Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Spring Rodents

A chipmunk fills the pouches on either side of his head.

The red squirrel is a feisty new-comer to the crowd.

The red squirrel finding seeds in the grass and then burying them.

A black squirrel has discovered the banquet of seeds.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

What the Spring Brings


Here, the black squirrel defeats the squirrel-inhibitor
meant to keep her from the bird feeders. 
A pair of Canada Geese feeding on young grass shoots. 
Spring in Ottawa brings many delightful sightings of Canada Geese, small rodents and a variety of birds drawn to feeders.

No wild turkeys today. Well, only one and she ran for the hills when I opened the door.


Here is the black squirrel again, this time, approaching the feeder
from the opposite side. She is persistent.

Canada Geese on the Ottawa River.
A Downy Woodpecker helps himself to some suet.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring Squirrels and Wild Turkeys

A chipmunk filling the pouches on both sides of her face.

One of the many red squirrels.

Wild turkeys on the run when they hear sunflower seeds 
being thrown for them. They've got to be the most 
ungainly bird!

It is mating season and the gobblers put on a show for the hens. There are usually two males, closely related but one is older while the other, called a jake, he's similar to a male escort. It seems that the males are 
more impressed with themselves than the hens. 


The theory behind the team-courtship is that the less dominant male would have a greater chance of passing along shared genetic material than if it were courting alone.

A young female is 
called a jenny, like a donkey? can this be so? and baby wild turkeys are poults.