Clear skies becoming partly cloudy later in the day. Freezing overnight with temperatures into the upper 30s during the day. Light to moderate wind, mostly out of the northwest.
The forecast is calling for snow overnight with rain and snow through the week. In some years we’ve had much colder temperatures during March clear spells like this one. Hopefully the overnight lows weren’t enough to kill the flowers that were already opened.
I walked to Swan Lake this morning with hopes of finding the Hooded Mergansers on the peninsula again. This time I brought my longer lens. The image stabilization isn’t working, but bright sun allowed for high enough shutter speeds that would mostly mitigate that.
I heard several Song Sparrows singing back and forth along Degroff Street and adjacent neighborhoods. Juncos joined in song as well (though not so many). By the time I walked back, the Song Sparrows were apparently done, but I did hear juncos still.
The Hooded Mergansers were resting with Mallards on a shelf of ice near the dock. I took my time moving along the peninsula, making pictures as I went.
The Mallards did not seem to give me a second thought, but the male merganser appeared to be keeping a watchful eye.
While there, a Double-crested Cormorant swam up to the dock and hopped up on the corner perch where I’ve seen them previously.
Not long after, the mergansers stretched and stepped into the water.
They swam and preened a bit before taking off for the upper part of the lake.
Despite the chill, I noticed a few insects out, some even on the ice.
This afternoon I walked along Silver Bay with Kitty again. This time the wind was blowing into the bay. She parked at the larger pull out and we walked most of the way to Whale Park before turning around.
We also did part of the sea walk and looped back on the harbor floats.
I was a little surprised to see a Common Merganser and Mallard resting near each other in the corner of the harbor. It seemed a little random. I wonder what brought them there.
The merganser had its wings spread a little, revealing its lower back and tail. I hadn’t realized how gray they are. The funny thing is, I have pictures as far back as 2006 that show the gray, I just had never noticed (or if I did, I forgot). It’s good to be reminded that even the seemingly familiar is not fully known.
After my walk to the lake, I switched back to the 100-400 lens. After using it the past couple of weeks, I find the 100-500 extra heavy. Without the image stabilization functioning, I found it uncomfortable try and hold the camera steady. Once it’s repaired, I’ll see how I feel about it with the stabilization working before deciding whether to go back to it as the default lens I carry around.