An Insider's Guide to Waterloo Region

Lakeside Park, Kitchener

Canada Goose goslings are really cute for about a week. These are the first newly hatched ones I have seen this spring.

Tree Swallows have returned this spring and are checking out the best nesting boxes for raising their families. There are a number of boxes along the RIM Park trail in Waterloo and at Guelph Lake Conservation Area. I enjoy watching Tree Swallows build their nests in the spring and find them one of the prettiest birds of the season.

Skunk cabbage flower, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Mallard Duck, Chickadee, Song Sparrow

Here is a collage of pictures taken this morning at Riverside Park in Cambridge. (the Osprey was outside the park along the Grand River)

Cold weather increases the energy needs of wild birds. This male House Finch is fluffed up to help insulate itself from the cold. I will be filling the feeders to the top before the winter storm which is predicted to start tomorrow night.

Grand River, Homer Watson Park opposite Pioneer Tower

I walked along the Grand River in Homer Watson Park yesterday. It was very cold and bleak as I stepped over big chunks of river ice which were thrown up on the banks during the recent thaw. This is one of the few areas of the river that has open water within the city limits. The nearby water treatment plant discharges treated water here and it seldom freezes over in this area opposite the Pioneer Tower. I was looking for birds and saw the usual species in the trees and water. Then I noticed some unusual birds on the edge of the ice. Robins! A flock of about 30 birds was in the trees below the tower and they came to the edge of the river for a drink. The light was poor and the bottom picture was taken with digital zoom but there is no mistaking these birds.