A Red-breasted Merganser on the rocks.

 

Much like the person who checks your membership card at the door to Costco, this friendly fella greeted us at the entrance to the trail. The main difference was, we didn't spend $350 at the trail.

 

Always exciting to see the first Osprey of the year return to the neighbourhood.

 

A Bald Eagle close-up. The second photo shows him/her with a feather in its beak mid-preen.

An American Goldfinch that will soon be a gold finch.

 

Dear diary: A dreamy boy looked at me today. (Northern Pintail ♂️)

 

A Hairy Woodpecker contemplating the possibilities.

 

Hooded Merganser hen.

 

A Cooper's Hawk nibbling daintily on the rat her mate brought to her.

 

Canvasback ♂️. Always fun to go back through the archives to see if there are any unmined gems. Like this beauty from May 2020.

 

A Redhead duck with a drippy nose and a mouthful of salad.

 

A Cooper's Hawk enjoying a nice, juicy rat her mate brought by in exchange for some afternoon delight. And I'm not kidding, either. The pattern goes...male finds a stick and places it on their nest. He makes sure she's watching from her perch a few hundred feet away. He grabs a second stick and adds that to the nest. Then he heads off for a while and eventually comes back to her with food (see rat above). She has a few bites then starts calling him to come on over for a quicky. Six seconds later, they're done and the pattern starts over again. It's fascinating to watch.

 

A Pileated Woodpecker.

 

An immature Bald Eagle making sure no edible morsel goes unclaimed. Bald eagles are more scavenger than predator, feeding primarily on fish that wash up on shore or, in this case, the ice. When they do make a kill, fish is the usual target but they will occasionally hunt other birds.

Cootes Paradise, Hamilton, ON.
 

A Northern Shoveler.

 

Napping is a grossly underappreciated activity, I believe. Here's a Northern Pintail who gets it.

 

Baby, is this winter ever gonna end? Look, I'll admit to being a winter guy. I embrace the cold and the snow and the darkness. Maybe not the wind, but, in general, I love it. At some point, though - like about two weeks ago - you have to concede winter's over and it's time to move on. Time to make room for the warblers, ospreys, flowers and warmth. (Maybe not the mosquitoes). I'm a spring guy now.

 

A Downy Woodpecker.

 

The power, beauty and grace of the female Mallard. Happy International Women's Day.

 

A Canvasback.

 

A young Bald Eagle practicing its attack skills on a minuscule scrap of dead carp.

 

Red-breasted Mergansers have THE best hair styles.

 

A White-throated Sparrow wading through the drifts.

 

Never more than a wing's length apart, this pair of Northern Pintails follow each other around the lake in a lovestruck daze. It's really quite heartwarming to watch them continually swooning over each other.

 

Northern Shovelers at take off. Shovelers couples stay together longer than most dabbling ducks. They hook up in the winter and stay together until the fall migration. Pretty good especially when compared with those randy little Ruddy ducks who don't bother forming pairs at all. Another interesting thing about Shovelers...when flushed off her nest, a female will defecate on her eggs to deter predators. Seems like a pretty crappy strategy but whatever works, I guess.

 

A Bald Eagle (immature).