Western Grebe in Colonel Samuel Smith Park

Since late January, a Western Grebe has been lingering on the shores of Lake Ontario between Colonel Samuel Smith Park and Humber Bay Park. Although it has been here for so long, it has been avoiding me. Whenever I am at one park, it is always at the other. Luckily, I finally managed to catch it early this month. It was actually quite close to shore, so I managed to get some adequate photos.

Western Grebe - Colonel Sam Smith Park

Western Grebe - Colonel Sam Smith Park

I've heard that apparently this grebe is still here, so you can have a chance to see this rare and elegant bird. Good luck!

Spending the GBBC Weekend in the Adirondacks

For long weekend of February 15th to 18th, I went on a hiking and skiing trip to High Peaks, Adirondacks. This was somewhat unfortunate because I knew that I wouldn't have many opportunities to birdwatch. Still, I saw a stunning twelve species (!) that I reported for the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Overnight, I stayed in a cozy motel in Lake Placid. From there, it wasn't a long drive to the peaks. On Saturday, I climbed Phelps Mountain. The trail was extremely icy near the top, and I can honestly say I slipped a few times even while wearing crampons. Nonetheless, the view was magnificent. The weather conditions proved to be perfect and cloudless. Phelps isn't one of the taller 46 mountains above 4000 feet, but the view was still one of the better ones.

Phelps Mountain, High Peaks, Adirondacks

The next day I planned to ascend Giant Mountain. However, the temperatures went down further than I was prepared for and the winds were strong enough to blow me off the mountain. Instead, I went skiing on Whiteface. This way, if I got cold or tired, I could just hide away in the cafeteria with a hot chocolate.

The skiing was fantastic. As it turned out though, the next morning all the lifts were closed except for the ones on the bunny hill. Apparently the winds were too violent, but it wasn't any worse than the day before. A voucher was good enough for me though, and that was the end of my weekend.