I took a drive through Goulds yesterday and was very surprised to find most of the ponds frozen over already. It happened so suddenly. This trick of nature causes the water birds to move around. There was not a bird on Forest Pond nor Second Pond yesterday.
I was surprised to hear some of the diving ducks that have been regulars at Kent's Pond have moved to the harbour. Here we go! The remaining open waters will be at Quidi Vidi and Pier 17. That actually makes it a little easier to see what birds are about since they will congregate in these areas. Then, along come the hawks looking for easy prey, and winter trucks on.
I'm not very good at identifying gulls, but one of my favorites, the Black-headed Gull, has once again reappeared. The Iceland, Glaucous, Lesser-black Backed and Black-headed Gulls can now readily be seen at QV. Nearly all of the Ring-billed Gulls are gone and none of the rarities have shown up. So far, there are no reports of the Yellow-legged Gull nor the Slaty-backed. Will they by-pass us this year? Or, will they just appear one day setting all the birders in a frenzy to line up along the banks of the lake in the hopes of getting a really good look? I, too, will be there, but my heart will be in the woods with all the little birds.
With the end of the world just two days away, I guess I had better get going to see what I can add to my Winter List before then:-)
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