Royal Botanical Gardens: Nov. 16th.

I love hand feeding the birds! As soon as we entered the trail head at Cherry Hill Gate into the Hendrie Valley Sanctuary, we were surrounded by birds. Chickadees have a reputation for being friendly. They are social birds in the forest who can learn to associate humans with food. Black-capped Chickadees love sunflower seeds and I try to carry a few seeds in my pocket during the colder months.

Downy Woodpeckers will also hand feed. I was able to take these photos of my own hand with my macro lens. This male Downy Woodpecker paused to assess the situation when he first perched.

Once he decided I was safe, he grabbed a seed. I have fed many woodpeckers over the years and have never been poked by their strong beaks. They are always very gentle when taking seeds.

A nearby White-breasted Nuthatch grabbed a seed wedged in the tree bark. This species is known for stealing seeds cached by other birds. I have also witnessed this behaviour at other locations.

The trail system was well maintained and included an extensive board walk.

View from the boardwalk: I was glad to see an abundance of cattails with no phragmites nearby!

The valley is a popular location for artists. An unexpected gust of wind carried this beautiful painting from an artist's easel, into the marsh 10 feet below. There was no access to the water from the boardwalk and she realized it was unfortunately irretrievable.

Some well camouflaged Great Blue Herons hunted for food in the marsh during our visit.

 Mitchell's Bay "Life Bird"!

First spotted on November 6th by Blake, we were happy that the Sage Thrasher was still hanging around Mitchell's Bay 4 days later! The Multiflora Rose where it sits, is an invasive plant species in North America, but the rose hips were providing a source of food for the Thrasher.

It stayed tucked into the bushes most of the time for us....

...and emerged briefly for a couple of shots. This bird is native to the SW United States.

After the bird disappeared, we walked along the Bay Trail. I wasn't expecting to find a 3 foot long Northern Water Snake in the grass in November! He was soaking up the day's sun on this rather cool day!

There were some distant ducks and geese on the water while this Great Blue Heron flew a little closer for a picture.

There are some interesting carvings and signs along the trail including a map showing the fish species that can be found in Mitchell's Bay. It is a great linear trail with lots of wildlife to view! The easiest parking is on Anglers Line, SW of Winter Line Road.

 Pinery Provincial Park Nov. 8th:

We enjoyed an extended walk at Pinery Provincial Park last weekend. A visit to feed the birds, including this Black-capped Chickadee, was on the agenda.

Lunch break was on the tower at the Nipissing Trail. In addition to these 3 Sandhill Cranes, we saw 2 Bald Eagles, and 7 Red-tailed Hawks from this vantage point.

The ever adorable Tufted Titmouse was looking for food hand outs.

A White-breasted Nuthatch searched the loose bark for a snack.

Ticks were still active in the first week of November! This is the first time I have seen a live Eastern Black-legged Tick which is much smaller than the more common Dog Tick.

The Monarch that emerged from this chrysalis may have had a late start to migration!

 Suncor Trail November 6th:

We arrived in the mist to the promise of a beautiful sunrise...

which continued to improve over the next 15 minutes!

Hoar Frost was abundant on the fence posts.

Although Halloween was 6 days ago, many leaves were ready for the scary holiday!

A Coopers Hawk was busy hunting for breakfast when he landed right above us. Unfortunately my view was obstructed by the leaves. One eye was watching me!

We saw 23 species of birds, but Canada Geese were by far the most abundant.

Feast for a Chickadee!

I met up with a small group of Black-capped Chickadees feasting along a trail in Canatara Monday morning. They were opening up rolled leaves to find the juicy critters hiding inside. The chickadee above has a good grip on a rolled leaf!

""Leaf rollers" is a term used to describe a large group of invertebrates that protect themselves by rolling up leaves so they can hide inside from predators. I can count 7 rolled leaves in the above photo.

The tiny invertebrates weren't safe from hungry chickadees! I watched 3 chickadees as they selected, defended and ate their food. One bird kept looking behind to see if another chickadee was going to steal the prize!

There is a tiny insect morsel in her beak!

I never tire of watching these cute little black and white birds. They will be busy caching food in tree bark and other hiding holes for the winter months. Their brains actually increase in size in the fall, allowing them to remember 100 food cache locations during the cold weather!

 Beautiful Canatara!

I wandered early into Canatara a few times hoping to see a sunrise and captured this bright reflection over Lake Chipican on Friday morning.

Lots of American Robins can still be found along the trails, especially when food is nearby. This bird had quite a feast of wild grapes at his disposal!

As the sun began to warm up, I noticed ants marching along a branch. They were drinking sweet sap leaking from the fresh bud scars.

Bubbles on the surface of the water caught my eye. They reminded me of tiny floating planets. Thanks to all the ducks and geese, there is plenty of decaying material which could be creating this under water gas.

I was attempting to photograph a perfect tree reflection in the water when a gang 

of Mallards approached, creating this distortion which looked a bit like modern art!

Here and There!

I made a visit to Henderson C.A. Tuesday morning. The fall colour was a little past prime, but it was still nice. I saw 3 Great Blue Herons, one of which is relaxing in the above picture! (Top left quadrant)

I had a chuckle when I noticed a Bald Eagle in a tree! Education staff were "live-streaming field trips with 3 different kindergarten classes and this prop was for a game of "I Spy" along the trail!

Canada Geese arrived by the hundreds at Wawanosh Wetlands. I could see 2 Snow Geese in the mix, but I don't think the pair landed at Wawanosh. 

I was surprised to find a Plume Moth on some goldenrod at the Pinery recently.

On that same visit to the Pinery, a Shadow Darner joined us during our lunch break.

I walked to Canatara park in the dark yesterday morning to secure a viewing location for the sunrise.

After viewing the sunrise, I noticed "Woody" the Grey Screech Owl peering out of the Wood Box!