Saturday, December 16, 2023

Winter Waterbirds

Most of the birds that hang out in the bay all summer long have flown south to bask in sunnier climes for the winter. A few intrepid (or foolish) souls have decided to hang around a little longer, in spite of inclement conditions.

 

Snow falling around this Canada goose made an interesting combination, especially with the reflection in the water.


It seemed to be wondering what I was looking at!


An immature seagull has stuck around the neighborhood, too. Perhaps it hasn't figured out that it was supposed to leave with the rest of the flock. There are only a few left to travel with at this point.


I enjoyed the pose atop the snow-covered rock. They match, don't they? The rock has the darker base with the snow on top and the seagull has the darker body with the light feathers atop its head. 

Yes, I am easily entertained, but you knew that already.
 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos.

I felt the same way.....why are they still here? When I was a student at MSU, the river is open and flowing all winter long by the small dam. And the ducks stayed all winter. Of course students feed them daily. So food and open water, why leave???

sheila

Webfoot said...

Well, yes. Food delivered daily would be a pretty strong incentive to stay put! Maybe with these birds, their instincts are telling them it will be a mild winter this year. La Nina (pretend there's a tilde over the second n) is supposed to be with us, so that might soften the blow (and snow) somewhat. The bay hasn't frozen over for a couple years, so we'll hope for the best for them.