Most of Ontario has had more than its fair share of rain this year -- which is probably preferable to the drought and fires they're getting out west. All the same, this was the first day this summer that we had prolonged rainfall. Usually the storms have just breezed through, leaving most of the day suitable for spending time at the beach, hiking, exploring and all sorts of outdoor activities. Saturday, however, was a pretty steady rainfall.
Rain shouldn't keep you indoors though. It certainly didn't slow down this huge flock of mergansers fishing along the beach. There were 40 ducks, mostly kids, learning how to fish. These ducks are very co-operative, with the females sharing some of the babysitting duties, so while they rarely have a clutch of more than 17 eggs of their own, seeing them out with huge flocks is not unusual.
These ducks are cool, with their distinctive slender beaks with serrated edges -- they are also called Sawbill, or Sheldrakes because of these 'toothy' beaks that are perfect for snaggling a fish. The females and the youngsters wear this gray outfit, with a reddish crest and a white chin. The males are noticeable by their absence when it's time to teach the kids to fish, but they are spectacular when they do show up, with green heads and immaculate black and white plumage.
It was well worth standing in the rain under umbrellas just to watch the ducks fishing, the water boiling as the ducks vanished underneath, only to pop up moments later. The moms don't feed the young -- they just supervise while the kids catch their own fish. It's fascinating to watch them swim along, heads underwater like loons, looking for fish.
And the rainy day was a good excuse, once we came back inside, to light the fireplaces, and pull out some board games.
No comments:
Post a Comment