Rondeau Ric

Hey, watch the elbows! Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur The nest is getting crowded with four chicks. They always look angry.

Up close and personal with the Admiral Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur There are dozens of red admiral butterflies on the bushes in our yard. A few have been using the nectar feeders that we put out for hummingbirds and orioles. I was able to get realy close to this one.

Common merganser Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur A few are still around but they are hard to approach unless you are in a boat. Still dealing with dial up.

Mr Bean and Crash Bandicoot Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur The boys are having a nap after tearing through the house for 25 minutes. Crash, the beige stripped one, has a habit of running into things. Sometimes they move, other times items such as walls don't move. He runs and jumps into a chair, then to a table then a window sill, then reverses his direction. Over and over and over. I imagine he has lots of bruises under his fur. They lived together in a wire cage at the humane society for almost 5 months. The were taken care of and allowed out whenever possibly but mostly they spent their time together. They often curl up together when they are sleeping. The cage is one we had to put around some plants as they would chew them up and leave bits and pieces all over. They roam free here

Dive,Dive,Dive Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Intruder Alert, Dive, Dive, Dive. When we went to the boat the other day three map turtles were using a swim platform as a basking spot. Once the saw me the scrambled to get into the water. One is already in an the other two are in a hurry. I like the way the head of the turtle on the left is in focus and the rest of the turtles is blurred with motion. Look at how big the back foot of the top turtle is. And those claws would hurt if you got too close.

Where did you come from? Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur We were out on our pontoon boat and drifted by a heron rookery in the bay. This GBH flew in and did a double take. It settled in and didn't seem bothered by us. Have a good weekend.

FEED ME Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur There is a yellow warbler net neat the cottage and we have been taking quick looks every three of four days. This is the first time we noticed that the eggs had hatched. As soon as the camera was close the opened their mouths wanting to be feed. Canon makes a good camera but they don't have a bird feeding feature.

Pot head Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Back in the 60's pot head had an entirely different meaning.

There are some things that you should be able to figure put for yourself. Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur and this is one of them.

Map turtle Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur fresh from laying her eggs.

Up close and personal Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur We had a pair of breeding Cecropia Moths in a bush next to the visitor centre yesterday. From Wikipedia -the adult moths do not have mouth parts and they are unable to eat. As a result, the lifespan for an adult Cecropia moth is generally only 7 to 10 days in the wild, perhaps a little longer or shorter, depending on how much movement the moth makes

How do those egrets do it? Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur We were out on the boat Monday and saw this unusual behaviour by Bonaparte gulls. They were touching down in the tops of trees and appeared to be feeding on insects. They looked like they were imitating herons and egrets by landing in the trees. Additional photos on Flickr.

A good sign Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Maggie seems to be adjusting to the new boys. James was sleeping in my chair and Maggie joined him. Shortly afterwards James stretched out and flopped his legs over her. Photo by Anne

A common bird Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur The northern cardinal is a common bird around here, seen year round. I tend to forget just how striking it is until I hear a visitor commenting on a"beautiful red bird". Maybe we should all take a closer look at common place things around us. I have better "field guide" style photos of cardinals, however, I liked this in your face shot.

The boys are here Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Created with fd's Flickr Toys James, on the left, likes watching the birds. He has subtle strips on his face and body and his tailed is ringed like a lemurs. Dante, on the right, likes smaller spaces behind the couch or other pieces of furniture. Dante required eye surgery before he could come home with us. He had fur growing out of his eye. The surgery cost $2,000 and was covered by the shelter. Maggie and the boys seem to be adapting well.

A message fron the Godfather? Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur A rather unique mailbox. While I didn't see any horse I suppose the raise horses at this farm. Wonder if there is anyone there named Sonny?

Colonel Mustard lives down the lane. Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur What's in a name? A condiment.