Mallards in flight.

LaSalle Park Marina, Burlington, ON.
 

A Red Squirrel with its fringes all aglow.

 

Hooded Mergansers.

 

A Lincoln's Sparrow wading through the snow and keeping my stretch of first time birds going.

 

An American Wigeon. He was my first one that wasn't a black speck way out in a lake...so happy to finally see that beautiful face up close.

Dundas, ON
 

A Northern Shrike (aka the butcher bird) scanning the field for a prime cut of vole. This fierce little predator preys on small birds and mammals and often impales its catch on thorns or barbed wire for later consumption. This is the first time I've seen one of these beauties.

 

A Rednecked Grebe. (non-breeding adult / immature)

 

A Canvasback close-up.

 

Me: I love snow days! Cardinal: What you talkin' about, Willis?

 

A Green-winged Teal.

 

A White-breasted Nuthatch posing prettily after successfully extracting a nugget from the bark.

 

The late day sun had disappeared from the backyard when a herd of White-tailed deer showed up. But it was still shining brightly enough on yonder hill to provide a nice glowing backdrop for this lovely doe.

 

Long-eared Owl. . Probably could've got an unobstructed view if I'd waited around or crept closer but, with owls (and most wildlife), it's best to be quick about it and keep your distance. This is a heavily cropped image.

 

Hooded Merganser, outstanding on its submerged log.

 

A beautiful and incredibly vibrant Northern Cardinal. ♀️

 

Northern Saw-whet Owl. These owls are remarkably tiny (like 7 or 8 inches long) but they're an absolute menace to rodents.

 

American Robin with a honeysuckle (?) berry. The woods around here seem to be teeming with robins feasting on berries lately. It's like a feeding frenzy. And... when robins eat a lot of honeysuckle berries they can become intoxicated. Which might explain why one we saw today was having a hard time staying upright. Hopefully he'll feel better in the morning.

 

Happy New Year!!🎉🎆🥂 Here are my most liked photos of the year (as chosen by my friends over on Instagram). Cardinals and Red-bellied Woodpeckers seem to be popular choices!😊

 

Sometimes there are just too many entrees on the menu to choose from. ❄️🦉 Snowy Owl & Red-breasted Mergansers

 

A Northern Pintail. Because a duck lacks lips it also lacks the ability to suction water into its throat like, say, a horse. Instead, a duck drinks by, first, filling its beak with water by submerging it. He then tilts his head back (like this guy) and lets gravity do the rest. Ducks do this quite frequently, apparently, because they drink about a litre of water per day.

 

A Blue Jay giving me that penetrating 'You better cough up snack food soon or I'm out' stare.

 

Do you hear what I hear? Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy 2022. 🎄🎅🍾

 

Northern Pintail.

 

It's been 7 hours and 15 days since I posted a photo of a Black-capped Chickadee. . 'It's been 7 hours and 15 days' is also the nifty first line of a song Prince wrote (and Sinead O'Connor made famous) in the 80s.

 

I went to the mall yesterday and this was the look on my face after about 15 minutes. ❤️ Northern Cardinal

 

If you don't have wrinkles, you haven't laughed enough - Phyllis Diller. 🤍 Trumpeter Swan 🖤

 

A cute coot doing that one-legged thing they do. 🖤 American Coot ❤️

 

The beautiful, bejeweled visage of the Northern Pintail. ♂️ Is the word 'slake' part of your everyday vocabulary? I don't use it often but l think I'll start mixing it in as a quaint alternative to 'quench' or 'satisfy'. 💎

 

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Royal Botanical Gardens.
 

A sly Fox Sparrow on this fabulous #foxyfriday afternoon.