Uh Oh! That Didn't Sound Right!

I'll wait till the end to share the bad news...

UPDATE: A colleague at work here (thanks John!) corrected me on my turtle identification.  The two turtles I thought were Painters are actually Red-eared Sliders.  They are not native to Southern Ontario but likely pet releases.  They don't make it through the winters here, so will likely not be around next spring. Unless we get an even crazier winter than the past one!  So replace Painter with Slider when you read the post. :)

I went out today for a short lunch break to Bayfront Park and was enjoying a rather bold Painted Turtle. They are usually quite quick to relinquish the warm sun for the cover of the cool water when anyone approaches. Its fellow sunbathers were more typical, splashing into the water as I approached closer than my initial picture or two.

Painted Turtles sunning,
maybe a Northern Map Turtle?

I didn't realize this until looking at the pictures tonight... In the picture above, the middle turtle has a somewhat "serrated" edge along the back.  The focus is on the front turtle, so hard to really see the pattern on the shell.  Also, the shell doesn't have the "brim" effect the other two Painters do. Might be a Northern Map Turtle?  They are threatened species in Ontario.  Any professional opinions?

The brave one, or the foolish one?

Coming in for a look.

Man, this shell is heavy!

The segue into the next topic is the turtle in the bottom of the picture below.  With the distance, the harsh noon day light, and my lack of knowledge of turtles, I could not tell what kind it was.  It didn't look like a painted turtle to me.  A smaller snapper?  Seemed a strange place to be, and I wonder if it was hanging out there, hoping for an opportune moment for a meal?  Again, anyone know if this is possible?

So, the Mute Swan pair is back by the gazebo in the boat launch bay at the park.  They've made a larger, taller nest just a little north of their last year's site.  Though I wonder, maybe the other nest started out the same size - I only started visiting not long before the goslings hatched.  I wonder if the nest slowly settles as the lower reeds get water logged and lose their buoyancy.  

Mute Swan incubating eggs with a
turtle on the nest edge.

I was told by others there that there are 12 eggs this year which would be a very large clutch.  Last year there were 9 which was also larger than the average 6. I'll see if I can get an actual count soon.


Now the bad news...
You know that great sound and feel of camera shutter action? There is something about that feel and sound that is satisfying.  Well, during a series of quick shots while the turtle was climbing out of the water, (not that they move that quickly) the reassuring click was not the same - it was short and incomplete.  Next, the camera shut off with no warning.  My first thought was that it did not sound right, and second hope was, did the battery die so suddenly that the camera couldn't put out it's usual warning?  I was hoping, but my gut told me no.

'Twas not to be.  Back at the office confirmed the shutter was stuck shut.  I dropped it off at the camera shop tonight to be shipped to Sony for repair, still under warranty thankfully.  It will be 4-6 weeks, or longer if parts aren't available.  Hmm.... Bald Eagles just hatched, Sandhill Cranes nesting, who knows what else during the exciting spring months?

Of course, life does not end, and I should probably put this freed up time towards spring yard cleanup, lots of Church work on the to do list, etc, etc.  Priorities right?  Although I enjoy this hobby, it's telling to see how one reacts when the things we find joy in are removed (although I realize this is just temporary).  Brings back to mind my post about hobbies where I was challenging myself previously.  I'll have to think on whether I followed through on some of my plans there!

I do have more Sandhill Crane pictures to post, so those will come sometime soon.  Till then, I'll have to be content to enjoy seeing things without a camera in between the creature and me.  Maybe that's not a bad thing.  But I'll be anxious for the camera back.

Long Point Provincial Park

Two weeks ago my family joined about 15 others from our church for a weekend of camping at Long Point Provincial Park.  Great weather, great fellowship, and great surroundings made for a great time!  

The park is known for being a bird migration stop point as it protrudes into Lake Erie, providing a quicker route to a resting point for many birds making a long flight across the long expanse of water.  It may not be quite as famous as Point Pelee, but also gets many visitors.

We were there past the migration period, but I still saw some birds less commonly sighted around home.  Others were more common sights... an American Robin (usually just referred to as a Robin).

American Robin Fledgling - able to fly already.

American Robin Fledgling - calling for lunch.

American Robin - coming with lunch.

 Another common Southern Ontario bird - the Killdeer.  This bird is known for its very obvious tactic of trying to draw away the threat from the nest.  It fakes a broken wing, dragging on on the ground, fluttering around like it can't take off, and running away, hoping it will be followed away from the eggs.  The nest is on the ground which seems a mistake.  However, if you have ever tried, you'll know it is very hard to find the eggs.  They are well camoflaged, usually in a cluster of four in a little depression in the ground, made by arranging simply what is there already.  Unlike most other birds, the young are born able to see, run around and find food themselves when born.

Killdeer nest and eggs.

Killdeer and nest.

Protecting the nest.

Protecting the nest.

Spotted quite a large painted turtle while out for a little hike with the kids.
CORRECTION... a reader (check out his blog) corrected me on this turtle - apparently its a Northern Map Turtle, a threatened species here in Ontario.  Except for the ticks in the grass, I guess I should have lingered there a little longer.  Thanks for the info Kyle!

Northern Map Turtle - Peaking out.

The kids came over one evening from the playground with tales of a huge turtle laying eggs.  The park was quickly becoming spotted with flagged off areas for turtle nests - seems it was time for turtle nesting.  The kids' find was a medium size snapping turtle which had chosen near to the bottom of the playground slide for her location - it became the latest marked of area.  Turtles will find a soft soiled or sandy spot to dig a hole with their hind legs, lifting up the sand, then pushing it back and away.

Snapping Turtle finishing her nest hole.

Turtles go into a trance when laying their eggs, and seem quite oblivious of the goings on around them.  I didn't keep count, but this turtle had to have laid more than  20 eggs.  It was hard to tell, but at the beginning, it looked like she caught the egg with one of her legs which was down the hole, then she placed it on the growing pile.  After being covered, the eggs incubate from the heat of the ground, the amount time depending on the temperature.  One interesting fact: the females can retain the sperm from the male for a few years to use at will later if it is not a good time for raising young (ie. drought, etc.).

One of the round, white eggs being laid.

Snapping turtles are unable to fully retract themselves into their shells like most other turtles, so they were given the ability to reach quickly and quite far with their long necks with quite a forceful snap of their jaws.  They also use this to surprise and reach prey which unsuspectingly, swim by after snappy's settled into the mud or weeds in a pond or lake.

I'll post pictures of some of the other birds I saw soon...

Myrtle Beach - March 2011 Part 2

Continuing my Myrtle Beach post from a few weeks ago....

I went for a late afternoon trip to Huntington State Park - to see what there was to see.  There is a very nice, untouched and ungroomed beach here compared to the beaches by the condos.  There are some mild dunes that find themselves between the southeastern forests and the ocean.

Beach at Huntington State Park

Here are some of the shore birds I was able to see and capture some photos of.

Willett Sandpiper

The Willett Sanpiper is one of the larger in the sandpiper family.  It's about three times the size of the sandpipers were used to seeing on the beaches in Southern Ontario.

Willett Sandpiper

The Ruddy Turnstone gets its name for doing it exactly what it sounds like, flipping stones over looking for bugs and small sea creatures to make lunch out of.  Sometimes they will dig holes larger than themselves pursuing something like a crab, burrowed in the sand.

Ruddy Turnstone

Apparently, if you've seen a shore bird, you'll most likely have seen one of these - a Sanderling - as they are the most wide spread shore bird in the world.

Sanderling in Winter Plumage

Also at Huntington Beach State Park, there is a unique feature called a salt water marsh.  The tides flood it with salt water, and it is a breeding ground for things like shrimp.  The egrets, herons, and terns usually flock here, but I must have hit a slow day.  I saw some, but not many...

Immature Double Crested Cormorant sunning

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Snow Egret

Great Egret

The park also has a fresh water lagoon which had a large number of American Alligators.  They got quite close to a number of us were standing (about 5 other photographers there - with much bigger "fire power"!!) which was somewhat unnerving at first.  However, we were up an embankment which separated the fresh water lagoon from the salt water marsh.  Apparently they cross this every night, and we were counting on the fact that they were planning to do this later in the evening when we were gone.

A young American Alligator

A younger American Alligator, waiting in the algae.  Probably was about 5 ft long

A large bull American Alligator sunning in the mud.

American Alligator - swimming towards the crossing point we were taking pictures from.  It was probably about 12 ft long.

The common Moorhen is a unique bird.  The males exclusively build the nests, but they build more than one.  One is used for hatching the young, but when the babies are mobile, they will travel around use the other nests for sleeping at night.

Common Moorhen

And of course a turtle had to be sunning somewhere...

What I think is a River Cooter

As I was leaving, I saw this Merlin up in the trees. Though I followed it for quite a while, it was not going to let me get too close, so this was the best I got.  The Merlin is a small falcon, very active and very aggressive, often pestering and competing with larger hawks.

Merlin

All in all, a great 6 hours or so of enjoying a wide variety of animals and birds I don't get to see in my part of the world.  What a vast number of creatures He has made for us to enjoy and marvel at.