Susan's Birding and Nature Blog: July 2020

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Admiring Herons

July 28, 2020 - The Coves, ESA

It was a quiet day...didn't see too many birds. The Great Blue Herons were very vocal today. I saw four of them.

This past week birders had found Black-crowned Night-Herons in the Coves. Every time I go to the Coves, I am looking for them and Green Herons. I have not seen a Green Heron yet this year.
I feel so lucky today as I saw 3 Black-crowned Night-Herons. There were 2 adults and one juvenile. It's rare for me to find good birds like this. I had no idea where they were in the Coves. They came flying out of the trees following a Great Blue Heron. I don't know if they were chasing it or just flying around together but they were very vocal. They landed on a dead tree.

Adult and a juvenile

The Black-crowned Night-Heron is half the size of a Great Blue Heron.

juvenile

The Great Blue Heron was below the juvenile and looking up at it.

The Black-crowned Night-Herons flew over to the other side of the pond high in the trees. The Great Blue Heron flew off to another tree.

The other adult

It was very entertaining watching the herons today. If you read my blog, you can tell I love herons.

Sunday, 26 July 2020

Elegant Great Egret

July 25, 2020 - Uplands North Wetland, London, Ontario

It's always nice to see a Great Egret! I was at the wetland for about 15 minutes when the egret flew in from behind me and landed low on a dead tree. It stayed there the whole time looking around and preening.

The Great Blue Heron is at the top of the photo looking down at the Great Egret. For a short time, they were croaking at each other.

As I was heading back to the car, a heron was fishing close by. It caught a fish and a few times dropped it.

July 25, 2020 - Hyde Park, London, Ontario

I didn't see too many butterflies but saw this beauty.

Black Swallowtail

I'm now seeing some baby frogs - Northern Leopard Frogs.

There are 3 of them in the photo below.

Saturday, 25 July 2020

Week Adventures - July 20-22, 2020

July 20, 2020 Westminster Ponds, London, Ontario

I went to Westminster Ponds to mainly look for insects. There were a few butterflies around. A nice warm day 25c and sunny, feeling like 31c. Birds I saw were House Wrens, Catbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, and Barn Swallows to name a few.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Monarch

Northern Broken-Dash

Halloween Pennant

Turkey Vulture

July 21, 2020 - The Coves

I decided to go to The Coves this morning. It was 21c and cloudy, I saw a nice variety of birds. Wood Ducks, Great Blue Herons (8), Catbirds, lots of Robins, American Goldfinches, House Wren, Carolina Wren, Indigo Bunting, Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finches, and Northern Cardinals.

Catbird

I was watching this Great Blue Heron wading around for fish.

Great Blue Heron

As it was moving around, the heron kept looking up to the trees. I thought I would look to see what the heron was seeing.

There was another heron up there. It looks like a young heron. Maybe the heron in the water was trying to entice the young heron down to the water.

Great Blue Heron (young)

I always love to see Indigo Buntings!

Indigo Bunting

Wood Ducks (female and young)

Midland Painted Turtle

Group of Common Whitetails

July 22, 2020 - Hyde Park, London, Ontario

A cloudy morning almost felt like rain. It was getting more humid throughout the morning. I saw swallows busy catching insects over the water - Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. This time of the year one starts to see sandpipers as they fly back down south. There were lots of Killdeers, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Least Sandpiper.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

There was a lot of action in the woods and fields. A lot of juvenile Robins and Starlings around. I saw an Eastern Kingbird feeding its fledged young in a nearby tree. There were Cedar Waxwings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Catbirds, Field and Song Sparrows, and a Willow Flycatcher,