Borden Wetlands

Winter has come and almost gone in no time at all. I can easily recount how many times I've endured the cold by traversing the frozen expanse of the Wetlands. An invitation to the inevitable frozen fingers that come from hovering over the shutter for just too long, holding out for that perfect photo of a black-capped chickadee on a fluffy cattail. Or one of the many white-chested nuthatches, creeping, scouring every inch of bark they could find. I resigned myself (for the most part) to birdwatching from the comfort and warmth of our home, where the bitter frozen fruit of one of our trees proved popular with a group of cedar waxwings. It was quite surprising to watch them swallow the frozen berries whole! A cast-iron frying pan acted as a watering hole for many of our neighbourhood birds when the temperature rose above zero, and it attracted a close relative of the white-breasted nuthatch. One that I tried and failed to photograph in the fall of last year, but a return of the red-br...

The months of January and February have been bitterly cold in Kitchener. The last areas of free-running water were confined to the faster-moving water flowing from the Wetlands. Shallow areas that attracted song sparrows to plodge in the small trickling streams as they searched for fallen seeds. And then came the cold!  With the ground completely covered in snow and the water frozen song sparrows were left to feed on what seeds they could find on the remaining flowering stems of plants that had long withered away. American tree sparrows, with their rusty crest and bicolored bill, were also on the search for seeds. They were seen briefly, flitting from branch to branch. Redpolls appeared utterly oblivious to the freezing conditions. A female redpoll is pictured below feeding on the seeds of a goldenrod plant. When the goldenrod seeds were exhausted, the redpoll's main food source was still in good supply. The seeds of Alder trees are available only to those with a specific skillset....

It's Christmas!! Although under the shadow of current day matters you'd be forgiven for not noticing. No family gatherings other than over the internet, but it does somehow still feel like Christmas. A blanket of white has been drawn over Kitchener, and I am happy to enjoy this whitest of Christmases.  A walk through the Wetlands after eating a little too much for Christmas dinner seemed like a great idea, and of course, no walk is complete without a camera. Hooded, masked and wrapped in layers, I made my way along a path now riddled with boot and paw prints. Not one thing did I see, nor chirp did I hear until I reached just past the halfway point and came off the beaten track. As I faced homeward, I heard the cawing of American crows. They were far up ahead on the edge of the treeline, causing a huge commotion. I shot off a few photos as I approached, knowing full well that all they'd produce was a ragged, underexposed black silhouette against a grey sky, and I was correct...