Rondeau Ric

This great blue heron was bending, stretching,wing flaring his wings as he stood on a log. Didn't seem to notice us in our boat getting closer and closer. We finally left it to finish his routine. Ardea herodias Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can curl their neck into an S shape for a more aerodynamic flight profile and to quickly strike prey at a distance.

Watchin the waves roll in. No dock and no tide but the same idea. At the wash out on South Point Trail at Rondeau Provincial Park.

I don't know much about kayaking bit I'm pretty sure you are supposed to sit inside the kayak and not ride it like a horse. Another thing, is this like being in a bay without a paddle similar to being up a creek without a paddle?

The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite, meaning that it lays its eggs in nests of other species. This chipping sparrow is trying to keep up with the appetite of the much larger cowbird chick.

A kaleidoscope of colours on the beach. Don't know if there is some sort of canoe/kayak club but there were a lot of them on the beach at Rondeau on the weekend.

I took this shot from our boat, the katydid was about 25 feet (8 meters) away on a bouncing reed. I really didn't think it would turn out but I'm pleased with the result, all things considered. Grasshopper, crickets and katydids belong to the insect order Orthoptera (meaning "straight-wing") and are best known for their powerful hind limbs and ability to jump. There is a single generation per year with adults most commonly present in late summer. A few species overwinter as nymphs and the adults appear in spring or early summer.

We are starting to get more warblers through on the fall migration. Capy May, black and white, redstarts and yellows. I think this one is a local that nested closeby Setophaga petechia Life can be dangerous for a small bird. Yellow Warblers have occasionally been found caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web. source - Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Our ironweed plant is finally starting to bloom. It draws in lots of butterflies and occasionally a hummingbird. Not being a fan of manicured lawns our front yard is tall grass prairie.

One of the researchers took me along to check on a slink nest today. The eggs are just about ready to hatch. When he rolled the log back the adult was wrapped around the eggs but slowly burrowed into the ground. Plestiodon fasciatus The five-lined skink is Ontario’s only native species of lizard.