Corner Marsh - Ajax

[Shortsighted]

I went down to the Corner ... marsh that is, because I have not visited this site in quite a while, having missed the juvenile Bald eagle a week ago that decided to eat a large carp right there on the beach in plane sight.  I also heard that there was a Hudsonian godwit there the last few days.  I can hardly see this font.
Like so many creeks that drain into L. Ontario this fall, they are mostly dried up and showing an expanse of mud flats with puddles here and there.  Duffins Creek is no exception.  While the creek itself still carries water, the flood plane is muck.  I recently visited the mouth of the Rouge and discovered the same situation and I’ve previously described Cranberry Marsh in the same way. While unattractive, these mudflats are summoning shore birds that might otherwise never even stop here.
 
 Corner Marsh revealed some killdeer, a few pectoral sandpipers and quite a few yellowlegs.  There is also one Hudsonian godwit that feels most comfortable far away from the lens of any camera.  At least that was the situation while I was there.  In fact, the godwit never strayed beyond one spot with an area akin to a tennis court.  From the east side this spot could not be seen due to reeds and phragmites and from the west side the godwit was (maybe) 350 meters away.
 
 The mudflats also hosted quite a few Green-winged teal and some Mallards. There were three Great egrets, two Great blue herons, and three juvenile Black-crowned night herons.  Like in so many parks, these birds are all very skittish as if they know that it is duck hunting season.  There comfort zone equates to the range of a shotgun ... that can’t be a coincidence.
 
 When I sat down in the mud (with a plastic bag and foam pad, ... I’m not crazy) a kingfisher flew over my head and almost perched on a pole right in front of me,  but then saw me below and immediately veered off, as if I could possible represent a threat to a kingfisher.  A night heron flew across my field of view and then banked to starboard toward my position, saw me, and immediately made a U-turn.  I wasn’t even making a face, or anything, I swear.



Hudsonian Godwit



H. Godwit very far away




Lesser yellowlegs




Greater yellowlegs




Green-winged teal




Cooper's hawk





Juvenile Black-crowned night heron