May is the best month for colourful migrating birds so we bird enthusiasts need to get out early and often if possible for the next few weeks.
I arrived before dawn at Col. Sam Smith Park.
The temperature of 5 degrees with wind gusts of up to 60 kms an hour reminded me of an Antarctic summer day.
The Green Heron is a small, crow-sized, stockily built heron.
In my experience, they seldom look green but they do show a green gloss in good light on the wings and back. These herons are common but inconspicuous.
MYSTERY BIRD
At the end of the post, I will identify it.
Other birds:
MYSTERY BIRD
The thick, ungrebelike “chicken Bill” with a ring around it identify this as a Pied-billed Grebe. “Pied” means having two or more different colours.
MAILBOX
Hi Miles and thanks, as always, for our daily tonic!
– visited Bob Hunter memorial Park this week – twice. A riot of ephemerals at the moment and all sorts of birds (thrushes, house wren, towhee, savanna sparrow, pileated & RB woodpecker, black and white warbler, blue-headed vireo and much (mostly unidentified) else, in case you were running out of spots to visit
NATURE THOUGHT
In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours. – Mark Twain
Miles Hearn
Fantastic birds (and ducks), fantastic pictures! A Green Heron? Always new birds to learn about! And in such a wind (I experienced it, outside). That Cooper’s Hawk was certainly feasting! Thank you so much, Miles! Thanks to you and your pictures, I am able to enjoy the birds (and ducks–it seems cold enough for some of them to be sticking around for a bit) so much!