Wildlife at Home, the Wetlands and Lakeside Park

It rained last night and then rained a little more this morning. A stay at home day I thought. But the day brightened up and the clouds became broken. Time for some fresh air and a walk with my cameras around the Borden Wetlands. I took a shortcut this time, through the undergrowth, along a steeply sloped drainage ditch. I saw two small birds, one which I was unable to identify or photograph had a speckled chest, the other was this ruby-crowned kinglet: The walk took a fraction of the time. I stood at the edge of the trees and looked past the shade, into the dappled light. The wetlands seemed more inviting today: The sunlight lit up the fall leaves in stark contrast to the tall, slender tree trunks: An unusually warm day for October which brought the insects to life. These dragonflies were everywhere: They jostled for position to bask in the sun: I'm not one to stay on the beaten track really, and it was during my walk through the undergrowth that I came ac...

It has been quite a few days since my last post, and that is partly due to the overcast weather we have been experiencing. I have been taking photos, but I felt them too grainy. Today however grainy or not, I had to upload these photos which are a first for me at Lakeside Park. I first sighted this duck as I sat at the table from the bottom edge of the lake at just after 6:30 this morning. The duck was swimming with the mallards, but even with the low light at that time, its markings were to my eye quite different. There was an obvious white mark on its beak: I quickly set up my camera on my monopod, only to realize that the camera's battery was dead. Not a huge problem, as I always carry a spare which I quickly fitted and then focussed on the mallards. Maybe I was mistaken, there were only mallards in the water. I went over what I had seen in my mind's eye and the duck was definitely a different species, but where was it? I scanned the lake with my lens, but could only fi...