Northern Pintail

 Female and male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Supposedly, Pintails are here in south-central Ontario  only during migration, but I have seen them on standing on ice in mid winter. As long as they can still get food these two may not move on, although the weather has turned quite a bit colder so perhaps they have already headed farther south.

 Female Northern Pintail

The female may not be as  striking as the male, but she is still a beauty!

Male Northern Pintail

Males are easy to recognize even from a long distance. They have long necks with a white stripe.
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White-breasted Nuthatch

 White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 

One of my MOST favourite birds, I love it when I see a white-breasted Nuthatch at our feeders or when I'm out on a woodland walk.

 Coming down a tree

This little guy was up, down, around and then up again. He seemed to be everywhere!

Strong feet to hang on like this!

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Courting Buffleheads

 Male Bufflehead

Mid December and no ice. Four Bufflehead ducks were swimming amongst  the docks at the yacht club in Whitby Harbour - three males and one female. The males were showing off, trying their best to impress the female.

Female Bufflehead

For most of the time I was hidden behind some dead weeds, standing very still so they didn't notice I was there. Unfortunately the weeds were often between them and me, but every once in a while they  came into my lens's view.

3 males, 1 female

After a few minutes they moved into deeper water. The males appear to be disinterested in the female here...but it's not true. On the right one male is chasing one of the other males away.

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Mountain Bluebird

Female Mountain Bluebird (Sialia Currucoides)

This little female has created quite a stir in the southern Ontario birding community. She's rare here. In fact, it is said there has never been a Mountain Bluebird recorded here in this part of Ontario and this year there are TWO - one somewhere near Ottawa. Crazy weather patterns blew them off course, the pundits say.

Lovely from the back

So far this one has been finding plenty to eat so we'll see how long she stays here.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

American Wigeon

 Male wigeon (Anas americana)

Although  some American Wigeons are said to breed in Ontario, they are are somewhat rare here...unless it's migration season when they make stopovers at ponds and marshes. This male - along with a few others - was getting closer to where I was standing and I was hoping to get a super shot when...

Up and away

something happened and they all took off. I'm thinking there was a raptor in the area.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Juvenile Bald Eagle

High up on a dead tree branch

Although Bald Eagles are common in some parts of North America, they aren't here. So when a birding friend showed us fabulous photos he had taken on a Lake Ontario beach, my husband and I were eager to see if we could find the eagle too. Well, I did find the juvenile but it was perched high above my head and it was a very windy day. I had trouble holding my camera steady. I'm thinking I will try again on a calmer day...with my tripod!

This bird is quite young. It's bill is still black and it's head feathers have not yet turned white.

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Rusty Blackbirds

 Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)

Rusty blackbirds are headed south  for the southeastern U.S. but along the way a few stopped into one of my favourite  birding spots to refuel. It's a treat to see them as they have been suffering from a population decline. Now they are dressed in their winter plumage and - truth be told - I don't believe I would recognize them in their breeding finery,  Maybe I would notice their lovely yellow eyes, though.

Fall finery

A large percentage of them (some say 75%) spend summer in Canada's boreal forests. They are considered a keystone species because they build sturdy nests anew each year, so sturdy that other birds such as the Solitary Sandpiper have been known to use their abandoned nests the next year.
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Black-crowned Night Heron

 Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Although Black-crowned Night Herons are common across North America (and also many other places worldwide) I had never heard of them until I started birding a few years ago.

Standing  on a dead branch in a marsh

The require a habitat near water but are not fussy about what kind: fresh or salt water marshes, swamps, streams, brackish wetlands...

Hunting

Their diet is varied: earthworms, leeches, insects, fish, turtles, snakes, turtles, plants...whatever, including garbage in landfills.

Asleep

As their name night heron suggests, they are most active at night or dusk.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) family in early August

I always feel privileged to find and photograph these grebes as they are quite shy and dive under water  when disturbed. This was the only decent photo I got. As soon as they saw me, they headed off, first sinking very low in the water so I could barely see them. Before they saw me they had been diving for small fish, insects and crustaceans. (I could just barely see them trough some shoreside shrubbery.)
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Green Heron

 Green Heron

Hunting at a distance from me so this is severely cropped. And the heron was not hunting in the best light, but still I waited and waited for some action and...

Shake that delicious looking froggie!

it was worth the wait.

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Belted Kingfisher

Female Belted Kingfisher

I took this photo a month or so ago but have kept it waiting in my files, thinking I might get a better photo. BUT it has been too hot and muggy lately to visit the marsh where this bird hangs out.  I was lucky to get this shot because another belted kingfisher thinks this area is his/her territory and just after I made this shot, it chased this female away!

Added later:

Diving kingfisher

Thanks, Andy! You reminded me that I had this photo in my archives!

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Great Blue Heron

 Great Blue Heron, wings up

This photo makes the GBH (Great Blue Heron) look a bit  prehistoric...or is that just me?

 Closeup of hunting GBH

Got it!

Great Egrets

 On the other side of the marsh- Great Egret and Great Blue Heron

Last Saturday Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were seen fishing in many places at Cranberry Marsh in Whitby. In late August the egrets are finished breeding and many move into this marsh for great fishing. GREAT except they were all very far away!

 A little closer

Finally an egret decided to move closer to the viewing platform.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Bonaparte's Gull

 Juvenile Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicephalus philadelphia) 

A few Bonaparte's Gulls have left their boreal forest breeding grounds - the ONLY gulls that build nests in tree - and have headed south. Some will spend the winter in areas near Lakes Ontario and  Erie, and the southern tip of Lake Michigan, but others will head further south to places such as Texas, Mexico and Cuba.

Soon this gull will have a white head with a black dot like the juvenile in the first photo

When breeding they eat mostly insects, but here they are feasting on  large invertebrates and small fish. They DO NOT eat garbage or carrion as some other gulls do.

Adult (on right) in breeding plumage

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Juvenile Wood Ducks

 Juvenile Wood Duck swimming to shore on an overcast day

Three juveniles headed for shore and my camera. How strange since usually when Wood Ducks see me they head off in the opposite direction.

 Looking for treats

Truth be told, they weren't coming my way to be photo models. No, a local birder feeds cracked corn to two mute swans that live in this pond and the swans had left a little behind. The juvies were willing workers, the clean-up crew.

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila  caerulea)

Tiny and lively, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are constantly on the move! This is very likely a female in search of spiders and insects.

Another view

These gnatcatchers are expanding their breeding range northward so I have been lucky enough to see one or two in each of the past three years.
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Northern Oriole

 Immature male or female Northern Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Young males look like females until the fall of their second year, so this could be an immature male. Even more confusing when deciding gender (at least for me), females become darker after every moult so that older females are nearly as bright orange as the males.

Nest hidden among poplar leaves

Each female builds a new nests every year, anchoring her woven "basket" in a tree fork.

Dangling nest in an apple tree

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Wilson's Snipe

 Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)

Wilson's Snipes are secretive by nature and usually appear only at dawn or dusk. But in late June on the Carden Alvar (north of Kirkland, Ontario), snipes are commonly seen on fence posts during the day. A well-known birder in the area told me that the snipes are monitoring their young down below. Once the babies fledge, the father takes the two oldest and the mother the two youngest. So this snipe could be either a male or female. (I don't know how to distinguish one from the other.)

Delivering orders to his/her young

The young were probably foraging for insects and earthworms in the grass below the fence post.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Belted Kingfisher

 Female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alycon)

Whenever I visit the McKenzie Marsh in Aurora, I listen for the chatter - a rattling sound -  of a Belted Kingfisher, which means it's establishing its territory. Then it's time to look up to find the bird's perch over the creek that runs through the marsh because the bird is hunting for aquatic goodies, it's main diet.

Belted Kingfisher #2

I was hoping my lens would catch it with a fish in its mouth but I had no such luck. Maybe NEXT time!

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Killdeer and Hatchling

 Mama Killdeer

My husband and I were driving down a dirt road when we spotted a family of killdeer  hanging around a huge puddle in the middle of the road.

 Baby killdeer

Mama wouldn't let me near her baby so this is a severely cropped photo.

 Mama looking after baby

Mama sent Baby into the nearby tall grass to hide. They called to each other constantly. After a short while Mama checked to make sure Baby was really okay.

Daddy killdeer

Meanwhile Daddy pretended he was hurt to divert my attention.  I've seen this before so knew it was a trick.  And, yes, I did see him walk away when he realized I was leaving the scene.

I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE