Photo of the Week 2024-06-24

 

' mama bringing home the bugs '

Female Yellow Warbler - From a GPG outing to Urquhart Butterfly Garden , Dundas ON

 

A number of GPG members met up at Urquhart Butterfly Gardens in Dundas ON, prepared to photograph butterflies and flowers but I encountered this brightly coloured beauty making repeated trips back to what I surmise is the nest with hunger little ones. I kept my distance and allowed her space to do what she needed to do ... ethical wildlife photography trumped interfering with her duties to get a better shot.

A little while later, I saw the male in the same area and grabbed a number of images that I'll share later on social media ;-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-05-09

 

Getting a decent shot of a Belted Kingfisher has been on my list for a while ...

 

' Mrs. Kingfisher '

 

... not any Belted Kingfisher, one of those that continue to intrigue me with their "piercing rattle" out over the shallows of Hay Bay.

I first heard the call of a Belted Kingfisher years ago, long before I began recognizing it again during my time outdoors at our cottage on Hay Bay and even that was some time ago now. Fast in flight and quick to bolt from their perch, I had mostly just kept an ear out for that familiar sound, then tried to spot that darting movement over the water and along the shoreline.

With spring fully arrived, so had the resident Kingfishers a short while ago. Late one sunny afternoon, with water levels much lower I managed to get out on the rock and approach the area where one had been stopping to perch while making the rounds looking for dinner. There wasn't much "cover" to hide my careful approach and after spooking this female from her perch a couple of times, she returned for a brief portrait session. I managed a few decent frames, this being a significant crop from the original frame but now I want better ...

 

DJE