2016-05-08: What I’ve seen this week

I just took a pause in editing the photos for this post for some breakfast, and spotted a pair of deer in the yard.  It’s overcast and they are heading deeper into the bush, so no sense in trying to get a photo to add to the post.

This week, I’ve got some slightly better photos of the red breasted sapsucker that is hanging out at the top of my street, as well as some photos of a yellow bellied sapsucker (at least, to the best of my identification abilities, that is what it is, though they aren’t supposed to be in my area at all.

Here are my choices for the week, I hope you enjoy.

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On my Saturday morning walk, I heard the loveliest singing from the trees, but was really having a hard time seeing the bird to get an ID. Once I loaded the photos onto the computer, I realized it was the yellow rumped warbler.
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A yellow bellied sapsucker?
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I believe this is a yellow bellied sapsucker… but if you have other ideas, please let me know!
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The red breasted sapsucker.
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The red breasted sapsucker loves to hang around the utility poles and make quite the racket.
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I was surprised that this bunny hopped out of the bushes and close to the road when he/she could easily see Spencer and I walking along. I snapped this just before a car came along; luckily it hopped back into the bush and not the other direction.

2016-05-06: Feel Good Friday

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The look on this leopard’s face…I think it perfectly matches that of someone who has had enough of the week, and is ready for the weekend!

 

Happy Friday Everyone!

2016-05-01: What I’ve seen this week

The back yard continues to get busier, as more and more birds are heading into town.  The warm weather has also meant trips to the garden centre to start sprucing up the yard, and getting some colourful flowers to contrast the sea of green.

This weekend has flown by, and there is still much to do, so I will leave it at that and get to the photos.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

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Not the sharpest photo, but nice to have evidence of a few rufous hummingbirds getting along, and sharing the feeder.
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A pileated woodpecker seen on a morning walk.
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The purple finches have arrived, and along with the yellow pumped warbler, are filling the yard with lovely songs.
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The yellow pumped warbler – he’s quite a shy one!
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From the trunk up… I have no idea what type of tree this is, but it was one of the things that caught my eye while doing a photo walk downtown early this week with my local photo club.
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Lovely blossoms, but again I ave no idea what variety.
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I saw three deer while out on my bike Sunday afternoon, and then this single one spent a great deal of time in the yard on Monday.
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I snapped a few quick photos of this bird before it flew away; I was unable to tell until I got it on the computer that it is a red breasted sapsucker.
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Another view of the lovely deer that visited on Monday.
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Enjoying the backyard salt lick.

2016-04-26: Namibia by Air

I’ve seen only a small portion of Namibia, but what I did see, was absolutely breathtaking.  We utilized small plane transfers to move between lodges in different regions, and combined a scenic air tour of the coast on one of the transfer legs, in order to squeeze in a bit more sightseeing into a very picked itinerary.  I’ve posted a few photos from the air transfers before, but decided to edit the balance I had flagged and create a single post of images.

I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful day!

Namibia By Air
Passing a deserted road winding along the hills, while flying on a 4-seater Desert Air plane to Sossusvlei. 1/1250sec, f11, ISO 400
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Gorgeous textures in the hills, and such a wide variety of colours.
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There were amazing views in every direction, and through all the flights, we only saw a handful of vehicles, until we got very close to either Windhoek or Swakopmund.
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Red dunes as far as the eye can see, topped with a fine layer of fog.
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Leaving Sossusvlei and heading for the coast.
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On of the many shipwreck along the coast of Namibia.
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I believe this was an abandoned mining community, but I’m not 100% sure. Whatever it was, the sand is reclaiming the land back to nature.
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Tire tracks along the beach of people that had recently been by to view the wrecks up close.
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We flew over several huge flocks of flamingos… I hope one day to see these birds up close to photograph them.
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Where the dunes meet the sea.
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The sand and water make such beautiful patterns.

Namibia By Air-11

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Flying along a dry river bed into the Damaraland area of Namibia.

 

You can find some of these, and others for purchase here.

2016-04-24: What I’ve seen this week

After a few fairly quiet weeks at the feeders, the backyard is coming alive again with new visitors.  The warm weather has brought in the rufous hummingbirds, and I’ve also seen a yellow rumped warbler around the yard.  There are at least one pair of pine siskins feedings on sunflower seeds as well.

Out on my walks, I’ve been seeing bunnies every day (including a pair that looked as if they were planning a bunny rendezvous in the near future) but I wasn’t able to capture any decent photos of them this week.

Onto the pictures, have a great week everyone!

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A male rufous hummingbird (with his tongue sticking out just a little bit).
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A yellow rumped warbler (Audubon’s).
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A yellow rumped warbler hanging around the back garden.
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A pair of crows I spotted on an early morning walk.
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A female rufous hummingbird.
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A pair of pine siskins.
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A ruffed grouse I spotted while out walking.

 

 

2016-04-22: Feel Good Friday

It seems I could only stray from elephants for one Friday!  Have a great weekend everyone!

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A cheerful little elephant with a jaunty walk makes his way down the roadway towards us 🙂 Sabi Sands, May 2015
1/800sec, f8.0, ISO 500
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