The spring weather had been up and down, a good many birds had returned, but the lake was still ice-covered
With no open water in the lake, and a very strong spring current in the river, there weren't many Canada Geese around, but those that were there were making lots of noise and some were questioning why I was in their space
Some pairing was in evidence. Two pairs were mixed subspecies. The male being the common giant Canada goose and the female being a smaller subspecies. One of the males (left) had a white ring around his neck.
I asked a local birder about the variation in size and the white ring:
" There is a considerable size variation between the 7 subspecies of Canada Geese and they interbreed no problem although their ranges usually limit interbreeding. Virtually all of the geese we see are Giant Canadas. Every now and then a smaller subspecies could associate with our locals in migration and the two hook up. it looks like that might be the case here. Females of all subspecies are a bit smaller anyway and with all geese there is individual size variation so if you get a female of a smaller subspecies the difference can be more noticeable. Perhaps that is the situation here.
As for the white neck ring, a subspecies has a white neck ring with the amount of white varying from the little amount showing in your photo to a more substantial ring. Canadas with neck rings are occasionally seen, usually in migration. These rings are not a sign of leucism, which is frequently encountered in Canadas, notably on the head and neck, making the plumage look mottled. "
The geese out on the ice were looking a bit lost....
One pair had settled down by a muskrat lodge and another pair were performing a mating ritual
The usual large flock of mallard ducks weren't down by the river. Either the strong current, or the early hour, was deterring them. There was one pair of black ducks off by themselves which made for easier ID of them as black ducks. They can be hard to tell from the female mallard at quick glance.
A few wood duck pairs have arrived. The males in their splendid fresh mating uniforms. While there were pairs, a few single gentlemen were about. Perhaps their mates had already gone to nest ??
A first, for us at least. A hairy woodpecker came to hand for some seeds (several times)
A female downy was playing coy pretending not to watch us, but as soon as the seeds came out.... (PS: Note the difference in size between the hairy and the downy)
The nuthatches were enjoying coming to hand as well
Of course the many chickadees were busy coming and going
Cardinals are quite standoffish - they flit about in the trees and let you know they want in on the seeds as well. But they won't come to hand (except on rare occasions). They expect you to drop some seeds on the ground and then move off 30-40 feet....
The male red-winged blackbirds have been back for a few weeks, practicing their trills. We were surprised to see a female having returned already.
A cottontail rabbit made it quite clear, coming right up to us - do you have any food for me??. Obviously someone(s) had been feeding him. He accepted our dry cracked corn
I had to smile when I saw this out-take from the video.....
Showers overnight left raindrops on all the branches (and soaked the ninebark seed pods)
The Queen Anne's Lace seed heads were standing tall and the sensitive fern stems had emerged from beneath the melting snow
Something, a squirrel maybe, had been snipping off maple tree buds, but not eating them. The tree still had a good supply on its branches
And fresh greens! Bright moss on a log no longer covered in snow, stonecrop(?) showing greenery around the holes that a few months ago produced frost flakes. And new growth - likely the scilla?
Juniper berries on the trees by the filtration plant
I'm not sure what is going on with some of the sumach trees. It looked like some of the bark was being eaten - but very long portions in some cases
Up on the ridge there is a small memorial plaque for a Janice Shaw on what seems to be an old stair step. Every now and then flowers appear on it. Sometimes fresh ones, sometimes plastic ones (still with their price tags)
