Summertime Views

                                           Tiger Swallowtail on Verbena

                                          Gray Catbird

                                          Northern Oriole

                                          Backyard Bandit

Cottontail

Bathtime

Tiger Swallowtail on Rhododendron

Horse chestnut Blossom

Cedar Waxwing

40 year-old rhododendron

black swallowtail caterpillars on dill

ruby-throated hummingbird on black & blue salvia

                                          

Foxes of Toronto

As foxes are generally timid and secretive,it is surprising how often they are encountered when you are visiting many of Toronto's parks.

Hunting Vixen

 

Hidden Treasure

 

Looking hungry

 

no time to waste 

 

where's Mom 

here she is

perfect camouflage

sly but shy

good pals

off to hunt

sleeping kit

maybe if I hide here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Herons of Toronto

Great blue, green, and black crowned night herons frequent most of Toronto's larger parks and often appear in unexpected places where minimal water features attract them for a possible meal of frogs, snakes and fish.

Great Blue Heron

 

Got a fish!

A social bird, the heron

Green Heron

Great Egret

Unsuccessful stab

Black-crowned night heron

Looks like a "treed penguin"

Northern Mockingbird (A winter visitor/resident)

This northern mockingbird appeared on New Year's Day and stayed in our yard for the months of January, February and March eating suet and several varieties of berries around the neighbourhood. Other than the occasional call (a sharp kissing noise) the bird was relatively quiet. Perching on fences, posts and clotheslines during daytime, it appeared to spend the nights in dense evergreens and shrubbery. Very people tolerant.

Mockingbird nestlings

A first for our backyard birdfeeders!

So often unseen.