Ospreys perched but without a perch. Or catfish. Or carp. Still nice to look at.

 

American Goldfinch posing.

 

Double-crested Cormorant

 

Great Egret tossing back a minnow.

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglets, none of whom are showing off their ruby crowns.

 

When a new girl arrives in the neighbourhood, there's going to be some scrutiny.

Royal Botanical Gardens

A Great Blue Heron 10 minutes before sunrise then a few minutes after.

Hamilton Waterfront Trail

Purple Finch with a mouthful of bugs. I know, no purple to be seen but this is either a gal or a young 'un.

Grindstone Creek, RBG.

Eastern Chipmunk with its underparts nicely swaddled against the autumn chill by that cozy-looking tail.

Osprey with a firm grip on lunch.

Hendrie Valley, Burlington, ON.

Northern Parula

A poppy popped in the garden.

Great Egret and its ripply reflection.

Cootes Paradise

Yellow-rumped Warbler who's not one bit bashful about looking a guy right in the eye.

Cottontail on semi-high alert.

This Great Blue Heron was quite proud of the catfish it "caught". I say "caught" because the fish was already quite dead and already starting to decompose a bit. Regardless, the heron would drop it occasionally then viciously spear it again as if it was still a lively specimen that was about escape if it wasn't subdued quickly. Finally, after many aborted swallow attempts, the catfish went down the hatch and the look in the heron's eyes in the last photo was one of "Uh oh, what the hell did I just do?"

Grindstone Creek, Royal Botanical Gardens

There's no shortage of beautiful Yellow-rumped Warblers passing through the area.

Hamilton Waterfront Trail

Red Squirrel snacking on a walnut while she's having a little poop. An efficient use of one's time, I feel. #multitasking

Royal Botanical Gardens

Two years ago, today, my daughter asked me to take a few engagement photos of her and her fiance-now-husband. I said I didn't think the light was very good but ok, whatever. A few minutes later we took 10 steps into a nearby ravine and Mother Nature did the whole "hold my beer" thing and proved me quite wrong about poor light conditions.

Blue-headed Vireo.

Hamilton Waterfront Trail

Mourning Dove incoming (pt. 2)

Eastern Phoebe

Rattray Marsh, Mississauga

Teasel with a bit of web attached.

Almost stepped on this little guy but I'm quite glad I didn't. Despite his small (like 3") stature, he held his ground like a 3 footer, daring me to get any closer. Might be a DeKay's Brownsnake, not sure.

The hint of autumn beckons down the leaf-strewn path.

As these best friends celebrate a milestone birthday and 45-ish years of friendship I turned to the magic of Photoshop to show how little they've changed since they were 24. Still as beautiful as they were the day Roberta and I were married.

American Goldfinch poses prettily, vibrant in the day's last golden rays.