Ross Harris led our February 22 walk at Humber Bay Park West. While the pathways were mostly cleared from last week’s snow storms, the recent spell of cold weather meant that most of the bay was ice-covered. Extensive ice can sometimes lead to some interesting gulls, but extensive searching of the flock failed to turn up any of the less common species. We found a mixed flock of ducks, mainly Redheads and Greater Scaup, along the edge of the ice, and the majority of the dabbling ducks were at Amos Waites Park.

At the beginning of the walk, Ross shared an article from a 1948 publication describing how American Black Ducks vastly outnumbered Mallards in the 1930s and 1940s. That ratio has completely reversed since then. With some searching, we were able to pick out a few American Black Ducks among the dozens of Mallards at Amos Waites Park.

While we found a good variety of waterfowl on the walk, land birds were virtually absent. The most unexpected sighting of the morning was a coyote (pictured above) following the Waterfront Trail at Superior Ave. By the end of the walk, we had totalled 19 species and one hybrid. Here is the full list: