Brett Forsyth Photography

Magical lights Growing up on the west coast of Canada fireflies were something you saw on TV and movies but never with your own eyes. Coming to Ontario 3 years ago I remember just about losing my mind when I saw them the first summer I was here. The past couple of years they have always been around but never in great numbers. I have photographed all life stages except for eggs but hadn't been able to get a good series of them lighting up. That changed Saturday while hanging out with the family around a backyard fire. The forest seemed to erupt in lights shortly after dusk. It was the most I had ever seen and everyone was super excited. Of course it was camera time. This is a composite of a bunch of 10sec exposures giving a great effect. If you look really closely you can follow their path through the air. (at Guelph, Ontario)

You make me blush What can I say about a male anna's hummingbird sparkling in the sun. Wow just wow. This little fellow was on territory and had a favourite perch in an apple tree. I managed to find my own perch on a step ladder leaning against a house to get high enough to make the iridescence of this head feathers really shine. Hummingbirds...always awesome.

Same same but different Stole the title from my favorite shop name in India. My first attempts at finding cool things that fluoresce. Using my recently acquired UV flashlight I found some fungus on old goldenrod stalks that went bright orange, a drop of clear liquid that was super bright green (don’t want to know what it is) and a glowing worm hanging from a shrub.

Day Walker So I have this strange idea that if I get enough bites, that's my blood in there, I will become immune to the itch. I am sure this is likely one of the dumber ideas I have had. The more likely scenario is that I will eventually get infected with some sort of #mosquito born disease. This female got fed while I was taking super macro photos of bees. As it was on my non-shutter release hand I let it feed in exchange for taking its photo. Once full it was so heavy that it only managed to fly a short distance affording me a superb opportunity to photograph it.

On the wing Oh spring I adore you! Today was incredible with another flush of warblers in the yard and all of the swallows showing off in the sun. Barn swallows are a threatened species in Ontario but they live/on in a few barns and houses in my neighbourhood. I actually took this photo as a thing to do while looking for an Eastern Meadowlark and thought it was good enough to share. If you love barn swallows you know what to do ❤️

Palm Warbler Coming from the west coast warblers weren't really on my radar growing up. But a couple of springs out east and, if you're into birds, you would have to be dead to not be into warblers. This palm warbler was hanging out with the yellow-rumped flock that passed through the yard. You quickly learn with warblers that if one species is around if you don't see others you aren't looking hard enough. Palm warblers are a shorter distance migrant. They overwinter in the Caribbean and bits of Central America and travel up as high as bits of Southern NWT for breeding season. If you have a birding friend tag them in the comments to share.

Palm Warbler Coming from the west coast warblers weren't really on my radar growing up. But a couple of springs out east and, if you're into birds, you would have to be dead to not be into warblers. This palm warbler was hanging out with the yellow-rumped flock that passed through the yard. You quickly learn with warblers that if one species is around if you don't see others you aren't looking hard enough. Palm warblers are a shorter distance migrant. They overwinter in the Caribbean and bits of Central America and travel up as high as bits of Southern NWT for breeding season. If you have a birding friend tag them in the comments to share.

All that's left I had to go to Vancouver last week and I knew that by leaving I would miss the coyotes getting the deer carcass. When I checked when I got home this was all that was left.

Yellow-rumped Warbler It's that time of year again! Song bird migration. Managed to get out into the backyard during a mini yellow-rumped eruption (10+ birds). Found a few others in there as well but you will have to wait to see them :) Yellow-rumped Warblers are an early migrant to Southern Ontario. They spend their winters in Central America, the Caribbean and the Southern US. In the spring they migrate north as far as Alaska to breed. As a song bird population they are doing pretty well compared to others with only a slight decline.

Only the freshest maple syrup This female, you can tell because males have a red throat, yellow-bellied sapsucker spent the entire day in this maple tree. She made quite a few sap wells, small holes she has made in the bark, and had a good feed. Only at dusk did she decide it was time to move on. This was a tough shot to compose. She was perched in a medium sized tree with lots of overlapping branches. I had to move around the base quite a bit to find small branchless windows. Shot on a tripod with a cable release to maximise sharpness.

No post today as working on hanging my Turneffe Atoll photo exhibition at @redbrickcafe_guelph

A face only a mother could love Finally got a high quality shot of one of the turkey vultures on the deer. Impressive birds and so vital to a healthy ecosystem. Scavengers do a lot of dirty work but help to control disease and recycle organic material into nutrients for others.

Red on white A pair of red-tailed hawks seem to have found the deer in the last couple of days. They are impressively large raptors. Red-tails eat primarily rodents but as you can see they won't pass on an easy meal. The image is from a trailcam so it leaves a bit to be desired.

Under construction Re-breasted nuthatches frequent visitors to the feeder and the trees around the house. Last year the resident pair successfully raised a brood of 3. I have been on the lookout for their nest tree for 2 years but never got close. This year it is being built within naked eye distance of the back door. This little one has been excavating 2 holes in the same snag for a few weeks now. It is so enthusiastic about smashing the wood that occasionally it had to flick its wings out to stabilize itself on the tree. Can't wait to get some more video and images as the nest progresses. I have read that they will in the entrance hole with sap and dive through the hole once complete. That will be spectacular footage if this one does.

Road Ecology Cars and wetlands aren't really friends. Where I live, Guelph, Ontario, we have a few wetlands left amongst the farms. Most of these wetlands are a stone's throw from a road. There is one area in Guelph that is a known amphibian migration zone that also has high traffic. So on rainy nights in the early spring when everyone, human and amphibian, are moving you run into issues. While I saw more frogs than I could count walking around on this rainy night I also saw 21 leopard frogs in various stages of flatness. This post isn't all bad news. Several municipalities close to me have yearly road closures to help protect amphibians, particularly salamanders, while they migrate in the spring. ♥️ if you love frogs and want to see them better protected.

Tiny Alien Rough headed blennies are a small, crevice dwelling fish. Their large eyes are highly mobile which they use to scan for bits of food floating by.