Ontario Photography & Birding Blog

JULY 2020

1/7/2020

Jul 2nd & 4th 2020

Location: In and around Kitchener

Weather: Endless hot & sunny

At the risk of repeating myself - it's been another hot few days, so birding has been taking a back seat to insect photography.

Tip of the Day: The best money you can spend on photography is travel. Whether it's a 100 mile drive for the day or a 4 week trip to the Amazon.

July 1st 2020

Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Weather: Hot & sultry

Well ... doesn't time fly when you are having fun. It seems like yesterday I was commenting on the end of May. Maybe it's a case of the older you get the faster it happens. Anyways, welcome to July and Happy Canada Day.
As you can see from the gallery below it's all about the photography of various insects, but there are some interesting techniques involved in the creation of those images in many cases. Some of these techniques I will leave for later entries, but one I will comment on ...
The image of the Robber Fly (which is the one on the lower left) was created using a 25 image multiple stack. What is stacking? Stacking is the procedure whereby the very tight focusing used in Macro photography is extended and as the name suggests is a technique where you take multiple photos of the same subject, but at slightly different focusing distances, and “stack” them. When we merge these images in post processing, we produce one overall sharp image where the whole frame is in focus. Stacking images is so easy using modern software, which in this case I used Photoshop CC. Now I could go through all the steps here, but there are many websites that illustrate that already. Here is one that I liked ....
Stacking images - follow this link !!

0 Comments

JUNE 2020

1/6/2020

0 Comments

June 26th & 27th 2020

Location: In and around Cambridge ON

Weather: Sun, and more sun

A few insects that I came across over the last couple of days.
As always ... click on any image to show full size

June 25th 2020

Location: Perimeter of Algonquin Park

Weather: A mix of sun & cloud.Cool to start

We have been very patiently waiting for the weather up north to swing in our favour, for almost two weeks, and so we were delighted when we checked yesterday that it was to be predominately cloudy, and maybe a chance of some light rain. For the last while, like lots of the rest of Ontario, it's been sunny, sunny, so we grabbed our chance and headed up. I left here at 2:45am for the 4 hour drive north (I think I eventually woke up close to Barrie ;) )
The day went well with lots of sightings and of course we all managed a few pics. Nothing too surprising, but there was certainly an increase in juvenile birds from our last trip here, two weeks ago.

June 23rd & 24th 2020

Location: Local to KW

Weather: Continuing sunny & hot

A few bugs over the last couple of days.

June 19th, 20th and 22nd 2020

Location: In and around Cambridge

Weather: Hot & muggy for the most part

Four-lined Plant Bug

As I mentioned in a previous post, the hot weather has made me flip to insect photography earlier in the summer than usual. I find insect photography quite challenging, but with many of the same considerations as with avian photography. First of all use the best equipment that you can for the job - for the larger insects I use a 100mm Type L Canon Macro Lens, and for the smaller subjects I use a 65MPE Macro Lens (I plan to go into some detail about using this lens in an upcoming post). Secondly use flash, and preferably a Ring Flash. Next use something to diffuse the background, so that your subject stands out, and finally find something to photograph.
Subjects are generally quite easy to find - billions of insects around us, almost everywhere, but for certain types habitat, like birds, is very important. If you would like to photograph Damselflies and/or Dragonflies the preferred location would be around some sort of natural water source eg a pond or a river/creek. Beetles and other flying insects a meadow or a field, or possibly your own back garden, would be a preferred spot to find them.
A quick note about the Bald Eagle babies below - This almost ready to leave the nest pair are quite well known around the Cambridge area, and they can be seen, quite often with a parent in attendance, from along the roadside at Fountain Street, close to the Osprey nest.

Tip of the Day: In the warmer months insects are at their most active, and they are very hyper-aware. The slower and stiller you can be, the easier time you will have setting up a shot. Vary your camera angles, as well as the distance from which you shoot your subjects. Start from farther away, and this will at least mean that if you accidentally frighten your chosen subject or it flies off suddenly, you will have something in the bag.

June 16th & 17th 2020

Location: Kitchener/Cambridge

Weather: Sun, sun, sun

I wasn't expecting to be photographing insects this early in the year - for the last several years I don't start until July, but with the current hot sunny spell it has "forced" me to start early. By July the bird activity generally slows down due to a) the hotter weather and b) the songbirds are already well through their breeding schedule, so not active, and so therefore nothing to photograph ... hence the switch to insects. I actually love photographing bugs - they can be such a challenge.
Anyways, on the 16th I headed out looking for Dragonflies & Damselflies of which there seemed to be much activity, and after a few hours I managed quite a few shots. My technique (if you call it that) is to head to a marshy area where I would expect many of each would be around, as it was.
On the 17th I headed back to the same spot - armed only with macro gear, and guess what ... as soon as I pulled up a Brown Thrasher was out in the open, posing for me, on a low branch ... lesson #### don't go anywhere without proper gear - I popped back to the house to re-arm and managed a few shots of the Thrasher as well as a Yellow Warbler & Kingbird that were also around the same spot, when I returned.
As always ... click on any image to show full size

June 12th & 13th 2020

Location: Perimeter of Algonquin Park

Weather: Cloudy & cool (12th)- Sunny (13th)

A couple of us have been closely watching the weather patterns for a day where the sun is minimal, but hopefully dry and found a couple of days where the conditions were satisfactory. ie minimal harsh light. In my opinion the absolute best weather to photograph songbirds is when there is no direct sun, but still with reasonable light levels a) so that there is no harsh shadows & nasty highlights and b) with decent levels of soft light that keeps the ISO within acceptable limits. The two days 12th & 13th seemed to fit the bill, so a quick hotel booking close by and gas tanks filled and away we go
As always ... click on any image to show full size

June 10th 2020

Location: Elgin County

Weather: Dull start but ended up being a scorcher

First time visiting this spot was very successful - I was able to add a couple of new birds for the year ie the Celurean & the Prothonotary. Strangely enough they were within a couple of hundred yards from each other. There was another bird hanging out in the same general area, and which was also in the highly sought after category - a Yellow-throated Warbler, but unfortunately after some significant looking and listening, we didn't manage to see it.

June 9th 2020

Location: Georgetown

Weather: Sun & Cloud

A few years back we discovered Blackburnian Warblers at this location, and so every year we make a day trip to see if he is still around. This year was no different with the male popping out into the open and giving us some brief views. Same area has a few other birds including Common Yellowthroats in the nearby swamp and a American Redstarts.

Tip of the Day: Finding birds is not only about getting out and exploring various locations - it's also about recording your findings and so by looking back to spots where you found certain birds in previous years, can often be a spot you will that bird in the current year. Birds tend to return year after year to the almost identical spot to breed and raise their young.

June 6th & 8th 2020

Location: Halton Tracts

Weather: Mainly sunny and pretty hot !!

Photographing birds are often like waiting for a bus (not like I've done that for many, many years) but you wait for ages for that bus, then two come along at once.Birding has days like that too .. Right through migration I never saw one then in the last few days I've seen 2 or 3> The images below are two separate birds from two different Tracts. The one on the left was shot without a flash attached and the one on the right with a fill flash. I've mixed feelings about a flash - If you are not really careful the flashed image can look quite false and unnatural.

Tip of the Day: A good tip for finding songbirds in the wood lots we roam around is to be aware of not only the sounds the birds make, but also for any slight movements of leaves and branches. Obviously more effective on a non windy & still day. Another thing to look for is a falling leaf, which can mean that above you a bird is foraging for food and dislodged that leaf - I've found birds on many occasions just by determining which direction that leaf has fallen from.

June 5th 2020

Location: Halton Tracts

Weather: Scorching

Halton Regional Tract system is quite impressive, with several trails, so today I checked out a few of the ones I hadn't visited for some time. It was too hot, so I was back home fairly early, but I did manage a couple of shots. This was the first day of the season where I was able to find easily any Red-eyed Vireos - they were almost everywhere I looked.
Birding in really hot days is not easy - birds tend to stay in the deeper cooler parts of the forest - smart birds !!

June 2nd & 3rd 2020

Location: Halton Tracts & Woodstock

Weather: Hot !!

Day1 - we took a short jaunt down a couple of the Halton trails with some success - We found two Mourning Warblers, with the one shown below close to a nest (although we didn't see the nest the bird made frequent back and forth flights to the exact same clump of deep scrub). Other birds were a Black-throated Blue Warbler and a Hooded Warbler .. both located by call, then tracked down, for the shot.
Day2 - A couple of weeks ago I spotted a Red-headed up in a tree on a back road, but didn't get a chance at a photograph, so today , along with a couple of friends, we went back to check it out. We saw both a male & female at a tree that we assume was a nesting spot. Managed a few fairly low in the tree shots, so pretty happy.
BTW I turned around at one point while photographing a bird to see this guy (the Fox) watching us...

June 1st 2020

Location: Halton Region Tracts

Weather: Mainly sunny ... lighting a bit harsh

Two of the Warblers I missed during the migration surges were these two, and so today I was ecstatic to be able to see and photograph them. My thanks goes to a fellow birder and great shooting partner (you know who you are), for locating these birds and sharing the spots with me ... I owe you big time. These birds are of course the Hooded Warbler and the Mourning Warbler. The light was a bit harsh for decent photography (it was bright sun, so the harsh highlights and the deep shadows made them really tricky to get the best shots), so don't be surprised to see more shots in the coming days ... I am looking for a cloudy day, which in my humble opinion is the best kind of day to shoot colourful birds.

0 Comments

MAY 2020

1/5/2020

1 Comment

May 30th 2020

Location: Bruce Penisula

Weather: Sun & Cloud ... great shooting weather

It's hard to believe that May is almost over ... May is my favorite birding month with migration happening all around us, and the variety of birds snowballing everywhere. On reflection, and even though we were denied our annual trip to Ohio, it ended up being a pretty good month for sightings and images.
Today we headed back again to our spot in the Bruce peninsula to see if we could improve on our previous shots of the Golden-winged Warbler, and of course anything else that popped up. As for the "Golden" we ended up seeing a total of three individuals at three different locations (all within a Km) .. so pretty happy about that. Other sightings were a Black-billed Cuckoo at the exact same spot as a few days ago, so it would appear that there must be a nest in the immediate vicinity. A Northern Flicker chanced by at one location and sat for ages in an apple tree and posed beautifully for at least 10 minutes ... outstanding opportunity.
I'm often asked for locations of the birds we find, but giving out these spots is not something I like to do ... I have spent years and years locating spots that are undeveloped and not widely known about, so to give them away would likely mean that they would no longer be unknown ...

Tip of the Day: Find a good spot - You might go for a drive through a wildlife area, walk on a trail, or sit in one spot and wait for the birds to come to you. One key is to find a place where two habitats meet, such as the edge of a forest and a meadow, or where muddy shorelines meet the water. Finding a spot where birds can find food and water can increase your chances of finding interesting species. Good luck !

May 29th 2020

Location: South side of Cambridge

Weather: Mix of sun and cloud .. very pleasant

It was nice to get out with an old friend .. a keen photographer but very much a non-birder, so I'm not sure the excitement of finding a few nice birds was shared by him as much as it did me. However we had a great chat and maybe today's outing sparked a bit of new interest in photographing our feathered friends.

May 27th & 28th 2020

Location: Bruce Peninsula

Weather: Day1 - Sunny & HOT, Day2 much cooler

A trip up north isn't always a success, but our two day jaunt to an this area, cruising the gravel roads, looking and listening turned up a few nice birds, so unlike some other trips we have had in the past, this one was one that hit the spot so to speak. The target was primarily Golden-winged Warblers and by locating the appropriate habitat we eventually found one that gave us a few nice views. The habitat for this species is typically new forest growth, and other tangled, shrubby habitats such as regenerating clearcuts & wet thickets.
Other sightings were Chestnut-sided Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Towhee and a pair of Black--billed Cuckoos. Interestingly what caught my eye with the Cuckoos was a flurry of activity in peripheral vision, which turned out to be a pair mating on a branch fairly close to where I was standing. The male flew off pretty quickly afterwards (so no photograph), but the female stayed around for a few snaps.

May 25th 2020

Location: Currie Tract

Weather: Hot start (20C at 06:00)

Now that all the Halton Tracts are open I have been anxious to try my luck and see what was lurking up along the Hydro corridor. (which is one of my favorite areas on this trail). As soon as I arrived there were birds dogging back and forward between the swampy area and the new growth below the towers. I was pumped until after getting my bins on most of the individuals to discover that there was none of my target birds in the mix. My targets (pretty hopeful targets) were Canada Warbler, Hooded Warbler & Golden-winged Warbler all of whom I had seen in this area over the years, but not today..

Tip of the Day: Its been a while since I posted a tip, so my apologies for anyone that follows my ramblings.
There are two of our human senses that make locating and photographing birds .. especially songbirds, a definite must. First is obviously sight, and to enhance that is a good pair of binoculars. The second sense is good hearing, and in a lot of ways the more important of the senses for locating our targets. Personally I have lost the high end of the frequency ranges, so I have to rely on someone else, and thankfully I have a couple of birding partners that have excellent hearing. Good hearing is only the first part - it is incredibly important to learn the bird songs that are sung by the birds. These songs can help you identify what is out there and the direction and distance that they can be found. So learn your bird calls !!

May 23rd 2020

Location: Halton Tracts

Weather: Warm start to the day at 25C (6:00am)

Highlight of today was the FOY sighting of a Blue-winged Warbler (hence the multiple images) Prior to finding the Blue-winged and at another couple of tracts we saw and photographed Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Redstarts, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Yellow-Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Cape May Warbler. Other than being a tad warm and with a few black flies buzzin' around, it was a decent day.

May 19th 2020

Location: Brant County

Weather: Cool and dull, but picked up later

It must have been a good night for migrating songbirds as this morning in lots of places around the area there were significant numbers of Warbler & Thrushes.

May 16th 2020

Location: Halton Region Tracts

Weather: Sunny and spring like

With some southern winds in the past couple of days the migration of songbirds has distinctly kicked itself into gear. Today we headed into an area that has always been kind to us in previous years, and today it provided for us some good sightings - Highlights were an Ovenbird that gave us good views, and a few others incl an American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, a pair of Veery, Black &White Warbler, Northern Parula and a couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds... good day, good friends ... great day

May 14th 2020

Location: Col Sam Smith then Puslinch area

Weather: Cloudy and still a tad cool

With the knowledge that a south wind was happening overnight, we planned a trip up to a migrant trap in Toronto along the Lakeshore at Colonel Samuel Smith Park, with the hope there might be a little fallout ... As we walked around the Park alongside a few dozen birders (they also had the same idea it seems) we spotted lots of movement in the upper branches of the mainly quite tall trees. Unfortunately getting decent and usable shots when the targets are up really high is not an easy thing, so we came away from the park mid morning with literally no shots - plenty of sightings ... I think I had around 12 Warbler species and 1 Vireo .
On the way home (a little disgruntled) I stopped of at a couple of spots around Mountsberg, and had some sightings that were OK ... Bobolinks, Field Sparrows, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Lots of Parulas and a surprising (a delightful surprise) of a Tennessee Warbler - unfortunately I didn't get a shot but made my day nonetheless

May 13th 2020

Location: Caledon

Weather: -3C at 7:30 am but warmed up to +12C Sunny

Cold, sunny and very bright ... not the easiest conditions to shoot small birds in, but I was still pleased to get the variety we ended up with. When the sun is bright like this ii is best handled by keeping the sun directly behind you, so that the shadows on the bird are minimized. East to say, I know, but not always the easiest to achieve, but when it works out the results are quite satisfactory and you don't have the harsh contrasts and shadows to deal with in post-processing.
BTW ... thanks to Steve for finding this spot ... I will definitely keep it in mind for future outings.

May 11th 2020

Location: Kitchener to Grass Lake

Weather: Snowy start but warmed up slightly later

I woke up to a snow covered scene outside ... May 11th is way too late in the year for snow, but there it was covering the lawn, and my vehicles out the front of my house.... Unreal!!
Now that my moan is out of the way, and a bit later than I normally leave to go look for birds, I headed out to my first stop - Grass Lake. Target here was the reported Bobolinks that had arrived and sure enough there was at least 5 that I spotted along the section of gravel road in front of the towers. There was also a few Savannah Sparrows, but no sign of any Grasshopper Sparrows though.
I dropped by both Lakeside Park & Riverside Park, and both pretty much devoid of any migrants ... not so good
I ended back home and set up a camera out onto my deck area to finish the day. A White crowned Sparrow & a Chipping Sparrow were the highlights

May 10th 2020

Locations: Oakville to Burlington

Weather: Sun.cloud & a spot of rain .. still cold

Today's "mission" was to locate & photograph some Warblers. A start up in Oakville at Arkendo Park was successful somewhat in the location side of things with sightings of a Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Palm, Nashville and a surprising and very pleasant surprise of a Cape May Warbler. Unfortunately we were traveling light at this point (no cameras) so obviously no images. A couple of other stops between here and Burlington were not so successful either, but we did catch a few glimpses of some of the more common "Wobblies".
Our final stop of the day was at Thornapple Loop in Burlington, but again, other than a brief glimpse of a Palm Warbler, there was no Warbler images to show for our efforts. We did however see these two little beauties ... a Carolina Wren and a very decorative Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

8th May 2020

Locations: Lakeside Park & Riverside Park

Weather: Cold (around 0C)

The forecast this morning was to be around and below freezing, with a likelihood of some snowy activity, so going too far from home wasn't in the plans. I decided to check out two of the better local parks where bird activity is more likely ie Lakeside Park in Kitchener, and Riverside Park in Cambridge. I wasn't expecting too much based on the fact that migration will have stalled due to the icy temperatures, so I was frankly quite amazed to find anything to photograph. Lakeside had around 5 or 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers buzzing around the rivers edge, and at least one Warbling Vireo in the same locale. The "Rumps" weren't cooperating but the Vireo came close and posed a couple of times ... awesome, and a FOY for me too.
First thing I did when I arrived at Riverside was to check up on the two nests that I know about a) a Pileated and b) a Hairy Woodpecker. Unfortunately there seemed to be nothing happening, so I headed to the Boardwalk. It was quite birdy with lots of House Sparrows, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds and on the better side of the coin ... a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Swamp Sparrow and a Yellow Warbler. Ended up being a decent morning.

5th, 6th & 7th May 2020

Locations: Within 45 mins of Cambridge

Weather: Mix of sun & cloud, warm & cool

A few more from the last three days ... I'll try to add some of the stories behind the shots a bit later ... I hope

2nd, 3rd & 4th May 2020

Locations: Between Cambridge & Paris

Weather: Mainly sun & cloud

I've been a bit lax in keeping things up to date, so I've grouped a few days together, as I will with the next entry as well in an attempt to catch up ...
Warbler numbers are starting to perk up, so we can safely assume that migration is under way. As well as the "Wobblies" there are quite a few others finding their way into the viewfinder ... it's been along wait, but spring migration is under way :)

1st May 2020

Location: Paris to Burlington

Weather: Dull start but brightened up

Brown Thrasher

Well ... First things first - Happy May Day to all of you, and welcome to the start of what's often referred to as Migration Month. Normally at this time of year I've already spent several days in Southern Ohio a) to catch migration as it passes through that area and b) to photograph some of the great songbirds they take for granted down in that neck of the woods - Worm-eating, Prairie, Hooded, Celerean, Yellow-throated, Kentucky (all Warblers) as well as White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat and a few others that's not quite coming to mind. Hopefully after all this madness is over I can visit next year ... I hope.
Today, I drove around a few spots .. probably more driving than I had planned but I was anxious to find a few new visitors, but unfortunately they were pretty thin on the ground at the spots I checked out. Saying that I did find a Brown Thrasher, Palm Warbler, Eastern Towhee and a surprising Cedar Waxwing flock along one of the minor roads. Before I went looking for songbirds, I dropped by the now quite famous Sandhill Crane nest, and it looks like the chicks have hatched, as I could see the mama "playing" with an egg sac, but of course she was sitting on the new arrival(s) ... great news, so lets hope they make it ...

1 Comment

APRIL 2020

1/4/2020

0 Comments

28th - 29th April 2020

Locations: 28th - Paris; 29th - Cambridge

Weather: Cloudy with some light, of and on drizzle

Tip of the Day: Today's tip is very important and something you should do reasonably regular (say once a year, or so) - Check the calibration on your equipment. For long lenses - zoom, fixed and both with, and without tele-converters installed. For shorter lenses it's less important, but won't do any harm. I use a Spyder LENSCAL, and do an outdoor setup on a cloudy (non windy) day, using the procedure and distances recommended by Spyder. Keep in mind that the Camera-to-subject distance should be somewhere in the 25 - 50 times the focal length of the lens.
https://www.datacolor.com/photography-design/product-overview/spyderlenscal/

These two images were taken next to a couple of ponds/marshy areas on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Some from the 29th ... First two (Pine Warbler & Hermit Thrush) were taken in and around Kitchener & Cambridge, but the bottom two (Chipping Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow) were taken in my back yard.

27th April 2020

Location: Hamilton - Paris

Weather: Sunny .. and now feels like spring

FIrst stop the Great-horned Owl chicks on the Escarpment in Hamilton, then over to Paris for another look for the the Yellow-headed Blackbird (no luck), but a Sora popped out and gave us a show.

25th April 2020

Location: Paris - Brantford

Weather: Spring like .. at last

A return visit to the Yellow-headed Blackbird location was not successful - after a few hours it became apparent that this welcome & surprise guest has maybe moved on. Too bad, but it was going to happen - nothing was going to sop[ that eventuality. On the plus side the jungle telegraph brought out a few birders, some of whom are friends and acquaintances, so it was nice to see a few faces I hadn't seen for a while ... while still maintaining social distancing of course
A few sightings from the general area below ..

Tip of the Day: When photographing wildlife, try to tell a story. Some birds fly... a Beavers builds a dam... Some birds eat fish, some eat seeds and Vultures scavenge. You can share all that information, with the viewer, through your photographs.

23rd & 24th April 2020

Location: Brant County, around West Dumfries Road

Weather:Still cold. . 23rd - damp and 24th - sun & cloud

Yesterday, the 23rd I headed down initially to West Dumfries Road in Brant County, which oddly enough I lived on this road for a short time back almost 20 years ago. Anyways, the target being a reported Yellow-headed Blackbird on a local pond. I hung around with a couple other diehards for a couple of hours, but no luck, so I headed from there to the SC Johnson Trail just outside Brantford, and was blessed with an hour of pretty good sightings - a Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee and Palm Warbler and all within 10 mins or so. After which I headed back to West Dumfries Road and saw tha Bald Eagle than at the Blackbird site I watched the nesting Sandhill Cranes do some maintenance on their nest (turning the (2) eggs they have).
Today (the 24th) I headed back to West Dumfries Road, with a determination that I must see this vagrant Yellow-headed Blackbird. After a short time we got a few glimpses of this bird, but over the next few hours we were able to see the bird a few times, but not in ideal situations, and a bit far, but happy to get the sighting anyways.

20th April 2020

Location: Barrie

Weather: Sunny

Today I broke my own rules about staying local and headed to Barrie, where there were several Loons reported fairly close to shore., but the weather was reported to be a) sunny and mild and b) more importantly almost zero winds, so the water should be glass calm (as it turned out to be). What wasn't so good was the need to be there by 6:30am, so as to catch the best light, and with me living 2 hours away it meant getting up in the middle of the night ... It might be any early night for me zzzzzz

18th - 19th April 2020

Location: 18th (Flamborough) 19th around home

Weather: 18th (sun) 19th (cloud & rain)

A couple of days chasing a few birds ...

16th April 2020

Location: Pushlinch, then my back yard

Weather: Sunny to begin then cloudy, but COLD

You have probably noticed that I shoot most days - since I retired, photographing birds has been an obsession, and even more so since the COVID-19 crisis hit us all. These days I don't go too far, and in fact I try to stay within 15-20 mins from home. All said, there are lots of birds within our general areas, and the secret (if you call it that) is to know where they can be found, and when.
This morning I headed out to the east side of Cambridge and into the Pushlinch district. As always there was a target (today was a Northern Waterthrush, that had been seen at Little Tract), but unfortunately it wasn't to be found and neither were any of the Warbler/songbird species I thought might also be found. At a nearby lake I did find a few interesting Ducks incl Ring-necked, Wigeon and best of all a few Ruddy's .
The Blue Jay, House Finches, Cowbird, Downy, Chipping Sparrow, Grackle & Cardinal from my back yard this afternoon

15th April 2020

Location: Kitchener - North Dumfries

Weather: Sun, cloud, cold & windy

A run around North Dumfries (south of Cambridge towards Paris) resulted in a couple of goodies - Pine Warbler, Killdeer & Vesper Sparrow. The target was a Lapland Longspur reputed to be in the same area, but no luck. The others were taken in my back yard later in the afternoon

14th April 2020

Location: East side of Kitchener

Weather: Sun & Cloud, but cool

I took a short run around some local spots I know, and because of our current crisis I kept to approx 15mins from home. Even before I left home this morning I had a surprising sighting - I was looking out my patio doors with my morning tea (still in the jam jams :) ) in my hand, and a Fox trotted over to my garden pond, took a drink, then after about 4 seconds took off again. Thankfully my camera was right beside me so I managed to get off a few clicks.
Highlight of my run out was a few Vesper Sparrows that were foraging in a local corn field stubble.

Tip of the Day: Photographing birds is one of the most challenging forms of wildlife photography because you may only have a fleeting few moments before your subject is disappearing beyond the treeline. Prepare your settings as much as possible before you even catch a glimpse of your subject. If you’re moving through varying habitat or the light levels and weather are frequently changing, make sure that you are taking test shots every few minutes to ensure that the images are adequately exposed and shooting fast enough to freeze the motion of leaves and foliage without blur (this is a great way to ensure that you are shooting with a fast enough shutter speed to capture sharp images of the bird species you’re waiting for!).

12th April 2020

Location: Kitchener

Weather: Cloudy

A trip to a local woodlot was pretty successful with a FOY Warbler ... a Pine Warbler - let the real spring birding begin :)
Other sightings were both Kinglets - ie Ruby-crowned & Golden-crowned. When I returned home a Chipping Sparrow (another FOY) was running about my deck, so it was a short day, but not bad for the time of year. By the way FOY = First of Year

9th April 2020

Location: Back roads south end of Kitchener perimeter

Weather: Windy, and a bit dull

Today, I did a short run around a few back lanes on the south end of Kitchener close to where I live. Nothing too much around, but at one spot I had a few Kinglets, mainly Golden-crowned, but this Ruby-crowned popped out into the open for a micro second.

8th April 2020

Location: North Dumfries

Weather: Cloudy start, but brighter later

7th April 2020

A run around some of the local spots in North Dumfries, which is the rural area between Cambridge & Paris, resulted in a few sightings, some of which are below. Other sightings were a couple of Northern Flickers. Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Ospreys, Bluebirds, and of course a ton of Grackles, Blackbirds and Cowbirds.
The highlight for me was the re-discovery of a Sandhill Crane nest, which I've known about for 2 or 3 years, and sure enough they're back. The female (I assume) was on the nest with the male standing guard a short distance away.

Location: My back yard in Kitchener

Weather: Cloudy then a little drizzle later

A backyard day, and it can be a lot of fun too. Maybe not getting the new arrivals or any of the other interesting birds that are around, but even the common birds have some beauty and are worth photographing. The birds below were photographed around my rear deck feeder setup.
Tip of the Day below explains some of the techniques.

Tip of the Day: If you have access to an outside area, that can be setup in such a way to allow some bird feeders to be setup, or at least somewhere you can layout some bird seed. The images above were captured with some bird seen laid out along my deck railings, and some branch props setup such that when the birds come down to feed on the railing seed, they will first land on my branches before dropping down to the actual seed level. These branches and some short logs are screwed to the deck structure (so the squirrels don't move them around). Lay them out with room between them (you don't want neighboring branches to end up in the image with the target branch). Make sure that there is nothing in the immediate vicinity behind the perches (ideally at least 10 feet, but preferably more). Change the branch layouts, and angles that they are fixed every other day, so that the images have some variety. Setup your camera/lens inside the house and shoot through the glass, but take some time to clean the glass inside and outside, to maximize the image quality. Settings should be aperture as wide open as your setup is good with, but somewhere less than f7.1. Speed can be a little slow, since you are mounted on a tripod - I usually work out at around 1/320 - 1/400, and ISO whatever your aperture/speed combination balances out at, but AutoUSO is not a bad idea.

6th April 2020

Location: Kitchener- Cambridge

Weather:Cool start, but Spring like

Covid-19 has us all staying close to home, and I am certainly trying to abide by the recommendations given to us by the authorities. Although we are not in a total quarantine situation, we are required not to drift too far from your home turf, so for the next while I will try to stay within 10 miles of home. Reality is there is not too much to shoot further afield from that anyways. We are fortunate in the KW area to have quite a good variety of habitat to work from.
Today I went as far as Grass Lake, which is only 10 mins from home. In the last couple of days I have seen a couple of FOY (first of year) birds - the Tree Swallow and a Savannah Sparrow - both of which seem to be pretty early relative to other years.
Other sightings .. Buffleheads, Ospreys, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Grackles, Horned Larks, Blue Jays, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flicker, Chickadee, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a non-bird sighting of a Coyote.

3rd April 2020

Location: Grass Lake and area

Weather: Sunny, cool start but warmed up

Another day where the highlights and shadows are an issue, but I don't suppose choice is in the formula, so you take what you can get. Target today was to drive past a couple of spots where in the past I've found nesting Eastern Phoebes. I've been doing this for the past 10 days, but up until today, it was unsuccessful - today I had a pair Phoebes show up at one these nest sites and on the plus side, they were very cooperative and allowed me a few shots.

2nd April 2020

Location: Puslinch area

Weather: Sunny and very mild (11C)

It's nice to some decent weather for a change, but the bright sun, as the morning progresses, is tough to work with. The deeper shadows and bright highlights are not easy to post process. I find myself doing several "remove highlights" and "increase shadows" in the early processing in Lightroom to try and neutralize the contrast issues. This is of course one of the reasons I often mention that I prefer a duller/cloudier day for wildlife photography.
I have been cruising past this small lake for the last 10 days or so, in the hope of finding the annual visitors - the Pied-billed Grebes, and today 2 of them showed up. Most years there is least 2 pairs so maybe more to come in the coming days ... lets hope. While waiting on the Pied-billed to venture into a photo position a couple of muskrats did some cruising back & forward.

Tip of the Day: Now that expensive film is a thing of the past, there’s no reason to be inhibited. A full day of shooting may yield only a few keepers, so stick your settings to continuous shooting, and fire away. The art of great wildlife photography is part luck, but mostly it revolves around your own patience in the field and practice with a camera.

1st April 2020

Location: Grass Lake and area

Weather: Blue skies, and spring like (+11C)

Well ... that's another month in the bag, and the good birding months are up ahead (May, June are my favorite), but with our current crisis I'm not sure what the opportunities, or should I say the lack of them, are going to be over the next few months.
Anyways one step at a time .... today I headed back to the Grass Lake area, and toured a few of the gravel roads in the vicinity. Grass Lake itself wasn't to good, although I did see (2) Sandhill Cranes, (1) Osprey and (1) Bluebird.
In our troubled days, and with self isolation in effect, a good way to locate birds is to slowly cruise a few likely habitats and see what moves. Once located a short stake out can result in the target drifting within photographing range. Pishing or even playing a few calls (in moderation), can help to bring them closer.
The build up of certain species is very obvious with birds like the Song Sparrow, being along every back road this week. Another, without counting the Robin or Starling or Red-winged Blackbird, or Grackle is the Turkey Vulture. Both the Song Sparrow and the Vulture were everywhere today.

0 Comments

<<Previous

JULY 2020

Jul 2nd & 4th 2020

July 1st 2020

JUNE 2020

June 26th & 27th 2020

June 25th 2020

June 23rd & 24th 2020

June 19th, 20th and 22nd 2020

June 16th & 17th 2020

June 12th & 13th 2020

June 10th 2020

June 9th 2020

June 6th & 8th 2020

June 5th 2020

June 2nd & 3rd 2020

June 1st 2020

MAY 2020

May 30th 2020

May 29th 2020

May 27th & 28th 2020

May 25th 2020

May 23rd 2020

May 19th 2020

May 16th 2020

May 14th 2020

May 13th 2020

May 11th 2020

May 10th 2020

8th May 2020

5th, 6th & 7th May 2020

2nd, 3rd & 4th May 2020

​1st May 2020

APRIL 2020

28th - 29th April 2020

27th April 2020

25th April 2020

23rd & 24th April 2020

20th April 2020

18th - 19th April 2020

16th April 2020

15th April 2020

14th April 2020

12th April 2020

9th April 2020

8th April 2020

7th April 2020

6th April 2020

3rd April 2020

2nd April 2020

1st April 2020

​Blog Author

Archives

1st May 2020

Blog Author