Snow day - II

With the added inducement of cracked corn, birds of 20 species swarmed our feeders all day. It was hard not to stop and gawk out any of our windows.

There were seven or eight species under the feeder at any given time - click on image to view large and count the species.

Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and Wood Ducks swam off the dock.

Redpoll numbers grew through day - there were 50 or so here at supper time.

Of course there were the regulars - Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays and Crows.

The four Fox Sparrows stood out among the scores of Dark-eyed Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, Purple Finches and American Goldfinches.

Ice-out waterfowl

Right on schedule, the winter ice is receding from Stony Lake. The Burleigh Channel, and other sections with current, are now ice-free. As the bays open up, waterfowl are staging as they wait for more northerly lakes to thaw.

Today in Dunford's Bay, the gang included, in decreasing order of abundance, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, American Wigeon, American Black Duck and Wood Duck. On two of my last three visits, single Bald Eagles were patrolling the ice edge where winter killed fish can be expected. All can be viewed leisurely from the public landing at the bottom of Dunford Road, about 1.5 km south of the Big Cedar General Store, northeast of Burleigh Falls.

[On the Mississauga River, where it is crossed by CR 36, just east of Buckhorn, I saw my first Pied-billed Grebe of the season this afternoon.]

Buffleheads moving through

The Bufflehead is among the first species of waterfowl to appear when the lake ice "goes out". Like the other diving ducks, they don't readily take to walking up from shore; however, they seem content to court and dive for food in the shallow water near our shore. This species doesn't nest here. These birds will move on as lakes to the the north open up.

This shot was taken with maximum zoom, through our sun room window.