Cloudy Skies of the Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

Cloudy

 The weather has been mostly cloudy or overcast with some rain. Probably as a result of Edna, although we are much out of her reach. Boom & I hope you are all fareing well.

Stormy Clouds

The Chickadees seem more active, and the male Goldfinch is starting his change to fall colours. In fact all around us the forest is starting to look a little more like fall.

Storm Clouds.

Chickadee.

Chickadee Side View.

Male Goldfinch Moulting.

Male Northern Flicker.

Male Northern Flicker.

Sparrow.

Red Squirrel.

A Post To SWF @ http://skley.blogspot.com/

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.

A Hike On The East Track of The Vermilon River.

NE Wetland.

 This hike was in and around the east track as a train was actually using the track for shunting purposes when I took the hike,which is unusual and very inconvenient.

Another thing that is inconvenient is Blogger/Google. I like the new format but I could not upload the photos in the new format's post section, and am therefore using the old format. I also appear to have lost my followers on the blog.

Anyway these scenes show the north wetland and the south wetland. The green hump in the centre of photo one is the track which bisects the wetland.

SE Wetland



South Wetland.




Fireweed




Pin Cherries


Fireweed gets its name from the fact that it is the first weed to regrow after a forest fire, and this clearing along the creek bed is filled with it. These are the first blooms. I'll get some more shots later to give you some idea of the colour impact.

The real concern is the pin cherries, not that they're ripe, but that they're eaten already. Of course the Cedar Waxwing below denied that he had been in them. But you can't believe a fat fellow wearing a mask can you?







A Very Fat Cedar Waxwing.




Fat Cedar Waxwing.




Yellowthroat Warbler.





This is only the second time I've seen the Yellow-throats but they're beauties aren't they?





Chestnut-sided Warbler.




Chestnut-sided Warbler.






The Chestnut-sided Warbler is just caught in a major wind storm, and having a tough time of it.


Great Blue Heron





I've sure seen a lot of Herons, so the wetlands must be filled with frogs for them.


Great Blue In Flight.




Male Northern Flicker.




Male Northern Flicker.




None of the Flickers were letting me close enough until this fellow actually seemed to pose for me.



The Song Sparrows were actually together when I started this post, but separated in the posting. I had commented earlier the heavier tree canopy was stopping me from getting close to them. But this guy sure reversed that.


Song Sparrow.




Red Squirrel




I was lucky on the red squirrel as he like the chipmunk is on all the other four legged animals' menu.




Red Squirrel




Eastern Swallowtail.








Song Sparrow.





A Post to My World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/


I'm posting this today to see if it goes well, so I'll put it on Scenic Sunday as well.

Various Birds of The Vermilon River. A Post to Camera Critters And Scenic Sunday.

Song Sparrow

Despite the unstable weather I've done a bit of hiking although not nearly so much as I wanted to.
These shots were taken along the fringe of the east track wetlands.


The song sparrow is a favourite of mine, and lives on the fringe of the wetlands.

Red-winged Blackbird



Raven With Prey.





I caught the Red-winged Blackbird high in a tree which is unusual as they are normally in the wetland. Then I stumbled into some Ravens and caught them in flight, and, on the right, returning from a raid on a smaller bird's nest. You can click to enlarge the photos as usual.

Raven In Flight.



A Pair of Canada Geese




Canada Goose






These Geese were on land and I think send there to keep me away from the wetland. As I said in earlier posts the rains have flooded out their nesting sites, I think, on the Vermilon River, and I've been looking for them.

They took off and that's the same geese landing below.





Landing In Tandem





Not a bad landing flying so close together. But I'm  certain the pair below need to practise some more.

Bad Take Off or Landing.

Standing Around



Still Standing Around




With Goslings




This is what it was all about. They, the geese, outmanoeuvred me as I was directly above them at one point, but I didn't see any goslings. The geese on land were send to ward me off if I got too close. Once I was far enough away, they joined the elders and out came the goslings.


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