Borden Wetlands

Hiding in plain sight may not be as crazy as it sounds.  I'd implemented all of my usual tactics to hide my presence to get closer to the hooded mergansers, but the mergansers seemed to know exactly where I was regardless of how sneaky or well hidden I was. Last year, when standing in shallow water, I'd noticed that the resident ducks, geese and the mink seemed to ignore me. So out I waded, being very careful not to get too close to the Canadian geese who were nesting on either side of me. They are very protective of their nests! After 30 minutes of sitting motionless on a fallen tree, boots dangling in the water, the wildlife around me started to accept me as something that was just there. A male European starling performed in song and display just above me. A male red-winged blackbird similarly took the time to sing as it searched for food around the edge of the water. Then the mink appeared out of nowhere, as it does, and that drew the attention of the hooded mergansers. The...

I feel the need to preface this post with a warning; if you are in the slightest squeamish, then perhaps this post is not for you. It might be better to skip forward to the next post, which will be very pleasant and all about my observations of hooded mergansers. If you are not squeamish, then let's proceed where I left off with the previous post. The return of the red-tailed hawks provided a welcome target for my lens.  These predators are so well adapted to their environment. They are powerful yet graceful, fierce and yet can be incredibly patient. The thought did occur to me the next day, as I watched one of the two red-tailed hawks, that I had never observed the hawks with a kill.  I mean, sure, I had seen many failed attempts but never actually catching anything. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when the red-tailed hawk swooped up to a perch directly to my left with, unfortunately, the sun behind it. The red-tailed hawk focused on the mallards, who had already es...

The lone northern flicker, pictured in the previous post, was indeed a sign that the seasons are moving forward. With warmer weather, the snow and ice had begun to melt. The warmer temperatures gave pleasant relief after the harshness of winter, but the Wetlands remained frozen.  Canada geese arrived in numbers. The geese paired up and the males stoutly defended what would be their nesting areas. The geese appeared determined to wait for the ice to thaw. Webbed feet are not well adapted for use on a sheet of ice. The geese's small talons provided little traction. Disputes between the pairs of geese were commonplace and usually resolved with a deal of posturing and honking. When resolve could not be found from the usual bluffing, things became physical and what followed appeared to be quite barbaric in nature. At first glance, these two warring geese appeared to be locked beak to beak, attempting to cause physical harm to their opponent, but on closer inspection of the photos, it be...