Lakeville Corner Almanac

  There are many flood-plain meadows in New Brunswick's central lakes region. The largest, Grand Lake meadows , covers several square kilometers. This is great place to find Red Winged Blackbirds . During peak summer months these meadows are teeming with wildlife; insects and birds in particular. At times it can be very noisy as the birds call out and Red Winged Blackbirds are the noisiest!

    I bought a swamp and this is one of my new tenants, a colourful Eastern Painted Turtle. When the heat of the Springtime morning sun burns through the mist, these guys pile up onto a small mound next to our RV and soak it up. Often this coincides with morning coffee and a mutual staring session between tenant and landlord ensues.

   I've spent a lot of time observing turtles over the years and this the first time I can recall catching a shot of one with its shell molting. Molting allows their shells to expand to match the growing body inside. This Eastern Painted Turtle looks to a be a male by the length of his front claws. He is the biggest one in the pond.  

 When I first learned how far these hummingbirds migrate, I was awe struck that something so small could fly so far. They fly from New Brunswick to Central America and during hurricane season to boot. It makes me wonder how efficient their flight technique must be. They are always entertaining to watch as they fight and chase among themselves for control of the feeder.              

 Bald Eagles have become so common here, they just aren't news anymore. They compete well with the local osprey population. Below is the remains of an osprey that was most likely killed by an eagle. It's one thing to steal an osprey's fish and quite another to eat the osprey too.

 Pileated Woodpeckers have a whooping call that reminds me of some kind of jungle monkey. When you combine that with their loud drumming, they are hard to ignore. For all his noise though, this particular guy was skittish and really didn't want his picture taken. It took the better part of two summers to get an unobstructed shot.