An exciting day at Wildhart!

Our friend Lola spotted a female wood duck and ducklings in our pond! I went to investigate as soon as I heard, but they had moved on. Later in the afternoon, I went to check again, and there they were! Unfortunately, the light was against me, and I was not sneaky enough, so I could only grab a couple of quick frames. Here is one, just to show they exist!

While I was down there earlier, there was quite a stir among the many blackbirds that are presumably nesting there. One female posed nicely, and proceeded to swoop down, grab a dragonfly, and have lunch!

Meanwhile, at the hayfield, some new species of dragonfly and butterfly, and a wee bit of drama ....

This damselfly is quite small and delicate, and actually hard to spot, as it is so ephemeral. For a size reference, it is perched on a blade of grass. Possibly a bluet.

A dramatically coloured dragonfly, no ID yet. Common whitetail???

A new butterfly ... a common wood nymph Cercyonis pegala

And another - a clouded sulphur. The delicacy of the colour is not conveyed in this image.

I spotted a Spring Azure butterfly seemingly hanging upside down from a head of grass. It was oddly motionless, and it was only after I went around to the other side that I realized what I was looking at .... so sad. The circle of life.

On a happier note, I saw this bumblebee frantically checking the flowers on the wild honeysuckle. Here he is coming in for  a landing!

This tiny fellow was deep in the vegetation. He's an immature grasshopper, maybe 3/8 of an inch long. I believe it is in the nymph stage of development. He needs to molt before becoming an adult.

Here are a couple of birds that I haven't posted before. The first fellow was quite shy, hiding in the dogwood bush and peeking out at me. Nice crest! Almost looks like a bad toupee! My best guess (supported by my resident birding expert) is a swamp sparrow.

And finally, a not so great picture of one of my favourite birds, the house wren. They seem so cheery, and seem to sing continually. Tiny little  things, this guy was high up a dead tree.