Rondeau Ric

Red-headed woodpecker, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 21, 2019. We have had four red-headed woodpeckers in and around our yard for several days. At least two are nesting in the large trees just off our lot. Melanerpes erythrocephalus Red-headed Woodpeckers are fierce defenders of their territory. They may remove the eggs of other species from nests and nest boxes, destroy other birds’ nests, and even enter duck nest boxes and puncture the duck eggs. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-headed_Woodpecker

American woodcock, Rondeau Provincial Park, March 28, 2019, Ontario Canada. Spotted it walking across the road, stopped the car, hopped out and grabbed a couple of photos.Looked away for a minute and it was gone. Scolopax minor If you are interested, here's a link to their calls. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock/sounds

Although I had partial looks at this bird over the last few days I hadn't been able to get a photo. Today I went out in the fog/drizzle/rain and had good looks at the bird. It perched in the open, me without my camera due to the wet. After watching for 5 minutes I made my way back to the car and grabbed the camera. The kiskadee was down low and eventually came up with a frog. Certainly worth going out in the rain. Pitangus sulphuratus Great Kiskadees readily come to feeders to eat fruit such as bananas. Watch out for these bold birds: they also readily steal other kinds of food, such as bread, peanut butter, and pet food. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Kiskadee/

Sometimes warning signs are for everybody. This one was at Hopewell Rocks, a provincial park in New Brunswick where the tides of the Bay of Fundy are at their highest. You can walk up to the sign at low tide.  This was way before high tide. You can walk on the ocean floor at low tide and then watch it come up 35-45 feet. As usual on this trip it was foggy. http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/

. For you youngsters check Peter Sellers. Long shot of a minke whale in the south arm near Woody Point, Newfoundland. Had a brief look yesterday but no photo. Now that we have seen one we should see lots more. The minke whale, or lesser rorqual, is a type of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common minke whale and the Antarctic minke whale. Wikipedia They are approximately 8 meters long and weigh between 5 and 10 tonnes.

I know they got a foot of snow in Newfoundland yesterday and we will be there tomorrow but this guy in Moncton didn't need to rub it in with summer sledding.

Intense and eager enjoyment or interest. This blue jay was splashing away with total abandon for over a minute in our small water feature in the yard. Cyanocitta cristata Large crested songbird with broad, rounded tail. Blue Jays are smaller than crows, larger than robins. The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs. The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay lived to be at least 17 years 6 months old. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

February in Canada, eh. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Lots of complaints about the cold and the snow around here, It's winter in Canada, what did you expect, oranges?

Merry Christmas (view to see the message) , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We three kings of avian are Migrant birds who travel afar. Fluff and feather, snowy weather, Pooping on yonder car. What did you expect from a birder. (Verse sent to me by a friend, original source unknown. I'm not that creative.)