Frosty Morning

~ Winter beauty seen up close ~

The chickadees are always up early too!

Meet "Chip", the newest addition to our squirrel family.  She found a little stash of peanuts to eat, which keeps her warm.  Her mother, Cupcake is a daily visitor who also learned quickly how to "sweet talk" her way to the 'peanut jar' !!

Sharp-shinned Hawk

This Sharp-shinned Hawk spent a few days in a nearby spruce tree creating total chaos for our backyard songbirds.  I have to say, the Blue Jays were picked on the most!  It was fascinating to watch these acrobatic fliers navigate through the dense woods at incredible speeds.  We took the bird feeders down for a few days, so the hawks would move on.  After another day or so, our little feathered friends returned once again!

Weasel

Cute? Yes!! But....

These furry little beasts are not the cuddly type.  Weasels have been seen killing prey up to four times their size!  They generally capture animals that are young or old, sick or injured, or less fit to survive.  They have a tiny face and sharp claws and teeth.

This little fella was merely playing in our rock garden.  Do you want to see what a Weasel looks like in winter?

Did you know:

• Minks and Ferrets are cousins of the Weasel

• The weasel's coat is brown in summer and white in winter.  Just the tip of the tail stays black

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

 Sept 27, 2015 - Double feature: Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

Photos I caputured during this very cool and rare event

   

 

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

This very active little bird is the only North American nuthatch that has an eyestripe and rusty underparts.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch gets a special view of everything, by looking at the world upside down. They are able to descend head downwards on branches and tree trunks.  This is how they search for food.

.... Or, if you are lucky and patient enough, like I was, they will come to your hand!!!!

 See video here:

Nuthatch eating from my hand!!

Little Red-Spotted Newt

The Red-Spotted Newt is also known as the Red Eft; a specific type of salamander.  They have three stages of life: (1) the aquatic larva or tadpole, (2) the red eft or terrestrial juvenile stage, and (3) the aquatic adult.  This little guy is a juvenile and is just about two inches long.

After two or three years, the eft finds a pond and transforms into an aquatic adult. The skin turns olive green, but they retain the black-rimmed spots.

This little newt is navigating through some freshly turned up dirt from the timberjack skidder blade.

They can live 12 to 15 years in the wild, and may grow to five inches in length.  Newts can coexist with fish, which also makes them common aquarium pets.

Sea Glass

The beautiful sea glass I collected!!

Sea Glass is found on saltwater shores.  It is recycled by the sea, worn by waves, tumbled naturally by the currents, wave activity and other elements found in the ocean water such as rocks, sand, salt, and other beach debris.  Sea glass is a product of both man and nature.  Jars, bottles, and glass were carelessly discarded and tumbled by the ocean to form these colorful gems of the shore.  The frost and pitting of genuine sea glass is how you tell it was made by nature.  Another name for sea glass is mermaid tears.

Sea glass is used to make jewelry, create art, or simply put in a jar for display.  The very rare colors are orange, red, and yellow.  I was excited to find all three in the same day.

 

I also found this natural heart shaped rock!!

Bizzzzy Bumblebees

There is no denying that Bumblebees are the most effective pollinators in the world.  This worker is completely covered in pollen.  She is also drinking nectar from a thistle.  The male was just landing when I took this photo.  See his wings?  They are beating at about 130-240 beats per second!

Bees are too important to be ignored!!  Did you know that two-thirds of the world's crops rely on these amazing little creatures!  Without bees and other pollinators, there would be no fruit or vegetables.

Bumblebees live in colonies and are very social. The queen bee lays hundreds of eggs.  The male does not collect pollen or maintain the hive at all.  This is the job of the worker bees.  The male's main function is to fertilize the queen bee. 

Bumblebees scent mark flowers.  They do this to leave a message to the other bees that the nectar is gone.  This reduces time spent probing flowers without nectar.

How high can a bee count??
Answer: To a BUZZillion :-))

Iceberg

Pinnacle shaped Iceberg

This beauty was one of the many icebergs we saw this year!!  We were very fortunate to see this one up close and personal.  Dressed for the elements, we hiked a little distance from the main road to the ocean, and, WOW, was it worth it!! There were pieces of ice breaking off of this natural wonder and crashing against the rocks beside us.  We were safely able to pick up one of those chunks of ice, and yes, it was certainly an awesome feeling to hold a piece of history!!

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf.  It could be more than 15,000 years old, floating freely in open water!! Some of them can be the height of a 15-storey building and weigh up to 100,000 tonnes and more.  Nine tenths of the iceberg's mass is below water.  Yep, that's right, we are only seeing one-tenth of them.

Like beer?  Try this if you have the chance!
Guaranteed, you will have another!

Or...

You might want to try a bottle of Iceberg Vodka? It is the only vodka in the world made from icebergs!!

Good "Morning Dew" You

Daisies symbolize new beginnings

Did you know:

• The daisy's leaves are edible and can be used in salads and are high in vitamin C.
•  Daisies make up almost 10% of all flowering plants on Earth.

Baby Bunny

Shutter speed, check....Aperture, check....ISO, check!

I found myself a little helper!  This wild baby rabbit

is only about 2 weeks old.

There you go! We are all set for some flower photography!

Hmmmm .... Are we taking a break ?!?!

Did you see my feathered friends that
assisted me a few months ago?

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow posing for a portrait!

I stand on the deck with a feather in my hand, and at just the right time, I toss one up, and a Tree Swallow comes swooping down and catches it in her beak right before my eyes, and off to the nest she goes with it!  Sometimes, they let it go in mid air and catch it again.  I read somewhere that they do that to dry the feather before taking it back to the nest, and sometimes, they are just playing with it.

This little beauty is waiting on the ''fly through'' perch for a feather to take back to the nesting site.  The Tree Swallows will use the feathers and dry grasses to keep the nestlings warm and dry.

Do you remember seeing my Tree Swallows post last year?  You can revisit them here

Connecting with Nature

Northern Red Squirrel - He's a regular resident!

A daily dose of nature is
the best medicine, don't you think?

North American Beaver

This regular visitor to our pond is also known as the Canadian Beaver.  He weighs about 40-50 lbs and is a very active rodent.  He is seen here munching on some aquatic plants, mainly water lilies and pond weeds, oh, and did I mention, he fell the odd tree this past week; four of them to be exact!!  "That will be enough spring cleanup from you big guy!  If you take my weeping willows, then we have a problem!!"

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Here is this year's Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  Isn't he handsome!  The females are here too and busy making their nests.  Maybe this year, I will find a nest with the babies!!

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The hummers are back!!  This little beauty, a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird is filling up on some nectar.  She just traveled many miles to get here!! She and a few males are sharing the feeders and we will enjoy their presence until sometime in September!

Want to see one of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds we had here last summer?

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warblers are mainly insect eating birds, but you will see them hanging from a suet, fetching sunflower seeds and peanut butter, or maybe even the odd raisin.

Drop Me Off At My Den Please

It's way past this bandit's bedtime!!!!

This Raccoon looked quite comfortable sitting in our little wagon while snacking on some of my homemade bird food.  One of the main ingredients in this bird food that Raccoons absolutely enjoy is corn!

Keeping at a safe distance, I snapped a few images before she darted off into the woods!

Did you know:

Raccoons are noted for their intelligence .... studies show that they are able to remember the solution to tasks for up to three years!

Happy Easter ~

"Cupcake" found the easter bunny!

Spring Frost

Heavy frost on the Tamarack trees

Black-capped Chickadee perched on a frosted branch waiting for the morning sun to warm her up!

This is Spring .... Right ????

Supper is Served ~ Gray Jays

My Assistants

My feathered friends quickly made their presence to observe the ''new camera gear'' !!

I think they got the hang of it; well almost ....

''Teamwork"

I think this is just an overload
of ''cuteness''.... do you agree?

Canadian Geographic Publication

THANK YOU & WOW Canadian Geographic for choosing my ducklings photo & publishing it in your PETS 2015 Special Collectors Edition!

To meet Squirt and her friends

on our farm: click on this link

Frosty Feeds Our Feathered Friends

Thanks, just 'our size'

Incoming....

Hey Frosty....what's up?

 

Feeding frenzy....lot's for everyone

 

Having too much fun !!!!

 

Chillin with Frosty....

Gotta go....the freezing rain got the best of me
and my feathered friends.... 

Tomorrow is a new day!