MALE COMMON GOLDENEYE, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, TORONTO, ON

   We can ID this duck as a male Goldeneye in breeding plumage as follows:

• Glossy green-black head and neck.
• Amber eyes.
• Black and white body and wings, but mostly white.
• Tall peaked crown.
• Round white spot on face.

   The Common Goldeneye is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 284.

MALE TREE SWALLOW AT HOUSE & IN FLIGHT, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK TORONTO, ON

   We can ID this swallow as a male Tree Swallow by its metallic blue above and white below.

BREEDING MALE HARLEQUIN DUCK, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, TORONTO, ON

   We can identify this duck as a breeding male Harlequin Duck by the following:

• Distinctive pattern of white spots on face, neck and below neck: white crescent in front of eye, round white ear spot, white vertical stripe along side of neck and two white stripes below neck.
• Small bill.
• Dark crown with rufous stripes on each side.

   The Harlequin Duck is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 283.

BREEDING MALE RING-NECKED DUCK, NIAGARA RIVER, NIAGARA FALLS, ON

BREEDING MALE REDHEAD, NIAGARA RIVER, NIAGARA FALLS, ON

   We can ID this diving duck as as a breeding male Redhead by its bright rufous head and neck, its black chest,  its blue bill with black tip and its gray body and dark tertials.  This photo was taken across the Niagara Parkway from Dufferin Islands Park.

AMERICAN ROBIN, DUFFERIN PARK, NIAGARA FALLS, OM

VIEWS OF NIAGAR RIVER, NIAGARA FALLS, ON

      The first three photos of the Niagara River were taken from the Niagara Glen Nature Preserve.  From there you can see the Niagara Whirlpool where the river flows turns at right angles to the flow downstream from the falls.  

   The last two photos were taken upstream from the falls acroos the Niagara Parkway from Dufferin Islands Park.  In the first of these photos you can see an abandoned barge or boat that is stuck in the middle of the river on an island.