Flora and Fauna Friday this week is traveling back to Saskatchewan in the mid 1990s.
The Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is native to North America but has been introduced to parts of Europe, Asia and South America.
This individual is swimming across a pool on a farm near Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada.
This is my contribution to the final Lens-Artists Photo Challenge Season prompt Winter.
I will be following the rules I set for myself at the start of the Season prompts, one bird photo, one scenic photo and one flora and fauna photo. One from my time in Saskatchewan, Canada, one from when I lived in the U.K. and one photo from Ontario, Canada.
This final season was probably the hardest to select photos for and still follow the rules I set for myself. There were so many favourite winter images I had to ignore.
A Whooper Swan feeding at the Martin Mere Wetland Centre, Lancashire, England. Whooper Swans are one of two species of swans arrive to spend the winter in the U.K.
Chantry Island lighthouse at sunset in the winter. Chantry Island is just off the Lake Huron shoreline in Southampton, Ontario, Canada.
An Eastern Gray Squirrel photographed near Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada. One of those days when it doesn’t look as cold as it actually was. I remember it being around -30°C although this squirrel seemed a lot less bothered about the cold than the photographer was.
I thought of a couple of photos on reading the One Word Sunday prompt Nosy.
Being watched by a Coyote near Punnichy, Saskatchewan in the winter.
Being spied on by a male American Goldfinch near Punnichy, Saskatchewan in the summer.
This is my contribution to the One Word Sunday prompt Pair.
My first thought was pairs of birds, mammals and insects. I decided to keep it simple and go with a pair of photos of pairs of birds. As it turned out, the two photos I picked were taken a couple of miles and three years apart.
A pair of American Avocets feeding on a slough near Punnichy, Saskatchewan.
A pair of Horned Grebe amongst reflections on a farm pool near Punnichy, Saskatchewan.
Flora and Fauna Friday this week features the Prairie Lily. This specimen was photographed in a ditch near Punnichy, Saskatchewan in the late 1990s. I used my Olympus OM Zuiko 350mm lens to isolate it from the other plants growing in the ditch.
The Prairie Lily is the provincial flower of Saskatchewan.
This is my day 15 contribution to Becky’s July Squares on the theme of Perspective and another of my eye level perspective photos.
This is a breeding plumage Horned Grebe on a pool near Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada. The pool was a watering hole for cattle so I was lying in a mixture of mud and cattle poop to get down to eye level with the bird. The reflections on the water are from a stack of weathered straw bales behind the pool.
This week’s Saturday Bird is a male Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) with food for its young.
Photographed near Punnichy in Saskatchewan in the mid 1990s. The male and female were landing on this branch before going to the nest which was in the hollow steel leg of a grain bin.
