New Territory

Despite the chill in the air this morning, I took myself out to the Hespeler Mill Pond to try and find some of the Greater White-fronted Geese that had been hanging around there lately. Of course I didn't find any. But hey, according to my life list this was my first ever Gadwall, so the trip wasn't a complete loss:

Mostly it was a lot of Mallards, although a sizeable flock of Green-winged Teal came in to land as I was on my way out. A few Northern Shovelers, a few Hooded Mergansers. Two very complacent Mute Swans.

I probably should have brought my scope out and made sure there was nothing hiding in the distance. But after last time, I decided to check out the trail and the vantage points before lugging that thing along. It wasn't an entirely terrible decision, most of the pond was visible enough with just binoculars and/or camera, and there weren't any good places to set up a scope towards the end of the pond that was more interesting (i.e., the marshier end, away from the dam). Still. There were a couple of shorebirds out there, probably yellowlegs but who really knows. And some of those Mallards might really have been Black Ducks or something I suppose. Ah, well. Next time.