All Images Are Copyright Protected

Please respect that any posted images are copyright protected. Please feel free to contact me directly for possible permission to use images from my blog.

Sunday 6 January 2013

Awwww the Wittle Wigeons

Today, we got up at about 7am, hoping for the type of sunrise I saw Friday morning on the lake while riding the Go. No such luck but it was neat to see Whitby Pier again as we've kind of been traipsing around other areas and not so much there since summer of 2011. We didn't have too long as I was meeting my son to help get him settled into residence for school later so we basically walked to the end of the pier then back. Saw a few Mergansers but it was fairly quiet down there.

Had a nice time helping my son get into his room at residence, had a lunch at the school which was provided by the school for the new residents and their helpers. Fun day, I really enjoyed it. The school is in the area I grew up in and went to high school in and it was fun showing my son what was around there, the apartment building I lived in, my old school, Fairview Mall, etc.

We decided, when we got back, to do a walk somewhere because the sun was out as we left and since that's been rare lately, doing grocery shopping took a back seat lol!

Of course, doesn't cloud cover hit as soon as we head out, this time to the walk along the bluffs from Thickson Rd. We heard there was an array of cool duck spottings, and we haven't done that walk since May or June. I like walking along the shore in winter because there is always some sort of really neat light through ice find along the way. The sun peeked out here and there so there was some gorgeous sparkly images to be seen. A silver strip of white sunlight sparkle hit the horizon of the water briefly, which was beautiful to see from atop the bluffs.

We ran into a birding couple who were there to see the Pintail Duck, which they never did spot. They also had hoped to see a Pipit, which they as well as us were lucky to get to see in a tree on the path back, then see it fly away into a further tree. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to grab a shot of it.


My fav ducks were there, the Gadwalls, and among them floated a couple American Wigeons as well as a Eurasian Wigeon which as far as we know from researching, is pretty far off its migratory path. They were hanging with the Gadwalls which they seem to resemble. There were also Canvas Backs and Buffleheads. Very difficult to get shots of them as they tend to be quite chicken compared to the Mallards. 4 swans floated around with the ducks as well - 3 Mutes and one tagged Trumpeter.

The odds of running into something gross and creepy are generally better than the odds of winning the lotto. We've run into bones of all kinds, animal skulls with bullet holes in them, huge rotting fish, dead duck carcasses, animal skeletons hanging from tree branches, and all kinds of things. Today, we discovered parts of what was probably some sort of large bird of prey, perhaps a Barred Owl, we weren't sure, strewn here and there, along with blood stains and pieces of insides scattered. Something obviously caught and killed something else fairly recently.

AM PICS
























PM PICS


























No comments:

Post a Comment

thank you for your comments. it will show once it is approved.