Whitby Harbour last Friday
Some of you may have noticed that I frequently visit the Town of Whitby on Lake Ontario. Last Friday was a bitterly cold day but since my husband and I had met some friends for lunch close by, we just had to check out the harbour.
Looking at the west side of the harbour entrance
The last time we'd visited the harbour, it was completely frozen. I was pretty sure it would still be as the temperature was way, WAY below freezing.
The rocks totally covered in layers of ice
Large sheets of floating ice
But to my surprise there were lots of places for ducks to swim and there were a few Common Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Lesser Scaups, Mallards and Trumpeter Swans swimming amongst the ice floes.
Male Common Goldeneye
It was interesting to watch the ducks as they were constantly dodging floes that were floating into each other.
Female Common Goldeneye
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40 comments:
I wondered why there were so many photos from the Whitby area. Our dd lives in Pickering.
Wow - now that's COLD ! A lovely series of shots "E.G.". That 2nd image is brilliant and the 3rd amazing. Don't you just love the constant look of surprise on the Goldeneyes?!
Lovely pictures as usual particularly Whitby harbour shots. It looks very different from the Whitby in England :)
Those ice sheets entranced me. Your whole post was like a breath of fresh cold air!
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3
Colliding floes--something else to worry about. :-)
glad they found open water!
Those ducks must be very hardy. They certainly are beautiful, and the color of the water they're swimming in is gorgeous.
I can't even imagine how cold that water must be.It is amazing to see the ducks out there and freezing their feet.
Oh, cold indeed, but SO beautiful!! And what superb captures!! They truly did take my breath away! Those ducks are braver than I am, that's for certain. Thanks as always for sharing the beauty!!
Was there an ice breaker at work in the area? I am reading about so much cold weather from New England to the Midwest and up in Canada that I am surprised to see some open water.
It looks so cold.
I have noticed you go there frequently, but the pictures are still beautiful!
Wow - lots of snow and ice. And one very hardy duck!
I like all of the ice in #3.
If I were a duck I would have flown off to Florida a long time ago.
Love the ice covered rocks. And the lake has what looks like flat mini icebergs! Is that a cross? Poor ducks, they must be freezing! But what else can they do.
Very chilly, but the birds don't seem to mind.
Brrrrr, pretty yet cold.
Spring will come....spring will come. I keep telling myself that. In the meantime I will enjoy your pictures...love that third one.
Full of ICE, it is interesting...
Thanks
Wonderful pictures, but I was thinking how much cold you had to bear for taking these lovely pics.
Wonderful photos. The ice sheets are fascinating.
Whitby is a nice place. We also had some friends that lived there and it is interesting for a stroll. The ice photos are so beautiful. Hope it warms up soon though.
With their golden-gimlet stare, the goldeneyes remind me of a teacher I once had...
Once she pinned you with that stare, you confessed - and if you had nothing to confess to, you made something up!
WOW! That looks very cold but gorgeous photographs. Glad the ducks found some water to swim in.
yes it does look very cold but it is so pretty!
I love visiting harbours also EG, but I am never going to see amazing sights like these at Whitby harbour. I would really love to. You have to admire the tenacity of the bird life to survive in these conditions.
Beautiful pictures of ice and snow!
Would love to see such beauty by myself, but it wasn't freezing enough over here...
Have a fine day
【ã】Knipsa
OMGoodness...here I am sitting in the warm house, and the temp here this morning is just below 40 degrees...and I thought THAT was cold. Nosirree!! Now THIS is cold.
But beautiful.
Great post. I'm visiting today from your link left with Nature Notes.
It all looks so cold but beautiful too. Lovely scenes.. The ducks are pretty too. Great photos.
i like the sheets of ice in the first photo, that is a gorgeous photo. i can't figure out how those ducks put their legs and butts in that icy water..
Lovely images. Love the harbor in white snow.
Big... nay make that huge sigh of contentment from me. Love it!
Those huge sheets of ice really are amazing aren't they! xx
I wonder why the ice is all in flat slabs... I was at the Mississippi River in Almonte (Ontario) and the river was full of slabs that had ploughed into one another and created pile-ups!
Ice chunks with such cold water temps...makes me wonder how a duck can stand it!!!...:)JP
I totally love the ice covered rocks! It really makes for a beautiful photo.
Oh so happy to see some areas of open water.. The rehabbers are starting to get diving ducks in again that are starving....We need some warmer weather.... Michelle
Wow, those are some amazing shots! I love winter scenes like this, but not being cold in them!
I have never seen iced over water like that ... except for the tiniest of puddles.
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