I always find Bluebirds to be very interesting. Here we are in the middle of winter, albeit mild for the time of year, and there are a dozen or so Bluebirds hanging out at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery  in Burlington ... shouldn't they be wintering somewhere a bit warmer and with more available food than here. However they seem to be surviving quite well ... even with a lurking Northern Shrike in the same area. Although strictly speaking these birds are omnivorous, they are mainly insectivorous by nature, and much prefer bugs, but it can't be easy for these little beauties to find bugs. 
Other species in the neighbourhood were American Tree Sparrows, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, and of course, the previously mentioned Northern Shrike. I had hoped the Shrike would have been a bit more available, but other than my first view (and it was at a significant distance) it stayed a long way off.

I have been following a few reports about the raptor photography opportunities along the back roads that border the small town of Melbourne (south west of London), and with that knowledge & information, a friend and I headed down to check it out. One of the reports was of a couple of Short-eared Owls that have been sitting on fences along the side of the road, so it was definitely  a "I hope we see one" target for us.  Unfortunately we never saw any owls, of any species, in the few hours we spent tracking the gravel roads in the neighbourhood.
On the plus side we did see several other raptor species including several Northern Harriers, a Rough-legged Hawk, a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, a Bald Eagle and a surprising and very welcome American Kestrel. Unfortunately all of our sightings were a tad far off for decent photography (especially in the drab lighting), but still a delight to see.  We also saw a significant flock of Horned Larks that were foraging, as they do, in the remnants of old cornfields.

I was contacted by a nice gentleman from Waterloo who said that he had an interesting bird coming to his feeders on a daily basis. I was informed that this bird was hanging out with the Juncos and the Chickadees and he was kind enough to send me a cell phone image of said bird. I studied the image for quite a while, but the image quality was not too good, so I was asked if I would like to come to the house to see it for myself.
Thankfully the address was 20 mins away ... so couldn't get any better. Just as I arrived the bird was at the feeders, but left almost immediately, so even though I managed a quick "snap" through the window, it wasn't enough for a positive ID. Fortunately a half hour later the mystery bird returned and so I was able to fire off a couple of shots. I could now see that the bird was very much a Junco based bird, and after a little research I determined that it was indeed a partially Leucistic Dark-eyed Junco .... see below . My grateful thanks goes out to Bob, for his hospitality  and for the opportunity to see this fantastic bird.

A trip to a local Cemetery in Burlington this morning was quite successful with an encounter with approximately 8 Eastern Bluebirds. The light was a bit harsh, but you take what you can get, when presented. The blue of the Bluebird was a tad overpowering in the bright light, but I'm pretty sure these birds will be hanging out here for several days (I'm sure), so another trip when the light is a bit more forgiving is on the cards. A good rule of thumb is that the brighter or more vivid the bird, then a duller scenario works better.

When the weather doesn't cooperate I often set up a little shooting scenario from my Dining Room, through the patio doors, to a little setup arrangement on my deck. I collect mossy logs and some lichen covered, and other interesting  branches and arrange them along the top rail of my outdoor deck. Thus setup I have my camera & 500mm lens on a tripod and with some seed etc out of shot, I take a few images when the birds visit.  I rarely get anything other than the common garden bird species, but it is a lot of fun, and keeps me out of mischief (so my wife says, anyways). 

With a once in a lifetime bird hanging out in our region it was hard to stay away, so today I made another trip up to the small town of Schomberg to get a few more shots of this little beauty. There are many birders who say that a short visit of 30 minutes (once) is enough, and that any more is not necessary and will distract the bird from its all important task of hunting for food. I don't disagree that hunting for food is the birds primary focus, but the presence of a few spectators did not seem to affect the bird one iota. Actually today there was more like a 100 birders & photographers, but even that didn't seem to affect the bird. The Owl continued to hunt almost non stop and barely looked up/out at the gallery of spectators.Sometimes the bird would fly in towards the people and land less than 20 feet away - humans were not an item to be afraid of it seemed. On the whole the visitors were very well behaved and didn't stress the bird. 

About 10 days ago an interesting bird (Northern Hawk Owl) was reported in Schomberg, which is about 90 minutes from here in Kitchener. After the initial reports it went quiet, so I assumed the bird had moved on, but on Wednesday it was reported yet again,  and so it was too good of a chance to pass up and I headed up there to see if I could get a few images.
This is another "life" bird for me so I was quite excited, as I headed up, with the possibility of some image captures of this unusual bird. (Hawk Owls are rarely seen this far south). 
Unbelievably this Owl has been hanging out in a small swampy area generally in the middle of the small town of Schomberg, and within minutes of arriving I'm looking at the bird through my lens, and almost filling the frame - it was that close. I should also point out that the bird was fearless of the few photographers & birders that were there, and continued to hunt all around where we were - sometimes flying and landing on a low tree less than 30 feet from where we were standing. 
The bird had no problem locating and catching prey (mainly Meadow Voles) - some of which it ate right away, and many were left in the low trees, between branch & trunk, and some stuffed into crevices in the tree - thus creating a food store for "leaner" times.
You'll notice in the images below that there is some colour variations, and was all down to the light levels, and as to whether it was sun or shade.

Things have generally been pretty quiet in the and around the area, so I often setup bird feeders in my back yard and see what shows up. For the most part it's Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos & Downy Woodpeckers, and they are such fun to photograph. All of the images were taken from inside the house (through the Patio Doors off my dining room), so even though it was a bit chilly some days, I was very comfortable inside the house. Lots of Squirrels around - mainly Grey & Black, but there has been one little cute, but very timid, Red Squirrel, which I love to photograph :)  

Half the fun of birding is the getting together with a couple of friends and seeing what's around. Today was one of those days ... thanks Steve and Maureen. We had some no-shows and a couple of nice opportunities. 

First day of December, and it was a nasty, miserable wintry day. Throughout our region the weather forecast was for freezing rain or ice pellets, so it was definitely a day to stay at home. So yesterday, in anticipation of the upcoming blast of winter, I headed out to a local woodlot/swamp and picked up a couple of pieces of mossy logs, and set them up along the rails of my back yard deck, and with a camera setup on a tripod in front of the dining room patio doors, I was able to fire off a few shots despite the conditions, through the glass in dry comfort. The light was pretty poor but one thing about using a full frame camera, is that high ISO isn't a big problem, as you can see from the images below. These images are all taken at somewhere between 1600 & 4000 ISO.

Sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time and have the good luck to capture an interesting moment. Unfortunately today I was at the right place, but that special moment I was about 2 or 3 seconds too late for (aaagh!)
I spotted the Screech Owl up in the tree and immediately set about getting my tripod and camera set up, but just before I was ready, a Squirrel came around in front of the hole and for about 2 seconds was face to face with the Owl. The Owl turned it's head and looked at the visitor, but it was all over in a heartbeat... it would have been a great moment to capture, but I missed it .... I should have had on my lucky socks ;) 

My target today was a Black Scoter, which wasn't too hard to find - a few of them have been reported on Lake Ontario close to shore (fairly close), at Grays Road, in Stoney Creek. This was my second visit to this location. as my first visit a few days the water was choppy, so the boys and girls were all quite a ways. I'm not obsessed with my bird count, or my lifer list, but still was nice to add this bird to both lists anyways.
Grays Road, as is a few of the dead end streets that end at the edge of Lake Ontario all through this area, a good spot to see and photograph some excellent winter waterfowl - Surf Scoters, Black Scoters, White-winged Scotters, Goldeneyes (99% Common Goldeneyes, but there is a at least one Barrows Goldeneye hanging out there as well (I couldn't find it today) Scaup, Long-tailed Ducks (lots), Mergansers and a few others.  

If it wasn't for the strong winds it would have been a pleasant day, but with these strong winds I wondered as to whether it might be good for some bird action shots. I chose the Lift Bridge Canal Pier in Burlington, as a likely spot. This is one of my favorite spots for taking flight shots of ducks and similar species, and today was an excellent day for it. However, as I stood in the strong, and pretty cold, winds at the end of the pier I was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea or not. 
The birds that were there weren't exciting or remotely rare, other than maybe the Black-backed Gull, but it was a lot of fun.

For the last few mornings I have made a run along Whistlebear Road and Langdon Drive just south of the small village of Blair (near Cambridge) looking for anything interesting and especially any Raptors that I can find. Yesterday (16th) as well as watching several flocks of Sandhill Cranes pass over, I spotted a light phase Rough-legged Hawk. Unfortunately for me, the Roughie was generally heading away from me, so I was unable to get any decent shots, but I was rather elated that at least I saw this one. This morning (17th) I headed back to the same location and what's been my principle target for several days popped up in front of me, albeit at some distance .... a Northern Shrike. An hour or so later I spotted him again, although it was closer this time, it was still a good distance, so I was generally disappointed with my shots, but ..... you can bet your life I'll be back in the coming days. This area has been an annual sighting spot for this species for several years, so the odds are good that I'll see him again. 
This morning (17th) I had another significant flyover of several dozen Sandhills and this time they came down in the field adjacent the road, but a bit far any detailed photography.  
Other sightings over the last two days: Red-tailed Hawk, Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Coopers Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Chickadee, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tree Sparrow ....

It was a tad dull this morning with snow flurries throughout our area so it was a day to stay local. I did head out for about an hour to check out an area I have been keeping an eye on as it can often produce some interesting species, and in fact yesterday at this location, I had quite a large flight of Sandhill Cranes pass overhead. I have added a pic said Sandhills below. Sightings this morning however were a little smaller in size - lots of Juncos, and in one spot about 20 or so Cedar Waxwings. The big surprise, and the main reason I have checking out this spot, was a a Northern Shrike that gave me, very briefly, a pose, but too short of a pose for a photograph ... but you can be sure I'll be heading back a few times over the coming days. For those who are local, and might be interested, the location is the gravel road (Township Road 1, and is at the end of Langdon Drive) just south of Blair. 
The rest of the day I spent watching my backyard feeders, and had many of the usual and expected species visiting. The Cowbird was a  bit of a pleasant surprise though.
  

  Yesterday (Remembrance Day) we were subjected to a much too early in the season snow storm, which dumped close to 6 inches of the white stuff in our area. This morning after looking out at the early morning light I could see that it was going to be be quite a bright day - maybe not the best light for nature photography, but it was definitely going to be very picturesque. I had a few things in mind as i headed out, one being there should be a lot early wintering waterbirds along the lakeshore, and two maybe get a nice wren or similar foraging in the snow ... maybe !!
  First stop when I reached the Lake was to check out Woodlands Cemetery for the Screech Owl. In previous years there was usually two of these little beauties at consistent locations in and around the Cemetery, but as far as I can make it it's down to single Red Morph, but he was in the open hole in the tree, and fast sleep. Even when the snow plow passed by below him he only just cracked his one eye open a fraction, and only for a second or two. 
  Other land bird sightings included ... Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay, Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco and surprisingly a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers

Because of other priorities, and the fact that there wasn't really much around to warrant a road trip somewhere, I therefore  spent a little time along the boardwalk at Riverside Park in Cambridge. This location is very popular with walkers & ramblers, many of whom will set out seed for the resident and seasonal species that hang out here, so there is usually something to photograph along the length of the boardwalk. For the most part, the species found here are "garden birds" - Chickadees, Cardinaals, Sparrows etc etc, but sometimes something a bit more interesting shows up, but over the last few days the most interesting has been a Winter Wren and a Red-bellied Woodpecker, but one keeps on hoping :) 

Again with the rarities showing up in our general area, it was hard to resist the opportunity to "chase" another one and see this very welcome visitor to our area. Today's rarity was a Western Kingbird - not the first one I've seen, but the first one in Ontario for sure (at least for me). After seeing and photographing this gorgeous bird - even though it had a bit of a bad "haircut" It looked like a reverse mohawk, and I suspect it must be the result of a molt.
After getting a few shots of our visitor we trekked to the other side of the highway to see if we could see another rarity that has been reported there, but not seen too often - a Nelson's Sparrow. This species is known to be very secretive, so I wasn't too optimistic, and after an hour we gave up and headed back out of the swamp. A few Song Sparrows were around and one gave me a great pose :)

As it always seems to happen at this time of year, a few birds during migration get things a tad mixed up, and end somewhere there not supposed to be. This year is no different with several reports of "rarities" in our our area. I say rarities, but in most cases these birds are quite common in their home territories, but exciting for us here nonetheless
This morning we headed down to a public park in Oakville to see if we could see & photograph a Black-throated Sparrow that had showed up here yesterday. The Black-throated would normally be found in the western US ... California, Arizona & New Mexico and after migration in the western parts of Mexico, so as you can see this little guy is somewhat lost.
We arrived at the reported spot and almost immediately we were seeing him foraging around along the side of pathways within the park area. He seemed to be quite fearless and once or twice we witnessed him at the feet of birders & photographers. Unfortunately our celebrity is a little tatty ... I suppose the long journey has taken a bit of a toll on his good looks.
After a few photos we headed to Sedgewick to see if we could see any other goodies .... a few Yellow-rumped Warblers around as well as some Kinglets and a Carolina Wren

The weather wasn't looking very promising, but at least it was dry (or it was when I left the house), but it was definitely the weather to stay fairly close to home. Riverside Park is an excellent spot for many kinds of birds, with a varied habitat from river, woodland & swamp, and very much a recommended spot to visit. This morning, when I first arrived along my favorite spot along the boardwalk, there wasn't too much around, but I came prepared with a bag of mixed seed. I often think that getting birds coming to a spot will often generate other birds to hang around the same area, and as usual there was some mixed activity. A few birds came down to the seed (Cardinals, Chickadees etc) and a few other birds hung out on the periphery of the feeding action 

Looking out of my patio doors, this morning, to the trees out back, I was surprised to see a Turkey Vulture or maybe not so surprised - A couple of days ago my wife called me while I was on a photo shoot, saying that there was a Turkey Vulture sitting on the upper rail of our deck. I told her that No ... it was more likely a Turkey (which I have seen in our yard on a few occasions in the past), so it was thus recorded. I have had therefore had to eat a little humble pie because of the doubt I had for my wife's visual skills LOL
Anyways this little cutie spent a couple of hours hanging out and gave me a a few photo opportunities. ......... 

Although birds and other wildlife are my main focus, I also like to photograph some of the other elements of nature, including landscapes, so over the last few days we have checked out a few of the most excellent waterfalls that the Hamilton area has to offer.

My first day out after returning from my UK trip - I wasn't expecting too much as it's that time of year, but it was surprisingly good. As I left the house I had no idea where I was going, but I headed east on the 401 and as I neared Highway 6, I decided to head down to the Dundas area, and Thornapple Loop ... one of my fav spots, and I'm really glad I did - birds were active along my chosen trail for the day.
Almost immediately I'm seeing Kinglets. but only Ruby-crowned, and then as I watched some shrubbery movement, that I assumed was another  Kinglet - out popped a Blue-headed Vireo  ... my bird of the day. The other good bird of the morning was the Hermit Thrushes, of which there were several. Several of them gave me a show as they zipped back and forward between shrubbery outcrops, and I was able to get a few shots off when one of them would occasionally land in the open.

I'm originally from a small town in the SW corner of Scotland, and so periodically I head back there to visit relatives - mainly my mother & younger sister, but while in the area I play a little "hookey" and head out birding. The area along the Solway coast can be quite good for many species of birds, and so I was quite excited to get out and about. Unfortunately my time was limited so I could only manage a few hours in any given day. My home town of Dumfries is very close to the salt marshes around Caerlaverock and so this was a favorite spot during my visit.
Usually I only take along a 100-400, but this time I lugged along a 500mm and a 1.4 TC, so I was able to get a little more reach and to some extent, a little more detail in the pics. 
I was generally quite happy with the species seen and for the most part photographed, but boy, I could have used a tripod - a monopod just doesn't give the same amount of stability and freedom of movement. Some of the species were Robin, Wren, Blackbird, .Red Kite, Buzzard, Redwing, Goldfinch, Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Barnacle Goose, Grey-lag Goose, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Ring-necked Dove, Moorhen, Curlew, Stonechat, Tufted Duck, Tree Creeper, Dunnock, Magpie, Widgeon, Gray Wagtail, Song Thrush, Rock Pipit ... and many others.

This spot is often quite productive, but this morning it was deathly quiet. We spent 2.5 hours along this one section and other than a couple of Hermit Thrushes and for some reason a few Woodpecker species (Flicker, Red-bellied & Downy), there was no movement of any migrants (Warblers, Vireos, Kinglets etc). 

As I'm driving down Highway 6 towards my target spot for the morning it's drizzling rain on my windshield and the temperature gauge on my dash is showing 9C. It's times like this I wonder what I'm doing out of bed before 6:00am and heading to lonely spot in the open to photograph a few birds (if I'm REALLY lucky).
As it turned out the rain stopped when I got there and within minutes of arriving at my favorite spot along this trail, I'm photographing one of my target birds for the day - the beautiful Blue-headed Vireo. By 8:30 it's warmed up (a bit), the light has improved and I was having fun. Over the next couple of hours I was fortunate to witness a couple of waves of migrating songbirds pass by my spot. I saw & photographed most of the following, although some of the shots ended up in the recycle bin (which is pretty normal for most outings) ... Blue-headed, Philadelphia & red-eyed Vireos. Black-throated Green, Northern Parula,Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers. A few Hermit Thrushes, and a single Swainson's Thrush also showed up, and of course the inevitable, for this time of year, Ruby-crowned & Golden-crowned Kinglets. Most certainly was it worth getting out of bed for :)