The adult Black-crowned Night Heron is quite distinctive with its black back, white underparts and light gray wings:

This morning we saw two juveniles who are a dull gray brown.




Other birds:






























Species list: red-necked grebe, great blue heron, black-crowned night heron, double-crested cormorant, mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, gadwall, American black duck, bufflehead, wood duck, American wigeon, long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser, hooded merganser, ring-billed gull, herring gull, belted kingfisher, rock pigeon, downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, house sparrow, northern cardinal, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow. (25 species)
Some botany:




Park scenes:



Today’s group:

Thanks to Ken Sproule for these photos of a “melanistic” red fox recently taken at Col. Sam Smith Park:



NATURE POETRY
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day. – Emily Brontë (1818–48)
Miles Hearn
Thanks for the Wayfaring Tree! And the wonderful ducks and birds! Thank you, Ken, for that amazing “Red” Fox! (I’m assuming “melanistic” refers to colour, as the word seems similar to one used for skin pigment. I’m going to look it up.)
What a beautiful fox! I thought foxes were either red or white (Arctic fox). i looked up the word melanistic.