Black Duck

I thought this bird was going to swim past but it had other ideas. I was lucky the camera focus nailed the head in the flight shot. I only noticed later in processing the photo that this was a banded bird.

Double-crested Cormorants

A few photos from the last couple of months beginning with a shot at sunrise shortly after these birds began arriving back in early April.

Cormorant at Sunrise.

Landing gear deployed.

Catching a snack.

Fish down the hatch.

Ready for takeoff. 

Green-winged Teal pair

Green-winged Teal are the most common of our two regular Teal species. They generally nest in the area where I do a lot of my birding, that being the Hemeon Head, Matthew's Lake region. These two birds paired off in late April and were frequently in the same pond from that time forward. I haven't checked on them lately, these images are from May 5.

Canada Goose

Seems like there are more breeding pairs of Canada Geese in the area in recent years. This was one of a pair that may or may not be nesting near one of the local ponds. These images were taken on the last day of April.

Blue Grosbeak

Picture taken on the same day and roughly the same area as the previous Snowy Egret images. Both birds were a surprise.

Snowy Egret

I believe these are the first images of a Snowy Egret I've posted on this blog. They are fairly rare but regular here and I've never had much luck getting close before. This bird was a little more co-operative although I find myself in these situations wishing for a longer lens. These were taken on April 28 in Little Harbour NS. Since this is now the end of May I'm only a month behind in my posting.

Ring-necked Ducks - Pair

I was looking for Wood ducks having seen a pair the previous night on my drive home. Instead I was treated to these birds although I had to wait awhile for them to come close enough to photograph. You can just make out the reddish ring on the male which gives the bird its name.