Outdoor Ontario

Photography => Ontario Birds => Topic started by: Shortsighted on July 08, 2025, 01:50:06 PM

Title: July 8th - Reesor (lower) Pond revisited
Post by: Shortsighted on July 08, 2025, 01:50:06 PM

When I took out the garbage this morning there was not the slightest breeze ... absolutely wind-still and thick humidity, like a jungle.  In the woodlot across the street I may have heard, or imagined hearing a kookaburra.  Then, were those monkeys in the trees?  Nahh!   I drove over to Reesor (lower) pond because someone spotted a Common Gallinule with two chicks a few days ago.  I did see one gallinule swim from the western shore to the central grass patch but then it disappeared.  Also saw a Virginia rail fly across the same stretch of water in the reverse direction.  There were several juvenile pied-billed grebe on the other side of the pond.  Also spotted a juvenile Yellow-bellied sapsucker,  Chipping sparrow,  Swamp sparrow,  Eastern kingbird (still one nest with two chicks),  House finch, Green-backed heron flyover and one kingfisher (out of phot0 reach).  I did NOT see gallinule (Moorhen) chicks.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-J85bhsV/0/KMmsLns5dsK4TFQ9GRmWmbhq4BMjPd7SGnrPjKjbJ/M/Gallinule%2C3%2C8th%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-J85bhsV/A)
Common gallinule

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-N5T6H8p/0/MzBJ4HFjwDxKxgXkDLQGkSqzf5WCJQWTgCgrVGkcp/M/YBSS%2C2%2C8th%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-N5T6H8p/A)
Yellow-bellied sapsucker

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-vz3NbgF/0/NLK7x8TJP4LknFkNpdv4JnQwz94BFvH2R5LzkKMXv/M/Green%20heron%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-vz3NbgF/A)
Green-backed heron

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-J3MTfNd/0/LgbjV8pG28Kq6TrcvwFTTmSQLJJ5wkmMHzjGz9BgT/M/Chicks%2C8th%2Ccropped-M.jpg) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-J3MTfNd/A)
Dragonfly tail sticking out of chick's mouth

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-n48V346/0/Mb7SjthKCg6phqg34SQLgW3KZJqRh9NkRqxPThqSj/M/Kingbird%2C8th%2Ccropped-M.jpg) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-n48V346/A)
Eastern kingbird

Title: Re: July 8th - Reesor (lower) Pond revisited
Post by: Shortsighted on July 12, 2025, 04:05:43 PM

 The heat was intense.  The sun seemed especially well-stoked and sometimes the slight breeze dropped and at those moments I feared a meltdown.  Why would I revisit Reesor (lower) Pond under such intense conditions?  I’m a slave to impulsive behaviour.  I approached the observation mound very gradually so that I wouldn’t spook anything interesting that might be nearby.  It’s a good practice but it was unnecessary on this occasion because the pond was unoccupied, ... not even swans, or mallards. 
 
 Then I saw something small move on the grassy island across the immediate water gap.  My first guess was that it was a sora.  Seen through my lens, the creature was indeed a lone sora.   It was walking on the mud adjacent to the water’s edge.  By the time I positioned myself for a better shot it was gone.   There is very little available mud to explore.   The water itself is probably too deep for a sora.  A flycatcher caught my attention because it wasn’t the expected kingbird.  A willow flycatcher is in for a spell of trouble if a kingbird sees it.  Ah, back to the sora.
 
I sat down with my boots in the water and then remembers that one boot has a hole.   I waited a whole ten minutes, until the heat became unbearable, but the sora never returned.   I heard a shriek about 30 feet to the south of the sora’s tiny mudbank and decided that it must be where the C. gallinule was hiding.   I had plenty of company because there were dragonflies everywhere:  Widow skimmer,  12-spotted skimmer, whitetail, and amberwing.  I guess that the kingbird(s) were loving that feature.


(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-wmdZ6wM/0/KVbkG47HZ7KQQJrsfHZq9TkFBbPt2ZNSjnfjt7nRm/L/Willow%20flycatcher%20perched%2Ccropped-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-wmdZ6wM/A)

Willow flycatcher


(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-LKg7HSP/0/M7JjHKcsn7p3ht9VjWKZXcFWX8khDTgGZwWgXdpBn/L/Sora%2C2%2C12th%2Ccropped-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-LKg7HSP/A)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-cRNM5hn/0/MQBtvK76VZFSbB8Jjmx85DKpDC9gfqBQLGJKJfzgj/L/Sora%2C12th%2Ccropped-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-cRNM5hn/A)

Sora


(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-KxCsjfp/0/Kc9DMqvNC6DkBWXLd7PZgDjrdWpnJ3q7XfKN2w3WV/L/Family%2Ccropped-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-KxCsjfp/A)

Kingird nest #2 ... young bird maturing quickly


(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-2v54dJP/0/MdTWTvhwdDjGN4D8MhqFNbBbcfhTSvCDNg7tmNwCk/L/Feeding%2CA%2Ccropped-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-2v54dJP/A)