Saturday at wetlands in Hamilton, Ontario

[Rassie]

I strolled around the wetlands and forests of Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton on Saturday, Nice to get out early morning when everything is quiet.

Great Egret

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White-breasted Nuthatch

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Male Wood Duck. He seemed quite happy in the dirty, scummy water.

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Moulting Northern Cardinal. Let's hope he doesn't realize how patchy he looks.

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[Woodyg3]

All are winners. Nice!

 

[Woody Meristem]

Dandy photos. For some reason a lot of cardinals go bald as they molt.

 

[Rick S]

Outstanding set Koos. Love the molting Cardinal but all are great.

 

[Ralph]

I strolled around the wetlands and forests of Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton on Saturday, Nice to get out early morning when everything is quiet.

Great Egret

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White-breasted Nuthatch

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Female Wood Duck. The males were nowhere to be seen. She seemed quite happy in the dirty, scummy water.

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Moulting Northern Cardinal. Let's hope he doesn't realize how patchy he looks.

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Excellent set Rassie

 

[Irap]

Super shots Koos!

 

[Butlerkid]

All excellent, but the nuthatch takes the honors for me!

 

[Rassie]

All are winners. Nice!

Thanks, Woody.

Dandy photos. For some reason a lot of cardinals go bald as they molt.

Thanks, Woody. Yes, I have one or two images of such a bald male Cardinal in the archives as well.

Outstanding set Koos. Love the molting Cardinal but all are great.

Thanks, Rick. I find it odd that the Cardinal has such a black skin under those feathers.

Excellent set Rassie

Thanks, Ralph.

Super shots Koos!

Thanks, Ira!

All excellent, but the nuthatch takes the honors for me!

Thanks, Karen. The area where I shot the images of the little birds is very popular with families bringing their children out for a day on weekends. Unfortunately they all bring bags full of birdseed to feed the birds. The little birds are now so habituated that they literally perch on one's hand and eat out of your hand. Both the nuthatch and the cardinal came and perched very close to me, expecting me to feed them. To their disappointment, all I did was to make them famous on BCG.

There was a little 10-year-old girl who squatted down on the ground and fed a chipmunk out of her hand. With the other hand she was stroking its back while it fed on the seeds. And all this happens despite signs posted that ask people not to feed the wildlife.

 

[Callie]

Mooi werk, Koos!
The cardinal realy looks hen-pegged!

 

[Larry S.]

I strolled around the wetlands and forests of Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton on Saturday, Nice to get out early morning when everything is quiet.

Great Egret

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White-breasted Nuthatch

View attachment 94133
Female Wood Duck. The males were nowhere to be seen. She seemed quite happy in the dirty, scummy water.

View attachment 94134
Moulting Northern Cardinal. Let's hope he doesn't realize how patchy he looks.

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Really nice work here Koos! The cardinal is missing some feathers on his head. I saw that just once, years ago. Nice set.

 

[ChrisSinSeattle]

Cassie,
Very nice and well done
Chris S.

 

[Rassie]

Mooi werk, Koos!
The cardinal realy looks hen-pegged!

Dankie, Callie. He looks hen-pecked, doesn't he? Having seen couples interact regularly (I have two of them who breed in the woods behind my house in spring and summer, then they fly south for winter, and return again next spring). As bird couples go, I haven't yet seen females treat the males poorly in any way. They seem to treat each other with the greatest respect.

Not so for the house finches. The red one is the male. I had an aunt like that...

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[Rassie]

Cassie,
Very nice and well done
Chris S.

Thanks, Chris.

 

[Doug Herr]

The wood duck is a male with eclipse plumage.

 

[Rassie]

The wood duck is a male with eclipse plumage.

Thanks for the correction, Doug. I wrongly assumed all males would still have their breeding plumage at this time. Should have checked the facts first. I corrected the original caption now.

 

[ssheipel]

Nicely done, Rassie. Great shots. And reminds me I have yet to make to the RBG this season!