| A beautiful day for a walk in the park. |
Wednesday July 04, 2012. Swan Lake Village area, Markham, Ontario |
|
| Reesor's Pond - 10 minutes south east of Swan Lake |
| Great Blue Heron |
| We started to walk the path around Reesor's Pond when we spotted this Great Blue Heron on the shore near the path. Of course as soon as it noticed us taking pictures it flew off to the far end of the pond. I was lucky and even though it was flying rapidly away I managed to get a couple of shots of it in flight. |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| As we walked further down the path we saw this Spotted Sandpiper standing on the shore repeatedly making a loud call. Normally I would have expected it to fly off but in this case it seemed reluctant to do so and instead slowly moved away from us along the shore while continuing to call. Then suddenly this little ball of feathers on two long stick legs ran out of the underbrush and up the shore to what we now realized was it's mother. She must of been trying to find her little one in the tall grass beside the shore. |
| Dragonfly - Brown-spotted Yellow-wing |
| Caspian Tern |
| I love to watch the Caspian Tern flying in the sun, diving into and under the water for fish. This one was catching fish and taking it back to it's mate. This is a common courtship behaviour which may continue until they have bonded and the female finally lays 2 or 3 eggs. |
| Swan Lake Park |
| Northern Cardinal |
| We had just entered the park when a young naturalist named Max directed our attention to this Cardinal sitting in some trees on the north side of the East Pond. The Northern Cardinal is very cautious and I've been trying to get a good picture of this one for months now and unfortunately could not get a good shot as it retreated deep within the branches of the tree it was on. |
| Mute Swan - Cygnets |
| When we came back from our short walk we found Romeo and Juliet leading the Cygnets across the path. |
| Mute Swan |
| Romeo, Juliet and their cygnets caused a number of drivers on Lakeside Vista Way to slow down and look, as the Swans waited at the gate for one of our volunteer swan feeders. Normaly they wait at the feeding station but a number of times this year they have been seen walking down the path from the landing to the feeding station. This is the first time I've seen them walk over to the gate and wait. |
| Mute Swan |
| Juliet, Romeo and the kids waiting at the gate. |