![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/BlueJayBathCreditRiveronNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a>\nThis Blue Jay had a drink then took a bath. Maybe it was checking how warm the water was before committing?<\/em><\/p>\n
In spring or fall you might find many different types of shorebirds making a brief appearance along the Credit River. And by fall, of course, I mean from the last week of July onwards as shorebirds move south way earlier than I\u2019d expect. However, two kinds of shorebirds can often be found along the river all summer: Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers.<\/p>\n Killdeer<\/strong><\/a> are well known since they often live and nest in suburban neighbourhoods in school yards and baseball diamonds. They can be found along shores although they are not limited to a wet habitat.<\/p>\n Spotted Sandpipers, though, usually like to have a least some wetland in their territories. Once nesting is over, of course, they move around and can be found in many small odd corners of Ontario.<\/p>\n I stopped on my walk south along the Credit to admire three male Green Frogs who were calling occasionally in hopes of impressing a girl. On the way back upstream later, however, the calling had grown to a full chorus and the males had become very active jumping and splashing at each other. Only one, though, had found a partner who was attracted by his manly \u201ctwangs.\u201d<\/p>\n It was interesting to watch a group of Cliff Swallows trying to get nests started on the undersides of the bridge for Burnhamthorpe Road. The concrete is very smooth and it was obvious the mud was not sticking particularly well. I hope to get by later this summer to see if they had any success. Since they have already raised broods of young this year they must have had nests elsewhere earlier.<\/p>\n Cliff Swallow nests are shaped a bit like a gourd with only a small opening for the parents to fly in and out of. Barn Swallow nests are shaped more like a Robin\u2019s nest with an open top. Among other features, Cliff Swallows have a light whitish forehead, not a rusty forehead like a Barn Swallow.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to identify the many types of dragon and damselflies in Ontario. Males and females often have different colour patterns. Immature males often start their flying lives looking somewhat like the females but then change their markings, making ones in transition particularly confusing. And then there are the pale brown-grey-greenish damselflies with no apparent markings.<\/p>\n Many of these are actually newly \u201chatched\u201d damselflies. They have shed their nymph-skins and pumped up their wings but they have not actually matured enough for their colours to emerge. I suspect that this one was a new damselfly, particularly since it could not fly very well yet.<\/p>\n The walk was brightened by many lovely wildflowers and an occasional four-winged flying blossom. It was well worth dodging the bicycles, joggers, hikers, runners, and fisherfolk to spend the morning rambling along the banks of the Credit.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> Slowing down when walking beside rushing water can mean finding many unexpected surprises. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[25,385,5,387,363,388,384,29,175,176,130,386,85,144,269],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rambles","tag-birds","tag-blue-jay","tag-butterflies","tag-cliff-swallows","tag-credit-river","tag-damselfly","tag-erindale-park","tag-flowers","tag-frogs","tag-green-frog","tag-mallards","tag-purple-prairie-clover","tag-red-admiral","tag-riverwood-conservancy","tag-spotted-sandpipers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8396,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions\/8396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
\nThis Red Admiral was one of a new batch of adults showing off their brilliant colours.<\/em><\/p>\nWhat Kind of Sandpipers Stalk the Rocks of the Credit River in Summer?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
\nI try to take photos of every Mallard no matter how mangy they look while moulting: it pays off when you notice something more interesting behind them!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nSpotted Sandpiper Stalking Prey<\/em><\/p>\nWhy Were the Green Frogs Literally Belly Flopping Across the Pond Beside the Credit?<\/h2>\n
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\nThe Green Frog won a girlfriend with his calls.<\/em><\/p>\nWhat Swallows Are Trying to Build Mud Nests High Up Underneath the Burhamthorpe Bridge?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat Kind of Damselfly Has No Colours?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nButterflies and Blooms<\/h2>\n
<\/a>
\nThis Indigo Bunting was beautiful but too fast for my limited photo skills.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nI believe this is Purple Prairie Clover, standing tall in a field of Crown Vetch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nDo you have a favourite summer ramble? Is there any creature you keep an eye out in particular? Please share your views with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"