I can't believe it - almost the middle of May and the leaf buds are just starting to open!
I look for these first flushes of green which is so fresh and you really know the growing season has begun, it seems to happen over night!
One place I look for the first green flush is up on the hilltop where we go for our morning walks. There is some nice groves of poplars and the evergreen spruce. Add to that a show of white from the catkins on the cottonwoods and it made for a beautiful scene!
First Flush of Green Showing on the Hilltop
We had to go to town to take care of some things and I stopped to take some photos of the scenery along the way with the lovely contrast between the dark green spruce trees and the lighter green flush on the poplar trees.
Lovely Contrast of the Dark Green Spruce Trees and Light Green Budding Leaves on the Poplars
There was a few ponds I stopped to visit on the way home too.
The water was quite high in them as you can see with the birch trees sitting in the water in the image below. I don't know if bushes along the edge of the pond will make it if the water doesn't recede soon.
Birch Trees in Pond Water Flush of Green in the Hills
On the pond I saw different breeding pairs of waterfowl.
Close Up Beautiful Pair of Loons
Loon Stretching It's Wings
Back of the Wings of a Loon Outstretched Showing Their Lovely Markings
On another pond there was a pair of Bufflehead ducks. I first noticed the male resting on a log but as I got closer it swam off with it's mate.
Bufflehead Duck Resting on Log
Pair of Bufflehead Ducks Swimming
And the usual song bird you find around the waters edge is the red winged blackbird. Here there was one singing it's beautiful song but it was too windy to record it. I did get a close up shot though.
Close Up Red Winged Black Bird Singing
Also at this pond I spotted a beaver swimming. I couldn't get a very good picture of it with more than the top part of it's head sticking out of the water with the only picture taken across the pond when it was close to the shore. It was cool to see it swimming around though and we have found lots of sign the beaver has been busy with the amount of cut trees with the distinguishing marks of the beaver teeth!
Beaver Surfacing at Other Side of Pond
On the pond that is on the way up to the hilltop there was a pair of Bufflehead ducks there too.
Close Up Pair of Bufflehead Ducks
Although I mostly see mating pairs of geese, already starting to nest, I did catch a couple of shots of the snow geese returning north. They fly in huge flocks!
Flock of Snow Geese Heading North
Large Flock of Snow Geese Flying in Formation
There was a small flock of Canada Geese I caught flying in the morning. They must have their nesting ground further north.
Flock of Canada Geese in V Formation
Meanwhile back in the yard we have some pairs of birds that I see quite frequently so they must be nesting close by.
Although I don't see the flocks of house finches any more there are still some that are frequent visitors.
Close Up Male House Finch
The male finches sure showed up clearly among the light green leaves just starting to open on the maple trees.
Red on Breast of Male House Finch Has Him Stand Out in the Maple Trees with Fresh Leaves Popping Out
Female House Finch Among the Maple Branches with New Leaves Opening
The woodpeckers are there most every day and I'm sure he is claiming the feeder as his territory as he gets pretty noisy if others come around! You also hear them tapping on the feeder when eating and the trees around when they are drilling for food.
Downy Woodpecker on Trunk of Maple Tree
Another bird I am happy to see frequent the feeder and the the trees around our yard is the nuthatches. We have both the white breasted nuthatch and the red breasted nuthatch.
White Breasted Nuthatch at Feeder
I finally manage to capture that little acrobat as it climbed up and down the tree trunks and also while eating in the fashion they prefer - upside down!
We had a new visitor to the yard this week and I'm happy to say seems to be hanging around for I often see it on the maple tree which has become a great source of food for insects and the birds on the insects ever since the sapsucker drilled holes in it allowing the sap to run out along the bark. That is where I see the yellow rumped warbler getting a feed.
New Visitor to the Yard - Yellow Rumped Warbler
Side View Yellow Rumped Warbler
Yellow Rumped Warbler By Maple Trunk With Sap flowing On It
Something I quite marvel at is the soaring turkey vultures and they must have there hunting grounds by our house and also the field by where we go walking for I've been seeing them quite regularly riding the wind currents, circling the open areas looking for lunch!
Turkey Vulture Soaring by the Spruce Tree
Also up in the sky the seagulls glided in the wind. Although we are land locked we are lake country up here with lots of bodies of water and with water comes the gulls!
Seagulls Gliding Up in the Sky
I could stay out all day taking in the vastness of life in the forest, ponds and hill tops that surround us but alas the evening temperatures have been getting pretty cold and as the sun starts to get lower in the sky the temperature drops and I start to feel a chill.
In fact the night temperatures have been quite cold, enough to put a coat of ice on the rain barrels and water in the ditches by our lane which actually made some very pretty patterns - check them out...
Ice Patterns on the Rain Barrels
Another Rain Barrel with Ice Patterns
Those were kind of cool but the patterns that were created in the standing water by the lane were beautiful...
Beautiful Ice Patten at Base of Dogwood
Ice Pattern at Base of Dogwood From a Different View
Beautiful Star Patterns in the Ice
Close Up of Star Pattern in the Ice
Blue Tone in Star Pattern in the Ice
And to top it off I found a pattern of bubbles trapped in the ice -
Beautiful Design Created by Bubbles Trapped in the Ice
This is my #WednesdayWalk hosted by 
Also my Amazing Nature Contest May #2 entry. See details here with bird pictures for #featheredfriends which is hosted by
And my entry to 
The photos were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX60 HS.
Thanks for stopping by!
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