Looking Out/CDP Theme Day

 Pretty face looking out

Harbourlight Delights sells ice cream treats in Cobourg from late May to early October.

Longer view of the ice cream parlour

I am linking to City Daily Photo Theme Days  HERE

Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)

This predatory songbird spends the summer months on the tundra and taiga and winters in southern Canada and northern U.S.

Lanius excubitor means "butcher bird"

It eats small mammals, birds and insects. It gets its Latin name from its habit of killing more victims than it can eat at one time and then impaling them on barbed wire or tree spines.
I am linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'  HERE.

Pottery Sale

Pottery reflected in mirror #1

Last Saturday I attended a friend's pottery sale and she graciously allowed me me take some photos.

Pottery reflected in mirror #2

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE
 

Thanksgiving

To all my American visitors:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

B/Alphabe-Thursday

Hay BALES

B is for BALES of hay.

 Bales of hay at sunrise

Mosaic of original square and five played with in PhotoShop Elements

Largest square: the original. Moving clockwise: accented edges, coloured pencil, cross hatching, ink outlines and sprayed strokes.

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Harleguin Ducks

 Male Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus)

Harlequin ducks - endangered in Canada -  are waterfowl usually found in fast moving water, and that's just where these guys were: at the mouth of the Beaver River emptying into Georgian Bay (Lake Huron).

Harlequins breed in Greenland, Iceland, western Russia, coastal northwestern North America and eastern Canada and Maine. Between October and December, some are spotted on the Great Lakes. A few even spend the winter in the rough waters of Lake Ontario.

Same ducks looking the other way

 LAST winter my husband and I heard there were two Harlequins near Toronto in Lake Ontario. We never saw either. Elusive, they were always far out in the lake.

Last week our luck turned. These two Harlequins were most likely still on there way further south but had spent a couple of "balmy" weeks on Georgian Bay. Luckily for me, when I saw them they were close to shore and apparently not camera shy. They posed for a while then swam away in search of fish and marine invertebrates.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Bulk Freighter, Oshawa Harbour

 Bulk freighter Three Rivers

On a windy but sunny Saturday in mid November, my husband and I were out looking for water birds. In the harbour at Oshawa we found no birds but did find this huge bulk carrier, sometimes known as a bulk freighter or bulker.

 Close up of back end

A bulker is a merchant ship that carries unpackaged cargo such as ore, coal cement, grains, or...

 Mountain of salt

salt.  Yep, this is the stuff used to melt ice on our winter roads. I'm sure I have never before seen such a mountain of salt.

Loading salt into trucks

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Mid Autumn Rural Ontario 2

Leafless limbs, cow corn, farm

Still autumn!

Winter may be "right around the corner" but it's not here yet!  Largest square: Red-breasted nuthatch  eating peanuts.  Moving clockwise from top right:  flying common mergansers, flying goldeneye, paddler in yellow kayak, swimming gadwall ducks, and paddler in blue kayak.

I am Linking to Mosaic Monday HERE. 
Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 Yellow-rumped warbler  (Setophaga coronata)

Of all the warblers that live in Ontario during the warmer months, Yellow-rumped Warblers are the hardiest: the first to arrive in spring and the last to leave in fall.

 Can you guess how this warbler got it's name?

Still, I was surprised to see this one was still here a couple of weeks ago, foraging on a beach on the northern side of Lake Ontario.

Insect eaters during the warmer months, they readily change over to eating berries in the fall.

I am linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'  HERE.

November Icicles

 Dripping off a dock

Windy weather on a freezing day splashed water onto the dock, some of which froze as it dripped back into the lake. Yep, it's too early for icicles but I loved their reflection in the water.

A longer view

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE
 

Gate, Puddle, Sunset

Entrance into a farm field

The top 7 horizontal lines on the gate are actually the gate.  The bottom 3 are part of the reflection.


I am linking to Friday Fences here.

A/Alphabe-Thursday

 Angry grackle

A is for ANGRY and/or ANNOYED birds.

Truth be told, I don't often see many angry birds. Annoyed, yes, but not angry.  The  grackle above clearly has ruffled feathers, though. It's at a seed feeder and, since I cannot remember, I'm guessing it's trying to scare off a squirrel or chipmunk.

 Scared (and angry) Canada goose

I didn't see what happened but it's very odd to see a goose standing on a railing hissing at people who are feeding them .

 Head down and hissing

Not angry but looking annoyed

There was no way this guy wanted to eat seed when so many people were looking at him. But he was hungry and willing to wait in the shrubbery. He seemed to be thinking "When are you going away?"

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Red-breasted Mergansers

 Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) non-breeding feathers

In many ways these birds look rather refined - thin body, nose in the air - except that every day is a "bad hair" day.  Sometimes they are a challenge to photograph as they suddenly dive underwater to swim and find fish, crustaceans and frogs.

 Taking off

For a few days in November, they settled in Oshawa Harbour.

 Flying into the harbour

In autumn we often see them in huge numbers.

Scared by a big machine and about to fly out of the harbour

Of the American merganser species, they breed farthest north and winter farthest south so they still had a long way to travel.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

On the Beach(es)

 Snow fencing on beach, Oshawa

It's looking more and more like late autumn. Canada geese (seen beyond the snow fencing) have arrived from the Arctic. (Many of the geese that live here during the warmer months have fled to the southern U.S.)

 Leaves on the beach

Leaves, pebbles and driftwood litter the sand.

Yellow-rumped warbler

A yellow-rumped warbler flitted about the beach debris looking for  dinner.

 Another deserted beach, Whitby

I was surprised to find this yucca plant  growing amongst the pebbles.

Water droplets on yucca growing on beach

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Mid Autumn Rural Ontario

Canada geese over Ontario farm

November is mostly overcast in central Ontario.  Air traveling over the "warm"  Great Lakes (compared to the air) picks up moisture, creating thick clouds. 

Farmers' fields have turned  brown, and leaves have fallen from the trees. I do love the browns and golds, especially when the sun shines.

Fallen leaves in quick-frozen ice

Puddles have formed where some leaves have fallen, then frozen.

Frost on grass

I am Linking to Mosaic Monday HERE. 
Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Echinacea Seed Heads

 Echinacea seed head #1

 Echinacea seed head #2

 Echinacea seed head #3

I am joining I Heart Macro HERE.

Nature's Ice Sculpture

Can you see the heart?

Last week the weather was COLD.  A natural spring near my home flows year round. This week the splatters formed interesting shapes and then slowly melted. Some of the shapes you can see here.

Closeup of melting ice dripping onto rusty metal pipe

I am linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot.

Car Window

 Beach at Oshawa Harbour reflected in car window

Same as above but from a slightly different angle

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE
 

At Sunset

From the top of a hill

I am linking to Friday Fences here.

Z/Alphabe-Thursday

 Zigzag on Lake Simcoe

Z is for ZIGZAG.

Do you see the zigzag that starts at the top of the tree trunk and continues across the outside edge of the retaining wall?

 Reflections: rounded zigzags

 Fence built in a zigzag fashion

Fence casting a sort-of-zigzag shadow

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE