A cheetah family portrait to start the week. There’s always one looking in the wrong direction… 🙂
2018-07-16: Monochrome Monday
2018-07-11: Wordless Wednesday
2018-07-09: Monochrome Monday
A trio of antelope images to start the week.
Wishing everyone a fantastic week! 🙂
2018-07-08: Birds and a bunny
Last weekend, I had decided that I was going to carry on with bird posts for the month of July. I was excited because a robin’s nest was discovered in the yard, and while I didn’t see the babies, mama robin was still in the nest. I had wonderful thoughts of finding a suitable spot to photograph them, while not getting too close and intruding on their space. Then on Wednesday morning, as I was leaving with Spencer for our morning walk, I noticed that the nest was off kilter (it was built on top of a hose reel attached to our well pump house). When I walked a bit closer, I saw that the nest was destroyed, and there were 3 baby robins dead on the ground.
I don’t have any proof, but I believe it was a cat that lives down the road and is allowed to roam outside that did the damage. There were puncture marks in one of the chicks, but otherwise they were untouched, which leads me to believe that whatever attacked the nest was not in need of food. Even if a wild cat, fox or other animal was disturbed when they were at the nest, if they were hungry, I would expect them to come back and collect the chicks. Instead, I ended up having to clean the sad mess up. I’m not going to share any images from that sighting; no one else needs to see that.
That took the wind out of my sails a bit for bird photos. I’ve actually decided to not have a formal topic for July, and I’ll just post what I am inspired to share on a Sunday. Today though, I do have a few bird images from around the yard and neighbourhood. Who knows what next week will bring.
Before I get to the birds though, there is a bunny I’ve been seeing around the neighbourhood. It’s not the best image, but I don’t think I am wrong in my assumption that it is a descendant of the bunny that was in the area the winter of 2016/2017. I’ve linked below to one of the posts that featured the original bunny in the neighbourhood. In talking with neighbours, there are a couple of these little hybrids hopping around.
I have been quite excited to see hermit thrushes while out on walks a few times this summer. Mostly, I just hear them calling from deep in the bushes, but I’ve seen them on different walks hopping around on the road, sitting on fence posts, or up on the power lines like this one. The link below has some more information about the hermit thrush, as well as a sample of the pretty song they sing.
In addition to the hummingbirds that are going crazy in the yard, I have loads of purple finches and pine siskins (as well as the occasional hairy woodpecker, some juncos and a red-breasted nuthatch family). I’m grateful there haven’t been any bears in my immediate vicinity, so I have been able to keep the sunflower seeds out for the birds. I have two large squirrel proof feeders (ha-ha!) that I am filling up every other day at the moment. I’ve included links to the All About Birds pages for both the birds if you are looking for more information on the species, or want to listen to the lovely songs that I get to listen to while taking my lunch break outside, or while puttering around watering the flowers.
I hope you have enjoyed my selections for the week.
Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
2018-07-04: Wordless Wednesday
2018-07-02: Monochrome Monday
I didn’t plan on taking yesterday off of posting, but I had a last minute invite to play golf, and decided to do that instead of sit in front of the computer. While I do my best to keep to the schedule I have set for myself for posting, sometimes a bit of leeway is in order, especially to take advantage of the all too short summer we have up here.
As for today, I wanted to share some more images from this fantastic leopard sighting. The interaction we got to see between the cubs, and the cubs and their mom had all of us on the vehicle laughing. The cubs raced around, climbing on everything in sight, tackling, chasing and biting at each other and then took the occasional break to have a cuddle with mom before repeating the process over again.
I hope you enjoy my picks for today. Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
2018-06-27: Wordless Wednesday
2018-06-25: Monochrome Monday
Keeping with the hummingbirds for another day. I wanted to try and do something a little different, and came up with this silhouette image of a rufous hummingbird.
Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
2018-06-24: Monthly Photo Project – Hummingbirds
As promised last week, I have some hummingbird photos to share this week. I’ve been spending as much time as I have been able outside, enjoying the antics of the rufous hummingbirds. I probably should have tried taking some video, but I don’t want to delay this post and go out and attempt it. Perhaps over the coming week I’ll give that a try.
The rufous hummingbirds arrive in Prince George early to mid-May; with the males arriving first followed shortly after by the females. Their arrival coincided with the weather going from unseasonably warm to ridiculously cold and frosty, so there wasn’t much for them to feed on, making them extra reliant on the feeders that I put out. I started with one feeder and as more birds arrived hung up extras. Currently I have four feeders around the yard, and am putting out between 1 to 1.5 litres of nectar per day for the group living in my vicinity.
I have photos of four at a feeder at a time, but have seen more than eight gathered around one, with others hanging out at the other options. Usually that is early in the morning or late in the evening, when it is challenging to get images. If I had to guess, I would say there are probably 15 to 18 individuals that are frequenting the feeders, but they move so quickly and erratically, it is really tough to say. There are definitely lots of juveniles, so their breeding has been successful this year. With the long days we have, they are busy feeding from around 4am until after 10pm every day.
My yard is surrounded by thick forest, and the hummingbirds retreat deep into the bush between feedings, making it had to get decent images of them on natural perches. Images of birds on feeders aren’t ideal, but that’s where they are gathering, so I have to work with what is available. I am going to keep trying to get some images of them on the forest, but I don’t have long to do so, as they usually begin their southern journey mid July.
If you want to learn more about the rufous hummingbird, check out the link below. They are noted as being feisty – that’s a complete understatement!
All About Birds – Rufous Hummingbird
Now, time for the images.
2018-06-18: Monochrome Monday
Starting a Monday off right with an elephant image 🙂 This group of bulls was part of a larger bachelor herd that had moved down to the Boteti River from the Nxai Pan area. They were enjoying being in an area with a lot of water; spending lots of time washing off the white mud from the pans and splashing in the river. Here, a pair of bulls face off while a third heads in to join the fun.
