Bet You Thought You Had Seen the Last of the Birds!

I thought this was a Greater White Fronted Goose -- what a surprise to see these birds wandering around just feet away from me this morning amongst all the Canada Geese! However, more research tells me that this is probably a domestic goose which is bred for its meat and is bigger than the one in the bird books. Makes more sense to me!!

It is amazing to me that less than two miles from my home here in Rochester, there is an everchanging landscape of waterfowl!! Who would have thought? My house is very close to Lake Ontario and another body of water called Irondequoit Bay. When we first moved here, the Bay was not connected to Lake Ontario but some years ago, homes were removed and the bay was opened up to the Lake for 7 months a year. In the winter months, there is a small metal removeable bridge crossing the outlet. There are piers going out into Lake Ontario from either side of this bridge. I discovered last year that the birds seem to congregate there so I thought I would wander up yesterday and see what was there.

Yesterday the area was pretty frozen over with little blocks of ice floating and ducks pretty much out in the more open water. Today, very surprisingly as it is still well below freezing, the water had NO ice on it and there were some different birds! Amazing...

This is one of many Oldsquaws that I saw yesterday further out. This is their winter plummage and it is one bird that is a lot prettier in the winter than other seasons!

This was another Red Breasted Merganser. I have seen them in both Florida and NC this year. This is the first time up here though!

This was looking out over the docks. Notice all the Mute Swans and Canada Geese. The Mute Swans are an invasive species and brought here to populate the large estates at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. They now breed freely in the wild. I don't remember seeing that many of them up here until a few years ago and they are all over all year now.

This is a closeup of the mute swan with a Canada Goose and Mallard. Mallards were definitely in the minority yesterday!

This is another picture of the Oldsquaw. You can see the long skinny tail here better. Aren't they striking?

This is a Lesser Scaup, also very common up here.

The top duck is a Red Headed Duck while the bottom one is a Lesser Scaup (I believe). I had never seen the Red Head before either!

This is a closeup of the Domestic Goose with his Canadian friends! They certainly look like the birds in the bird book but by further descriptions. Will you look at those bright orange legs!