Savannah Sparrow

These pictures were taken on June 26th, 2009 on the 10th Concession of Bruce Township, not far from our home. These guys prefer open fields and can be seen sitting on a fencepost singing their little hearts out as this guy is doing.

Upland Sandpiper

These pictures were taken on June 24th & 27th, 2009 on Concession 10 of Bruce Township near our home. They are referred to as being the shorebird of the prairies, preferring open fields to water. This one sat on fenceposts while guarding its young chicks foraging in the grass below.

Eastern Phoebe

This picture was taken on June 26th, 2009 on the 10th Concession of Bruce Township not far from our home. Phoebe's are loners and even during the mating season, the female will chase the male away. It almost makes a person wonder how she is able to lay fertilized eggs (just kidding).

Eastern Kingbird

This picture was taken on June 8th, 2009 on the 10th Concession of Bruce township near our home. They are flycatchers and prefer open fields. They are extremely aggressive during nesting and will ward off other kingbirds and will attack Bluejays, hawks or any other bird that gets in their way.

Killdeer

This picture was taken on June 24th, 2009 on the 10th Concession of Bruce Township, not far from our home. Killdeer's normally make their nests in gravel and often in gravel driveways. Their eggs blend in to the gravel so well that they're hard to see.

Mourning Dove

These pictures were taken on June 26th, 2009 on the 10th Concession of Bruce Township, not far from our home. I particularly like the top picture with the out of focus grass in the background.

Chipmunk

These pictures were taken on June 3rd 2009 in our back yard. Chipmunks have a hard time surviving in winters that have quite a few warm spells because they live underground and many times their homes get flooded in warm spells and then they don't make it through the winter. Last winter must have been good for them as we sure have lots of chipmunks around.

Northern Cardinal, male and female

These pictures were taken on May 26th and June 4th 2009 in our back yard. The first two are the male and the bottom picture is the female. I never get tired of taking pictures of Cardinals.

Bumble Bee

These pictures were taken on June 1th & 12th in our back yard. The purple flower is an onion Chive.

bobolink, male

American Robin

This picture was taken on April 19th, 2009 in our back yard.

Porcupine

These pictures were taken on May 24th, 2009 in our back yard. If you have a pet, you want to keep him away from this guy. I've seen dogs with more than 200 quills in their nose and mouth. They can also do a number on trees. Two years ago we had one climb a clump of birch trees and he stripped the bark off about half way up killing the top half of the trees. Many porcupines look pretty ratty, but this guy looked like he just came from a beauty salon.

Baltimore Oriole - Male

These picture were taken on May 24th, 2009 in our back yard.

Blue Jay

These pictures were taken between May 17th & 24th, 2009 in our back yard.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

These pictures were taken on May 17th & 18th, 2009 in our back yard. The first two pictures are the male and the bottom three are the female. The female is kind of plain which makes it a challenge to a photographer to make the picture look appealing. I hope I've succeeded.

Mourning Dove

These pictures were taken on May 17th & 19th, 2009 in our back yard.

Northern Cardinal, male and female

These pictures were taken on May 19th & 26th, 2009 in our back yard. I never get tired of Cardinal pictures.