RED SQUIRREL, ROSETTA McCLAIN GARDENS, SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, ON

BLUE JAY, ROSETTA McCLAIN GARDENS, SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, ON

BREEDING EUROPEAN STARLINGS, ROSETTA McCLAIN GARDENS, SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, ON

    All these European Starlings are in breeding plumage: they have a yellow bill.

VARIATION OF ROCK DOVES, BLUFFER'S PARK, SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, ON

  We thought these two photos of Rock Doves or Feral Pigeons were interesting because of the great difference in their coloration.  The only things they seem to have in common are their pink legs and white cere (upper part of the bill which contains the bird's nostrils).  All Rock Doves have these.

TRUMPETER SWANS, BLUFFER'S PARK, SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, ON

      We can ID these swans as adult Trumpeter Swans, rather than Tundra Swans by the V - shaped border on the forehead of the Trumpeter Swan ( vs. the U-shaped border on the Tundra Swan) and the broad connection from the eye to the black bill

( in a Tundra Swan the eye seems almost disconnected from the bill).

   In the first photo the Trumpeter Swan is about to take off in flight.  Two of the three swans had yellow tags on there wings which could be read ( M13 and L07).  We plan to report these tagged swans to the USGS Bird Banding Lab.

ICICLES IN APRIL, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, TORONTO, ON

NESTING MUTE SWANS, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, TORONTO, ON

   The Mute Swan in the nest was right beside the observation platform, so you could see the swan in the nest up close.  The male and female Mute Swans take turns sitting on the eggs.  We were told that not long before we got there they had switched and you could see the eggs.  The swan in the nest is probably the male, as its neck seems thicker than the swan in the water near it.