Wintering Glaucous Gulls
January 12th, 2009
Adult (second from left) and juvenile (the angelic-looking bird in flight) Glaucous Gulls, roosting with Great Black-Backed Gulls on the Rideau River. On the far left is a lone Herring Gull.
The composition of gull species in Ottawa changes almost entirely in winter. Ring-Billed Gulls (the guys you see in parking lots) leave and Herring Gulls dwindle, while Great Black-Backeds (the largest gulls in the world) move in by the hundreds, along with small numbers of more unusual species. Glaucous Gulls breed in the arctic and are a rare pleasure for Ottawa birders!
Canadian winter is a harsh mistress
January 4th, 2009
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Found this juvenile Great Black-Backed Gull sitting alone on the ice edge of the Rideau River, looking forlorn.
Autumn Goldfinch
December 17th, 2008
I took this a few months ago, didn't get around to processing it until now.
Common Goldeneyes
December 15th, 2008
Common Goldeneyes are my favorite of all waterfowl. They spend the summer north of us, but in late fall hundreds of them arrive in Ottawa, and many stay throughout the winter, staking out patches of open water on the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers. If necessary, they'll cluster in the rapids when the rest of the water freezes over. They are amazingly hardy little ducks. These guys can be seen splashing and having a good time in twenty below, when even the overwintering Mallards are huddled up on shore hiding their faces from the wind.
Even the rough water of the Deschenes Rapids is not too much for them. They dive for food in the waves, all the while getting carried further and further downstream, until they have to use their wings to regain lost ground. They do this again and again, for hours. They never seem to run out of stamina.
But the Rideau River is the best place to see them up close in winter, in the stretch between Queensway (Hurdman) Bridge and Cummings Bridge. To pick them out among the more familiar Mallards and Blacks, look for smaller ducks who appear very white--those are the adult males. Up close they're quite handsome.
A young male making do with a narrow stream of open water.
Mallards behind.
How cold was it?
December 14th, 2008
A few wide-angle photos to set some context for the ones I'm posting tomorrow.
If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a male Common Goldeneye on the upper left. The ducks on the ice are Mallards.
A deep-winter Pileated Woodpecker
December 13th, 2008
Went out hiking at 8:30AM this morning. Two hours, -20 degrees Celsius (that's -4F for my American readers). It was wonderful. The sky was clear blue, the sun was shining. The Rideau River is gloriously ragged in such weather, like our own little corner of the arctic. Even the rapids had icebergs and ice fringes.
A male Pileated Woodpecker was the star of the show. For such magnificent and wild-looking creatures, Pileated Woodpeckers can be remarkably tame. This one was busily gouging an old wooden pole beside the river. He remained calm while I approached to within 10 feet, and circled the pole trying different angles. The only thing that sufficed to startle him was a very noisy mini snow plow going by. He skittered around to the far side of the pole, but came back a few seconds later.
And so here he is, with my thanks for being such a good sport!
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Toughing it out
December 11th, 2008
When three Wild Turkeys made an appearance at the Hurdman bird feeders, I kicked myself for not bringing my camera--then I raced back home on foot as fast as I could go. When I got back a half hour later, they were still there!
Wild Turkeys were recently reintroduced in Ottawa. We're still waiting to see whether they can establish a stable breeding population, surviving the worst that Ottawa winters can throw at them. So far they appear to be doing well.
Insulation
November 22nd, 2008
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Liquid Light
November 6th, 2008
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Watching the world go by
November 3rd, 2008
Got a few good shots of an American Black Duck resting and preening on the Rideau River today.
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