My Pelee Post

...is imminent, just watch this space in the next twelve hours, all of you naysayers! 

Perhaps this will fill the void until then:

Sweet on Swallows

I admittedly have a soft spot for Swallows, especially Barn Swallows. I lose myself watching the graceful swooping flight of any Swallow over water as they relentlessly hunt for flying insects, and effortlessly drink and bathe from the air. Their iridescence and colouring is a work of art (thanks, Ma Nature!), and their melange of chattering, chirping, rattling, and/or twittering is so soothing to listen to in the summer.

Nesting Cliff Swallows under a bridge are a challenge to photograph as the parents fly in so quickly to feed the babies in a mud nest:

This baby below provides a better aim with its wide gaping mouth:

A fledged baby Cliff Swallow:

The railings of the boardwalk were dripping with more baby swallows, including an inquisitive Bank Swallow:

But it's always the Barn Swallows who steal my heart:

This young Barn Swallow won me over as he checked me out, almost as if begging for food!

...and again:

...and again!

...it was not too pleased with me for being empty-handed!

Then the preening began...

...I had no idea that they had white tail spots!

Such an adorable baby!

But shortly we will see them congregating in huge numbers on fences and wires as part of their staging mode before migration, and just like that, they're suddenly gone, until we meet up again next year!

   

We're Melting Away!!!

One of the advantages am I insane???? there are no advantages whatsoever to this kind of weather  of record-breaking humidex temperatures is that I can totally justify staying indoors to edit past photos.     ANN: not a word about my outstanding Pelee trip, please!

However, that being said, I caved and put out a water bowl belonging to our dogs for any of our back yard critters that may be in need of it, including chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, and assorted birds. Finally one of my American Robins showed up to drink from it, panting all the while as that's how their body temperature is regulated:

A humidex today of 48º was too much for this poor squirrel who stretched out on the ground in a feeble attempt to cool off, poor thing!

As I kept a watchful eye on my backyard critters from the comfort of my air-conditioned home, my photo editing dated back to cooler times just last week at the Toronto Wildlife Centre, a Northern Mockingbird showed off its white patches while performing wing stretches on the ground, a behaviour that I've never seen before...

...while a pretty Savannah Sparrow checked me out...

...and then began singing his heart out:

Last Friday in south Whitby the resident Mute Swan family was on the prowl with a few pretty young cygnets:

As the crowds at Lynde Shores rarely pay heed to the posted "Please Do Not Feed The Birds" signs, these swans were fearless as they approached me looking for food:

"Feed me, what's wrong with you, why don't you have anything for me like everyone else does??"

The dingy cygnet flipped me the bird  tipped itself over looking for food the way it really should be....

...and righted itself back up as it forgave me for my lack of food handouts:

On Sunday evening I returned back up to the cottage for a few days, enjoying yet another killer sunset from the dock with mom on Monday evening:

On Tuesday morning as I was cleaning the dock, I was thrilled to see my pair of Common Loons sauntering by, as it had been a few weeks since I last saw them. They seem to prefer calmer waters in our little bay as they casually swim by the docks checking out what's on the menu for the day as they frequently dunk their heads under water and come back up with a meal, this was one of them on July 5th:

On Tuesday, though, it was a casual drive-by swim-by that I enjoyed, double-click on any of these to better see the details:

The sound of my camera shutter has always appealed to this particular Loon as it made a closer approach to me on the floating dock:

...and then it began to make its tremolo call as it got closer and closer to me, I stayed as still as I possibly could on the dock so as not to disturb it...

...and then off it swam, continuing along the shoreline of the lake as it eventually caught up with its mate!

And don't ever let it be said that I don't photograph gulls, this young "whatever"  probable I don't have a clue Ring-billed Gull flew by, most likely upset by my presence on the floating dock as several of them had apparently taken up residence there based on the amount of whitewash I had to scrub off in advance of our lunch guests' arrival!

And so ends another posting before I totally melt away, I really must work on that Pelee trip....



Cooper's Hawks Galore!

After hearing from two local club members that once again a family of Cooper's Hawks had successfully fledged in their back yard, off I went on Monday morning to find them. Almost exactly a year ago, it took John and I three tries to find them, so I didn't know what to expect that morning, but as soon as I arrived I immediately heard the two young hawks loudly nattering away. They were still honing their flying skills, and were thankfully at that young age where they weren't particularly bothered by humans, so I spent the next few hours with Jan and Stella enjoying them.

This is one of the two babies that stole the limelight that morning. As I exited my car, it initially flew onto the roof of Stella's home, but then took off again on wobbly wings to safely land in a tree. One of the distinguishing features of a Cooper's Hawk is clearly seen here, check out its well-rounded tail...

...as it's checking us out!

It was paying close attention to any noises or the slightest movement detected on the ground, as it never knew if or when the parents would be making any food deliveries to them:

Something caught its eye in the garden, so it adeptly dropped down onto the ground and poked around in the greenery:

All the while, its sibling was on the other side of the yard chattering away, but they both went insane when one of the parents flew in, presumably with a rodent of some sort.

I'm not convinced that this meal below was caught by one of the fledged babies, I suspect it was thanks to one of the parents that breakfast was served and devoured with great enthusiasm!

Most of the meal was gone by now, so it did a post-meal fluff-up of its beautiful new feathers and a leg lift, but neglected to clean off its beak:

Jan, Stella, and I lost track of the young hawk momentarily as we watched a family of raccoons wander across the yard and then up a tree, it felt like we were in a Disney film rather than in the middle of the city!

Then one of the young hawks was found again, but in serious chill mode, doing its best Whip-poor-will impersonation ever by resting horizontally on the branch, it was very difficult to see:

...and after a big meal, a big nap is in order, so it began to doze off, totally oblivious to its surroundings!

It was a wonderful morning spent in a beautiful setting, with good company and hospitality, so many thanks go to both Jan, Stella, and their families for sharing their Cooper's Hawk family with me once again!

"They grow up so fast", that's one thing I do know for sure, so I'm ecstatic to have seen the babies before their territory is expanded as they gain independence from their parents and move on for another year.