American Redstart: Butterfly of birds

American Restart male

In August of this year I went to explore another new area in the city that is only about three blocks away from my present residence.  It is a forested area that is actually quite large and has a creek running through it.  I was amazed at how many different trails wind their way through it and I realized soon enough that it would take more than one trip to explore.  As is typical when I explore a new place, I simply enjoyed the experience, stopping here and there to examine wild flowers, berries, mushrooms, and the creek itself and in so doing also absorbing the peace that nature provides.

Muskrat: New wildlife encounter

Something swimming in the water behind the duck

When I was out bird watching in late September of this year, taking pictures of some Golden Eye ducks, I thought I saw something very small swimming behind one of the ducks across a pond.  But because it could just have been floating debris, I dismissed it.   When I loaded my pictures into the computer however, and zoomed in, there was definitely something there leaving two very small, perfect little waves behind it in a v shaped stream as it propelled itself through the pond.  I just couldn't make out what the creature was, except that it was light brown in color and small, which was somewhat frustrating.  It was also exciting because I knew that I had seen something new.

Woodpecker: Just pictures

I don't see Woodpeckers all that often, but when I do it is usually in the fall.  No doubt this is because the trees are mostly bare of leaves.  Although I haven't identified the Woodpeckers the below the Northern Flicker yet,  I thought you might enjoy the pictures I managed to get this year.

The following is a yellow shafted Northern Flicker:

Northern Flicker on the ground

Northern Flickr

Northern Flicker and feather

Northern Flicker Watchful

Norther flicker in flight

Just the wing

On the tree trunk

This one below is a female, notice the lack of red coloring on the head:

Through the fence

Downy Woodpecker

On the tree

Searching for bugs

Woodpecker in flight:

Downy woodpecker in flight

Fast flight

Downy woodpecker taking off

This one is a male with a bright red spot on its head:

My backyard

Upside down

In between

Enjoy,

Susan

Canada Goose: Species and subspecies

Canada Goose in flight

As promised here is what I have recently learned about the Canada Goose.  In my last post about this species I stated that perhaps not all Canada Geese are created equal and, as it turns out, there are many subspecies of Canada Goose divided roughly by size, or large bodied and small.  There are seven subspecies in the larger bodied group and four in the smaller bodied, tundra group.  Of the two groups, the four smaller subspecies have recently been listed as a separate species called the Cackling Goose.  

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped warbler

This lovely species of bird is the first brightly colored bird that I ever encountered here in Edmonton.  Up to this point I had only ever noticed the plainly colored species around me.  In fact, I didn't notice many of the smaller bird species at all.  Since my only interest at the beginning of my bird watching experience, was in hawks.   Raptors continue to be my motivating and main interest when ever I head out on bird watch.

 However, this little bird is responsible for creating in me some excitement and enthusiasm for the discoveries to be made in seeking out the smaller bird species.  Perhaps I only noticed it, because this particular bird  was sporting it's breeding colors at the time.  These birds are much plainer in coloring during the non-breeding season after all. 

Canada Goose update

First of all my apologies to everyone.   My old computer finally kicked the bucket by going up in smoke. Literally.  The salvaging of my files and photos is in progress and  recycling will take place soon.  It took some doing but I managed to get a new computer, so hopefully I will be back on track within the week.

Canada Goose