A Really Fine Day

What a great day! We reached a high of 19 degrees C, and it felt much warmer than that. The litmus test was the walk along Lake Ontario at Sam Smith park. Sam Smith is a nice place for a stroll. It's pretty big, and all kinds of activities are enjoyed at there. It is also a good place to go birdwatching. Come the spring, this place is hopping with warblers and other migrants. There is also a wimbrel watch. It amazes me that any birds go there at all, because the place is always so full of people and dogs.

Today, my husband and I went around the park looking out for early migrants. There was not a whole lot to see, but it was nice to be there with this lovely weather. There were a lot of red neck grebes, and some horned grebes still in winter plumage. It was lovely to see so many song sparrows about, as well as the robins and red-winged blackbirds. Many years ago, the robin was considered to be ubiquitous, but that title should now go to the red-winged blackbird. You will see them everywhere, once the winter season draws to an end.

At first, it is nice to hear their 3-note herald to spring: "doo-da-dee"! (To me, it sounds like they are singing "Burger King!") After a while, it starts to wear on you. All the same, I love to see them, and their cocky antics can be very amusing.

A Lovesick Romeo

My husband and I got some birding in last weekend. I hope to post the pictures soon. It was a beautiful day, and so we went to LaSalle Marina, in Burlington, in order to see if the ring-necked ducks were still there. They were, which was great, because they are rarely seen in our parts. We also saw some Canvasbacks- another duck species though not rare, are not seen so often, either. I also enjoyed watching the Common Mergansers strut their stuff in order to impress a lone female.

The best sighting was the juvenile King Eider, of course. He was still hanging around, and we could see it was because he was love sick: over a female Mallard! This female had an entourage of males (Mallards) surrounding her, and behind her like a bad smell, was the young King Eider.

It looked like she was trying to shake him, but couldn't. At some point, she did manage to elude him, and the King Eider, ended up flying right up to the beach where we were. It was great for us, because we had such a close up view. However, that poor duck was searching frantically everywhere! He kept looking around here, and there. He didn't seem to know that she was much further into the lake. I felt sorry for him. But, c'est la vie!

Well, from there we went to Bronte Harbor to see if the Snowy Owl was still there, and yes, it was. And so was a horned grebe with winter plumage, as well as an early Kildeer. The latter bird is a sure sign that the spring migration is under way, so I was really happy about that. And it was cool that the Snowy was still around, too!