| A beautiful day for a walk in the park. |
Tuesday April 28, 2015. Swan Lake Village area, Markham, Ontario |
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| We have EGGs!! |
| Swan Lake Park - April 28th, 2015 |
| Mute Swan |
| When I started my walk I was surprised to see that no one was minding the nest. I zoomed in and sure enough two eggs were visible and exposed so that the sun could keep them warm. |
| Mute Swan |
| I wondered why Romeo and Juliet were away from the nest until I spied them through the bushes near the landing. They were going through the courtship rituals. Love was in the air. |
| Courtship ritual involves rapid dunking of their heads in the water. |
| A father and his very young daughter saw the swans dunking their heads and told his daughter that they were splashing each other to help wash themselves. I told him it was the courtship ritual and they went closer to the Swans so that they could see it better. Oh Oh Romeo decided at that moment to consumate his love and climbed onto Juliets back. The father realizing what was happening quickly covered his daughters eyes and turned her away from the scene. When the girl asked what they were doing, he explained that they were wrestling for fun. |
| Canada Goose |
| Sunning itself on the grass near the path. |
| Tree Swallow |
| I wondered what type of swallow I saw flyng over the lake recently and today I found out. This Tree Swallow landed on a branch of a tree on the shore at the point. This is one of the prettiest birds on the lake. |
| Midland Painted Turtle |
| At Turtle Inlet I saw about 30 of these Turtles enjoying the warmth of the sun on logs in the water. These 3 were on a log very close to the bridge. |
| Fish |
| As I was climbing the hill from the west end I looked down at the back of Turtle Inlet and saw many large orange or gold leaves in the water. I zoomed in trying to figure out what they were and discovered they were fish. I think they were in the shallow waters laying and fertilizing their eggs. Look closely and you will see other darker fish also there. I think they are the same species but with different colors. |
| This was what I saw from the path. For every gold/orange colored fish there were 6 or 7 of the darker versions. They were all crowded in aproximately 100 square feet of shallow water. Thats a lot of fish. |
| Here is a clearer shot of the darker version of the fish and a couple that were gold/orange and had large black areas. |
| Red-Winged blackbird |
| All along the paths around the lake their are Red-winged blackbirds singing out to attract females and declare their territory. |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| This one landed on a tree branch beside the path that descends from the hill towards the east. |
| Mute Swan |
| As I left the park I saw that Juliet was on the nest again and Romeo was patrolling the shoreline. |