Guthrie Park, Feb. 6

We took a drive to Corunna today in hopes of finding some new birds for 2022. A Trumpeter Swan has been in the area for a few days and it was slowly floating on an ice flow close to shore. Trumpeter Swans are North America's heaviest flying bird, almost double the size of Tundra Swans. They were once endangered and are now luckily recovering! (The Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

We were pleased to see that the ducks were on the Canadian side of the river and not across on the American side! The ice was in our favour today!

Canvasback Ducks were easy to see.

We found the Barrow's Goldeneye, a mostly western species. Today was my first siting of this species in Ontario. It is in the centre of the photo and has a white crescent between the eye and the bill. Common Goldeneye are also in the photo but the males have a round spot on the face rather than a crescent shape.

Located in the centre of this photo is a White-winged Scoter!! They winter primarily along the coasts, with small numbers wintering on the Great Lakes. Populations declined in the 1970's but appear to be increasing in response to the invasion of zebra mussels. (The Cornell Lab, All About Birds).

As we were headed home, we saw 3 more White-winged Scoters in the river.

Even though these 2 were sitting side by side on the ice, they definitely were NOT friends! The juvenile Herring Gull had a wing injury. We didn't stick around to watch it become the Bald Eagle's lunch.