Out on a marina bay ... two coyotes on ice ... looking for something under the snow cover ... one coyote witnessed by several judges to pounce when it smelled something of interest present under the snow ... the other coyote didn't venture far on the ice, which will cost this team points in the competition.





Nice try:   5.7   5.7   5.8   5.6   5.9    Total score: 28.7

That's Count Dracula.  I don't look anything like him and I don't have a cape, and I disappear at night, not during the daytime.  Besides, I said a transfusion, not a meal.  I'll overlook it this time.

Nice specimen of aragonite.  Where did you get it?  If it's a secret I'll understand.  I had a piece of it once but I'm not sure where it is ... somewhere in my man-cave.  As far as I recall, my sample was also brown by iron, which is probably the most common variety in Ontario.  Might I suggest that you acquire a pair of black felt gloves instead of ill-fitting polyethylene gloves, which remain a bit of a distraction, whereas black slim-fitting gloves would blend in with the black background. 

 Of late, I’ve seen more reports than usual of pintail ducks. Reports began coming in the fall, although those early sightings were not of males. Another male strike?  Now and then there were reports of dual female ducks in collusion, with secret agendas. Much less often a single male pintail gets reported as mingling amongst a group of more common species.  I rarely get to see a photo of a male, whether mingling or otherwise. One pintail that I did see at Reesor pond in Markham was far from shore, yet so exquisite in its features as to make identification straightforward.  Its elegant shape made it a memorable sight even when viewed from a considerable distance.  I even spotted a single male pintail at Reesor pond (lower) in Scarborough, slumming it. It was only present for less than a day because when I later returned it was nowhere to be found.  This pond has been a disappointment all year for several reasons.

 
My closest encounter with a male pintail occurred when I was already down and dirty with my camera trained on a few gadwall at close range and in bright hazy sunlight.  Suddenly a pintail landed with a splash right in front of me.  It appeared like an actor might, gliding onto the stage with aplomb. I’m glad that I was belly-down (not standing) because that male pintail might not have obliged to be so cooperative while I photographed it.

This pintail (pictured below) at Bluffers Park did the same thing.  It’s the second time a pintail has made a silent arrival at this park.  Bluffers is usually hosting lots of like-minded mallards, and a few tagged cignets for contrast.  That’s par for the site.  Then a single pintail flew in and landed with a muffled splash like a skilled pilot in a floatplane.  Eventually it entered the arena and gradually mingled with the mallards looking for some of the feed previously offered by park visitors.  Not having had any lunch I was also tempted.  You should have heard all those small-minded mallards, tightly clustered like dull-witted gossips at a party, choking on their own vituperation toward so dapper a party-crasher. Merely the requisite ruckus implicit with contagious jealousy.  Bottom line:  a male pintail is one fine duck.  The sun disappeared behind thin cloud just before it arrived and I was just planning to leave because of the cold.


 

 

Thanks for your input.  I checked the weight of that Zeiss model and found two values that were dramatically different.  One stated just over half a kilo, while the other stated closer to 1.5 kilos, which is heavier than my telephoto lens ... too heavy.  Also, Henry's only carries it for online purchase, as if I would purchase binoculars without touching them, feeling them, looking into them.  This online business is getting on my nerves.  Retail outlets are closing, those remaining are carrying less merchandise because they will eventually close too.  I had to drive from Pickering to Whitby to get to an Indigo bookstore because the one in Scarborough is now closed, and then the book I wanted had to be ordered online.  The last time I did that I ordered at the end of November in hopes of getting it by Christmas.  I finally got it half way through February.  Once you pay for something there is no incentive for the company to follow through at their end.  I will not be doing that again.  I would not pay for anything with a credit card ot debit card from the keyboard of a PC that might be infiltrated with malware just searching for relevant key strokes.  A friend tried that on a PC only twice in her life and got hacked the second time and her CC was breached and used by nefarious agents. 

Henry's does have a lot of Nikon bins.  I have not, as yet, checked their weights.  I've learned to keep away from scales and weight issues, but let's face it, one needs to face it eventually.  Right now, there are no birds to look at, not even in my backyard.  Post apocalyptic!  I saw some ice the other day.  Ice clinging to the edge of a boulder ...  cool.  Who coined the term "cool"?  Apparently it was the Jazz saxophonist Lester Young.  I think he used in in the 40's, but it didn't become popular until the 50's.  Then eventually the valley-girls got a hold of it and that annoying inflection ensued.  You see, there I go again, I digress.

Around 12:00 hours there was a Tree Sparrow under the feeder here in Milton. I slowly walked back across the deck entered the house grabbed my camera and in flew off. I found it a minute later on a bush beside the fence. I snapped  a few pics through the back door as I didn't dare open it.



Very skittish little things. Napper