A Good Week for Bird Watching

There was a lot going on this week, and I don't know how it was that I managed to do any birdwatching. My husband and I went back to Colonel Sam Smith Park a couple of times, and we saw a lot of the usual suspects. We also managed to see our first Winged-winged Scoters.

They were great. They seemed to be unafraid of us, and they let us get very close. They ate lots and lots of mussels, and they would just swallow them whole: shell and all. They had a weird serpentine way of swimming, and they would dive into the water with their wings slightly spread out. They also looked a little weird; especially the male with that bill, and those white eyes with the white comma-shaped markings accentuating them.

We also went back to Riverwood, and took some wonderful close up shots of the pine siskins, and the redpolls at the feeders. These little birds are so much fun to watch. The whole area is full of them, and also a lot of goldfinches; but the goldfinches did not come to the feeders like the other finches did.

There were reports of a Brown Thrasher, and a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, but we didn't manage to see either of those species. We also didn't see the little Screech Owl that has taken up residence there.

Yesterday, we went to Ashbridges Bay in the hope of seeing the Western Grebe, that was reported there all week. We were out of luck. I did manage to get some great shots of young Greater Black-backed gull that was flying around, as well as ones of an Icelandic gull.

The funny thing was that I managed to get some shots of some White-winged Crossbills in the city after all: there was a flock of them feeding on the jack pines, and the alders.

Looking for Crossbills Again

I took my dog to the dogpark again, and I brought my camera along. It was my secret hope that I would get some pictures of the crossbills I saw a couple of weeks ago.

On the way, I looked up, and just over my head was a fast moving hawk. I tried to get a shot of it, but my lens would not cooperate. It was a beautiful and sunny day. The lens was set on automatic, and it just wouldn't focus. By the time, I switched to manual, the hawk was quite a ways over my head. It seemed to be trying to catch itself a pigeon.

The pigeons eluded the hawk beautifully. They just swooped around and around in a large circle, and I think this confused the hawk. I don't think it managed to get any of them. I found out later, when looking at my photographs that it was a Coopers Hawk.

I continued my walk over to the dogpark, and let my dog off the lead. I waited for what seemed to be a very long time. I didn't see anything. After, what semed to be half-an-hour, I heard some birds communicating with each other when a large German Shepherd came into the park.

About half a dozen juncoes materialized from the jack pines. They let me photograph them; which was wonderful. However, my pictures were all blurry. The only shots of them in focus where when they looked away, or when they were obscured in some way. Aaargh!

When I got home, I took the garbage out through the backyard. Some starlings, and some small dark birds landed in the lilac tree in my garden. I couldn't figure out what these birds were. They looked like mini starlings; they were so dark. However, the bill shapes were not right.

These little birds started to preen themselves, and their appearance started to change. It turns out, that they were House Sparrows. My husband thinks they must have been bathing in a dirty puddle, or something. Or a chimney flue, I thought, from the looks of them.

Ducks galore

We went to Bluffers' Park in Scarborough, yesterday in the hope of seeing the Harlequin that was spotted in the marina.

We had no such luck but we did see many scaup, buffleheads, mallards, gadwalls, mergansers, and goldeneyes. We also saw a 'blond' mallard; something we had seen in Coburg, although that may have been another species.

There were also a ton of gulls. We had such a difficult time trying to figure out what was what. There are so many different gulls, and the juveniles tend to look alike.

We saw an Icelandic Gull, and we think, our first Thayer's Gull. What we didn't see were any songbirds, not even house sparrows, so that was strange. There were a lots of pigeons, however, that kept circling the marina over and over again.

All in all, it was a good birding day.

The Merganser Versus The Sunfish

My husband and I went to Humber Bay East Park, yesterday, in the hope of seeing the Harlequin ducks, again. We saw mergansers, scaup, goldeneye, widgeons, mallards, swans, buffleheads, and gadwalls. We didn't even see one sparrow, or small songbird of any kind.

The ice was still thick in many places, so the ducks were pretty far out. Nonetheless, there were areas along the points that were not frozen, and we managed to get some good shots.

One set were of a Common Merganser whose eyes were too big for its stomach. It must have been a juvenile, because I don't think an adult bird would have made such a mistake; nor had persisted so, in swallowing its catch. This bird tried again and again. It had dropped the fish several times, and then would pick it right up again for another go.

At one point, another Common Merganser came over and claimed the fish. It, too, was no better off, but at least it quit after the first attempt. I think the other one was happy to have left its catch.

Snowy Owl Encounter

Yesterday, my husband and I went to Tommy Thompson Park to find some birds. This park is also known as the Leslie Street Spit. It is a landfill site that has been turned into a park. It is now an Important Bird Area, because many birds have stopped there.

As it was, we were scouring the shoreline in hopes of seeing the King Eider ducks again. What we did end up seeing were a pair of Snowy Owls. We flushed one by accident, and it ended up flying over to where the other one was. The first was very white; much whiter than the one we saw a couple of months ago. Of course, that one was the second bird: it was more heavily barred than its companion.

One of the birds had been rescued by a nearby homeowner, and released. It seems to be quite content. The other is a juvenile, and the subject of much attention. Some birders seemed to think that it was being harassed...well, it hasn't gone anywhere so I guess it must be happy here,too.

We saw some gulls, scaup, mergansers, redheads, and buffleheads.We saw what appeared to be an injured song sparrow, and finally the northern goshawk, and a juvenile northern shrike. Not too bad by any standards, I would say.