Rondeau Ric

Full of evening grosbeaks , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We have had an influx of evening grosbeaks today. We had two or three earlier in the week. They don't come into our area often however this seems to be one of the times. Taken through the dirty double pained wonderful wildlife window in poor light. All in all not to bad. coccothraustes vespertinus

Every morning my human scrapes the fur off his face. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. He's funny that way. I admit that this is plagiarism. I saw the wording on a bill board somewhere and couldn't resist using it.

Does not play well with others. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. days

The trees were leaking colour all over the road , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. It always seems to be such a waste that all that colour is used up in a few weeks. The aftermath is months of greys and browns.

On the beach , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. I took turtle researchers out on a quiet summers day. We were able to beach the boat so the could access the areas they were studying. It usually isn't this calm on the south beach at Rondeau so it was a treat for me to be able to leave the boat and watch the researchers. Normally I stay with the boat the entire time.

Hermit Thrush , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Another fall visitor to our little pond. We have had two at the same time and there are probably more in the area. Catharus guttatus

A pound and a half of butter butts , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. One of the nick names for yellow rumped warblers is butter butt because of the big yellow patch just above the tail. We have been swarmed by yellow rumps for the past week. At times they take over the pond and nothing else comes in.

Altamira Oriole , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We saw these gorgeous birds when we were in Texas last winter. I am partially colour blind but I can still see the intensity of colour on this bird. Icterus gularis

Well, I guess we will find out. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Whether pigs can fly. I mistyped whether as wether. Turns out a wether is a castrated ram. Who knew?

Ring-necked duck , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. I've not seen the ring aroung the neck. It does have a ring around its bill. So, why isn't it the ringed bill duck? Aythya collaris Peaked head, dark back, pale spur on sides behind neck, gray on the sides

How it really looks out in the woods. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Never mind those nice photos you see in magazines or the illustrations in field guides. This is the typical view you gt of a warbler as it flits around in a bush. Usually the are at the tops of trees and even harder to see. Having a water feature in your yard will bring them down and hopefully you can get a better look. This is a fall plumage yellow rumped warbler. A yellow rumped warbler caught in the open. Whonder why they call it a yellow rumped warbler?

A fall visitor , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. A male black throated blue warbler(dendroica caerulescens for those of you so inclined) spent an hour feeding in the hedge above and behind the pond. He eventually came down for a drink and a bath.