In Saskatchewan, Canada for the summer.
Tag: male
Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Throwback Thursday travels back to Saskatchewan, Canada in the late 1990s.
This is a rather smart male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). I say smart because the bird has new, clean plumage for the spring. By the time he has found a mate and excavated a nest hole in a tree he will be rather scruffy.
Mmm, suet cake.
The new Tuesday Photo Challenge is Cake.
This was a difficult one for me until I remembered that some people call the various shapes of suet blocks used in bird feeders suet cake. Possibly because often the suet has fruit, berries, seeds and/or nuts mixed into it.
Here’s a male White-breasted Nuthatch feeding on suet cake while hanging upside down.
The wonder of migration.
The new Tuesday Photo Challenge is Wonder.
Each spring I wait for the return of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Having spent the winter in the tropics they head north for the summer. The only Hummingbird species that breeds to the east of the Mississippi River some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds travel north of the Great Lakes to breed. A tremendous journey for such a small bird.
This male was photographed on the South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario last summer and obviously doesn’t like its photo being taken as it’s sticking its tongue out at the photographer.
A Yellow Sign of Spring.
A follow-up of sorts to last week’s Throwback Thursday about a Red-winged Blackbird in the spring.
This week’s Throwback Thursday features a male Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) recently arrived in Saskatchewan one spring in the 1990s.
This male is in the process of setting up a territory with the intention of attracting a mate. When the females arrive in the spring they will breed and spend the summer before heading back south for the winter.
Fence post and a splash of Gold.
The new Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge is Fences and gates.
I had forgotten about this selective colour treatment until finding it with some shots of Swallows on barbed wire fences. I have also forgotten why I did a monochrome conversion with the selective colour.
The old license plate holding the fence post together gives a big clue about where the photo was taken. A male American Goldfinch peeking around a fence post at the photographer. Taken one summer in Saskatchewan .
Singing male Red-winged Blackbird.
Throwback Thursday travels back to Saskatchewan in the 1990s. With no sign of spring arriving in Ontario I thought a spring photo of a species that arrives in Canada for the summer would be nicer than another photo of snow and ice.
This male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) has recently arrived in Saskatchewan to spend the summer and is singing to establish a breeding territory. I’ve always liked the backlighting on the bird that’s illuminating the red epaulettes that give the male birds their name.
