"Out & About" Photo Blog: Oshawa Second Marsh <br/>December 13th, 2014

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed. We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.”
― Wallace Stegner

Winter's second punch was stronger than its first, but the effects of it are already fading. The snow is melting fast and with warmish weather forecast, it'll probably be gone in a few days.

What's left of a Dryad's Saddle fungus on a colorful stump.

With feeders set out for the birds, the Beaver Pond is a common spot to be surrounded by hungry Chickadees this time of year. They perch on the cattails as they await your handouts.

They brighten any day with their perky, though hyper, attitude.

This one wore a cattail-fluff hat to catch my attention.

There were a couple dozen of them, landing on my head, my camera and my glasses, while they waited for my hand to be clear of others. They don't like to share, chipping at each other as they come and go to the seeds in my hand.

I fed them for about 10 minutes, then cleared a small area and added some seeds before I left. The one on the right was telling the other one to scram... which he quickly did.

One day I plan on trying to capture them in flight, freezing their motion. This shot was at a 200th of a second — much too slow.

One Nuthatch joined the fray. Usually there's a pair of them.

The frozen pools, with their grey-blue ice stretching off into the woods, to me is worthy of a shot.

An interesting pattern on the bark of a giant Birch.

Further along in Ghost Road Bush, kids have put up a few feeders. There are enough regular visitors to the marsh that the feeders will often have some seed in them. A squirrel was enjoying the food when I first arrived.

This goes by any of these common names: Common Reed, Giant Reed, Giant Reedgrass, or Yellow Cane. I prefer Yellow Cane.

I hadn't made it down to the lake (at the marsh) for a while. It's a bit more of a hike than I'm up to some days, but I made it today. Farewell Creek is frozen over, other than here, where it enters Lake Ontario. At first I thought the lake was clear of waterfowl, but as I looked closer, I saw a few.

The lake looks cold. Good thing that ducks have insulation to keep them toasty warm. I couldn't ID these. Scaup maybe?

This is a string of Goldeneyes.

There isn't a lot of color in the marsh in winter, but there is some. This woman adds a bit more. She was heading towards the lake as I was returning from it. Is she going to feed the ducks?

On my way back the Chickadees were still looking for seeds. As per normal, this one was scolding another that was wanting to share the bounty. "Get outa here."

I tend to forget that they have a golden hue on their breasts.

If birds can be described as 'cute', then these guys fill the bill.

As I was returning to the car, a couple told me they saw some deer... "just up the way". Well there's no way I'll see them I thought. 95% of the time when someone else spots deer, or pretty much any other wildlife that isn't common, they're gone in a minute or two — if not less.

But in fact I did see a couple deer just as I was about to leave the bush. Just the flash of their white tails, a hundred yards away, as they disappeared. But a glimpse is better than not seeing them at all. :-)

'Twas a good day to be out in the fresh air.

The Friends of Second Marsh web site...