Turkey Vulture Ambush

This Turkey Vulture took a moment to enjoy the season's first beautiful sunny day.....and then THIS happened!

Turkey Vulture enjoying his moment in the sun.

CHALLENGE!

Successful Challenge.

Foaling Around

When I need a nature fix but I'm feeling a little lazy, I hop into my Jeep and drive the backroads.  I try to go out when traffic is light so that I can safely screech to a halt at the side of the road when I see something totally awesome and unexpected to photograph.

Today, I was a stalkerazzi with these horses and their foal.  I couldn't resist, and really wish I knew the owners of this farm so I could ask permission to shoot and feel a little less creepy about skulking around on the shoulder of the road.

The horses were way off in the distance but I managed to get a few cute shots of the horses interacting.

A Walk in the Woods

Here are a few friends I've met on the trails recently.

Eastern Chipmunk

White-Tailed Deer

Blue Jay

Female Mallard

Mute Swan kicking up mud at the marsh

Trumpeter Swan starting a nest

Play Time in the Horse Field

Driving on the backroads, I spotted these two horses who seemed at first glance to be arguing.  But after watching them for a bit I realized it was pretty gentle, and they took turns instigating.

Rough-housing Horses

Truce?

Hugging it out

Visiting the Tundras

On the way to a family Easter dinner in St. Thomas, we made a quick stop in Aylmer, Ontario to visit the migrating Tundra Swans.  We see 50 or so every year in Durham, but I couldn't resist the temptation to see several hundred in one marsh.

Aylmer Wildlife  Management Area is a preferred Tundra Swan stop-over year after year, where they see between 10,000 and 60,000 migrating swans each season.  For more information, http://www.naturallyelgin.com/natural-areas/aylmer-wildlife-management-area.

The migration doesn't last long and we stopped by during the tail end.  My guess is that there were between 400-600 the day we went.

Amazing to watch them!  They were quite animated in their interaction with one another, and they would frequently do fly-bys as well.  And nothing beats their mumbling vocalization.  It was a combination of a school yard at recess, and a busy airport.

Gossiping at Recess!

Bossy!

Lots of incoming and outgoing flights.

Tundra Swans Taking Off

Great to see them...and its always nice to see a distant surprise Bald Eagle, who stole some of the Tundra's thunder.

Bald Eagle

Tundra Swan in Flight

I'm really hoping that I will see a few here in Durham over the next week or so.  Beautiful birds!