Recent Findings - June 5, 2026

 

Baltimore Oriole

Spotted Sandpiper

Gosling getting big

Great Blue Heron

Mallard Ducklings

Butterflies I've seen - Monarch, Black Swallowtail, Northern Crescent, Cabbage Whites, only seen one dragonfly Blue Dasher

Northern Crescent

Black Swallowtail

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Large Snapping Turtles

Turtles Sunning

 Lots of turtles today with a temperature of 28c, hot and sunny.  

Mid-July Birding

July 11, 2022 - Hyde Park

Barn Swallows - juveniles waiting for food.  There were quite a few swallows flying around catching insects for their young.  

An Osprey flying overhead.

July 12, 2022 - Kilally Meadows ESA

There are a pair of Ospreys nesting at Kilally Meadows ESA.  They nested here last year, too.  The birds I saw - Yellow Warblers, Catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Spotted Sandpipers, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Mallards and Turkey Vultures.  

Osprey

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Turkey Vulture

July 14, 2022 - Uplands North Wetland

I have not been here for awhile so I thought I would check it out.  The water is very low.  Lots of female Mallards and juveniles (36).  I saw one female Wood Duck and some Killdeers and Spotted Sandpipers.  All the usual birds were there, Barn Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Great Blue Heron, Canada Geese, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Common Grackles, Catbird, Starlings and Turkey Vultures flying overhead. 

Mallards

Mallards

It was nice to see some turtles on the logs.  Midland Painted Turtles and a Snapping Turtle. 

July 16, 2022 - London Airport

The Northern Mockingbirds are still here.  Some people are seeing juveniles so it's nice the Mockingbirds had a successful nesting season.  

Northern Mockingbird

The Ospreys are here again this year having another successful nesting season as well.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Kestrel

In the last few years, I go to places where I see lots of butterflies.  I'm not seeing them this year.  I saw some Cabbage Whites, a few Monarchs, Clouded Sulphurs, Orange Sulphurs, and a couple of Mourning Cloaks just recently.  I look for milkweeds...not one butterfly. There are a lot of butterflies I have not seen yet.  Dragonflies...having the same problem.  

Last Week's Birds and Wildlife

 May 18, 2020

I decided to go to The Coves this morning as the rain stopped for awhile.  But half way through my walk, it started to rain.  It was a steady rain for the rest of my walk.  I saw a few warblers - Yellow Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and a female Black-throated Blue Warbler as they were down low in the bushes.  I took a lot of photos of the Black-throated Blue Warbler.  Only a couple turned out - blurry ones.

Black-throated Blue Warbler (female)

I was taking a photo of the Spotted Sandpiper when a Cardinal came in view.

May 19, 2020 

Tuesday morning I went to Hyde Park to see what was around.  It was 14c and there was a gusty E wind.  I heard a Willow Flycatcher and noticed it below in the bushes and then it came out on an open branch.  Blurry photo.

Willow Flycatcher

Song Sparrow

A Common Yellowthroat was nice to see.  The only other warbler I saw that day were Yellow Warblers.  

Common Yellowthroat

May 20, 2020

I went to Westminster Ponds on this sunny morning,  I saw lots of Swainson's Thrushes around...also a Palm Warbler, Magnolia Warbler and many Yellow Warblers.

Swainson's Thrush

Lots of Barn and Tree Swallows.

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Palm Warbler

After Westminster, I stopped at Civic Gardens, Springbank Park.  Again, lots of Swainson's Thrushes.  There were Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Yellow Warblers, Catbirds and saw a beautiful Scarlet Tanager.

Swainson's Thrush

FOY Scarlet Tanager

May 21, 2020

Gibbons Park - I was walking along a slough area and saw these fish swimming around in the shallow water.  They were huge at least 2ft long!

Carp

Carp

I then saw a very large Snapping Turtle..it had to be about 18 in long.

Snapping Turtle

Then I saw another one, walking along the bottom of the pond in the shallow part.  It was just as big!

May 22, 2020 

Kilally Meadows.  Many nice birds this morning....Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, American Goldfinches, Gray Catbirds, Song and Field Sparrows.  The ospreys have a nest on top of the light standard at the baseball field next to the parking lot.

Osprey

Gray Catbird

May 23, 2020

This day in The Coves the first warbler I saw was a Wilson's Warbler.  I have not seen one for awhile.  It's very challenging taking photos of warblers.  Lots of Gray Catbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens,  Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Song Sparrows, a Turkey Vulture to name a few.

Wilson's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Great Blue Heron

American Toad

White-tailed Deer

Midland Painted Turtle

Midland Painted Turtle

The Red-tailed Hawk was being harassed by Grackles and along came a Crow that harassed the hawk too. 

Looking forward to this coming week to see what I can find.