This seemed to be the year of the Heron. The usual Great Blues, the occasional Black crowned night heron and a whole family of Green herons which one day posed for a photo of all five. The Belted Kingfishers also raised a family and as usual were very skittish.
I saw mink exactly twice; the first time I saw a pair and photographed one, two weeks later I found one by the creek. After that, not a peep. However, in the same weasel family, last week I saw a stoat/ermine/lesser weasel calmly traversing the BBQ window ledge and down to the window well and thence under the deck. No photo, it was a fleeting sight, but the first white mammal I’ve seen in the wild.
Lots of turtles. Maybe I’m getting better at spotting them. Painted turtles and red-eared sliders on the banks, with snapping turtles laying eggs and on one occasion freshly hatched 3cm babies crossing the path.
Those are the highlights – I didn’t caption all the photos; half of my friends don’t care and the other half already know what these animals are called.
