Several people have spotted this doe with her young pair at different places around town, but today was the first time I got to see them. They were browsing at the edge of the trail on the back side of the marsh this morning. The fawns must have been born late, as they are still only about half grown. They moved off into the trees when I approached them.
I heard this woodpecker when I went to check on the wood ducks this morning. It's a downy woodpecker (black marks on white outer tail feathers), and since it has no red patch on the back of its head, must be a female. It was inspecting the large fresh hole in this dead snag, which I assume was made by a flicker.
Well, finally a day when there was something worth posting to the blog. Things have been rather quiet around the marsh. It was a calm day for a change, which might have had something to do with it.
I caught this swamp sparrow (at least I'm fairly certain that's what it is!) low in the trees at the edge of the marsh this morning.
I had to check out the wood ducks on Saturday, and sure enough, there were a number of them roosting in the dead trees and swimming about among them. The male in the tree is molting out of his eclipse plumage into his full colours. The bird at the bottom is a female wood duck, who is also molting, but the change isn't as noticeable.
This female common yellowthroat was busily moving about a downed gray birch tree at the marsh on Saturday. I heard its chep call before I saw it. Checking last year's photo catalog, I found that the latest shot I had of one of these birds was on November 4th. Although September is their usual departure time, apparently it is not uncommon for some to remain on their breeding range through winter.
This fellow, a male green-winged teal, was all by his lonesome Saturday at the marsh. His green wing feathers (speculum) are easily seen here, and his head is beginning to take on its breeding plumage colours.
When I walked the trail on Saturday the 10th, I was happy to see some of the Canada geese back on the marsh. Of course they may have been making occasional visits to the marsh, but this is only the second time I've seen them here since the young ones began to fly. This is three of the seven that I saw.
I need to confess a faux pas I've been making regarding this bird, which I earlier took to be a lesser yellowlegs. It's not. A gentleman I met on the trail the other day who is a long time birder set me straight. It is a solitary sandpiper, a shorebird like the yellowlegs, and is on its migration route, stopping here for awhile to feed. It was in the same place today that it has been for the past week now.
This little fellow was just sitting in the middle of the path around noon today. It was probably soaking in the warmth of the sun. It didn't blink an eye when I got down to ground level to 'shoot' it face on. It's a green frog, one of our most common frogs.
The fall dandelions are in full bloom now along the sides of the trail around the marsh, and the bees are having a field day. This bumble bee was moving from blossom to blossom when I spotted it this morning.
