April 29th 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener & North Dumfries | WEATHER:Quite hot, but sun/cloud and a bit rain |
Spent a few hours at Lakeside Park in Kitchener than in late afternoon I took a drive down a favorite gravel road in North Dumfries but although I heard a few songbirds, the only one that "posed" was the Waterthrush
April 27th 2025
| LOCATION: Local to Kitchener Cambridge area | WEATHER: Sun, but cool early then warmed up |
| .Migrants are slowly arriving and popping up in front of my camera. Not as early as previous years but they are, and that's the main thing. The only "first of season" species today was the House Wren |  House Wren |
April 25th & 26th 2025
| LOCATION: D1-Flamborough D2-Brant County | WEATHER: Back to unseasonal cooler days |
Day1: Checked out a few spots in the Flamborough area and was delighted with a few reasonably close encounters of the Teal species and a couple of other birds. Day2: Although cool there was some initial good migration activity, with the highlight being a FOS Northern Waterthrush
April 24th 2025
| LOCATION: Huron Natural Area, Kitchener | WEATHER: Sunny and warm |
It was a beautiful day and HNA is an excellent place to go for a nature walk. As I was hoping the warm weather has prompted the migrants into gear and so there were a few clusters of birds coming into the open periodically, so at long last spring migration is happening, for today anyways.
April 23rd 2025
| LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County | WEATHER: Sunny start, chilly, then warmed up |
| Tim and I teamed up today to take our weekly run around the area, which included Grass Lake, Paris Plains, West Dumfries Road and a few other places, with mixed success. We were delighted to find our FOS Field Sparrow (and there were several along different roads) and to find several Vesper along Paris Plains as well. On the neg side we had hoped for some Warblers other than the Pine we found. We did here a Yellow-rumped at one spot , but it didn't show. The other species on todays wish list was the Eastern Towhee but nothing anywhere unfortunately. |  Pine Warbler |
April 22nd 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener | WEATHER: Mix of sun/cloud/warm/chilly |
A short walk around Huron Natural Area in Kitchener this am ... It was a little quiet, but still very enjoyable.
Tip of the Day: A good ethical practice in wildlife photography is to not reveal the location of sensitive or sought-after species on social media, as often this will attract too much attention and visitors to the wildlife, interfering with normal behavior like feeding or resting, all important in the survival of these wonderful animals. One way of doing this is to delay posting until the wildlife has moved on.
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
April 19th & 20th 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener (D1at Home,D2 at HNA) | WEATHER: Spring like getting ... |
Now that spring has kicked in a bit more , we are seeing a few more birds around. Yesterday (19th) we had a few nice birds around our back yard - Chipping White-throated, Song and of course the inevitable House Sparrow. Today the 20th I headed to Huron Natural Area with the hope to see a Pine Warbler and I was delighted when I saw at least 3 of them along my short walk. As well as the Pine I also saw a couple of Hermit Thrushes, but they were a tad quick for me so no pic.
Tip of the Day: Err on the side of a fast shutter speed. Birds move around a lot, and the most interesting images are of birds flying or exhibiting some type of behavior, making it even more challenging to get that sharp shot. As a general rule, we need a fairly fast shutter speed for birds to stop the action Shutter speed is related to the focal length of the lens you are using and as rule of thumb a good guide is to use a minimum shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length. eg: if you are using a 400mm lens then your absolute slowest shutter speed should be 1/400 etc etc
April 18th 2025
| LOCATION: Flamborough | WEATHER: Cloudy, but fairly mild |
In a small area in the Flamborough area that I have some minor luck with finding some birds, we headed back there this morning for a couple of hours. I had hope for maybe a Pine Warbler, but the only songbird I came across was the Kinglet below. On the plus side there was a small pond where there were several species of duck ... The highlight for me was the Blue-winged Teal ... not a species I have much luck with over the years. There were a few Green-winged Teal as well but didn't manage a decent shot, and of course there were a few Mallards to boost the numbers there ...
April 17th 2025
| LOCATION: North Dumfries/HNA | WEATHER: Cool start but pleasantly warm later |
| I started off running along Paris Plains Church Road, initially looking for the Lapland Longspur that has been reported hanging out there, but alas I was unsuccessful spotting it, but Merlin did pick up the call at one point. On the plus side there were several Vesper Sparrows spread out between Paris Road and West River Road, so that was good. After lunch I took a short walk along the trail at Huron Natural Area ... where in past Aprils I had spotted a Pine Warbler, but today ... nada |  Vesper Sparrow |
April 15th & 16th 2025
| LOCATION: Local trail & back Yard, Kitchener | WEATHER: Mix sun & cloud, chilly |
Weather not great and not really conducive to migration being too active, so spent the last couple of days either walking a local trail or simply setting up in my back yard.
Tip of the Day: Shooting at eye level always makes for an impactful image, creating the feeling that the viewer is right there with the subject, whether it be in a tree, on the ground, or in the water.
April 13th 2025
| LOCATION: Brant & North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cool start, but warmed up nice |
Tim and I did our weekly jaunt around some of the spots in North Dumfries and surrounding areas. The hope was to pick up a few new migrants, and specifically Pine Warblers, which every year I find, and usually earlier than today (sometimes as early as Apr 4th). However .... we didn't hear or see a single one, so they are very much late this year, but, of course, I will keep looking!!
On the plus side we did click a couple of "first of seasons" off our list ... the Savannah Sparrow and the Tree Swallow.
On the plus side we did click a couple of "first of seasons" off our list ... the Savannah Sparrow and the Tree Swallow.
April 11th 2025
| LOCATION:1st(Flamborough) 2nd(Huron NA) | WEATHER: Cool, cloudy |
I started off with a short drive down to the Flamborough area - I was hoping for some interesting ducks/waterbirds in a wetland that I pass by occasionally. It was not as good as |I had hoped, but a pair of Northern Shovellers did pause in a wet puddle along the side of the road, so I could get a distant shot.
On return to Kitchener I took a walk around a sometimes good spot ie: Huron Natural Area. Generally it was quite quiet, but at one swampy area I came across a FOS Eastern Phoebe, then at the same spot a few Golden-crowned Kinglets ... there must have been 8 or 9 foraging in some shrubbery that was overhanging the water ...
On return to Kitchener I took a walk around a sometimes good spot ie: Huron Natural Area. Generally it was quite quiet, but at one swampy area I came across a FOS Eastern Phoebe, then at the same spot a few Golden-crowned Kinglets ... there must have been 8 or 9 foraging in some shrubbery that was overhanging the water ...
Tip of the Day: Sometimes the biggest challenge isn’t taking the photo, but finding your subject. You can have all the skills in the world, but if there aren’t any birds around, you’re out of luck.So where do you find the birds? Well, the world is filled with potential bird photography locations. But you’ll need to do a bit of detective work first. Look up bird habitats, migration patterns, and bird hotspots in your area. Find out where the birds are and when they are likely to be there
April 10th 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener | WEATHER: Cold start, them light snow |
Just a few garden birds hanging out around the feeders in my back yard. (except the Red-winged Blackbird that I saw and photographed along a trail next to my house).
April 9th 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener, back yard, again | WEATHER: Cold, sun/cloud |
We are going through a bit of a chilly spell, and as such migration is at a bit of a standstill. So ... not much point in hiking the trails, or normal hot spots. So, I setup around my bird feeders and tried to capture a few of the regulars. However I did get a "first of the year" in my back yard, so it wasn't a total wasted day. .. a Brown-headed Cowbird, and a female to boot, which usually shows up a bit later than the males,
Tip of the Day: Experienced Photographers usually avoid placing any subject in the exact center of a photograph. It tends to be more visually stimulating to see the bird off to one side, facing inward. Our own eyes naturally follow the same trajectory. Likewise, avoid placing the horizon line in the middle of a picture which cuts it in half and divides the image. It’s better to frame the horizon in the top or bottom third of your photograph.
April 5th 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener back yard | WEATHER: Cloudy dull and rainy all day |
...working on it !!
April 4th 2025
| LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant | WEATHER: Sunny and warmer (12C) |
Tim and did our weekly jaunt around some of the gravel roads in the area looking for something avianly interesting to shoot. Our targets were some early migrants - Eastern Phoebe, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Pine Siskins, Pine Warbler, Hermit Thrush and really just about anything that hasn't been around for a while. We didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we did see and photograph a couple of Bluebirds and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets.
April 2nd 2025
| LOCATION: Kitchener (back yard) | WEATHER: Wintery mix of snow & freezing rain |
Weather can be quite changeable at this time of year .. yesterday I was raking leaves with no jacket on, and today it was a blizzard at one point. Anyways you make do ... right? So today, I set up a camera on the inside, and aimed it through my patio doors towards our bird feeders, with a hope that something interesting would show up, or a decent image presented itself.
Tip of the Day: Utilize your bird feeder, but remember, the purpose of the Birdfeeder is for attracting the birds, your images will all be taken on the perches where birds who are waiting for their chance at the feeder can wait. It will be these birds, on these purposefully pretty perches, that you'll want to photograph those birds on. Use some cut branches strategically placed, for the best images.
