Another afternoon birding at Lake Ontario!

Today was colder than yesterday; -4 degrees Celsius with a crisp breeze. However, it was sunny today which meant I could get better pictures than yesterday. I went down to the lake and saw a few diving ducks, then I walked over to Ashbridges Bay where I encountered 5 cooperative White-winged Scoters as well as mergansers, goldeneye, and Redhead. Then I found the huge mass of gulls on the ice and picked out 8 Iceland Gulls. The wind off the lake was freezing, so I quickly left for home after getting some shots.


Here's what I saw:

2 Mute Swan
30 Long-tailed Duck
10 Common Goldeneye
7 Bufflehead
5 White-winged Scoter
35 Redhead
15 Greater Scaup
2 Gadwall
5 Red-breasted Merganser
20 Mallard
1 American Black Duck
200 Ring-billed Gull
50 Herring Gull
8 Iceland Gull
1 Black-capped Chickadee

Here are some shots!

Common Goldeneye preening herself

Mallard

Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck

White-winged Scoter within 20 feet from the rocky shore. It was diving frequently giving excellent views!

Dive!

Reward!

Red-breasted Merganser

Redhead

Large mass of gulls on the ice. Surprisingly, the Iceland gulls were pretty easy to pick out!

3rd year Iceland Gull

Adult Iceland Gull

2nd year Iceland Gull

1st year Iceland Gull

Ring-billed Gull (left) with two juvenile Iceland Gulls (right)

2nd year Iceland Gull

Pretty Mallard hen

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen