Our February 21 walk at Humber Bay West was led by Brian Bailey. It was a cloudy day, with a few light flurries, but it was just above freezing, with very little wind, so it was a nice day to be out. Planning winter walks months in advance is always a guessing game: will there be any waterfowl there? Much depends on the winds and the temperature. We were in luck this day, with the bay half frozen and hundreds of waterfowl on view. A total of 850 waterfowl were counted (thank you, Andrew) of 16 species. Notable was a male Canvasback, uncommon in this area, and about 15 White-winged Scoters. The scoters are fairly common winter visitors, but are usually seen well out from shore. Many of the scoters we saw were close to shore. So close that we were often looking down on them from above!

Ice on the bay typically attracts a flock of gulls. Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls are the most common, but it’s always worth checking the flock for some of the less common species. No amount of squinting could turn any of these into a less common gull.

Spotting some movement in a treetop in front of Grand Harbour led to a mini bonanza of birds, including American Goldfinches, Blue Jays, a Downy Woodpecker, a Robin, and both species of nuthatch.

After the walk, many of us walked over to Birds and Beans Café for coffee and more conversation.
 

By the end of the walk, we had found 29 species and one hybrid. Here is the full list: