JANUARY 2018

Jan 31st 2018

Location: Hamilton & Burlington

Weather: Cloudy, cool and dreary. Although a little sun showed mid afternoon

Redhead

Luck was with me today (and I was due some) ... it was one of those days where you look out your window in the morning and say "Nah" and stay at home, but I had a business appointment in Hamilton and headed out, grabbing some camera gear (just in case) After my appointment I headed over to a spot where I can usually find some Hooded Mergansers and sure enough there they were and although the light wasn't too good I spent a good half hour taking a few shots. Mixed in with the "Hoodies" were a few Buffleheads, Double-crested Cormorants and lots of Mallards. Next stop was La Salle Marina in Burlington and I was delighted to find that, since I was there at the weekend, dozens of Redheads, Greater Scaup and Common Goldeeyes had moved in close to the dock. When I first arrived the light was weak and flat, but after a bit, a shaded sun happened (my favorite winter light) and allowed some opportunities for a possible decent image or two. 

Jan 28th 2018

Location: Kitchener Ontario

I mentioned a week or two back that I have a web page in the works. Feel free to check it out and comment if you feel the urge.
 Address is http://www.tekfx.ca 

Jan 17th - 18th 2018

Location: Northern Ontario

Weather: Cold, but no more than seasonally normal

We headed up to the near north (not so near it was a seven hour drive each way) in the search of some of the Boreal Finches, and along with help of some of the locals we found a few Pine Grosbeaks. Interspersed with them were a few good sized flocks of Common Redpolls. I'm still perusing my files to see if I have some Hoary Redpolls, but as I look at hundreds of images I'm getting less and less sure I have one in the bunch. I'm not complaining ... it's been a few years since I had such a good day photographing these amazingly beautiful birds. The other Finch that was around (not common, but around were Evening Grosbeaks). I was a good couple of days ... always nice to find and photograph something a little different. Who knows might end up heading back in weeks to come

Jan 15th 2018

Location: Home in KItchener

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on a website that will showcase a few of my images. I think I'm about a week away from going "live" so when that time comes I will publish the domain. It will likely make several changes and updates over the coming months as refinements are made, and of course as I add images. So .... stay tuned :) 
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Jan 8th 2018

Location: Local (Kitchener & Cambridge)

Weather: After a night of snow (6in) it stayed dull, but not snowing

My wife an appointment in Cambridge, and since the roads were nasty I was coerced into driving her there, and then back home a bit later. I had about a 2 hour wait, so I headed over to Riverside Park and checked out the feeder locations ... Nothing very interesting hanging around but, with a coffee from Tims, it was still enjoyable to sit and watch the birds for a while. I took a few shots of some of the feeding birds, but the light was very poor and so the images I did get were on the flat side. However with a bit of tweaking in Lightroom and Photoshop I managed to salvage  something. (I think) :)

​​​​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

Jan 6th 2018

Location: Riverside Park, Cambridge

Weather: Bright & sunny, but icy cold (-22C)

This cold spell seems to be endless, and for sure I for one could use a little bit of of mild spell. But hey ... the birds won't photograph themselves as they say, so you have to get out there <wink>. This morning I headed over to a local spot that is great for "garden birds" ... Riverside Park in Cambridge. A few props (broken branches etc) and a few seeds and peanuts soon had a few birds posing appropriately. My target (a realistic target) was a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and as you can see below that goal was fulfilled. I had a couple of less than realistic targets as well, and one of them was sighted, but no image (Pileated Woodpecker). The unfulfilled target was a Fox Sparrow, and has been seen in this area many times in past years, but not today unfortunately.
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​​​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

Jan 5th 2018

Location: Dundas

Weather; Sunny, but cold (-20C)

I've been coming to this location, at this time of year,  for several years and can usually find a few of our winter visitors foraging along the roadside. It's quite a well known location, but I never seem to meet too many photographers/birders around while I'm there, but I'm not complaining. Location, to be more specific than above, is Fallsview Road near Dyments, on the north side of Dundas.
Anyways, I spent an hour or so here earlier today and was entertained by several Horned Larks and a few Snow Buntings as they continually flew back and forwards to the side of the road in search of fallen seed or to "feed" on roadside grit. Since it was a tad on the nippy side I did my birding and photography from the comfort of my warm vehicle. Using your vehicle is a fantastic way to get close to the birds in the spring/summer/fall but in the winter has its drawbacks  .... I always seem to find that images taken in this manner tend to be a little soft which is probably due to the vehicle heat creating a heat haze that has a detrimental effect on photographs being taken through said haze  ... I definitely need to look into this a bit more ... maybe a subject for a future "tip of the week"

Welcome to 2018 and a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year

Over the last 5 years, of writing this blog, and half a lifetime of being a camera buff, I have developed, with some help from photography friends and associates, a few techniques that have helped my photography. As such I have about thinking about adding a page relating to good photography practices and maybe a few tricks to getting better bird shots. Likely this page will be an ongoing week by weekly updated page ... maybe tip of the week or something in that vein ... I'm still mulling it over.  Good idea ??? yes/no? 
As they say ... Stay Tuned. 
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Looking back on 2017

Check out my short summary of 2017 either by clicking the menu item above or ...CLICK HERE