On April 21st we spent our afternoon visiting Sterling Nature Center and Fair Haven Beach State Park. The Great Blue Herons were busy nesting at their rookery over the beaver pond (captured above). There were quite a few other people observing them including other kiddos of whom my son immediately befriended and sat with on the observation platform. Unlike me I think he is going to be a big people person. An Osprey was working on building a nest over Dragonfly pond which hosted some Bufflehead ducks at the time. I had seen on line that there had been a Horned Grebe at Sterling which I had never seen before and hoped to find We hiked down to the be beach of rocks on Lake Ontario in hopes maybe one was hiding out there after observing a Blue Bird, Robin, House Finch and a Brown Creeper. Out on Lake Ontario I could just make out some Common Loons and Common Mergansers bobbing in the waves but they were so far away that in the photos they were just tiny specks. I had no luck in finding the Horned Grebe at Sterling Nature Center so we hit the road to travel slightly west to Fair Haven Beach State Park. As we drove towards the bathrooms and playground I was astounded to see not just lots of birds but the most swans I have ever seen at once. My husband and I took turns between photographing wildlife and keeping an eye on our son who delighted in the playground until getting too cold. I had fun practicing panning but many of the ducks were too small and far away for the shots to come out crystal clear and detailed. A few mammals made appearances like a chipmunk, muskrat, and squirrel. Fair Haven State Park is right on Lake Ontario and within it is also a large pond. It was a windy day so most of the birds were found in the pond. Lots of different species mixed together being that it was migration time, mostly Bufflehead ducks and Swans, followed by Lesser Scaups, Common Loons and Red Breasted Mergansers swam and flew about the pond. It is a good thing I have a copy of "Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America" or I would be labeling a lot of birds wrong. I spoke with a couple fishing in the pond. I guess there is a family of about seven Swans that live there at Fair Haven but that day they had counted thirty-five swans out there on the pond. A few minutes later another swan flew in to join the rest and I was quick to pull up and shoot panning with it all across the pond til it landed.( It was awesome!) I'll post a few of the shots below (I shot a lot). Here a some shots of ducks listed above in the pond and some Caspian Terns I found next to Lake Ontario! It was on this day that we also had the thrill of photographing an Osprey catching a fish. Please see my last blog post to see that. Once the excitement died down (slightly) from catching the Osprey, a male Bufflehead came in and landed next to us. At this time my little family was together. My husband was photographing while our son between us played happily in the sand with his monster truck. As we observed this Bufflehead through our camera he decided to take flight. This is what ensued... Wait a minute that is not all to this incredible day! We hopped in the car to leave and I saw some Loons close up so we stopped. I stayed in the car while my husband got out so he didn't have to shoot around me. He then came back and showing me a photo and asking, "is this the bird you were looking for?" I Love that man!!!!! I got out of the car and he pointed it to me. The Horned Grebe was hiding in the reeds! What an awesome day! If you like this blog and are on Facebook please go to and "Like" Naturally Adrift Photo on Facebook for more and to keep up to date on our adventures!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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