Winter Birds Still Hanging Around

I took Truman for a walk around Meadowbrook Pond last Saturday, where we saw a few Wintering-Over Waterfowl still hanging about.  Maybe it's not quite Spring yet, though I suspect we're getting closer.

The resident birds were also out and about in the afternoon sunshine, like this lovely Pied-billed Grebe:

This female Common Goldeneye is a winter visitor:

Goldeneyes are divers, and I don't believe I've ever seen one out of the water, so I was thrilled when this one hopped onto a submerged log to do a bit of preening:

Another Winter visitor is the Ring-necked Duck:

And here we have a resident female Mallard with a visiting coot:

This visiting Bufflehead is another diving bird that I've rarely seen out of the water:

Finally, a female Hooded Merganser.  I haven't seen any males in a long time.

Soon we should be seeing early Spring arrivals -- there are already sporadic reports of swallows turning up here and there.  I'm ready and waiting!