Stylish/CDP Theme Day

 Fuzzy Dice

June 1st is City Daily Photo Theme Day. This month the theme is STYLISH.

Remember fuzzy dice? Well they are still in style if you are lucky enough to own...

Cool, eh?

something akin to this vintage Thunderbird. The original fuzzy dice came in white ONLY, but NOW they can almost match the colour of many classic cars as seen here at the Sharon Car Show, a weekly event held on Saturday nights from May through September behind the East Gwillimbury town offices.

I am linking to City Daily Photo Theme Days  HERE

Driftwood

 Rotary Park, Ajax on the north side of Lake Ontario

It was a warm day, a lovely one for sitting on the beach.

 Driftwood #1

This beach seems to be a magnet for  driftwood, especially old tree trunks.

Driftwood #2

Stairway Down

Stairway going down

This appears to be a Black-and-white photo, but it's actually in colour.

I am linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2 HERE.

Snapping Turtle

 Crossing the entrance to an upscale subdivision

This turtle is on a mission climbing a hill from a pond to a "safe place" to lay her eggs. Apparently she's not concerned about how dangerous it is to cross a  busy road.

Almost to a grassy area

The good news, she did make it across the road, speeding up significantly when she heard a BIG truck go by.

FYI: I didn't stick around to see where she buried her eggs or to see if she made it back down the hill to her pond.

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

Marsh Reflections

 Shrub growing in a few inches of water

The marshes here are alive and well!

 Cattail leaves #1

Cattail leaves #2

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

Prairie Smoke

 Prairie Smoke seed heads (in front of a fence that you cannot see in this photo)

This is not a common wild flower in south-central Ontario, but grows beautifully on the Carden Plain northeast of where I live.

Prairie Smoke flowers

You can sorta see the fence in the background.

 Prairie Smoke 

On the Carden Plain, most of the Prairie Smoke grows within the confines of pasture fences, but a few wayward plants grow on the outside.

Inside one of the fences

The seed heads look a bit like pink smoke in the distance.

I am linking to Good Fences HERE

Two Gables

Gable above small balcony in B&W

 Gable B above small balcony in B&W

 Gable a in colour, poster edges filter

Gable a in colour, watercolour filter

I am linking to Black and White Wednesday HERE

I am linking to NF Digital Art Meme  HERE.

Bobolink

Male Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in breeding colours

This bobolink is sitting high up in a spruce tree wearing his fanciest colours!

Before traveling north from their wintering grounds in south-central South America, male Bobolink's moult to have feathers with yellow tips, but on their journey across the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada, the tips wear off revealing stunning black and white feathers.

After breeding in hayfields and pastures, bobolinks move to freshwater marshlands and moult again. During the non-breeding season, male and female bobolinks look very much alike in brown and buff plumage.
I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Decaying Log Barn

Old barn door

Seen from the road - a dead end dirt road - this barn is on a cattle ranch that's still being used, although the barn is not...at least, I think it's not being used.

 View of the entire log barn

The metal roof is still good but some of the logs are decaying badly.

Attached shed

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

Spring Beauty

 Shelf or bracket fungus (Polyporous squamosus)

A walk in the woods is almost always pure pleasure but this time of year it's WOW!

 Chokecherry blossoms

 Ostrich ferns opening out

Maple keys

 Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES. 

Railroad Signal

 Shadow of signal

Some shadows look very different from the the object that casts the shadow!

The signal

I am linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2 HERE.

Cowbird, UH-OH

 House Wren

This cute wren and its mate had been building a nest for a couple of days when along came a...

 Oh, look what the cowbird found!

female Brown-headed Cowbird!  This is not good news for the wrens as cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests and let the surrogate mothers take care of their young.

Looking for a way to get inside

Luckily for the wrens, the cowbird couldn't get in.

Besides the wrens chased the cowbird away - hopefully for good!

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

Marsh Greening

 Cattails have sprouted

Brown is quickly being replaced by green in the marshes here.

Turtle enjoying the bright sunshine

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

Not a Fence

A garden backdrop or trellis really

Yep. I'm cheating here. This is not really a fence but if I'd have cropped it I could have made you think it was.

I am linking to Good Fences HERE

Two Cupolas

 Somewhere in Central Ontario

For the life of me, I cannot remember where I took this photo!

Atop barn on an old estate, Roches Point

 Original photo of Roche's Point  cupola

Inverted (and some other effects)

I am linking to Black and White Wednesday HERE

I am linking to NF Digital Art Meme  HERE.

Warblers on the Move

 Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)

Warblers have to be among the most frustrating birds to photograph: they are tiny, move almost constantly, and spend most of their time in amongst dense foliage and branches. So mostly I photograph them to take the photos home to identify them.

 Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)

Now that it's mid May, warblers are heading to their breeding grounds. A few stop for refueling in one of my favourite woods. Quite a few love Canada because we have tons of juicy bugs for them to eat.

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)

Don't let the name of this warbler fool you. This is a female and she looks so different from the BLUE male that for a while birders believed the male and female were different species.

One of my birding goals is to get better photos of these birds, which will take patience and a LOT of luck!

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

Victoria Day Weekend

 Lake Simcoe at sunset

Today is the last day of a three-day weekend here in Canada. We are celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, which we celebrate each year on the Monday preceding May 25th.  Queen Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, so she is about to be 196 years old.

Lake Simcoe

Actually though, we are celebrating the beginning of summer. (What? What happened to spring?) Traditionally on this weekend, many owners of cottagers open them up for the season, boaters put their crafts into the water, families go on picnics and watch fireworks, gardeners plant annuals....

I suspect that all of this is going on here except for the planting of annuals. Just last week we had a hard frost!

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

Nature in My Yard

 Lilacs

I just cannot believe how quickly the flowers are blooming. Truly all of a sudden. How can I keep up?

 Apple blossoms

Tulips

 Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES. 

Garden Shed

 Shadows of new leaves on old shed

Hooray for the sun! And for new leaves!!

A longer view of the garden shed

I am linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2 HERE.

Oriole Orange

Orioles love oranges

My husband and I were out birding on Thursday when we saw this atop a wooden seed feeder in a bird lover's side yard - an orange cut in two, one half on one end of the feeder and...

 Sticky feet?

the second half on the other side. The oriole tried both. (I'm wondering how the bird dealt with his juicy feet afterwards.)

Another oriole

Later I saw another oriole on the opposite side of the woods we were walking through. This male was singing a lovely song probably to attract a mate.

I am linking to Saturday Critters HERE.

I am also linking to Catching the Light HERE