Duck with Vinaceous Sides: Oct: 31, 2022

I love the descriptions used in bird guides. In one, we are told that “the female American Wigeon is best distinguished by her vinaceous sides.” “Vinaceous” means “wine-coloured”.

American Wigeon (female)

Another says that the female has a “plain gray-brown head with a smudge around the eye.”

American Wigeon (female)
American Wigeon (female)

Males are identified by “the white, or cream-coloured, crown above the dark green sides of the head.”

American Wigeon (male)

Look also for the “small gray bill, usually angled down and round head.”

American Wigeon (male)
American Wigeon (male)
American Wigeon (male)

We had several at a rainy Col. Sam Smith Park this morning.

Other birds:

Red-necked Grebe
Ring-billed Gull
American Black Ducks
Gadwall (male)
Ring-billed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Pied-billed Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe (lower) and Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant

Park views:

Some botany:

Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus)
Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus)
Queen Anne’s-lace (Daucus carota)
White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica)
Thornless Honey Locust (Gleditsia triancanthos f. inermis)
Thornless Honey Locust (Gleditsia triancanthos f. inermis)

Today’s group:

MAILBOX

Here is a wonderful article about Marie Curtis Park including the military history.

Arsenal Lands | Hiking the GTA

NATURE POETRY

The mug of cider simmered slow,
The apples sputtered in a row,
And, close at hand the basket stood
With nuts from brown October’s wood.     – John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92)

Miles Hearn

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