MALE HOUSE FINCH, FRUITLAND ROAD, STONEY CREEK, HAMILTON, ON

   These photos were taken at the Lake Ontario end of Fruitland Road.  We can ID this bird as a male House Finch as follows:

• Red head, face and breast with some of the red extending down the back.
• Stubby bill with curved culmen.
• Red rump.
• Shallow notched tail.
• Streaky belly and flanks.

HERRING GULL AND RING-BILLED GULL, VAN WAGNER'S BEACH, HAMILTON, ON

   The two gulls on the left are Ring-billed Gulls and the larger gull on the right is a juvenile Herring Gull.  You can see that the Herring Gull is quite a bit larger than the Ring-billed Gull.  The Herring Gull has pink legs.

TERNS, CORMORANTS & GULLS, WINDERMERE BASIN, HAMILTON, ON

   In Windermere Basin we photographed a mixed colony of Common Terns and Caspian Terns, interspersed with Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls.  The terns with black or dark legs are Caspian Terns, while the terns with orange legs are Common Terns.  You can see Ring-billed Gulls in the second and third photos and Double-crested Cormorants in all the photos, except the third and fourth.

   Also interspersed among the adult terns are chicks.  Most of these are probably Caspian Tern chicks, although we are not sure of this.

COMMON TERN IN FLIGHT, WINDERMERE BASIN, HAMILTON, ON

   We can ID this tern as a breeding Common Tern by its orange-red legs, full black cap and forehead and red bill with black tip.  Also the primaries have dark tips.

CASPIAN TERN EATING A FISH, WINDERMERE BASIN HAMILTON, ON

   We can ID this tern as a Caspian Tern in breeding plumage mainly by its dark legs (Common Tern and Forster's Tern  would have reddish-orange legs) and its full black cap and forehead.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT OF WINDERMERE BASIN, HAMILTON, ON

TREE SWALLOWS, WINDERMERE BASIN, HAMILTON, ON