Again this is a long post, so use the slide show by all means, although there is some copy later in the post. The mornings are cool, although the sun is hot, but the combination makes for dewy mornings and mist. Great for photography. In order to fill the large gap in my life made by Boomer's demise, I took up video with the new camera. I feel I've arrived at the stage where the technology is overwhelming my films. The recommendation to join vimeo certainly pointed this out, not in terms of their seminars but from the quality point of view. I would, at the risk of sounding like an expert, say that YouTube is the average, and Vimeo is the best, certainly from the nature view point. So the point of this is: I was filming and taking stills in the riparian area that drains the long Lake wetlands and then flows into the east track wetlands,which is filled with insects and birds because of the food supply available to them. These are some of the happenings and the photos.
Some people sweated over this ID. The full name is
Northern Bluebells. I don't use the Latin name because
I'm not an expert and it seems well you know pretentious.
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
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| Choke Cherries |
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| Preening Goldfinch |
The plants at the side of the dandelion in seed are wild lupins in seed.
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| Bull Thistle |
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| Viper's Bugloss |
There are 5 varieties of wild asters in the area. I don't try to make the id any tighter than that. I use a private website called Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers and Flowering Shrubs, if you want to look at it.
A post to:
Id Rather Be Birdin,
Our World Tuesday and
WBW
Below are I think Woodland Phlox.
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| Unknown |
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| A mass of Bladder Campion. |
These dogbane flowers are smaller than the finger nail on your smallest finger.
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| Evening Primrose |
Like the wild asters I don't try to tighten down the ID of the golden rods.
Below: Joe Pye weed in its last stages. The wildflowers each have their season.
The wild raspberries are larger this year than I remember them from other years. Compare these to DNA altered commercially offerings.
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| Joe Pye weed |
A lot of the berries are missing thanks to the birds,especially the waxwings, and of course, me.
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| Another seed shot. |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Thistle |
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| Wild Asters |
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| Woodland Phlox |
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| Bladder campion. |
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| Close up Joe Pye Weed |
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| Full sun on the thistles |
There were flocks of warblers playing in the the thick growth. I think all these guys are Nashville Warblers, including the Immature. I put them altogether.
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| Immature. |
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| Side View. |
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| Preening Goldfinch |
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| Wild Aster |
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| Bladder Campion in the sun |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Wet web |
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| Bluebells |
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| Lunch is served |
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| Dogbane |
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| Evening Primrose. |
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| Goldenrod |
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| Hiding |
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| Joe Pye Weed |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Waning wild daisies |
I got this sequence out of order. The riparian vegetation grows on soil that ranges from sand or gravel to the rich black bog soil that for instance the wild Iris prefer. The perfect soil for ants, so I usually find Northern Flickers in here. I caught the female below at an enormous hole in a fairly rotten Aspen tree. I turned the corner and caught up to the whole family.
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| Mom and Dad |
Female at nest.
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| A little Scratch |
At last the Immature Northern Flicker.
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| Immature. |
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| Preening |
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| Then a Male Hairy Woodpecker joined them. |
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| Female at the nest. |
See new Video. Click here:
Video Vimeo
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