A stroll in the park...

After an amusing and enjoyable morning watching jousting and sword fights I thought it a great way to unwind to weave my way through High Park to add a few winter birds to the old list. It was pretty late by the time I got there so it was rather quiet...very few people as well which was nice. The absolute highlight was watching as many as 90 Northern Shovellers doing their thing in a tight ball at the north end of Grenadier Pond and wishing I'd had my camera with me. All different plumages. As well, I located the Red Fox Sparrow in the SE corner exactly where it had been seen on the first. It responded immediately to pishing, as did a Song Sparrow...but no Swamp Sparrow. Mothwise, I spotted one Fall Cankerworm Moth clinging to a tree trunk.


Deciding to push on rather than retrace my steps I walked down to Sunnyside to check out the gull situation. Not much and no Double Crested Cormorant either. There were some nice Redheads and Greater Scaup (above) to look at though. Thinking I might as well proceed I trudged west to Humber Bay East in the dim hopes of seeing the Pied-billed Grebe. Nothing doing but I did see a lovely male Northern Pintail and a solitary American Coot amongst the puddle ducks. A bracing walk into a biting west wind...quite a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon really...