stillpoint: June 2017

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Wednesday, June 07, 2017

it's hard being grebe...

Today dawned gloriously sunny in Toronto so I packed up my camera and went for a walk by the lake. We've had a lot of rain and flooding in the last month and water levels are still higher than I ever remember seeing them at Colonel Samuel Smith Park. The swans were flooded out of their traditional nesting spot in the pond and have retreated to the wooded bank. Those trees in the foreground are usually high and dry, well back from the water's edge.

Mute swans at Colonel Sam Smith Park, Toronto

The top of those rock walls are usually a meter above lake level

Out on the lake, the grebes are busy rebuilding after a bullying cormorant destroyed their first attempt at a nest. I hope they'll be successful this time - they're beautiful birds and diligent parents.

Red-necked Grebe on nesting platform,
Colonel Sam Smith Park, Toronto

Red-necked Grebe pair working on their nest

Grebe nest in yacht club basin at Sam Smith Park

Red-necked Grebe on patrol

One of those nasty Cormorant bullies, too close
for comfort, as a Grebe keeps watch from afar.

I heard but couldn't spot an Orchard Oriole that had a group of bird watchers all a-twitter. Spotted but couldn't photograph a lovely little Wilson's Warbler, and watched a Robin capture what I thought was a gigantic worm but turned out to be this tiny Brown Snake. The Robin eventually abandoned it on the path. Maybe his eyes were too big for his beak? High above, someone else waited to claim the prize.

Brown Snake

Mine!

Back on the pond, this Mallard Duck and Red-winged Blackbird made it easy for me to photograph them, almost as if they were posing to show off their best features.