Thursday, September 19, 2013

Birding at the DesJardins Canal, Dundas, ON

DesJardins Canal
Dundas, ON
15 September 2013

    A quick visit to the Dundas section of the DesJardins Canal was quite productive in terms of birding.
    Before even parking, we saw this adult Black-crowned Night Heron Nyycticorax nycticorax and pulled over to the side of the road to take pictures. It truly is a very handsome bird.


    The behaviour of a sub adult Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis had us puzzled for a minute until we realized that it was feeding on an apple that had fallen into the water. It looked for all the world as though it was was bobbing for apples at Halloween, but it was having success at wresting bits from the fruit at each attempt, even as the apple was driven under the surface.


    A stately pair of Hooded Mergansers Lophodytes cucullatus was a very pleasant surprise. Both birds were fishing actively and didn't stay up for long.


    As we were leaving we spotted this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. Given the juveniles we had seen at Princess Point and the frequency with which we have been locating them in Waterloo, it would appear that this species has enjoyed a successful breeding season.



David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the land on which we are situated are the lands traditionally used by the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral People. We also acknowledge the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge, laws, and philosophies of the Indigenous Peoples with whom we share this land today. We are all treaty people with a responsibility to honour all our relations.

Followers