bears, fox and larger canids. So if you run into one of those and have to step off the trail you end up in the water and mud, which off course is soft. It's a bad trail for me because I'm lame and its too hot for Boom. Some people asked me if they could go on a hike with me and guess where we're going. All the photos except the young Robin are taken in and around this area.

Yellow Lily

Forget-Me-Not Creek.

Bee In Joe Pye Weed.

 The creek below feeds the wetland and its banks are lined with wild Forget-Me-Nots. It's quite a sight. The immature Robin impressed me alone with his size. The Red Squirrel and I played hide and seek around a small birch tree. The Turkey Vulture was floating in circles above the wetland.

Bull Rushes

A post to SWF @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/ ,Canera Critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/ and Scenic Sunday@ http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

White Wild Iris

Mauve and White Wild Iris.

Turkey Vulture.

Turkey Vulture.

Great Blue In Flight.

Immature Robim

Immature Robin

Red Squirrel Hiding

Red Squirrel Hiding.

Great Blue Herons And American Bitterns of the Vermilon River. A Post to WBW.

N. East Track wetland.

 I'm always hiking in around the East track wetland because they're the gateway to other wetlands. Since it's a wilderness and not a park, the trails are railway maintenance, fire or snowmobile trails and therefore don't always go close to the water. I had also wondered if I would get my close ups of the Great Blues this year. All the wildlife here is unhabituated, if that's a word, and you therefore end up sneaking up on them, until in a frozen pose you take your photos and then move closer in an effort to get better photos. Sneaking up is the key although I talk in a low voice to them also, which just proves I'm as nutty as a fruitcake.

Canada Goose.

 I had seen some movement and a quick flight, and I thought it was some Canada Geese merely because this guy was still in the wetland.

The in flight Heron shots are the result of not sneaking up quietly enough in previous hikes. Still they're exciting shots,and in flight Heron are interesting photos.

 So on my return from the trail I was on that day, I was plodding along and rounding a tree when this young fellow now identified as an immature American Bittern was in of all places,the other side of the tree. I got five shots, three of which are keepers. Quite a sight!!

The next day I returned hoping for a repeat with no such luck, but just before I returned home, I looked in the lower wetland, and what was there but two more Bitterns, possible matures, maybe mom and dad. I only got these two in flight, but what a thrill.

Ed's Note: I had posted the young and the in flights on NWO Birds and James Barber pegged them as American Bittern immatures. Probably the in flight are matures. This is another first for me, and according to him a really grand photography feat, read luck according to me, to capture the immatures.

A Post to WBW @ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

Mature Gt. Blue in flight.

Mature Gt. Blue in Flight.

Young American Bittern.

Young American Bittern

Mature? Bittern  In Flight.

Mature? American Bittern  In Flight.

Immature American Bittern..

Birds, Butterflies and Wildflowers of the Vermilon River. A Post to MWT.

Chipmunk

Wild Lupins

 The nice thing about My World Tuesday is I can be as whimsical as I please, and today is just a series of photos that I like, with the only qualification that they were taken this summer.

The chipmunk is a fun shot because he is obviously hiding from me.


The Lupins are in a clearing on one of the trails and are breath taking in colour and extent. The Mountain Laurel is even more beautiful now that I know what it is.

Similarly, the Chestnut-sided Warbler is a beauty and now recognizable in his fall and spring plumage. Go back two posts for the clearing up of that problem. The female redwinged blackbird who started off  screaming at me as I was too close to her nest, and then decided to pose.

The female Hairy Woodpecker who was busy and illusive, and then suddenly posed also.

And finally the Swallowtail, who is just as fluttery as the small birds, but stayed put for a few photos.

A Post to MWT@ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Wild Lupins.

Mountain Laurel.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Female Redwinged Blackbird.

Female Hairy Woodpecker.

Eastern Swallowtail

Eastern Swallowtail

Female Hairy Hiding.

More Strange Skies of the Vermilon River. A Post To SWF.

Sure looks like rain.

 The sky gave me and the weather man a rough time this week. Despite the need for rain these black clouds would not build up to a rain. Finally we got a thunderstorm, really not what we needed, nor was the rain of sufficient  duration. The heat has broken much to Boomer`s relief, and probably mine. In fact right now it's about 16C or say 62F and feels cold.

The little clouds didn't grow.

Starting to brighten.

Cedar Waxwing.

My own bird feeders became more active with visits from Song Sparrows, Chickadees, and this male Downy who balances on the feeder using his tail. The Cedar Waxwing and the Turkey Vulture are from the forest. If the Vulture was sitting in my tree, I`d sure need to check my pulse, wouldn't  I?

Of course, no local grouping would be complete without Huegy, the Crow. A Post to SWF@http://skywatch.blogspot.com/

Black-capped Chickadee.

Male Downy

Male Downy.

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Turkey Vulture In Flight.

Huegy, the crow and his peanut.

Warblers of The Vermilon River. A Post to WBW

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

 In my last post I filed a number of photos and asked help with the identification. Both commenter's to the post, and people from NWO Birds (North Western Ontario Birds) came through for me and I thank them all. NWO birds is a site of amateur and I think some professional naturalists that live to the west of me on the north shore of Lake Superior. They're blessed with all that I have in terms of forest, as well as  the big water of Lake Superior, the largest and undoubtedly the toughest of the Great Lakes. The birds were identified as a Fall plumage Chestnut-sided warbler and a female Common Yellow-throat Warbler.
Fall plumage, the term that is, sent me to the web to find out what it means. I knew the American male Goldfinch changes his bright looks for a duller winter look. But I didn't know warblers have a variation on this theme, in that they alter their spring plumage to a fall plumage, which can be an extreme change. This makes identification all the harder,because you have to know both plummages to correctly identify them. The Chesnut-sided Warbler may lose his chestnut-side as shown here. I would also expect a bird born this year would go to fall plummage directly, and may appear in a flock with older birds in their spring plummage. I don't know if this is correct as none of the web sites say that; rather I just made the inference.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Female Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Female Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Male Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Male Yellowthroat.

The situation with the Yellowthroats was simpler, as it was a gender differentiation only. So with them I have just included the male and female. The photos are almost all new to publication. Both pretty stylish birds though don't you think? The Yellowthroat, male and female is new to me this year. The Chestnut sided is new to me in its fall plumage format. All the information was taken from wikipedia and www.ehow.com/ Further photos of  the warblers, all types all stages, can be found @ http//www.giffbeaton.com/. Go to the Warbler Section.


A Post to WBW@ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/