WATER LILLIES, RICHMOND GREEN PARK, RICHMOND HILL, ON

BARN SWALLOW, RICHMOND GREEN PARK, RICHMOND HILL, ON

   This swallow is easy to ID as a Barn Swalloe by its long, forked tail.

EASTERN PHOEBE, DUFFERIN ISLANDS NATURAL AREA, NIAGARA FALLS, ON

   We can ID this bird as an Eastern Phoebe as follows:

• Gray-brown upperparts and white below, with dusky smudge on side of breasts.
• Head area is darker than surrouding area.
• Notched tail.
• Bill is all black.
• Very faint wing bars.
• No eye-ring.

MALE HOUSE SPARROW, FRUITLAND ROAD, STONEY CREEK, HAMILTON, ON

MALE HOUSE SPARROW, FRUITLAND ROAD, STONEY CREEK, HAMILTON, ON

MALE HOUSE FINCH, FRUITLAND ROAD, STONEY CREEK, HAMILTON, ON

   These photos were taken at the Lake Ontario end of Fruitland Road.  We can ID this bird as a male House Finch as follows:

• Red head, face and breast with some of the red extending down the back.
• Stubby bill with curved culmen.
• Red rump.
• Shallow notched tail.
• Streaky belly and flanks.

HERRING GULL AND RING-BILLED GULL, VAN WAGNER'S BEACH, HAMILTON, ON

   The two gulls on the left are Ring-billed Gulls and the larger gull on the right is a juvenile Herring Gull.  You can see that the Herring Gull is quite a bit larger than the Ring-billed Gull.  The Herring Gull has pink legs.