A killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, searches for dinner in the grass as Ashbridge’s Bay is enveloped in a dense fog. © BCP 2011
The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
— Carl Sandburg
Yes, that’s exactly what happened on Thursday evening this past week. I spent all afternoon in Crother’s Woods and Sun Valley, then headed back to my own neighbourhood in the Beach. As it was still light out — and not even dinner time! — I decided I had enough energy left after lugging all my equipment around all afternoon to make one more stop. I headed for the bay.
As I headed south on Coxwell Ave., where it turns into Ashbridge’s Bay, I quickly realized that there was a bank of fog making the harbour invisible — and creating interesting photo opportunities.
I was on my way to the bay to see if there were any kingfishers around, hunting for their dinner. I didn’t see — or hear — any kingfishers, but I did hear the impossible-to-miss calls of a pair of killdeers, Charadrius vociferus, that were gathering their own dinners on the grass by the main path. The fog didn’t seem to bother them at all.
(BTW. Take a look at that Latinate species name. You only have to hear a killdeer call once to know how that part of its scientific name originated. Here’s what the online etymology dictionary has to say about vociferous: “1610s, from L. vociferari “to shout, yell,” from vox (gen. vocis) “voice” + root of ferre “to carry.” Kinda says it all, eh?
If you want to hear the killdeer’s call, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a sound sample you can hear here.)
Killdeers belong to the family of plovers, graceful wading birds that are found around the world. They feed mostly on worms and other invertebrates. Guess that’s what the bird above was looking for as he dug in the grass, ran a few steps, looked over his shoulder, then did it all over again.
It was interesting that neither this bird, or his/her mate, would let me get very close. I was hoping the fog might provide some sort of cover, but it wasn’t to be. This was as close as I could get.
Tomorrow, another critter I saw — and managed to get a shot of — in the very chilly fog. Brrr. I finally had to leave because I was so freezing cold.
© BCP 2010
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