Week Summary: Feb. 22 - 28

Not much changing in the birding scene lately. Lots of ducks are still around, with some REDHEADS coming in close and the usual good numbers of other species. It's been a bit of an odd winter for ducks this year without there being much ice around. On fair-weather days, many venture well offshore, which they wouldn't be able to do during a "normal" winter when the Hamilton Harbour has more ice.

The highlight of the week was a good one though! Paul Riss and I drove down to Ruthven Park where there's a pair of TUFTED TITMICE, along with some EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and other regular winter species. A Tufted Titmouse makes me think of what would happen if a Black-capped Chickadee and a Northern Cardinal had a baby!

Unfortunately, most photos I took were at a bird feeder, which is not my favourite backdrop for bird photos, but you take what your given.

The one decent photo not at the bird feeder.

Redheads were the other highlight of the week. I watched a male and female pair for about an hour as they fed quite close to shore. A female Canvasback was sticking quite close to them the entire time I watched them. It was interesting to see the behaviour of these ducks as they fed. The male Redhead seemed to be the one who would lead his partner away from shore when they noticed my movement, but the female seemed to lead them back to the feeding area close to shore when she deemed it was safe. The Canvasback was less wary of me, but still followed the Redheads wherever they went.

I was hoping this Redhead pair would "get it on" but they didn't.

The male Redhead would periodically go into alert mode, with its
 neck stretched up for better viewing.

The female Redhead feeding.

The female Canvasback would shake off after each dive for food.
This made timing photographs easier.

Early migration will begin to heat up a bit in the next week or so. Some RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are already coming in. Soon, we'll be seeing/hearing Killdeer and seeing Turkey Vultures.