Baby Blandings Turtle

I was picking up the dog toys off the lawn in preparation for mowing it, and I saw this tiny baby turtle - okay, it's really called a hatchling. This is a baby Blandings Turtle - that's my left thumb in the photo for scale, so you can see just how tiny it really is! I have posted photos of an adult Blandings Turtle before - one was trapped in our yard and we also saw it on the front steps. You can see those pictures by clicking here.

Front view of the baby.

Back view - look at its tiny sharp claws! I found out afterward that you shouldn't turn them upside down. Sorry baby Blandings!

And put it down in the grass - off you go little fella!

Infant Mortality

Brown Snake. This snake is very timid and will freeze in its tracks if it senses you there - just like this one did. I didn't move for the entire time I was standing and taking photos - about 1 1/2 or two minutes.

I labeled this a Brown Snake, but it might be a Northern Red-Bellied Snake as they look very similar from above. I didn't pick the snake up to confirm its identity because both of these species of snake are so timid. The Northern Red-Bellied Snake has a red belly, of course!

The following is from the Ontario Snake Reference Guide:

Brown (or DeKay's) Snake: Brown with a beige belly, and often small black spots along the back. This small (up to 40 cm) snake is sometimes found when moving rocks or pieces of wood. Very timid, the Brown Snake does not bite or musk. Because it eats slugs and worms, this snake is a gardener's friend! They are nocturnal, and can be found even in urban areas throughout southern Ontario where patches of habitat exist.

The following juvenile creatures were victims of road mortality.

Stop reading if you don't want to read or see more - the photos are NOT gory.


Smooth Green Snake - yes, that's really what the species is called! The underside fades to a pale creamy white.

This poor snake was run over - you can see where the stones in the road punctured its body. It was obviously writhing in agony to get all twisted up like that.

The following is from the Ontario Snake Reference Guide:

Smooth Green Snake: A beautiful bright green snake to behold. The green snake does not defend itself if caught, but it is a fast mover. Ontario’s only insect-eating snakes, they love to eat grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars and also spiders. They may grow to about 50 cm in length, and are very slender.

Blandings Turtle hatchling - it is on top of a piece of 4x4, so you can see how small it is.

This turtle hatchling was hit by a vehicle and suffered fatal injuries. I will not post the photo of the hatchlings underside. :(

A Northern Red-Bellied Snake - another poor roadkill victim. I confirmed the identity by taking a photo of the underside of the snake - which I will not post here as it is a bit gory.

The following is from the Ontario Snake Reference Guide:

Northern Red-Bellied Snake: Similar to the brown snake, but even smaller, and as the name implies, it has a red (or orange) belly. The back may be plain brown or gray. Very secretive, this snake is usually only discovered when a hiding place is exposed. Slugs are its main diet, so this is also an excellent garden snake. A very timid snake, it has never been known to bite in self-defense. Red-bellies are found as far north as Lake Superior, but they do not seem to survive in urban areas like brown snakes manage to do.

There was also a very large toad that was squashed that I will not post a photo. Spread your fingers wide apart - that's about the size of the toad. So sad.

Beautiful Saturday!

Pano Saturday July 7, 2010

Saturday dawned to the start of a beautiful day! The humidity was low as a result of the rain (or deluges!) we had this week so it was really comfortable temperature wise. The rain is bringing life back to the landscape and the bright sun made everything sparkle!

A bee on a thistle flower.

The barn swallows were swooping around in their acrobatic flight catching lots of bugs. This is the best photo I could get, I took about 20 photos and I'm amazed that even one of them turned out.

Submarine Dog

July 14, 2010

A gorgeous day!

I include this photo that I took in our back lawn only because the photos of the electric blue dragonfly that I took down by the water didn't turn out well.

This is a small frog sitting on the sand.

Freda's Bee Balm. I was going to spell it Bee Bomb for fun, but figured everyone who know I was just trying to be funny.... (not!)

Submarine Dog. Cruising along very inconspicuously along the Green Lawn Ocean! hahah

A frog... and birds, and the chipmunk again

I think this is a really neat photo of a frog that has almost completed its metamorphosis from a tadpole (or polliwog) into a frog. The tail is almost gone, but is still there. I have submitted this one to CBC too.

This crazy Downy Woodpecker still thinks the holes on the finch feeder are holes from bugs. Poor confused bird!

This photo was taken a few days ago, just after I took the bird feeder down and there were still some seeds etc on the ground in the area. The birds have cleaned it all up, and must realize that the grocery store is closed because they aren't around very much. I snapped this Blue Jay photo when he was watching some brown headed cowbirds on the ground, I think they chased him off.

In the meantime, this little chipmunk was trying to scold the birds. Haha little chipmunk, the birds are bigger than you and have a big weapon (beak) so you better be quiet!

Can you see the frog in this picture?

Yesss, it's there!

Do you see the bubble in the weeds, just off centre?

Look down and to the left.

Good camouflage!

A horse fly bit Freda so she whacked it a good one, and it ended up in the water. No tears for you, buddy!

Another frog photo. This guy has completed his transformation as his tail is completely gone.

The throw toys eventually start leaking, and if you don't squeeze the water out then they will eventually sink when you throw them in the lake. Here Freda is squeezing the water out of the Kong and Tawny is frantic with excitement at the prospect of jumping into the lake again. I think there is a deer fly on Tawny's nose in this photo. :(

Bunnies and Bugs and Beautiful Day

This little rabbit came over in the morning to the fence. Not sure if he was looking to see if there was anything yummy to eat in the yard, or if he was checking if there were any sunflower seeds left. This is where the sunflower seed feeder for the birds had been located.

The morning sun is lighting up his ears.

And then he hops away into the bush.

My sister's favourite bug.

Beautiful Sunday afternoon. Sitting back. Enjoying the scenery. Drinking Iced Tea. Loving it!

A Red-Winged Blackbird in an elm tree.

This is Freda's Black Walnut tree. We though Taz had killed it last year because he kept peeing on it, but it seems to be doing well this year. It's getting close to 2 feet tall.

Our tomato plants are really doing well. Can you see all the cherry tomatoes growing on this plant, and all the other blossoms getting ready to turn into fruit? Very shortly, we won't have to buy tomatoes.

Our beafsteak tomato plant is doing very well also.

And the sweet peas are brilliant and fragrant. Very nice!

Critters - July 4th

A bunny just outside the fence. I don't think this is the one that Taz chased around our yard a few weeks ago, as it seems smaller than that one.

I set the camera to take a sequence of 30 photos at 40 fps. Then I selected 8 of them for this collage.

A flying bug with big long legggggs. Such a delicate pattern on the wings.

This is one of a pair of hawks that was flying around. I was trying to get a photo of them soaring with wings outstretched, but this is the best photo that I have.

My photo on TV, take 3

Ian Black, the weather presenter from CBC TV, showed my photo of the chipmunk in today's weather segment. He even repeated my comment that it reminded me of a Beatrix Potter illustration. :)

Deer, Blue Jays, baby Robins, and more!!

We saw a deer on the other side of the lake when we were walking the dogs this morning. This photo turned out surprisingly well.

The Blue Jays like sunflower seeds, so they frequent the area around the feeder that I stock with sunflower seeds. Here the Blue Jays are happily sharing the sunflower seed bounty with starlings and red winged blackbirds. I've been trying to get a photo of the red wing blackbirds in flight, as the brilliant red flashes on their wings are so pretty, but haven't been successful as yet...

This Downy Woodpecker seems to think the markings on this 4x4 post are from insect holes. It discovered that there are no insects in this post. I think it thinks that things that look like holes are suitable for finding insects because it then went over to the goldfinch feeder...

Here's the robin on the nest - this photo was taken about 12:30pm today (June 29th). You can see the beaks of the babies just below the red feathers of the adult robin.

A hungry baby robin, bravely sticking its beak up - hoping for food.

No wait -- there are at least two baby robins in the nest!

FEED ME!!!!!

The mama and papa robins are busy hopping all over the lawn, hunting for bugs to feed their hungry family.

The view from the bedroom window. Very pretty!! And quite close to the bird feeds too, so I can get some good photos.

This is definitely a male American Goldfinch, but I think this one is a juvenile as it is quite small and the yellow feathers are not yet gloriously intense yellow.

As I was snapping photos of the birds, I saw this little fellow pop his head up from the rocks. Taz likes trying to catch this chipmunk. Although he managed to catch one last year, even his speed is woefully inadequate to be regularly successful at it. But at least he likes the thrill of the chase. :)

Ah, finally, a really cute photo! Doesn't this remind you of a Beatrix Potter painting?