Posts Tagged ‘Woodbine Park’

Goldfinches are very flighty birds, and it’s rare that I get close enough to be able to take a decent picture of one. Maybe it’s something to do with the lateness of the season, and getting some last-minute food before migrating south, but there were a couple of Goldfinches in Woodbine Park that let me get close enough to take pictures:

Goldfinch in a Tree

Goldfinch Eating Seeds

It was another hot early-summer day, and I took the dog for a walk down by Woodbine Park. Caught this shot of a Common Grackle cooling down at the edge of the pond in the Park:

Common Grackle Having a Bath

Last summer we had a lot of yellow jackets. This summer it seems to be these guys. They’re annoying, but at least this one posed for my camera.

Took a walk down by Woodbine Park, and was surprised to see that some of the sumach there had already turned red. Am guessing the relatively cool weather this summer along with all of the rain is turning them red earlier than usual. Still, makes for a nice picture.

A male song sparrow being true to his name

Ladybug on Queen Anne’s Lace

A Black Saddlebags dragonfly.

A male cedar waxwing. Haven’t seen one of these reclusive birds in years

Close-up of a male goldfinch

A pair of male goldfinches. Both of these had flitted away a moment later

This is a deliberate attempt at achieving the bokeh effect. Not sure it completely qualifies, but I really like how it turned out. Used the macro lens and deliberately focused on the flower in the bottom of the field of view, and let the rest go diffuse. I like the vague forms of the other flowers, as well as the wisps of long spindly leaves reflecting the light of the evening sun in the background.

Some shaggy-looking daisies found in Woodbine Park. Am guessing that this is a genetic variant of the usual, non-shaggy variety.

A Common Red Soldier Beetle on Queen Anne’s Lace, also seen in Woodbine Park. I saw plenty of examples of why this type of beetle is also called the “Hogweed Bonking Beetle”. 😉

Took the dog for a walk down by Woodbine Park, and I ran across a bunch of these purple flowers, which are arranged in a sphere at the top of a think stalk. Too cool for me to pass up, especially since I had my macro lens with me.

I had no idea what it was, but then I found that a friend and former colleague had posted similar pics on his blog, and somebody mentioned what they were in the comments section: Allium, which is from the onion family. A very fancy onion indeed!

After lunch, the girls, YoBob and I headed down to Woodbine Park. I took the ball chucker in order to wear-out YoBob, and the girls played in the playground. The fountain had also been turned back on, and the water-level of the pond has risen considerably, making it attractive for people and for the local birdlife.

The fountains at Woodbine Park

Close-up of the smaller “sub” fountains by the base of the big fountain

Shot of an accommodating female Mallard duck who was swimming with her drake

This female Red-Winged Blackbird alighted on an adjacent bench, and allowed me to take a couple of quick pics before she flew off

The trilliums (trillia?) in our front garden have finally bloomed. Here’s a close-up of one of them using the macro lens.

Being squawked at by a red-winged blackbird down at Woodbine Park. Unfortunately the bird is not in as sharp a focus as I would have liked, but the expressions is great.

It’s warm enough now that our dog Yo-Bob can go fetch balls thrown into the pond by Woodbine Park. I bought a throwing-stick for dog-balls today and we got him good and tired having him chase the ball all over the park.

Labels: red-winged blackbird, trillium, woodbine park, Yo-Bob

YoBob happily fetching a stick from the pond.

Another male-red winged blackbird claiming territory at Woodbine Park.

The girls playing around with the water fountain.

Labels: Annie. Vanessa, red-winged blackbird, woodbine park, Yo-Bob

Still sick with a cold, but the dog still needs his walk, and I need to take my “Picture of the Day”. So we went down to Woodbine Park, where we heard the loud squawkings of Red-winged blackbirds claiming territory for themselves and picking the fluff out of the bullrushes in order to line their nests.

A nice shot of a male red-winged blackbird among the bullrushes. Love the telephoto lens — what you see here is maybe 15% or so of the original size of the shot.

A relatively dowdy-looking female red-winged blackbird. She didn’t like me one bit and kept sending a warning squawk to her mate, who only moved when he felt the dog was getting too close.

Another male red-winged blackbird, this one basically claiming that the tree he is in is his.

Labels: red-winged blackbird, woodbine park