Andrew Trundlewagon's photos

Launch.

The photo is blurry; it was very dark, and the bird was flitting around. This is a scarlet tanager. They are not uncommon but rarely seen as they spend most of their time hidden in the upper branches of the trees.

A green frog (Lithobates clamitans or Rana clamitans) on a rock beside a pool. It looks almost as though its head was dipped in a can of green paint. I was going to call it Prince Charming, but perhaps it's Princess Charming? Which led me to realize that I have no idea how to tell the females from the males by sight. A quick trip to Wikipedia revealed that in Green Frogs "the male tympanum is twice the diameter of the eye, whereas in females, the tympanum diameter is about the same as that of the eye, and males have bright yellow throats". So, this, it seems, is Princess Charming.

Garden pea after the rain.

Inquisitive squirrel

Not a great beauty, this is the rather ominously named American cancer-root (Conopholis americana), a plant of the dark woods that spends most of its life below ground parasitizing the roots of oak trees. It emerges as spikes of creamy white flowers that lack both leaves and chlorophyll as it gains all its nutrients from its host. It’s a member of the broomrape family and is native to Eastern Canada and the USA. Apparently, it doesn't harm the oak trees, and lives for only ten years, which is not long in the life of an oak.

Wild irises by a lake.

Bottles at a bar.

This one is a bit of a mystery. It began as a dark red shrub rose (Champlain), but we had to dig it up and replant it. It came back as a pink creeping rose. Perhaps it is the original root stock? Taken after a heavy rain.

American red squirrel

Tradescantia flowers (spiderwort) after a light rain. They open in the morning and close in the afternoon, avoiding strong sunlight.

Creeping butercups

White breasted nuthatch (St Bruno)

Some columbine (aquilegia) from the garden

A green frog (Lithobates clamitans) just hanging out.

Bullfrog tadpoles in rather murky water. (Têtards).

Angry bird; a pileated woodpecker feeding on a fallen tree trunk

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia Virginica), Belleview woods, upper Don Valley, Toronto. There is a good patch of them growing in the woods just off the bike path and we try to find them if we are visiting at the right time of year. These are a little over their prime, the younger flowers have a dark pink hue that turns light blue as they age. It's said that the colour change tells the bees which flowers are worth visiting and which to skip, although I am not sure how reliable that information is.