I know some people take their feeders down when spring arrives, but we still like to keep some food and water available for these little creatures. So the other day I parked myself on a back yard bench to decide how to rearrange the feeders, and here are a few of the visitors that stopped …
Mother Goose and her family
It's not easy to raise your family if you are Mother Goose. You may start with 10 or 12 little ones, but life in the bog can be very dangerous for a flock of little goslings. Yesterday when I saw Mother Goose swimming in the bog with her babies and another adult goose (presumably Daddy Goose), …
They’re back!
I glanced out the kitchen window this morning and was delighted to see the first hummingbird of the season at the feeder. Our weather is still cloudy and cool, and it doesn't feel like May, or at least not like I think May should feel, but the hummers are back, and that makes all the …
Still practicing!
Not the birds. They don't need practice, but I definitely do! Today has been another cool and cloudy day on the south shore of Lake Erie, so instead of heading out on the trail in search of more photo opps, I am taking this opportunity to post the rest of yesterday's cloudy day B.I.A. photos. …
My current challenge
To achieve my goal of improving as a photographer I like to set challenges for myself, and currently I have challenged myself to capture sharp, well-composed, and exposed pictures of the birds I photograph...not when they are sitting still, but when they are in action, grabbing a bark butter bit and making their escape so …
Life along the trail
A little mystery and a near altercation This morning when I headed down the trail to check out the nesting boxes for signs of new life, I think I detected a chorus of little chirping sounds from inside one of the boxes. As I watched, a swallow flashed out of the box, way too fast …
Angry bird
Walking back to my car today, I spotted a grackle at the edge of the bog struggling to pick up a large strip of plastic that repeatedly slipped out of his beak and slid back into the water. He persisted for a while, but finally gave up in disgust. From the look on his face, I'm thinking he muttered a …
Everybody likes a cardinal
That may be a bit of an exaggeration because I don't suppose everybody likes a cardinal, but it is no stretch to say that he gets his share of attention, both in the park and on my blog. So he is the headliner today. He really did pose beautifully, so I suppose he deserves that …
Would you like to try…
...a tasty bark butter bit? I'll share. You can have this one! I don't know how humans feel about bark butter bits, but I know the birds love them, not just red-bellied woodpeckers like me, but all the birds, and even the deer. Trail Walker sometimes brings a handful of these to the park to share with us, …
A blue bird, but not a bluebird
I've been keeping an eye out for the bluebirds at the nesting boxes, so when another walker told me he had sighted a bluebird there, I was excited. However, when I checked out his information, I discovered that the "blue bird" was actually a tree swallow. It's true, they are blue and, yes, they frequently …
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 