I have to say that this winter has not been a normal Canadian winter in the Greater Toronto Area nor was it what had been predicted. Our normal Canadian winters of past have been cold, snowy & icy. This year brought us milder temperatures and less snow. This allowed for the lake to remain relatively ice free bringing the water birds closer to shore making them easier to view and photograph.
There were many lifers for me, birds that I had never photographed nor seen in the wild before and some unexpected visitors as well as the usual and very common birds.
One of my most exciting photographic experiences this winter was my encounter with a juvenile female peregrine falcon. You can read all about it here. Of course mallards were plenty and willing to act as models for me, check out some of my photos here.
There were long-tailed ducks, greater scaups, redheads, buffleheads, mergansers, grebes and to end the winter season, a snowy owl. Along with the many birds, I had the opportunity to photograph an American mink. It was a great season and I enjoyed photographing the various species that it brought.
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| Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) Small songbird that will readily feed from the hand |
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| American Robin (Turdus migratorius) |
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| American Robin (Turdus migratorius) |
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Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
An introduced species of swan in North America. They are called mute swans because they are less vocal than other swan species.
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Red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) are large diving ducks with a thin long bill with serrated edges:
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Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
Females
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Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
Female
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Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
Male
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Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
Male
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Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
Resting Male
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American Wigeon (Anas Americana) - male
A medium sized dabbling duck that is also known as baldpate due to the white patch on the male's head while in breeding plumage. |
King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) are large sea ducks. Their feeding habits change depending on the season. Most of the year while they are at sea, they will dive for food but during the breeding season when they spend time in freshwater lakes and ponds, they will dabble for food. The adult male is quite stunning with it's breeding plumage. It takes 3 years for a male to achieve it's adult plumage. I was fortunate enough to see the king eider that has spent the last few months here in the Toronto area as they are very rare here.
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King Eider (Somateria spectabilis)
1st winter male
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Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
Medium sized diving ducks. The male is in the front with some mussels and is being chased by the female.
This male has sustained some sort of bill injury that has healed and doesn't seem to bother him at all as he has been eating well.
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Redhead (Aythya americana)
A medium sized diving duck. Males are on the right and a female on the left.
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Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
Small waterbird that dives for food. Listed as a species of special concern.
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| Red-Necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) A medium sized waterbird that dives for food. |
Buffleheads are small diving ducks:
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| Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) Female |
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| Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) Male |
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Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
Snowy owls are large, diurnal owls, they hunt & are active both day & night unlike most other owls who are nocturnal.
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| American Mink (Neovison vison) |
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| American Mink (Neovison vison) |
