A dark yellow goldfinch, with black pattern on the wings, perched sideways on the stem of a coneflower. They're surrounded by old flowers, now going to seed

The American goldfinch's favourite spot! Tall stems of native plants!

#SKyard #BirdPhotography

A small, but very round bird, mostly dark grey, with a white chest and white under the tail. They're on a wooden fence, seen from profile, looking at the camera

Look at this perfectly round junco!! :face_holding_back_tears: Just stayed there for me for so long!

#SKyard #BirdPhotography

Two different styles of asters. The top one has darker purple petals that are thin and long. At the bottom are lilac blooms (smooth blue asters)

I was missing our New England asters from the old house this fall and thought that maybe I'd buy some next year.

Well, the god of volunteer plants heard me! Guess we're at five different species of native asters now 😍

#SKyard

A butterfly milkweed seed pod, burst open, showing little black seeds in some white "floss" to help them spread with the wind. It's surrounded by more pods and leaves. The sun is shining from the top left corner

Fly, fly little butterfly milkweed seeds 🍃

#SKyard #NativePlants

A puffed up little bird, white chest, with brown wings, a big white patch on his throat and little yellow eyebrows, his beak open, and sun reflecting in his eye. His on a fence with fall coloured leaves behind him

He's blurry, but look at how happy this little cutie is!!

One of our white-throated sparrows

#SKyars

A female cardinal, mostly brown, with a pinkish beak and her crest up, beak open in a scream. She's sitting on a fence, with fall coloured leaves in the background

So much attitude in such a small bird 😄

I *think* this is one of the new kids from this summer; her colours are quite tame

Love seeing our female cardinals more often during the fall! They're even using the feeder a lot (it's usually the males who use it more)

#SKyard

A rock pigeon on top of a bird feeder, looking to the side

Pigeons are silly 😆

(This is the weighted feeder I often talk about! Still defeating the squirrels!)

#SKyard

A huge bush full of little lilac flowers

Well the asters definitely took over 💜

#SKyard #Bloomscrolling #NativePlants

Part of the old grounds from Fort Ann, one of the most contested forts between the French and the British. You can see some remnants and the ocean behind

A monument to commemorate the Grand dérangement (the deportation of all Acadians). There is a cross on top of the monument

The entrance to the old Port Royal settlement. It's all hand carved wooden boards and shingles. There are three crests on top of the entrance (the French king, and the two first, and only, governors)

View on many rows of vines. In the background are hills with orange and green trees.

Yesterday, we went to Fort Ann and Port Royal National historic sites. We walked through Annapolis Royal, looking at all the old historic houses. We went to a small winery, and the fall colours are starting to show on the hills ☺️

#SKyard

Little white aster flowers (one incomplete row of thin and long petals) in a smallish plant

A cluster of white fluffy and dense white flowers next to a garage. A bumblebee is on the flowers

A close-up of another cluster of snakeroot blooms, with smoother bumblebee

A tiny plant with dozens of buds. A couple are open, a button-like center with bright yellow petals. A bumblebee is on the middle of a bloom

Fall blooms (all new from this year)

White aster (very rare in the wild now; and happy in the shade!)
Snakeroot (also in the shaded zone)
Dogtooth Daisy

#SKyard #Bloomscrolling #NativePlants

Two blooms, one shorter than the other, in front of each other. The blooms are multi tiered, and very pale pink petals and purple-spotted yellow spikes

A close-up of a different bloom, which is pretty tall, and green spikes at the top

Spotted beebalm is so beautiful (and bumblebees love it)

#SKyard #Bloomscrolling #NativePlants

A big black and yellow bumblebee on a cluster of bright orange flowers, surrounded by thin and long green leaves

A smaller bee with a green head on a big cluster of orange flowers

The butterfly milkweed is always very popular! Common Eastern bumblebee and striped sweat bee 🐝

#SKyard #NativePlants #pollinators

A female ruby-throated humminbird eating from a cardinal flower (a bright red tube). Her wings are blurry from flying so fast

The same bird on a cable. She looks tiny, perched there, and she has her loooong tongue out. Black and white picture

She is now sideways on the cable, so you can see her tiny profile, with her square tail up

These are bad pictures, but I thought I would still share them because they really show how *tiny* ruby-throated hummingbirds are! Also it was the first time that she sat on the cables for so long (at least a few minutes)

#SKyard

A young American robin on a big maple branch. You know it's young because of the small black dots on their copper chest. They're looking up, with a whole blueberry in the beak. Their hair is also all mohawk-style

I can't stop laughing while looking at it, so I cropped it even more and now it's even blurrier but 🤣

I spent the whole week looking for them, sooo cute

#SKyard

A maple tree with two American robins on a branch. The left one is the parent, looking away from their kid. The right one is the young kid, sitting and looking like a big potato with a mohawk

Such a good baby

(I didn't even know that our robins had new little ones before yesterday!)

#SKyard

In a maple tree. On the right, on a branch, is a young American robin full of black spots on their orange chest, their beak open very wide with a blueberry inside. The parent is a bit further down the branch, looking the opposite way

BLUEBERRY nom nom nom

(I was too far to get a good quality shot, but the timing? 😄)

#SKyard

A black and white woodpecker on a big rock, looking her right towards a birdbath full of water with a rock fountain

The same bird, now perched on the side of the birdbath, looking up, light shining on her (while the rest of the picture is super dark)

Miss Hairy Woodpecker from a couple of weeks ago. She's adorable when she drinks at the bird bath. Very chill!

They seem to be on the ground a lot more than the downies.

#SKyard

A Rock Pigeon. a plump, blue-gray bird, with a small head, a thin bill, on the top of a pergola roof, weirdly one of their favourite spot

Also a rock pigeon, but we can see the iridescent feathers on their neck, and they're on top of a wooden fence

Pigeons!

#SKyard #BirdPhotography

A black and yellow wasp with a slender body and long thin wings on a little bloom (sparse white petals with a pale yellow center) surrendered by more blooms

A lobed mason wasp on our new climbing clematis, which is now *full* of blooms.

#SKyard #NativePlants

The back of a bumblebee on a lilac bloom, surrounded by more blooms and green leaves

A bumblebee halfway inside a tubular bloom, a leg full of pollen

Still quite some time before we can't welcome the birds again, so here is a bumblebee entering a great blue lobelia's bloom 🐝

#SKyard #NativePlants #pollinators

Side view of a female ruby-throated hummingbird, you can see her slender body, tiny tail, and very long beak. Her wings are blurry from the speed of her fluttering while looking at the next red flower she will go to

I decided to crop it a bit more, I think it was clear enough! Her little eye deserves it!

#SKyard #BirdPhotography #NativePlants

The back of a shiny, green, tiny hummingbird, wings open and looking transparent, feeding at a tall cluster of bright red flowers

Side view of the same bird, you can see her slender body, tiny tail, and very long beak. Her wings are blurry from the speed of her fluttering while looking at the next red flower she will go to

Our gorgeous female ruby-throated hummingbird who's been visiting multiple times a day since the cardinal flowers started blooming!

(My first ever try to photograph her, and I didn't have the right settings, so I just clicked quickly and hoped for the best 😂)

#SKyard #BirdPhotography #NativePlants

A little yellow goldfinc behind a yellow flower with one row of petals. We can mostly see their little black forehead, bent down to eat a flower petal and some of the middle seeds

And this is when I understood why my false sunflowers were looking so rough this summer 😆

They've been going between them and the wild bergamot seeds this week (which is why I don't deadhead!)

#SKyard #NativePlants

A little yellow bird with black wings and forehead, perched on the long and thin stem of a yellow false sunflower, looking in the horizon, serious.

On top of the world.

I absolutely love watching the American goldfinches perch everywhere!

#SKyard #BirdPhotography

A cluster of multiple big green buds with the lower row being open (white closed bloom in the shape of a turtle head)

The white turtlehead has bloomed for the first time and I just learned that the flowers will *trap* bumblebees inside to insure proper pollinisation before releasing them!! Oh nature 🐝

#SKyard #NativePlants

Multiple tall stems of red tubular flowers in front of tall stems of pink frilly blooms, all in front of a wooden fence

I was told that the mature height of the cardinal flower was 4 feet.. the fence is 5 feet tall 😅

The little shaded rain (ish) garden is doing exceptionally well this summer

(Two cardinal flowers, two Joe-Pye Weed... Morning sedge on the side)

#SKyard #NativePlants #Bloomscrolling

A cluster of dozens of tiny white and yellow flowers on a thin onion stem

Multiple big and long clusters of tiny bright yellow flowers

The nodding onion and the volunteer (Canada?) goldenrod are blooming!

#SKyard #NativePlants #Bloomscrolling

A stem with long thin green leaves that are turning white in the middle

Huh I bought a new spotted beebalm this year and planted it somewhere else because both died last year... I guess one self seeded before dying 🥹 or something?

#SKyard #NativePlants

A medium size plant with dark green leaves and a few clusters of orange blooms. There are a few dozen tall green seed pods growing towards the sky

Just a few butterfly milkweed seed pods 😳

#SKyard #NativePlants

A big bumblebee on a cluster of frilly pale pink blooms. Behind them is a long green leave and more blooms

I thought the bumble wings looked really cool here

(Joe Pye Weed)

#SKyard #NativePlants #Pollinators #Bloomscrolling