RIM Park
Waterloo, ON
8 May 2015
Spring has truly descended on Ontario and the woods are filled with the sounds of migrants arriving back from the areas to the south where they spend most of the year. It is sometimes easy to slip into the fallacy of thinking of these birds as "our birds" but in fact they pass the greater part of their lives elsewhere.
Baltimore Orioles Icterus galbula are suddenly everywhere and this morning we observed this female building her familiar long, pendant nest.
The male seemed to be content to perch, preen, sing and watch!
Yellow Warblers Setophaga perechia seemed to be everywhere and we were rarely out of earshot of a singing male.
Killdeers Charadrius vociferus were seen on rocky outcrops along the river and this picture shows the effectiveness of its camouflaging plumage.
Imagine how difficult it would be for a hawk flying over to detect this bird from the air. In order for us to first detect them we had to wait for movement.
In addition to the avian migrants the woodlands and meadows are bursting with new growth, and here are just a few of the species of wildflowers we observed.
 |
| Large-flowered Trillium Trillium grandiflorum |
 |
| Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara |
 |
| Trout Lily Erythronium americanum |
 |
| Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum |
 | ||||
Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris
|
Beautiful series of images of birds and flowers.
ReplyDeletePerfect photographed David, my compliments.
A very good weekend.
Nice shots David.
ReplyDeleteThat singing bird on picture 4 is really great.
Many greetings,
Marco
Your Baltimore Oriole looks very exotic, David, particularly when you see its nest. Beautiful images of your birds, and your wild flowers are very special too. Sadly, I'm not going to be able to help much with flower identification when you are over here (soon!).
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you both - - - Richard
Lovely birds and flowers.. I love the Orioles nest.. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful series, David. The nest of the Orioles is very special.
ReplyDeleteI am also impressed by the flower of the Skunk Cabbage.
I wish you a nice weekend. Gr Jan W
Hello David, Another great blog with some lovely birds and plants and flowers. The nest these birds make is like a peace of art. All to make sure the chicks are safe from predators. That Skunk cabbage is sometihing, wow. Love also the Trout Lily. As I understand you will enjoy some lovely weeks in England. Hope you get to see lots of beautyful things. And Belgium is not that far away. Perhaps another time?
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Roos
Hi Roos: I can't do it this time but I would love to visit Belgium - and Holland too for that matter. It is a very long time since I was in either country.
DeleteHello David, I understand. But if and when you have plans just let me know.
DeleteRegards,
Roos
I will for sure.
DeleteBonito y primaveral post. Saludos desde España.
ReplyDeleteSome beautiful images of birds and plants.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see these pictures. Hanging nest is really special but the yellow color of the bird is very beautiful. The little ringed plover, you also can shoot beautiful and lovely to see the spring flowers :-)
ReplyDeleteWonderful to see beautiful pictures.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Tinie
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteBaltimore Orioles build their nest just like the weavers we had in our African garden in front of the bedroom window!
How great to observe them go about their business!
The bright yellow Kildeer is a gorgeous bird, it looks very tropical to me!!
Beautiful flora photos too, the cabbage flower is quite impressive!
Thanks again for your help, enjoy your sunday,
Hugs and abrazos to share with Miriam :)