Zoo and Over 500 Ducks / High Park: January 22, 2019

I was often taken to the High Park Zoo as a child and still enjoyed visiting it on this -10 degree overcast morning.

Emu
Bison
Mouflon Sheep

Here is this morning’s warmly dressed group:

I always arrive early on walk days in order to try and get some good photos. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I had a visitor:

Other birds that I was able to photograph:

American Robins
Canada Geese
House Sparrow (male)

Species list: Canada goose, mallard, American black duck, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, downy woodpecker, blue jay, common raven, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow. (12 species)

Some of the plants:

White Birch (Betula papyrifera)
White Birch (Betula papyrifera)
Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)
Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo)

With Grenadier Pond being frozen, many ducks are congregating in a stream area and keeping it free of ice. I estimated over 500 Mallards and a few Black Ducks:

Mallards
Mallards
Mallards
Mallards with Black Duck in center near the front

NATURE POETRY

The icicles now fringe the trees
That swayed in summer’s gentle breeze,
When summer days were fair.                  

 – Dora Read Goodale (1866–1915)

Miles Hearn

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