Places around London, June 2026

I went to the Coves yesterday.  Lots of Mallard families, two Great Blue Herons, Killdeers, Catbirds, Song Sparrows, Red-tailed Hawk, American Goldfinches, Eastern Warbling Vireos, Red-winged Blackbirds,  Northern Yellow Warblers to name a few.  I did not see any dragonflies and for butterflies a Little Wood Satyr and Cabbage Whites.

Great Blue Heron

Killdeer

Lots of Mallard families.

White-tailed Deer

Little Wood Satyr

Komoka North

Eastern Bluebird

Lots of Painted Turtles 

Common Milkweed starting to bloom

Here are some scenes from Medway Valley Heritage Forest ESA.  The Medway Creek was high and flowing fast.  The birds I saw or heard were Baltimore Orioles, Catbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-eyed Vireos, Northern Flicker. Eastern Wood Pewee, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings to name a few.  

Balmy Week in April

The first week of April - The weather turned summer like - very warm, temperatures high in the mid-20s.  I saw my first turtles of the year and hearing frogs croaking.  More and more Tree Swallows were seen every day and some birds busy building their nests.

Eastern Meadowlarks

Osprey

Killdeer

Tree Swallow

Blue-winged Teal

Cedar Waxwings

Pied billed Grebe

Turkey Vultures

Bufflehead

Wood Duck

Lots of Painted Turtles!

It was nice to see a Virginia Rail at Westminster Ponds this week!  Very hard to find in the reeds.  This was my best shot.

Bog Walk

Sifton Bog - Thursday, June 27, 2019

I went for a walk this morning to see what was around in the bog.  The birds I saw were Song Sparrows singing, Red-winged Blackbirds, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, American Robins, a Mallard, a Turkey Vulture flew over, a Baltimore Oriole, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Doves, Common Grackles, Northern Cardinals, and some House Sparrows.

I was concentrating more on looking for dragonflies and butterflies.  I saw a few Dot-tailed Whitefaces around.  I didn't see any butterflies. 

Dot-tailed Whiteface

Lots of the Pond Lilies are up and some are blooming. 

I found a little group of Painted turtles. 

Painted Turtles

Leatherleaf

The Green Frogs were croaking away. 

Green Frog

I found some lovely orchids.

Rose Pogonia

Tuberous Grass-Pink

Yellow Pond Lily

On my way back, I went down a little trail to the swamp area. I was looking at a Mallard when I saw movement behind the tree trunks.  I didn't have my camera ready and I couldn't believe it....a Red Fox came out in the open...my lovely blurry photo below.

Then he sauntered away into the low shrubbery.  I managed a couple more photos.

Marveling the Bog

Sifton Bog ESA

Tuesday, May 14, I decided to go to the bog...haven't been there for awhile.  The first warbler I saw was my favourite - Black-throated Blue Warbler.  It was working on a downed tree. 

The first small pond had some Mallards and Canada Geese with goslings.  There were some turtles sunning. 

White-breasted Nuthatch

At the bog pond there were a nice group of warblers bouncing around. I also saw Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Red-bellied Woodpecker,  Catbirds, Wood Duck, Song Sparrows, Northern Flicker, and heard a Warbling Vireo.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

The other warblers I saw were American Redstart, Yellow Warblers, and Palm Warbler.

The deciduous swamp has a lot of water. This is the most water I've seen for awhile.  It usually dries up in the summer months.

More turtles!

Painted Turtles