Ashbridges

[Shortsighted]

Today's forecast was 8-degrees, very little wind from the west.  I decided to visit Ashbridges Bay after a long absence.  It was 4-degrees, the wind was from the east (not the west) and it twice the forecast intensity.  I was hoping to see the Harlequin duck and the male common mergansers.  There was no harlequin in site and the male merganser were too far from shore to photograph.  I spotted bufflehead, longtail, mallards and female red-breasted merganser, with four male common merganser near the boat docks ... out of reach.

I noticed the terra-forming of the east side of the spit with significant alterations to the shoreline thereby creating some nice breakers.  Harlequin ducks prefer rough water but I still couldn't find one enjoying the surf.  Oh well.


Duck porn


Female red-breasted merganser




Male bufflehead


She's a beauty

[Charline]

That is a nice capture of the iridescent feathers of the bufflehead.


This Harlequin can be seen anywhere, from the beaches to TTP or the Toronto Islands. I don't know if I had it in my videos, but I caught it riding big surfs in some photos. I was not focusing on the duck, so the duck appeared very small in the pictures.


 

[Shortsighted]

Quite right.  There were even two Harlequin drakes on the rocks at Whimbrel Point @ Colonel Sam Smith.  The tufted duck that is currently hanging around the bridge at Tommy Thompson was also seen over quite a spell at CSS.  Many close photos were taken.  Unfortunately, CSS is just too far away from Pickering for me to take advantages of its bounty.  The long trip there, through traffic, is more than I can bear.  Then there is the agony of watching the fuel gauge plummet during the trip.  Getting to Ashbridges was not too bad, nor was coming back home, but still it's a haul.  I swear, I must have seen a hundred dogs within the first ten minutes after arrival. Ashbridges is a site that needs frequent visits, on a daily basis, in order to capture all the species that it might host through any given spring migration.  Clearly, that can't happen when one lives in Pickering.  It's too bad I can't make it happen without a loan.  I noticed a lot of garbage at the baselands of the park that was never there years ago.  There was even a tent pitched (not a beer tent), surrounded by garbage and that is obviously a homeless shelter.

[Charline]

Well, it depends on how much you want to do it.


If the money and traffic concern you, you can get a senior's Presto card at the Shopper's. I assume you are over 65, but I could be wrong. Then, you can ride the Go Train and TTC with one single fare (about $2+ each way). For this little, you can get to CSSP without worrying about the costs and traffic.


If you wish to travel in style, that's another issue.

[Shortsighted]

In style?  You haven't seen my old car.  It's not really a question of style, or even an issue of convenience.  It's about contagion.  An N95 mask on a train, or subway just won't cut it ... at least not for the long duration of such a trip.  That's not a risk that I'm willing to take just to maybe get a few photos.  Since the emergence of novel viruses that mutant for a living, and that can cause long-disease that can affect every organ of the body after the initial respiratory illness has passed, if you survive, there is a new type of risk that has never been here before.  It's almost as if nature is already figuring out a tactic for reducing human population.  Let's review this issue in 50 years.  I may be late.