![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RedWingedBlackbirdMale2ColSSonNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBirds Basking and Dabbling Around the Col Sam Smith Duck Pond<\/h2>\n
There is a small run-off type stream that passed through Col Sam on its way to Lake Ontario. As it nears the Lake, it widens out into a pond complete with a small treed island. The edges of the pond are lined with dogwood, phragmites and other plants making an appealing shoreline for water birds. As I walked around the duck pond, I enjoyed meeting many of the birds of spring.<\/p>\n
A pair of Blue-winged Teal were only obvious when a person or a dog ventured too close for their comfort. Otherwise, they stayed inconspicuously along the mucky edges hunting for food.<\/p>\n A pair of Bufflehead were in the pond although most of the pairs were out on the Lake.<\/p>\n One of the pairs of Mute Swans is already nesting on April 13. Actually I guess that\u2019s not unusual, it\u2019s just so cold it seems early!<\/p>\n There were several dozen pairs of Mallards. Some of them were standing in pairs looking rather sheepish as they stared around at the trampled-down phragmites as if wondering if they should start a nest here or not.<\/p>\n Several pair of Gadwall swam around the pond along with a pair and a spare of American Wigeon.<\/p>\n The Gadwall were showing off a bit for their partners. I often get Gadwall and Wigeon confused from a distance until I remember the Gadwall don’t have the white patch near their black rear ends.<\/p>\n You can see the \u201cteeth\u201d or lamellae on the edge of this Gadwall\u2019s bill. These little combs remind me of whale baleen and serve the same general purpose. The duck can press water out of its mouth while the food stays stuck behind the lamellae<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n This Gadwall may be catching some of the many midges before they leave the water.<\/p>\n Three, no four Black-crowned Night Herons were roosting for the day in the island trees. When they line up with a branch or trunk they don\u2019t show up much but when you see them in silhouette against the sky they are obvious. Later on the leaves will obscure them more from passersby.<\/p>\n The Song Sparrows are back and singing.<\/p>\n A large mixed flock of Robins, Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Common Grackles was infesting the Dogwood thicket, prowling along the muddy ground or eating the sumac fruit overhead.<\/p>\n At least 2 pairs of Canada Geese were already nesting.<\/p>\n Male Cardinals chased each other out of small territories while the females watched and ate.<\/p>\n Killdeer flew noisily overhead while the much-larger Turkey Vultures were silently trying to gain altitude on a calm day.<\/p>\n And I found my first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the year working briskly through some shrubs. Not all of the local Kinglets migrate but I suspect these ones had just returned from better hunting grounds.<\/p>\n I did venture a little further into the park to quickly check the Marina lagoon. I couldn’t resist when I heard the familiar weird calls of the Red-necked Grebes.<\/p>\n Sure enough, there was a pair doing their interesting dance.<\/p>\n Complete with their “Mickey Mouse” ears!<\/p>\n The Pussywillows aren’t very plump yet but they do hold the promise of spring. Soon, we hope!<\/p>\n Join In<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you seen any signs that spring is coming, however slowly? Please share your views with a comment.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Spring means Teal at two. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[369,479,224,734,231,132,650,335,736,91,620,459,119,259,111,735,737,738],"class_list":["post-6926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rambles","tag-american-robin","tag-american-wigeon","tag-black-crowned-night-herons","tag-blue-winged-teal","tag-bufflehead","tag-canada-goose","tag-gadwall","tag-golden-crowned-kinglet","tag-lamellae","tag-mallard","tag-mute-swan","tag-northern-cardinal","tag-pussywillows","tag-red-winged-blackbirds","tag-red-necked-grebe","tag-song-sparrow","tag-teeth","tag-turkey-vulture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6926"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6939,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6926\/revisions\/6939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Can you see the “blue” in the wing of this Teal?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>As soon as a dog went down to the pond for a drink, these cautious Blue-winged Teal moved away.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Sometimes Mute Swans look more like floating pillows.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nAmerican Wigeons look cheerful to me.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Even the “spare” Wigeon didn’t seem depressed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nYou Don’t Have to Be a Duck to Enjoy the Duck Pond<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMeanwhile in the Marina<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nPussywillows Promise Spring (Just Ask Gordon Lightfoot)<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n