Can you see the Bittern?

Have you ever seen an American Bittern? They are not easy to spot. I was aware of their penchant for standing in dry reeds with beak pointing upwards (and even swaying "in the wind") but I had never seen it in real life until a couple of week-ends ago. I managed to get a few shots. There was one where the bird was quite "invisible" but I thought this one was a better choice for the blog.

By the way, they also have an amazing call which to me sounds like a loud and deep "glug, glug". I saw this one doing it and it is interesting to watch as well as to hear because the bird inflates its throat to make the noise.

A photographic long week-end

Once again I am making a "lazy" post by just putting up some recent photos! In any event I hope they convey a sense of the spring treasures that I came across this lovely long week-end.


Male Yellow Warbler
Jack-in-the-pulpit

Gray Squirrel

Tree Swallow

Painted Turtle

Green Heron

Finding a Green Heron is exciting enough but getting to photograph one as it goes through some sort of feather ruffling exercise was a real treat. Here is the dapper fellow before, during and after! In the fourth photo he reminds me of a British butler asking for one's hat and coat.
: -)

A couple of critters and lots of spring wildflowers

What could be better than a beautiful week-end in Spring? I took advantage of the fine weather to check out my favorite wildflower area in a local nature park and I wasn't disappointed! The abundance of flowers and the interesting variety made the place a true treasure trove. The addition of a cute Red Squirrel and a "just as cute" Garter Snake made the experience even more special.


Red Squirrel




Garter Snake



Bloodroot




Hepatica

Carolina Spring Beauty

Dutchman's Breeches

Trout Lily (or Dog-toothed Violet)

Colt's foot

Red Trillium

Raccoons get equal time

The previous post had a couple of fox videos so to give equal time to raccoons here are two videos. The first shows a raccoon grooming himself and the second one is only a few seconds long and shows several young raccoons in a tree at various levels.

I apologize for the pixelation of these videos. Unfortunately the videos lose quality each time they are transferred from format to format. The originals are much sharper.

Woodchuck and Fox videos

Although it was a bright, sunny day yesterday, it was quite cold and there was a brisk wind. Undeterred however were several Woodchucks who came venturing out of their dens after a long hibernation.

Here are two videos taken a couple of years ago. Both are very short. In the first one a young fox is disturbed by the presence of a cat and barks at it several times. Both animals were in the Mount Royal Cemetery eating some offerings from a cemetery visitor.

Sightings this week-end

Having the first sunny week-end in quite some time, I went to the Montreal Botanical Gardens to see what was about. The Gulls were in abundance as were Redpolls and Chickadees. Squirrels hung out in their usual areas asking for handouts and the bird feeders attracted Nuthatches as well as various finches. One of the most exciting finds was a couple of Cooper's Hawks (male and female). Here is a sampling of the sightings.

Ring-billed Gull

Close up.

Gray squirrel

Common Redpoll

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Cooper's Hawk