Photo of the Day: A Male Mallard, a Beautiful Robin, a Bumble Bee, a Spotted Beetle, Colourful Dragon Flies, an Otter and its Foe – a Red Winged Blackbird – and More!

PHOTOS AND VIDEO BY MALIK MERCHANT
(Publisher-Editor, BarakahSimerg and Simergphotos)

East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Photo of the Day: Male mallard duck, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Male mallard duck, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Male mallard duck, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Flowers and a bee, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
A pair of dragon flies over a small swampy lake located on the west side of Don Valley Parkway of the East Don Trail. Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Dragon fly resting on a leaf, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Dragon fly resting on a fallen tree bark, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Dragon fly resting on a large boulder, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
A six spotted tiger beetle, East Don Trail, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Red-winged blackbird, East Don Trail, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
A Robin, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
A hanging tent caterpillar at East Don Trail, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.  
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
An otter panics as a red-winged blackbird chases it, and catches up with the much larger animal (see next photo). East Don Trail. June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Red winged blackbird catches up with an otter and tries to pin it down. East Don Trail, Toronto, June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
East Don Trail and Edwards Gardens, Simergphotos, Malik Merchant, Photo of the Day
Of course, the red-winged blackbird is unable to overcome the much larger animal, and the otter escapes into water and swims to a nearby rock looking fearful and exhausted. June 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
Squirrel, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 20, 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.
Daylight moon, illumination appx. 71%, captured above Edwards Gardens, Toronto, June 19, 2021. Photo: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.

Last Word: The Male Mallard, a 1 Minute Video Presentation

A Male Mallard. June 2021. Video: © Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.

Date posted: June 19, 2021.
Last updated: June 21, 2021. (More photos added, and see corrections below)

Corrections:

(1) In an earlier version of this piece, the six spotted tiger beetle was incorrectly referred to as a green ant both on the title of the post as well as in the photo caption.

(2) Also, the photographer is not certain whether the animal that he has referred as being an otter is indeed an otter or whether it is a weasel, a mink or a muskrat — it was referred to as a muskrat in an earlier version of the post but an animal lover mentioned that it is an otter, so we updated the title and captions accordingly. Readers who are familiar with birds, animals, flowers, plants and trees are requested to point out our mistake(s) by emailing correct species name(s) to Simerg@aol.com.

(3) The daylight moon photo shown was captured on June 19 (illumination appx. 71%) and not on June 20 (appx. 81%) as was stated in the caption in an earlier version of the article. The full moon will occur in Toronto on June 25th (please visit time and date, an excellent resource for moon and sun phases around the world).

___________________________

Before departing this website, please review our Home Page for links to our fantastic photo essays. We welcome feedback/letters from our readers. Please use the LEAVE A REPLY box which appears below or send your comments for publication to simerg@aol.com. Please share this article link with your friends and family members.

Also, visit our sister websites www.barakah.com, which is dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, members of his family and the Ismaili Imamat, and www.simerg.com for literary readings and Insights from Around the World on religious and non-religious themes.