A fellow photographer alerted us to this black-crowned night heron he had discovered in a tree off the water. It was nearing the end of the day and a whistle caught our attention. We couldn’t see what was making the sound until I looked towards the water and saw a man waving his arms. As we approached he pointed upwards and we saw the heron. We couldn’t have been more than 15 feet from it. I don’t know if the heron saw us but it continued to preen and we took multiple shots. It was a wonderful end to our walk thanks to the friendly stranger who generously shared his find with us.

I have featured this grackle before. The last time he appeared on my blog he was taking a bath. Once he had finished splashing around he flew into a nearby tree and began drying himself off. I continued taking pictures until he finally flew away. I take shots of these birds whenever I can. They are alert, deliberate, intelligent and uncommonly good looking!

On a hot day last week I took cover in the shade and saw this wood duck family close to shore. The light was perfect and each duck stood out sharply. The chicks looked relaxed, the adult on alert. The young were born sometime in June. They learn to fly at about seven weeks, until then they stick close to their mother.

The Canada Goose gets mixed reviews: they can be messy, noisy, territorial and damage crops (not one of our most popular exports!). There are times though when I appreciate the Canada Goose and this is one of those times. The bird had just taken a drink when it seemed to pause and stare at it’s reflection. I took this photo in early October when the trees were beginning to change colour and caused the effect on the water that you see here.

When I saw this solitary wood duck looking out on the lake, she reminded me of a Mom waiting for her kids to come home. The ducklings in the second photo weren’t actually hers and were a bit young to be swimming around unsupervised (their mother was just out of view). So in the end I guess the first duck was just having a look around.

Sometimes nature saves the best for last. After a couple of hours of wandering around on a hot muggy morning with nothing much to show for it we came across this heron. It had its back to us at first but slowly turned sideways concentrating on the water. The lake is full of small catfish and he waited patiently for one to swim by. We were happy to be standing in the shade and waited along with him. Before too long he caught one and I walked away the first decent shots of the day.

It’s been a good year for wood ducks at our local reserve. This female is leading a good sized brood around the lake. Wood ducks have up to 11 eggs per clutch and as there are more than 11 ducklings in this picture (a few are hidden behind the adult) she might be minding another’s young or her nest could have been occupied by another duck’s eggs, a result of egg-dumping. The chicks stick very close at first, a good thing too because they are very vulnerable to turtles and other predators.

A few posts back I featured a grackle taking a bath at the same spot in the river. Once it had left the shallows this robin took its turn. Other than cooling them off, it seems that a bath keeps a bird’s feathers in good shape and makes them more agile in flight. The robin’s exuberance was very appealing and it remained long enough for me to take these shots. I wonder who is going to show up here next?

Wood ducks return to our region in late March and remain until the first severe frost. This photograph was taken in early May and the ducks are in their finest breeding colours. Along with american wigeons, wood ducks are among the most colourful ducks in this part of Canada. We haven’t seen many broods this spring and we’re hoping that things are just a bit slow. Wood ducks build their nests in the cavities of trees, which explains their name. The other day we saw a female fly into a nesting hole in the same tree that was also occupied by a pileated woodpecker’s nest! If the duck is sitting on a nest we should be seeing her young anytime now.

Every March as the snow melts, the Ottawa River overflows its banks making the walk to the river’s edge impossible. As there had been so little rain this past spring we thought it likely that the water had receded. As it had we followed the path to the edge of the river and found this grackle in the shallows. The bird was totally engaged in his bath and even though we were standing within feet of it, I was able to take this series of shots. I’m not sure who was having more fun, the bird or us!

It’s a great time in our favourite reserve. Young animals are starting to appear. We’ve seen some geese with offspring but so far these are the first of the ducklings. The adult female looks pretty content with her lot as do her chicks, if ducks could grin I’d say these were! The merganser is a diving duck that feeds mainly on fish. We watched as the adult dove to fish and the chicks followed her lead.

The bay-breasted warbler is the third warbler variety I have featured on my blog. Like the palm and yellow-rumped warblers, the bay-breasted is a challenge to shoot as it flies in and out of the pine trees, your neck is on a perpetual pivot to get one in your camera sight. This handsome bird is in full breeding colours but I think he moved further afield to find a mate as we only saw this species for a couple of days in the reserve.

This variety of nuthatch is less common in Eastern Ontario than the larger white-breasted nuthatch. They are little acrobats, moving up, down and sideways along the tree trunks. This bird was in deep shade but I took many shots as it was a cooperative subject. The photo was dark out of camera, only the plant material near its beak was nicely lit. I made some contrast and exposure adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop to get the photo you see here.

This gosling and his brood are the first chicks we’ve seen this spring. We came across the chicks and three adult birds as they filed out of the lake. I believe we were looking at a blended family as a few of the chicks were larger than the others. Like myself, other photographers at the reserve are waiting for more young to appear. It shouldn’t be long now. I’ve noticed a lot of single male ducks on the lake, the females must be sitting on the nests.

Palm Warblers are a new species for me. A friend in the reserve told us that there were warblers in a grove of pine trees and pointed us in their direction. The birds kept flying through and around the tree boughs catching insects as they flew past. I kept panning the trees hoping to catch sight of one. I think warblers are among the most challenging of birds to photograph given their quick movements. Their striking colours set them off against the green of the pines and with a bit of luck and patience I was rewarded with these photographs.

These photos were taken in late March when the trees were still bare of leaves. The crimson red of the cardinal on that bright cold morning was a sight to see. He was pretty easy to track and flew from the shade into the sun all within several metres of me. I couldn’t have asked for a more obliging subject!