Hummingbird banding in Gowganda

Wednesday birdbanders from New Liskeard came to Gert and Pauls house to band hummingbirds.  The birders were trained to do this in the US and are just starting to band hummingbirds in the Temiskaming area.  Gert had phoned and reported many hummingbirds on her 5 or more feeders which bought the banders to town.

Trapped in a special trap that they bought in the US they banded 25 hummingbirds in about 3 hours, none of the banded birds were trapped again that day. Measurments were taken, age and sex was determined, weight and a band was placed on the leg. 

This is the start of a humming bird study in the Temiskaming area.  They will be back next year to see if any have come back.

Gowganda this evening

What more can I say.

Tansy

Out checking on the osprey yesterday, the two biggest have left the nest now and the smallest one is being tended to by the adults until it can fly off.  I don't think it will be to much longer until it takes flight.

While waiting for the osprey to appear I took some shots of a grasshopper eating this Tansy flower head.

 Adult landing on nest, young bird is tucked down in nest.

Flowers

While out looking at the Ospreys I took some pics of a couple of flowers that were nearby, Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis) the first one, the second Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria

Checking in on the Osprey

Good thing I went out today as the young birds are almost the size of the parent.  The one on the right is the adult or so I thought.  Looking at the other pics I can see another head poking up.  I am begining to think these are the 3 young.  There was an adult north of the nest in a dead tree calling to them.  I wish I could have seen the other adult too. 
Update ---Found a pic with 3 heads, I suspect these are all young birds.

Giant Waterbug

Every time you check your minnow trap in the ponds around here you can almost count on trapping a couple of Giant Waterbugs (Lethocerus americanus). Some of these can be up to two inches long and they are in the traps eating the minnnows. They will also give you a good bite too sometimes.  Check out more on this predator of the ponds.  They even fly around at times.

Early Morning

Here is a pic I took a few days ago.  When you take a lot of pics like I do it pays to go back and see what you may have missed a few days back.  This pic is just one I looked right past when I previewed them first.  Fortunately I delete very few pictures which means trying to keep track of what you have can be difficult.

Bunchberry

If it's one plant that always stands out it's Bunchberry, the red berries stand out like a beacon. 

New plant today

Down the Mann Ridge Rd this morning to take some pics.  Happened to stop in the shade and was looking about and found some Small Sundrops (Oenothera perennis).  They are related to the much taller Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) which is very common along the roadsides right now.

ATV trip to Halliday Lake

Up  to Halliday Lake by way of the north power line today.  Paul, Ed, Faye, Gary, Ron and Rick on the ride.  Great trip both ways and lots of laughs along the way.  Here is a pic when we stopped for a break on the way home. Click on pic to see whole picture.

Fruit of the land

Yesterday I found a few pockets of blueberries, mostly around wet, humid areas.  Most of the dry areas the leaves have fallen right off the plants.  The most plentiful are raspberries all along the roadsides everywhere, the bushes are full of them.  This time of year the bear scat tends to be on the blue side this year definitely raspberry coloured. Just thought you would like to know that tidbit.

Back to the Osprey nest

Has been some time since I checked in on the Ospreys, whenever I approached close  the adults would fly off.  I still wasn't sure what was going on in the nest.  This time I parked some distance away on a small hill.  One of the adults stayed at the nest and for the next hour and a half I took pictures. Looking them over after revealed three well fledged chicks.  The picture shows one testing it's wings, one low in the nest(the bump) and one standing by the adult. It's not going to be long before these birds will be on the move.  I will be back in another week for and update.

More fishing from last week

Out onto Gowganda Lake for a fish last week and picked up a few walleyes.   My son picked up the boys on Sunday and are home now.  Two weeks of fishing, swimming, canoeing, exploring and most of all eating.  Silence has returned to the house.

The dump owner

Here is one of the dump owners who will gladly take the garbage right out of your truck for you.

Heat not letting up

This AM the sun on the thermometer read 115° F.  I will be in the basement today for sure.  Here are a couple of pics from the last few days.  To be honest it's been hard to go out and take pictures.  One a HDR shot and the other with a happy fisherman.

Hot, Hot, Hot

This last week or so has been so hot I have been hiding in the basement.  Last year we had a couple of hot ones but this doesn't seem to end.  We are not alone with this heat I feel sorry for the rest of them down south with the heat and the terrible weather, tornadoes and flooding, roads buckling and power outages .
I hadn't been out with a camera since the last post several days ago but yesterday I was out checking the blueberries, sorry to say but it doesn't look to promising.  The leaves are falling off the plants it's so dry and what berries I did happen to find were tiny and all dried up. Lots of the creeks and streams are also dry.  The bears are going to miss all the berry crop this year.

Here is a pic of some Cotton  grass (Eriophorum) along the side of a pond at Miller Lake.

Water Lily

Here is a waterlily from a water garden in Gowganda.

A few plants out now

Here are a few pics of plants from some trips along the road.  The first one Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) which is quite poisonous to animals and humans. The second a Wild Rose and a newer one Pink Pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia).

Cloud burst

Another before and after from the garden

Before

After a Poppy

The Mayfly season is upon us

 From this that crawled out of the water and shed its skin

to this

 

for more info visit Mayfly

Just about the end of the Lupins for this year

Here are some along highway 560 in town.

Out early this AM

Revisited the Osprey this AM, both parents still flying around with nest material although they didn't land back in the nest as often as last time, I didn't stay too long.

After leaving there I visited the beaver pond and caught him snacking on some birch.  He soon got back in the water and gave me the tail slap,  I guess he was telling me enough already.

Edith Lake today

Another HDR picture this time from Edith Lake.

Couple of flowers in HDR

Here are a couple of flowers in HDR (High Dynamic Range) where 3 or more pictures are taken at different shutter speeds and then combined.  The first is Wild Lily of the Valley.

The second a close up of the Moccasin flower head

Transit of Venus

Good day for grass cutting today, bit of a breeze off the lake to keep away the bugs.  Towards the afternoon the black clouds a bit of rain and thunder started time to pack it in for the day. Today is the day that Venus is between the earth and the sun, and  is visible as a black dot crossing the sun.  It was cloudy but around 7:30 pm and the sun popped out in a hole in the clouds, ran out and got the welding mask and after squinting and staring looking I finally saw a black dot at about 1:00 o'clock on the sun.  I can't wait to see it again in 2117 the next time it's visible. Didn't get any pics of it but it is all over the news.
Here is pic from a couple of days ago of a Starflower (Trientalis borealis).

Rain, and more rain

Damp weather the last couple of days, badly needed to put out the forest fires that have been threatening towns and cities.  Most fires in the NE are under control.  A total of 42,540 ha.  or 164 sq. miles were burnt in the Timmins, Kirkland Lake and the one north of Elk Lake. The one north of Elk Lake has deep hot spots that crews are still actively working on.

On another note here are some Bunchberry from today.

Back to the lilacs

The last time I was taking pics of the lilacs I saw what I thought were hummingbirds but smaller.  Long story short they were Clear winged Hummingbird Moths (Hemaris thyspe) which I had never before.  There were several flying around their wing beats were just like a hummingbird and hovered at the flowers to feed.  I took some pics but they were just moving to fast but finally I enlarged one of my pics to see this crop. This one would be about 35mm.

Swallowtail butterfly

The lilacs this year were just covered with bumblebees, wasps, moths and butterflys especially the Swallowtail butterfly as you see here

Fires still burning

Perfect weather for fires, very hot, a low humidity, dry forest and wind.  Another fire has now started south of Gogama.  Kirkland Lake is waiting for the call to evacuate if the fire gets any closer.  Rain may start next Sunday a long way off.

Here are some blueberry blossoms I seen coming back from the Osprey nest.

Great weather today

Yesterday afternoon we had quite a thunderstorm and shower.  Most of the water was just sucked into the ground it is so dry.  To the northeast there is a large fire threatening Kirkland Lake and out to the west near Gogama the fire stretches 45 km north to south (21,000 ha.) the largest in the province.  Lightning strikes from yesterday will start to show in a couple of days, with no rain in sight for the week.  Hopefully none around here.

Out this AM taking some pics of the Osprey nest I found a couple of weeks ago, they may have an egg  but are still building the nest.  Here's one with a branch for the nest.

Butterfly feeding on lilacs

The butterfly is upside down and feeding on the pollen below.  Look close and you will see the feeding tube.

Sitting around listening to the frogs

Near Foot Lake

First run with the boat this year

Testing the motor the other day so it will be ready for fishing .  Headed down to the falls at the south end of the lake.  Took the camera for a few pics too.