hqspbirds

Immature Pied-Billed Grebe

Posted by Ellie
 

I walked around the Kentville Miner's Marsh area a few weeks ago, on a dull day and managed to see quite a number of wildfowl, many of which were too far away to get decent photographs especially as the light was poor and it was windy. This youngster was swimming and diving not too far from the shore and I got several of him. I thought at the time that when he went underwater it was almost as if he didn't so much dive as simply submerge out of sight. Almost as if he sank underwater.

He was a little hard for me to identify and even another (much better) bird photographer didn't have any idea what he might be, looking at my photographs. I was a little disheartened (feeling that my images had not done the bird justice) until I found it on my bird identification app and the images of it were no better than this one. He looks very odd, quite like a clown as the article below says.

Today I found this information about the species, which is the second smallest grebe found in North America. http://ecobirder.blogspot.ca/2010/11/adventures-of-clown-duck.html

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Surf Scoters (95/365)

Posted by Ellie

The last of the wildlife photographs for today, this one was another 'lifer' for me, as I had never seen surf scoters before this trip. They were spotted off Corkum's Island, very near where I saw the snowy egret, on "First South".

I was very taken with the faces of these diving ducks (see a couple diving on the right side), as they had wonderful markings that reminded me of a fashion statement that is made by some young people. They put a huge grommet in their ear or nose and it looks as if it is a round black hole. I find it a rather odd look for a human being (and I have had trouble trying to stop staring at it when being served by a shop assistant sporting one or more of these). For a diving duck it seems somehow just right. 

(You have this photograph instead of one of construction work, as somehow I think you will find it more interesting!)

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Heading North – 87/365

Posted by Ellie

There was a time when the flocks of geese flying North in the spring, or South in the fall would blacken the skies. Now we have geese that hang around all year and they fly in much smaller flocks. They fly around and it looks as though they are leaving but they settle down on the tidal areas of the dykelands and manage somehow to eke out an existence through the winter months. Cold doesn't bother them. They breed in much colder climes than these I believe. But in the spring and in the fall they are much noisier and the sound of even quite small flocks winging their way overhead is enough to make you run out to watch as they arrow across the sky above. 

#365project +G+ 365 Project by +Simon Davis-Oakley +Patricia dos Santos Paton

HQSP Birds  curated by  +Anja Wessels +Philippe Avenel +Suzi Harr +Mark Rayner +Andy Brown #hqspbirds +HQSP Birds


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Waiting for the Spring Floods to Subside

Posted by Ellie
Waiting for the spring floods to subside- Ellie Kennard 2014
Waiting for the spring floods to subside- Ellie Kennard 2014

Original Post: Waiting for the Spring Floods to Subside – 86/365 – April 11, 2014

We did manage to get out for a walk around the wetland habitat nearby last Sunday afternoon, in the hopes of catching sight of some spring nest building or other activity. Instead, we found the ice still in the middle of the water, only the shores having open areas. On top of this late melt, there have been heavy rains and the paths and inland woods areas were either flooded or still snow covered. These mallard seemed pretty fed up, in what should have been the floor of the forest at the edges of the wetlands. He seems to be on the water, where she has one foot on the rock, balancing neatly, while the other is tucked under her.