Rondeau Ric

Chipmunk, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 29, 2020. One of a large number of chipmunks in the yard. Chipmunks mostly stay away from each other's homes. Its tiny burrow is also a place to hide from predators. To make its burrow, the chipmunk digs a tunnel and fills the space with fluffy seeds, leaves and grasses. Underneath this bedding, it hides nuts and seeds for winter. That can help the nuts and seeds it does not eat grow into plants.

In the little pond in the yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 27, 2020.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 27, 2020. We haven't had many sparrows in the yard this summer other than chipping, and house. It was nice to see something different. Melospiza lincolnii Sometimes, singing a beautiful song might not be enough to win over a female. In a laboratory study, female Lincoln's Sparrows were more attracted to males that sang during colder mornings more than those singing during warmer mornings. This may be because males singing in the cold showed off more than just their song; singing in the cold requires more energy and could mean that males singing in the cold would make better mates. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lincolns_Sparrow

A very wet Tennessee warbler in our water feature. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 25, 2020. Leiothlypis peregrina The Tennessee Warbler is a common nectar "thief" on its wintering grounds in tropical forests. Most nectar-eating birds, bats, and insects probe a flower from the front to get the nectar, spreading pollen on their faces in the process. But Tennessee warblers pierce the flower tube at the base, lapping up the nectar without helping pollinate the flower. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tennessee_Warbler

Keith McLean Conservation Lands, Ontario, Canada, August 24, 2020. This was a life bird for me - for non-birders that is first time seeing a bird, and it was only a few kilometres from our place. Co-operated nicely slowly walking towards our group. Calidris subruficollis The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is unique among North American shorebirds in having a lek mating system. Males gather fairly close together and display for females. After mating, females raise their chicks without any help from the male. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Buff-breasted_Sandpiper

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 21, 2020. Immature towhee hanging around the pond in the yard. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhees are likely to visit – or perhaps live in – your yard if you’ve got brushy, shrubby, or overgrown borders. If your feeders are near a vegetated edge, towhees may venture out to eat fallen seed. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 19, 2020. Saw this small map turtle at the edge of the road while out for my bike ride. I moved it, in the directions it was going, off the pavement. It was about 2" long. Graptemys geographica

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 6, 2020. one of many hummingbirds in the yard right now. The numbers will continue to build until early September. I believe the highest number in the yard at one time was 17. Archilochus colubris Ruby-throated Hummingbirds normally place their nest on a branch of a deciduous or coniferous tree; however, these birds are accustomed to human habitation and have been known to nest on loops of chain, wire, and extension cords. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-throated_Hummingbird

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 14, 2020. Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (in Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the United States), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as long-horned grasshoppers. More than 6,400 species are known. They are primarily nocturnal in habit with strident mating calls. Many katydids exhibit mimicry and camouflage, commonly with shapes and colours similar to leaves. source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigoniidae

Approximately 1" long. Spotted this one in our front yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 13, 2020. The term "hummingbird moth" is applied to many medium to large moths in the Sphingidae family and Hemaris genus of moths. There are more than 1,200 species of these moths worldwide, and roughly 125 of them can be seen regularly in North America. These insects are also called hawk moths, sphinx moths, clearwing moths, bee moths, and bee-hawk moths, and in the caterpillar stage, they are called hornworms. source - https://www.thespruce.com/spot-hummingbird-moths-386692

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 11, 2020. On my morning bike ride at a neighbours road side pond.

Out on my daily bike ride looking for birds or anything else interesting. Not sure if this is a Mary Poppins wannabe who got stuck or the Fiddler on the Roof apprentice. (New roof on a cottage a few doors from us. It is hot up there.)

Northern mockingbird, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 7, 2020. I don't usually see mockingbirds in the park but there is a pair hanging around and once in a while one pops out for a minute or two. Mimus polyglottos If you’ve been hearing an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 6, 2020. In the front garden, if the id is wrong I'm sure someone will let me know.

Continuing the renovations and Crash found an new box to sleep in. This a high boy chest of drawers made by my grandfather and it is solid wood. It is too heavy to move with the drawers in, after we removed them Crash moved right in.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 23, 2020. Yellow warblers are becoming common in the yard near the pond and hedge. IT's the only warbler we are getting right now. Setophaga petechia In addition to the migratory form of the Yellow Warbler that breeds in North America, several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Males in these populations can have chestnut caps or even chestnut covering the entire head. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler

Kite boarders at Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Aug 2, 2020.

We are replacing our kitchen cabinets. This is one of the old ones waiting to be repurposed. Crash decided he'd repurpose it first, after all, a box is a box.