Last weekend was beautiful and warm and I had my first sighting of a Red-winged Blackbird. The bird seemed to enjoy the weather too and burst into song 😊 

There’s a wetland not far from town that we drive to a few times over the summer.  When we pulled over we saw a solitary Egret fishing.  I wasn’t using my longest lens but the 300mm did a fair job. After a few minutes,  I looked away and when I looked back the bird was in the air. Look at those legs, pulled together like a diver in flight!

 I took the male’s portrait and then his mate joined the frame. I think mallards are the comedians of the duck world.

The river was pretty choppy but this black duck knew exactly how to maneuver through it.

The mallard had recently gotten out of the water and was drying off on the grass. I hesitated for a moment before I approached. It looked like a no nonsense duck!

I took this photo as the mallard was emerging from the river. The duck didn’t look too pleased by my presence 😏

This downy woodpecker is one of the first I’ve seen this spring. She appeared to be considering how to approach the job of searching for insects.

You can’t get much cuter than these goslings.

Wood Ducks are the most colourful ducks we see in this area. A few have been spotted here this spring. They return to breed and remain until the temperatures dip. I took these photos several years back.

We have a good number of mallards in my area and they’re a favourite on my blog. They’re handsome, lively ducks and you usually see them in large groups or rafts. This male mallard found the perfect spot for a quiet stretch.

Great Blue Herons migrate alone or in numbers and return here in early April. I saw this solitary heron on the water’s edge. With the water open it would find plenty to eat while it waited for its mates to arrive.

I took this photo in late fall as the water was just beginning to freeze. Mallards tolerate the cold and quite a few remain in this location all year. We’re under an extreme cold warning tonight and while we add on the layers, I can’t helping wondering how the ducks will manage.

Winter doesn’t seem as long and bleak when there are Cardinals in the woods.

Pileated Woodpeckers are the largest woodpeckers in North America. We’re fortunate that they remain year round, On a grey winter day, seeing this lively colourful bird always brightens things up.

I took this photograph one December day when the light was just right. The male’s head was the emerald green you see here, I didn’t enhance the colour.

Eastern Phoebes migrate south between September and November, so this is probably the last one I’ll see until Spring. We enjoy them for only a short period so every sighting is a pleasure.

We’re fortunate to see black-capped chickadees all year round. I’m always amazed at how a bird so tiny can survive our winters!

Another wigeon photo I took one November day. It looked like he was enjoying his greens 😏.

We’ve had few opportunities to see or photograph great egrets in the last year and a half. Our favourite reserve has been jam-packed since Covid struck and we haven’t been back. We parked by the Ottawa River recently hoping to see one of these beautiful birds and luck was with us.