Thursday, October 17, 2013

Melville Pond Gulls and Geese

Melville Pond
Vaughan, ON
17 October 2013


    Melville Pond is the rather grand name given to a storm water management pond in a shopping plaza at the intersection of Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive in Vaughan, ON. There is often a good variety of birds there, with Canada Geese Branta canadensis and Ring-billed Gulls Larus delawarensis generally being the most common and the most numerous. Today was no exception.

A parade of geese
    Even though there are signs entreating people not to feed the birds, it is widely done. I think there is some inner primal need for people to connect with wild creatures and for most urbanites this is the only way they will ever do it. People show up with bags of grain and I have even seen people go to the bakery in the plaza and purchase day-old bread for the specific purpose of feeding the birds.

1st Cycle Ring-billed Gull
1st and 2nd Cycle Ring-billed Gulls
David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

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