Scarborough Morning with John

We began the day with a brief stop-over at a private home again with the hopes of seeing young Cooper's Hawks that have fledged nearby but once again we dipped on them, so we continued on to Rosetta McClain Gardens. This is a beautiful little gem of a park overlooking the lake that bridezillas no doubt get in serious catfights over at this time of year as a back-drop for their wedding portraits.

The stunning flowers provided a colourful background for butterflies, starting with a Silver-spotted Skipper:

Monarchs were common, but Red Admirals certainly outnumbered them in the sunshine:

 

And before I leave the insect world for now, as a follow-up on Monday's MDOTD (=Mystery Dragonfly of The Day), my experts tell me it's definitely a Meadowhawk, perhaps even a female Ruby Meadowhawk, but this can only be determined for sure by examining its genitalia. I DON'T THINK SO, not by me, anyway, I've already drawn the line by refusing to even own, let alone carry a BUTTERFLY NET:

On the birding front at Rosetta it was dismal, though, other than Black-capped Chickadees, a White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robins, Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Cardinals, and a young Song Sparrow doing a cover version of his dad's song.

On a whim, before dropping John off, we stopped by at the Cooper's Hawk abode yet again. The friendly home-owner, Joe, came out to chat, inviting us to sit on his deck with him and wait for the hawks to make an appearance, which this single young one finally did in a forested area next door, yippee, at last, IT'S A BIRD for the day!!!!

It stayed here on the branch preening itself for ten minutes, so slooowly I turned. Step by step, inch by inch, nyuk nyuk nyuk, moving a bit closer each time, it paid me no heed:

John and I had feared we were jinxing ourselves, but this proved that third time's the charm, so we called it a Day!