22-APR-2013
Honey bee on willow (Apis mellifera)
Busily collecting pollen, the pollen sacs on this one's legs, were full!
22-APR-2013
Hover fly (Eristalis)
These bee mimic flies were common and busy around the willow tree by the pond. Sometimes landing on the catkins, sometimes on the grass below.
22-APR-2013
Red-winged blackbird, female
The first female blackbird that I've seen this spring, and others will follow closely. Nesting will now get underway!
22-APR-2013
Chipmunk
These irresistible little guys are scampering all over the BYG, finding tunnels under rocks, through the rock walls, and so on.
22-APR-2013
Andrenid bees, mating on a willow catkin
A good sign for Earth Day, 2013! These bees mating to produce more of these small pollinators!
21-APR-2013
Golden-crowned kinglet
A gorgeous shot, by Diane, of this lovely little kinglet. Neither this, or the ruby-crowned kinglet, are easy to photograph. They are very common in the region at the moment, as they are passing through in good numbers.
Diane reports this: " Near the pond there was one Red-winged Blackbird and Tree Sparrow. Walking to the old field I saw a number of birds inlcuding 7 Song Sparrows on the ground, one Ruby-crowned Kinglet, one Pine Warbler, 2 Juncos, 2 American Goldfinches. Saw 6 House Finches near the feeder in the old woods, 8 White-throated Sparrows. In the Butterfly Meadow sitting in the Norway Spruce there were 5 Golden Crowded Kinglets, plus a Belted Kingfisher flying over. To my delight, I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch cleaning a hole to create a nest in a dead tree. I walked further to see the beautiful Kestrel up high in a tree. Squirrels were busy and I saw very briefly a rodent running around. They were a few Robins flying around the garden, but was glad to see my first Yellow-shafted Flicker of the year in the BYG plus more white-throated sparrows.
21-APR-2013
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Another view of this pretty bird.
21-APR-2013
Ruby-crowned kinglet
A super shot by Diane, of this pretty little bird, another one of those small, very fast-moving birds that are hard to photograph.
21-APR-2013
Red-breasted nuthatch
Diane made an exciting discovery... this nuthatch was excavating a nest hole in a snag. If they do nest, it will be the first nesting record of this species for the garden. They are not a rare species, but they typically tend to nest in coniferous woodlands, not in urban areas, or small natural areas within the city, such as the FWG.
21-APR-2013
Red-breasted nuthatch
Here, the nuthatch is leaving the potential nest site.
21-APR-2013
Tree Swallows at nest box
There are many swallows around the garden at present, so we are hoping that they will breed in greater numbers than last year.
21-APR-2013
Pine Warbler
The first waves of early returning warblers are coming through the area now, including these guys, and yellow-rumped warblers. This beauty posed nicely for Diane.
