Cooper’s Hawk at Toronto Island / January 29, 2020

If you have a bird feeder, you almost certainly have a Cooper’s Hawk who keeps a close eye on it. This is a bird-eating species.

Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk

There were many ducks in the harbour on this sunny, -1 degree morning including White-winged Scoters.

White-winged Scoter (male)
White-winged Scoter (male)
White-winged Scoters

Species list:  mute swan, mallard, American black duck, lesser scaup,  bufflehead, common goldeneye, white-winged scoter, long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser, ring-billed gull, Cooper’s hawk,  downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, American robin, house sparrow, northern cardinal.  (17 species)

Mute Swan
Mute Swan
American Black Ducks
Long-tailed Duck (male)
Long-tailed Ducks
Long-tailed Ducks
Long-tailed Duck (female)
Red-breasted Mergansers (male)
Red-breasted Mergansers (female)
Common Goldneyes
Common Goldneyes
Common Goldneyes
Northern Cardinal (male)

Some Botany:

Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) stem

Park Scenes:

Evidence of Beaver

This morning’s group:

NATURE POETRY

The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay—
Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive stern winter away,
With his garment so sombre and long.      –  Eliza Cook (1818–89)

Miles Hearn

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