The new year came in bright and chilly, perfect for a walk around Sloan's Lake for a bit of birding. Binoculars and ID book in hand, we headed out. A walking / biking pathway encircles this popular urban lake in an easy, three mile loop. Most of the water is frozen over, but there were a few open areas where water fowl congregated.
Of course we saw the ubiquitous Canadian goose doing what they do best, chewing up the grass and crapping everywhere.
Jim has great binoculars, so we were able to see and identify a number of different water birds (a telephoto lens for my camera is on my wish list with a capital W!). There wasn't anything too unusual to report, but we did see: mallards, common mergansers, hooded mergansers (stunning!), northern shovelers, and American coots, which are oddly chicken-like.
A piece of sculpture on the SW leg of the lake has an "eye" for viewing the lake (looking to the north-west.) I love looking through to the more focused vista beyond.
A fun and invigorating start to the new year. Now on to the couch and the football games!
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