The last time that I was at Tommy Thompson Park I got some photos of a Peregrine Falcon:


This morning I was hoping that I might find it again but did not. Instead I found many duck species including one that we only see in the coldest months – the White-winged Scoter.



White-winged Scoters are large, dark ducks with distinctive wedge-shaped bills.


These are uncommon ducks which nest in northwestern North America and spend the winter on either the Atlantic or Pacific coast with some wintering in the Great Lakes.






White-winged Scoters eat mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and insects; plant matter makes up a very small part of their diet.





Some other birds:








Park scenes:




NATURE POETRY
To the cold December heaven
Came the pale Moon and the stars,
As the yellow Sun was sinking
Behind the purple bars. – Charles Dawson Shanly (1811–75)
Miles Hearn