Birds in Algonquin Park

Well I'm sure you all know how it is.  If you're like me and don't get away from home a whole lot, when you do, you take a lot of photos and reminisce over the swell time you had on vacation!  I took a lot of photos in Algonquin Park last week, and today I'm going to show you some of the wild birds that found their way into my viewfinder long enough for me to snap a photo.

We saw this Common Merganser on Rock Lake, taking a break on a rock preening himself.  He needs to work on that crazy hair!

 

On our lake (Canisbay Lake), we took a quiet paddle one afternoon and saw these adorable fluffy loon chicks.  They were drifting alone on the lake with no adult loon in sight.  They looked young enough to still be able to hitch a ride on their mama's back (which they do).  Aren't they the cutest little fuzzy bundles?

They stayed close together, and we didn't dare go too close and frighten them.  I had the zoom on, but at that distance it was hard to keep the longer lens steady while in the canoe.

 

They kept a close eye (or two) on us the entire time.

 

It wasn't long before we heard the call of the adult loon, who bobbed up to the surface close by.

When she saw us there, she made a bee-line to her adorable chicks to reassure them, and herself I'm sure!  We paddled quietly away.

 

 

We saw lots of great blue herons this trip too.  It seemed there was a heron stalking frogs every time we got the canoe in the water. 

 

 

I like to see the herons, and they're a great subject for photography with all those plumes, intense eyes and subtle colouring.  Once you get too close to them, however, they fly up and away and often circle around behind you and land back up the river or lake.  I love watching them slowly and gracefully lift off.  Just look at those pointed toes ... this heron reminds me of a ballerina!

 

 

A lot of times a heron would fly up right beside us before we knew there was one close by.  They camouflage quite well, so I don't know why they take off so early.  Maybe they feel conspicuous.

 

  
I think this heron (above and below) is a young bird.  He didn't fly, and he's not showing any of the long plumes.
 

 

The best part of all of this, is that heron's have a magnificent wing span, and their feathers and plumes look just amazing from the back when ruffled up!

 

 

My husband spied this heron up above us in pine tree overlooking the water.  It's not often you see them in trees, although I know they make their nests there.

 

 

 This one didn't feel comfortable with us drifting below him in the canoe, and off he went just like all the others.  A rather interesting view of him from below.

 

 

 

 We saw lots of ducks there too.  I don't get too excited about the ducks.  We saw some other people feeding them potato chips ... dumb people.  The ducks immediately came swimming up to our canoe expecting a handout from us. 

 

 

These ducks seemed to have little smiles on their faces.

 

 

They were so friendly (probably the chips!!) and we saw them everywhere this year.

 

 

The ducks that missed out on the chips were forced to revert to wild eating habits ... bottoms up!!

 

 

Occasionally, there was one or two who were being all shy, hiding in the reeds ...

 

 

They were all rather cute, and made for a bit of fun photography as we paddled along the rivers.

 

 

The last bird I'm going to show you (yes! I'm almost done here!) is the pileated woodpecker. 

 

 

We have these largest of the woodpeckers in our own county, but obviously in the woods, not in town.  In our campground (Canisbay Lake) there have been families of pileated woodpeckers living there for a few years now.  Last year we saw the babies leave the nest one day, and then didn't see them for the rest of our visit. 

 

 

This year, the woodpeckers were especially noisy and they sounded like shrieking children at first.  They don't have a pretty voice ;)  A bit difficult to photograph since they are so busy!!  They tear into rotten wood with real determination ... bugs must get a shiver when they realize who is knocking on their tree bark door!

 

 

And that's it!  I hope you enjoyed the photos :)

and thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy