Quebec Cottage Photos
July 16th, 2009
I recently stayed the weekend at a friend's cottage in Quebec, not far from the Gatineau, where I was treated to loon calls on a pristine mountain lake, beautiful but difficult-to-photograph warblers, and other avian treats. Here are some of the pictures I did get:
1680x1050 wallpaper
The lake's resident loon pair. They swam surprisingly close to the dock. Due to the overcast lighting they came out monochrome, but as birds go, Common Loons work better in monochrome than most.
The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was one of my early thrills as a birder. I saw one in spring migration by the Rideau River in 2007, and he, along with the orioles, was what convinced me to buy binoculars and a field guide. And as with the orioles, it still amazes me that a bird this beautiful breeds in Canada, when it looks like it belongs in the tropics! (In fact Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks do belong in the tropics, roughly eight months out of the year.) This one was actually perched right beside someone's cottage.
My favorite subjects of the weekend were the Common Merganser family, who shared the lake with the loon pair. Unlike with loons, duck fathers usually don't do any child-rearing, so it was just the mother and the ducklings (merglings?) They swam close to shore on my last day. These fish-eating ducks show up each year on Dow's Lake in spring and fall migration, and on the Rideau River in winter, and I'd seen them other times and places as well, but the one way I'd never seen them before is with young!
They were backlit at first...
One or two of the ducklings occasionally rode on their mother's back:
Then they swam into better light.
1680x1050 wallpaper
Adult males look very different from females and young. Here are some photos I posted of them back in March.
July 16th, 2009
I recently stayed the weekend at a friend's cottage in Quebec, not far from the Gatineau, where I was treated to loon calls on a pristine mountain lake, beautiful but difficult-to-photograph warblers, and other avian treats. Here are some of the pictures I did get:
1680x1050 wallpaper
The lake's resident loon pair. They swam surprisingly close to the dock. Due to the overcast lighting they came out monochrome, but as birds go, Common Loons work better in monochrome than most.
The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was one of my early thrills as a birder. I saw one in spring migration by the Rideau River in 2007, and he, along with the orioles, was what convinced me to buy binoculars and a field guide. And as with the orioles, it still amazes me that a bird this beautiful breeds in Canada, when it looks like it belongs in the tropics! (In fact Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks do belong in the tropics, roughly eight months out of the year.) This one was actually perched right beside someone's cottage.
My favorite subjects of the weekend were the Common Merganser family, who shared the lake with the loon pair. Unlike with loons, duck fathers usually don't do any child-rearing, so it was just the mother and the ducklings (merglings?) They swam close to shore on my last day. These fish-eating ducks show up each year on Dow's Lake in spring and fall migration, and on the Rideau River in winter, and I'd seen them other times and places as well, but the one way I'd never seen them before is with young!
They were backlit at first...
One or two of the ducklings occasionally rode on their mother's back:
Then they swam into better light.
1680x1050 wallpaper
Adult males look very different from females and young. Here are some photos I posted of them back in March.
| ← | → |