Waxwings

A look down the first fairway on Saturday morning.

Sometimes you have to be in the right place at the right time, or you miss a lot and I just happened to be close by with my camera when a flock of Cedar Waxwings came by. 

It was three years, almost to the day, that I got pictures of this photogenic Waxwing just outside the maintenance compound.

A cool May morning

Last Saturday morning (May 26) was absolutely gorgeous with a wonderful sunrise and temperatures down around 0C.  Although there was a short frost delay I'm sure that all the golfers had a wonderful morning at the course.

The north edge of the practice green with the rising sun just hitting the trees in the background.

Lesser or Greater?

These Scaups have been around the golf course for quite a few years now.  The males are easily recognizable with their white bellies and flanks and by their blue bills.  According to some literature, the Greater Scaups don't actually breed in Alberta so could these be Lesser Scaups?  I think that they are Greater Scaups that are just in the area for a month or two in the spring, on their way to the northern nesting grounds.

Another look at one of the Greater Scaups in the 9th pond.

one word

Whoops!

Buffleheads

Another early spring visitor to the golf course ponds is the Bufflehead duck, easily spotted due to the large white head patch on the male.  They stop by the golf course for a couple of weeks each spring during their migration.

Mergansers

Some of the earliest visitors back to the golf course each spring are the Common mergansers.  The male, on the left, is quite easy to see from a distance with a large portion of his body being white.  The female has a reddish head with some feathers that fan outwards.  They are fish-eaters and possess a serated bill giving them the nickname "Sawbills".  During the winter months they are like some of the golf course members in that they migrate south to where the rivers and lakes don't freeze.