Mergansers- Drakes (mostly)

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser and juvenile male.

Common Merganser

Hooded Merganser pair

These shots were all taken on the same two days as the shots from the previous post. I just felt it was too much for one post and that I needed to sort them in some meaningful way.

Mergansers - Three species - Females Only

 This was the species I was attempting to photograph. Hooded Mergansers are the least common of the three species, also the smallest and probably the shyest. Because they are the smallest you need to be a little closer to get a decent shot and I panicked a bit when I got the chance and made them take a wider route than I had hoped.

 The Common Mergansers were the most abundant in the area so there were more opportunities for photo ops and I got a few good close-ups.

I had thought originally that I had photographed all three species on the first day but the "female"on that day turned out to be a juvenile male. This female Red-breasted Merganser was photographed at the same location but a couple of days later.

                                                                           Preening Red-breasted Merganser hen.

The last three shots are all Common Mergansers. I'll post shots of the males in the coming days when I find the time. I need to get caught up on my posting. These are all from the last few days in March.

Blue-winged Teal - Drakes

I took these shots on the same day as the Green-winged teal photo in the previous post. It was great to be able to get both species on the same day. I had seen these same two birds earlier in the day but they didn't come close. Later on after I had moved from another location they flew in but still didn't get close enough for a decent photo. As luck would have it a balloon blew up from the beach and drifted across the far end of the pond. They didn't know what to make of it and decided to swim in the opposite direction, fortunately towards me.

Green-winged Teal - Drake

I hadn't noticed any Green-winged Teal in the area when this guy happened to land in front of me while I was photographing Mergansers. I was happy to have  him do that.  March 26, near Matthew's Lake.

Downy Woodpeckers

 

The female (bottom) was the first to show up at the feeders this winter, the male was a late arrival. There was something a little different about the male, his white feathers weren't as white as they should be. I thought he might have gotten into something that stained his feathers but as time has gone on I think he has some melanism that is causing him to look darker than normal. They are beginning to act like a pair in recent days, following each other when they're not interested in food.

Snowy Day in March

Black-capped Chickadees and American Goldfinches photographed during a snow storm on March 19. It feels a little ironic posting these today on what is the warmest day of the year to date. Seems like the snow is a distant memory although I know better than to assume we've seen the end of it this spring.  It's Nova Scotia after all. 

Great Horned Owl

This may be the same bird from an earlier photo. Again, this was one of a pair photographed at a location where I had seen them previously.