Cardinal, Mink, Black Duck (20141230) A final wrap up from the Ontario trip

Finally on our last morning in Toronto we were treated to a couple of cooperative Cardinals. Even in the poor light their colour was just super. I have always liked the colouring of the female.

 The male with his striking red makes for a tough subject. I am told that the Nikons that I shoot often have trouble with the strong reds.

These birds are typically quite shy. They rarely sit still very long, and they love to hide in the heavy Cedars. So catching the out is always a treat.

The female will often go to a feeder if they are available. Here she is with some House Sparrow buddies.

It was great to finally grab some decent images of these terrific birds!  I thought I would throw a couple of other birds into this post to fill it out. Her is a Black Duck, a first for the blog.

From out second walk out on the spit, I was also able to find shots of some Greater Scaups. These too have never been shown here before. Had I been aware I would have focused a little more on getting better images.

I also thought a couple more Mink shots were in order. So here is a shot of our first Mink shaking off a little eccess water.

Here is our second Mink of the day. It was walking on thin ice right by the lake shore.  Shaking its whole body, this shot gives us a glimpse of its white chin and those nasty canines.

It was great to spend some time with this beauty. It spent quite a bit of time rolling around and rubbing itself on the ice, very entertaining.

This little "rock island" seemed to be the home ground for this little visit. It would swim around but come back to this spot.

I finish this post here with a final shot of this little carnivore out on land hunting around the shoreline. This encounter was definitely the highlight of the the trip.

With 2015 just being ushered in, why not resolve to put a little more wild in your life this year? I don't know if I can :) Happy New Year!
Turbo