Happy Anniversary!

We were married on a very cool, breezy Saturday in April. Mom lamented the fact that the forsythia bush was not blooming and we ended up having all our pictures taken indoors. Today is a cool, breezy Saturday and the forsythia bush has not flowered. It is our anniversary and my husband told me he had no flowers or cards, but another surprise instead. Early this morning we headed to the house of one of his business acquaintances and followed him to the location pictured above along the banks of a river. High in the top branches of the lone pine tree was...

another Bald Eagle nest! We were able to get closer to this nest than was possible at the nest I observed earlier this week. Once the leaves are out on the deciduous trees and the tall vegetation grows along the river bank it will be more difficult to get a good view of this nest.

We then drove to Hamilton and hiked the Princess Point Trail at Cootes Paradise. This large marshland drains into Lake Ontario and has several access points and I have never been there before. We walked one small section but will have to return to do more in the future. It was a pleasure to see Tree Swallows swooping around and caring for their nests.

After lunch at a nice restaurant we returned to our usual stop in Burlington at Lasalle Marina. It was cloudy and cold initially and we saw none of the usual tame chipmunks and familiar birds. It seemed ominously quiet as if the hard winter had caused all the wild life to leave. But the sun came out, Chickadees ate from our hands, the chipmunks appeared and birdsong was heard again.

The water birds were not abundant but there was a good variety present. I noticed some Grebes and expected that they would be the usual Pied-billed Grebes found in our rivers and streams at home.

Several pairs of Horned Grebes in their mating plumage swam near the shoreline. I have only seen these birds in the Finger Lakes region of New York state.

We found a few anniversary flowers. Red Maples which usually flower in March were abundant today and other early blooms poked up through autumn's dead grass and leaves.

I really couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary!

Some birds we saw: Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Horned Grebe, DC Cormorant, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Bufflehead, Mallard, American Coot, Mute Swan, Trumpeter Swan, Belted Kingfisher, RW Blackbird, Common Grackle, Tree Swallow, White-throated sparrow, Song Sparrow, BC Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinal