Borden Wetlands

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....

A unique and unfamiliar call heard on my walk back from the Wetlands saw me gazing skyward with a puzzled eye. A large V formation of long-necked, broad-winged birds was passing overhead, and they were definitely not Canada geese. With my telephoto lens fully zoomed out, all that I could capture was not quite half of that V formation. Even though I had never seen these birds before, I was fairly confident that the far-reaching necks and trailing long legs belonged to a flock of cranes. I zoomed in for a few shots before the opportunity passed by. I confirmed another new bird for my list when I returned home, sandhill cranes. A bird that I would not normally come across in my travels, but I guess that a flyby also counts. That sighting left me questioning if it is normal for sandhill cranes to migrate through Ontario in December? Coyotes are ever-present in the Wetlands, but I have yet to observe them this year. The only giveaway has been their footprints in the newly laid snow.  Co...