When I walked past the Autumn Olive shrub this morning, I noticed a dark shape within its branches. I discovered it was a large nest, nearly the size of a soccer ball, which I think is a new addition. It was too high to tell whether there were any eggs in the nest. I'll keep an eye on it to see if it is still active.
I encountered these yellow warblers just as I entered the trail this morning. I was focusing on the male at the top (with a caterpiller in its beak, and didn't even notice the bird at the bottom until later (the tall grasses were hiding it). I'm not sure if its the female, or if its a juvenile, asking to be fed. I added a poster edges filter to the shot to sharpen it.
Would you believe these are the first family of the Canada geese? Hard to believe they were hatched on or about May 10th.
I found the ring-necked duck family again this morning, along with another black duck family, far out on the water. The ring-necks are the ones top right.
This morning I spotted this young buck feeding down close to the inlet to the French Basin. His antlers have grown since I saw him last. He caught the notice of a number of marshwalkers.
I think this year is the year of the frog at the marsh. I don't think I've ever heard or seen as many as I have this year. This leopard frog was sitting right in the middle of the path yesterday morning, and he didn't move a muscle the whole time I spent photographing him. I wanted to get a shot face on, so got down to his level for the lower shot. You can even see his nostrils and what looks like a mustache above his mouth.
Yesterday I got this year's first glimpse of a male common yellowthroat. I have heard these warblers singing their witchity, witchity, witchity song occasionally at the marsh, but they're not always easy to spot. Some call the yellowthroat our only true wetland warbler, as they favor marsh edges and other brushy areas near water, although they have also adapted to drier habitats. It may be partly for this reason that their numbers appear to be increasing, unlike many of the other warblers.
This wood duck chick was all by its lonesome this morning - and I think it's the same one I saw yesterday afternoon, at the same location.
When I was sweeping the marsh with my binoculars this morning, I happened to spy this new family way out on the water. It's a female ring-neck duck with her brood - there were eight chicks in total. This is the first family of ring-necks I've seen this year, but it likely won't be the last, as there are quite a number of these ducks here. They are diving ducks, so usually stick to deeper water.
Yesterday, Canada Day, was a glorious day for a walk around the marsh. I was coming up short for photo opportunities, however, until I entered the wooded section of the trail. I first heard the telltale tap, tap, tap of a woodpecker, and when I finally located it I discovered there were two birds working the tree. In addition to the tapping, I could also hear a fairly loud squeaky, squealing sound coming from them. When I tried getting close enough to get a shot, they flew further into the trees, so I had to work around and come up to them from a different angle. It was while I was watching them at this location that I noticed one of the birds feeding the other one. Then I realized that it was an adult and a juvenile, and it was the juvenile that was doing the squealing - begging for food! I had to follow them to another spot before I could get any decent shots. The photo at the top shows a female hairy, with her offspring waiting for the pickings at the bottom. The lower shot is of the juvenile by itself.
