| A beautiful day for a walk in the park. - Monday April 10, 2017. | |
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| Swan Lake Village area, Markham, Ontario. | |
| Spring has arrived along with our Swans Romeo & Juliet, migrating birds and great opportunities to go for a walk in the park!! |
| Swan Lake Park March 28, 2017 |
| Common Merganser |
| A male follows a female in a flight across the lake. These Common Merganser's have stopped here on their way to lakes further north. Like the Loon they hunt for fish deep below the surface of the lake. |
| Hooded Merganser |
| A male Hooded Merganser races across the surface of the lake with it's large black and white crest raised making its head look much larger than it is. This is a very small duck which hunts far below the surface for small fish, aquatic insects, amphibians, vegetation and mollusks. This male has stopped on the lake and will fly north to it's breeding grounds soon. |
| Common Merganser |
| Female following the male swimming across the lake. These mergansers can be seen most days on the lake and occasionally come close to shore near the pier or along the north shore. |
| Swan Lake Park March 29, 2017 |
| Bufflehead Duck |
| Beautiful small duck that like the mergansers feeds on aquatic insects, crustaceans and mollusks below the surface of the lake. Like most of the migrating ducks it is very shy of humans and tends to swim away from the shore whenever humans approach. |
| Canada Goose |
| This goose was swimming along close to the shore in this unusual stance. It makes the goose look like it's pumped up and looking for a fight but I'm not sure what is was doing. |
| Bufflehead Duck |
| This female was far out in the lake. |
| Swan Lake Park March 31, 2017 |
| Legends of Swan Lake |
| Sal, Ross and David venturing out onto the lake with a load of nesting material to try and encourage the Swans to nest in a safer location on the lake. These men and many other volunteers from the village look after the Swans on the lake. |
| Swan Lake Park - April 1, 2017 |
| Parade leaders |
| These two gentleman lead our parade bringing the Swans back to the lake. |
| The Parade |
| Mute Swan |
| David Blinn releases the swans and villagers, local Residents, children and grand children welcome Romeo and Juliet back to the lake. |
| Romeo and Juliet pause on their way to the lake to greet all the well wishers and provide a photo opportunity. |
| Romeo and Juliet return to Swan Lake! |
| Later after bathing in the lake Romeo and Juliet pause at the big Island to enjoy the sun and to remind the Canada Geese of the rules. |
| Swan Lake Park April 2, 2017 |
| Mute Swan |
| Romeo in full display and an aggresive stance powers through the water. His second day on the lake and still making sure that birds and people know that this is his lake. |
| Swan Lake Park April 5, 2017 |
| Canada Goose |
| Out for a stroll and some tasty salad at the north shore of Swan Lake. |
| Swan Lake Park April 7, 2017 |
| Ring-necked Duck |
| Male followed by a female stop over on the lake on their way north. Like most of the migrating birds they are very shy of humans and tend to stay far out in the middle of the lake. Like the other migrating ducks these dive below the surface to find mollusks, invertebrates and vegetation. |
| Swan Lake Park April 10, 2017 |
| Mute Swan |
| Romeo decides he must protect Juliet from the volunteer feeder at the Swan Feeding Station. Once the gate was shut and the volunteer moved away Romeo allowed Juliet to come in to eat. |
| Herring Gull |
| This large Gull is planning on having a Canada Goose egg for dinner. |
| Hooded Merganser |
| These 3 Hooded Merganser females enjoy the sun and the fun of an impromptu race. |
| Midland Painted Turtle |
| Turtle inlet at the west end of the lake was full of Turtles enjoying the sun. There were over 30 turtles spread out on every log and rock at the back of the inlet. |
| Midland Painted Turtle |
| Sunning on a log at Turtle inlet. |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Almost missed seeing this young Great Blue Heron flying down Turtle lnlet towards the lake. I was very lucky to get this shot as he was moving fast and was past me before I could get a picture. |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Beautiful bird to see in the spring as they constantly call from high up in the trees to attract females and make sure other males know this is his territory. |
| American Robin |
| This is the proverbial early bird that gets the worm. Picture taken along the path near the east pond gate. |