Second Marsh - Fourth Visit

One of our favourite places to go to for long walks is Second Marsh in Oshawa. It is difficult to see most of the marsh now due to very tall cat tails and marsh edge grasses and growth but we are still pretty much guaranteed to see something cool each visit. Our second hike there delivered a coyote sighting as well as wood ducks. There are tons of great blue herons, little herons, hawks,cormorants, some swans, osprey, swallows, terns, and many other wildlife to spot.

On 2 occasions, John spotted humming birds but I could not see them. On this particular visit, I got to see them as well as blue-grey gnat catchers. I got a couple not too bad photos of both these tiny and speedy birds. There were also loads of dragon flies and monarchs, many of which were flying and mating at the same time lol! I failed to be able to focus my lens on this feat.

Last time we were there, we got ourselves cut by the rice cutgrass that was near the very water's edge of the marsh so though it was tempting, we stayed away from venturing down any of the little paths that lead to the marsh edge. However, in spots, we could see sections of the marsh. In one spot, there was what appeared to be a young cormorant just sitting on a piece of a fallen tree, craning his neck around spotting things. He was also there in the very same spot an hour or so later as we passed that spot on our way back. Something seemed not quite right and I wondered if something was wrong with him.

One of the coolest sightings this time around, was 2 adult mocking birds flying back and forth, and then 2 fledgling mocking birds. I did get a shot of one of the babies. This, as well as the what we think were probably baby turtle prints in the sand at the shores of Lake Ontario, made up a few of the neat and unique sightings of this particular visit.