Spring Views

Lets brighten up peoples live with all those lovely pictures of the world around us!

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MapleRidge
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Spring Views

Post by MapleRidge »

Hi everyone...

The spring weather has greened up the landscape and with it the return of spring birds and flowers too.

As the maple syrup season was closing up there woodland flowers were starting to appear in the sugar-bush. The ground becomes white in some part of the bush with white trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum), but I always like finding the more rare red version of the flower (Trillium erectum):
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red_trillium-2.jpg
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I found this 'Jack in the Pulpit' (Arisaema triphyllum) growing near the sugar shed :
Jack.jpg
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Many of the birds we have visiting our bird feeder appear year round, including Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Goldfinches and various woodpeckers. These species still visit daily:
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Dove.jpg
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Goldfinch.jpg
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A chipmunk is helping to clean up the spilled seeds under the feeder with his feathered friends ;)
cleaners.jpg
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Spring sees the return of the Brown Headed Cowbirds:
Cowbirds.jpg
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A visitor I have not identified yet is similar in size to the American robin...I'm thinking a thrush species? Any suggestions?
mystery.jpg
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Osprey return to the local lakes and start new families in the large nests they build on utility poles:
Osprey.jpg
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Another brief visitor in the spring are Baltimore Orioles, which occasionally make a nest in the large Elm tree next to the observatory, They usually make an appearance just before the fruit trees blossom. A female is feeding from an orange we put out for them last week:
Baltimore.jpg
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We have Red Tailed Hawks year round, but I caught this one hunting over the wheat field across form the hose last weekend:
Eagle.jpg
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Hawk.jpg
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The apple and pear trees in the backyard were in flower last week producing a lot of blooms:
apples.jpg
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Blossom.jpg
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This past week saw more progress on our local farms with much of the corn planting finishing up and growers making a big push on soybeans. At my brothers dairy farm, May 18th was a busy day as my brother finished planting corn, rye silage was harvested, and my father was finishing the first field of soybeans. I snapped a pic as I was scouting to make up a herbicide recommendation for the corn and beans:
planting-2.jpg
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It is a busy time of year for me, but always on the look out for camera subjects ;)

Hope you like the collection,
Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
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Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

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Montana
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Re: Spring Views

Post by Montana »

Brian, thank you, you don't know how much this cheered me up this morning :hamster:

So many beautiful birds, and an Osprey too :shock: with a fish!! was that near your house?

Took me a while to spot the chipmunk :)

Alexandra


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Re: Spring Views

Post by rsfoto »

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the story and the great images.


regards Rainer

Observatorio Real de 14
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North 22° West 101°
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MapleRidge
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Re: Spring Views

Post by MapleRidge »

Alexandra and Rainer...

Thanks for your feedback on the series of pics :bow

Alexandra, I'm glad they perked up your day ;) The chipmunk was a bit of a challenge to find and cell phone pics are not always the greatest.

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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Re: Spring Views

Post by marktownley »

Lovely to see how the world comes alive with spring and summer!


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Re: Spring Views

Post by JochenM »

Beautiful set of images there, Brian.

As far the mystery guest; a thrasher of some sort maybe (brown thrasher?).


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