{"id":4516,"date":"2016-03-06T22:06:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T03:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2016-03-06T22:06:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T03:06:00","slug":"ramble-humber-bay-west-toronto-harlequin-duck-mink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/ramble-humber-bay-west-toronto-harlequin-duck-mink\/","title":{"rendered":"A Ramble Around Humber Bay West Park in Toronto Finds Odd Ducks and an Agile Mammal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today was a warm, sunny almost spring-like day and I took full advantage of the welcoming weather to explore a park I\u2019d never visited before called Humber Bay West. I was lured there, along with other bird fans and photographers, by recent reports of a male Harlequin Duck who\u2019d been hanging around most of the winter. I found lots of interest, though, as well as the odd duck including a young mink<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Flat Calm and a Bit Foggy<\/h2>\n

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After I first arrived, I explored the extreme tip of the park looking both out into Lake Ontario and west towards Oakville. The water was quick-silver and many of the ducks were resting, dotted around the gleaming water like drop-marks on my own unpolished bathroom mirror.<\/p>\n

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This is a female Long Tailed Duck in its non-breeding plumage, if I\u2019m reading my field guides correctly.<\/p>\n

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And this is a male, also still in non-breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

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This American Coot was diving for weeds. It would bring a bill-full back to the surface and then pick and eat them.<\/p>\n

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These American Wigeon were a bit wary of the watchers on the wharf. They skirted around the shore keeping a close eye on us.<\/p>\n

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There was one male Lesser Scaup as well as a much larger group of Greater Scaup. I overheard this tidbit from the OFO field trip that arrived at my location just after I finished watching the Mink. When I noticed a Scaup that looked smaller and more \u201cpointy\u201d headed, I asked one of the more experienced birders if that was the Lesser. He said yes, so I am labeling this photo as a Lesser. (If I\u2019m wrong, please leave a comment so I can update the caption!)<\/p>\n

Ducks Making Moves<\/h2>\n

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Tai Chi seemed to be popular.<\/p>\n

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Several male Bufflehead were busy trying to impress, intimidate and otherwise irritate each other. Here one male is literally swimming up a storm to captivate a female who appears totally uninterested but a bit annoyed.<\/p>\n

Look Who Is Back For Spring<\/h2>\n

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This male Red Winged Blackbird was perched on an old nest. It isn\u2019t a Red winged\u2019s nest: he was examining it for any insect-life.<\/p>\n

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This Horned Grebe appeared a few times in the midst of the flock of diving Redheads.<\/p>\n

Not Everything Fishing Was a Duck<\/h2>\n

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This mink popped up between the rocks only a few metres (yards) away from me while I was walking down a broad sidewalk. It dove several times under the ice but didn\u2019t emerge with anything to eat. It totally ignored several pedestrians and 6 dogs while I was watching.<\/p>\n

The Male Harlequin Duck Came Close<\/h2>\n

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Much to our surprise, the male Harlequin Duck did come quite close to the gazebo observation deck for a few moments. Needless to say, even with a bird at point blank range,\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t figure out how to adjust my camera to get a crisp photo. Still, my EYES had a wonderful look at his rusty, steel and crisp white hues. And I\u2019m sure some of the photographers around me got some great snaps.<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n