May 2017
Tree buds opening up as the weather warms up!
An alert White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) focussed directly on me as I got this photo of her.
The meeting of Land and Sea along the Rugged coast of Nova Scotia.
Sunset out over the still waters of Cooks Cove.
The coastline along the Cabot Trail of Cape Breton.
The female Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) that lives near Beaubassin. Most days you can see this Harrier and her mate flying around over the wetlands hunting.
A Groundhog (Marmota monax) above the wetlands at Beaubassin Research Centre
An osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flying overhead at the Sackville Waterfowl Park.
The New Brunswick side of the Bay of Fundy looking North along the Fundy Parkway. We were there before the parkway had been opened while checking a Motus Station, so we were able to make the drive along empty roads with one else in the area.
After finishing up rebuilding and repairing a Motus Station I had to slam on the brakes to let this little Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) run off to the side of the road where I managed to get this shot from the window.
More Groundhogs (Marmota monax) at Beaubassin! This couple were snuggled up together just outside of their burrow watching the world go by.
This Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) managed to walk within about 20 feet of us without us even realizing while we were repairing a Motus Station on a grassy sand dune. It was only once she came around the other side of the dune that I spotted her! She casually sauntered along the boardwalk and proceeded to go about her day, even catching a small rodent before disappearing over the next dune.
A Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) skimming the waves just off the coast of Miscou Island in the very north eastern corner of New Brunswick. Northern Gannets are difficult to photograph from land as they are generally seen far from the shore.
I spotted this muskrat among the boggy area just north of Inkerman, New Brunswick.
Down from Northern New Brunswick the day before all the way to Southern Nova Scotia at Cape Forchu.
We went out searching for this Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) which we inevitably found among a herd of cattle!
A jaunty little White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) surveying the lawn at Beaubassin.
A Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) showing off the reason for his name.
I sat for a while as a small flock of warblers came through a small opening in the spruces. This Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) hopped from branch to branch, allowing me to get this shot of one outspread wing has he tried to catch his balance.
I spotted this American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) in the marsh and managed to get close enough to get a few shots of it among the grasses. I like the way the Wind is ruffling his feathers as he faces into the wind in this shot.
This little appropriately named Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) was going about her daily routine of probing around for small invertebrates to eat.
This was one of three young Common Ravens (Corvus corax) that lived in a nest behind Beaubassin. I heard them as they were young and saw them first make an appearance outside of the nest and surrounding trees as playful, inquisitive, and awkward adolescents with a lot to say!
leaves covered in beads of water.
Some mudflats along the Bay of Fundy splitting and cracking as they dry out.
A spider web delicately spread across the budding branches of a spruce. If you look closely you can see the small spider at the centre of his web.
An Alder sapling (Alnus sp) with new leaves reaching for the spring sunlight.
One of the first White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) that I saw and heard while conducting surveys in the Christmas Mountains of Northern New Brunswick and throughout the Maritimes. During this time I recorded over 350 of these little birds.
The whole reason for my being out in the East Coast, the little known Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a rare and declining species of thrush that nests among the clouds atop mountains in isolated pockets throughout the Northern end of the Appalachian Mountains from New York to Quebec. This remarkable bird is nearly impossible to distinguish from its close relatives in the field until you hear it sing (www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bicknells_Thrush/sounds). Luckily it is a bird that likes t
Wild Raspberry creeping along the rocks in Bathurst near Nectar Restaurant.
One of the first of hundreds of Canadian Toger Swallowtail butterflies that I saw in the mountains of Northern New Brunswick, I saw this particular one near Kouchibouguac.