Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

My last post gave witness to some of the many colourful warblers that passed through Lakeside Park on their migration north. But warblers were not the only birds to visit Lakeside Park on their journey from America. Baltimore orioles also came with the warblers and they are still here. The males are brightly coloured with the contrast of black on their heads and wings. They rarely sit still for long, tending to spend most of their time up in the tops of the trees, but they do occasionally come down low enough for the odd photo opportunity. Baltimore orioles are fond of fruit, nectar and judging from the following photo, really big insects. Female Baltimore orioles are also colourful, though they lack the black on their heads. That does make perfect sense, as they will soon be sitting on eggs and the need to be camouflaged will be paramount. The young males are easy to distinguish with the black on their heads being in a transitional stage. They show ...

Tripods were set, photographers and birdwatchers alike had their favourite locations on the banks of Shoemaker Lake, ready to observe the migration of the warblers through Lakeside Park and to identify as many as possible. But sometimes what you expect is not exactly what you get. This bird made everyone forget the warblers for the few minutes that it landed in the treetops above us. Clinging to end of a single branch with its extremely sharp and curved talons, this osprey surveyed the lake for its next meal. The osprey graced us with its company just long enough for a few photos. It took off to the far side of Shoemaker lake, and to the unwanted attention of the male red-winged blackbirds. Everyone's focus switched back to the job in hand which was in the case of the binocular wielding birdwatchers, to identify how many warblers they could see, and for the photographers, to capture good photos of birds that we do not normally see in Kitchener. A few of the warblers, like the ...