January 30th 2021
| LOCATION: Local (almost) | WEATHER: Cloudy |
Yep ... I'm officially getting pretty frustrated with the "stay-at-home" restrictions placed on us all, but sometimes you have to get out a bit further than only in the neighbourhood, so today I drifted outside what would be termed as being close to home ... still not too far away, but I definitely "cheated".
Weather forecast was such that there was to be sun and cloud and almost zero wind ... well, they almost got it right, but it was really nice to point my camera at something that wasn't at my home feeders.
I realize there isn't too much that is exciting to photograph right now, but I see, almost an obsession with many people, to photograph Owls - Snowy, Barred, Short-eared etc. Is it because there isn't too much choice of subjects, or is it most of these birds are winter visitors, so a case of get em while you can, or is it because Owls have a place in folklore that we all read about as children .... or is it a case of all three...... . Certainly interesting :)
Weather forecast was such that there was to be sun and cloud and almost zero wind ... well, they almost got it right, but it was really nice to point my camera at something that wasn't at my home feeders.
I realize there isn't too much that is exciting to photograph right now, but I see, almost an obsession with many people, to photograph Owls - Snowy, Barred, Short-eared etc. Is it because there isn't too much choice of subjects, or is it most of these birds are winter visitors, so a case of get em while you can, or is it because Owls have a place in folklore that we all read about as children .... or is it a case of all three...... . Certainly interesting :)
January 23rd & 24th 2021
| LOCATION: North Waterloo | WEATHER: Light cloud (hazy sun) |
Seeing it was the weekend, and since I've been holed up for too long due to the Covid "Stay-at-Order", I decided to take a short drive to the north end of Waterloo (close to home) to see if the Crossbills were still hanging around. I am pleased .. nay ecstatic, to say that both species were still in the area and both flocks were within a kilometer of each other.
Although both species are similar it can be seen from the images below that there is some distinct colouring variances to make it quite easy to distinguish between the two.... especially the males
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
Although both species are similar it can be seen from the images below that there is some distinct colouring variances to make it quite easy to distinguish between the two.... especially the males
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
January 16th & 17th, 2021
| LOCATION: At home in Kitchener | WEATHER: Mainly dull, with some snow |
Another garden bird kinda couple of days.
January 15th 2021
| LOCATION: At home in Kitchener | WEATHER: mainly cloudy, with occasional sun |
With the latest bout of Covid related restrictions, and especially yesterdays Stay-at-Home order, I will be doing a significant amount of at home shooting for the next few weeks. I am fortunate I suppose that my back yard feeders attract a few birds on a daily basis and a few squirrels as well unfortunately - blacks, greys and reds. As I have done for several years during the winter months, setup my feeders around a variety of interesting perches - logs, branches etc. I also try to vary said perches every few days to keep my images from being too "samey"
For the last several weeks there has been very little variety in species, but on a daily basis I see Chickadees, Blue Jays, Cardinals, House Finches, American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and American Goldfinches. I keep hoping to see some Redpolls, Pine Siskins and hopefully some Purple Finches, but so far they have eluded me this winter ... but I live in hope :)
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
For the last several weeks there has been very little variety in species, but on a daily basis I see Chickadees, Blue Jays, Cardinals, House Finches, American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and American Goldfinches. I keep hoping to see some Redpolls, Pine Siskins and hopefully some Purple Finches, but so far they have eluded me this winter ... but I live in hope :)
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
January 10th 2020
| LOCATION: Around home (Kitchener) | WEATHER: Dull, cool, but dry |
Not a day to go too far, so I hung out in my own area shooting a few of the local "garden birds"
January 9th 2021
| LOCATION: Linwood and area | WEATHER: Sunny, but cool |
We took a drive around a few of the known spots, where a few of the Winter Finch species have been seen over the last several days, with a hope of getting that killer shot, but the only "killer" shot we managed was the juvenile Coopers Hawk that we found along one of the gravel roads. A small flock of White-winged Crossbills showed up at a spot that I had seen them over a week ago, so it appears that they are not travelling too far from a food source they are comfortable with.
Crossbills were seen at the intersection of Hessen Strasse and Greenwoodhill Road.
As for the Coopers Hawk - as I mentioned above this one is a juvenile, which is determined by the yellow eyes. Their eyes transform from yellow to red as they get to adulthood.
Crossbills were seen at the intersection of Hessen Strasse and Greenwoodhill Road.
As for the Coopers Hawk - as I mentioned above this one is a juvenile, which is determined by the yellow eyes. Their eyes transform from yellow to red as they get to adulthood.
January 7th & 8th, 2021
| LOCATION: Snowy (Linwood), Grosbeaks (Glen Morris) | WEATHER: Sun and cloud, but mainly sunny |
The write up to follow later (heading out) .....
January 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th, 2021
| LOCATION: In and around this area (KW) | WEATHER: Dull, with occasional sun glimpses |
As you can see I haven't posted in a few days, so I'm playing catch-up, I suppose.
Because of the lockdown (amongst other things, including the fact that interesting birds are not that easy to find), I have been keeping pretty local. One local area that is somewhat productive, with some interesting species, is the area just north of Waterloo and in the heart of Mennonite country. Over the last few days I have been checking out a few spots that have some winter finches showing up, and so far I have seen a few Red Crossbills and several flocks of White-winged Crossbills. Unfortunately, the weather has ben for the most part really dull - I've always said that the best weather to photograph birds is cloud. With cloud there tends to be no harsh shadows or blinding highlights, so the resulting images are usually nicely balanced. However, there is a limit - lately it's been dull and grey with almost no light so I've been quite disappointed with the resulting imagery.
For any locals reading this the areas around Heidelberg and Linwood have been the most successful.
Red Crossbills - 43.539696647100854, -80.62958308858595
WW Crossbills - 43.511937519555886, -80.74521007274248
Short-eared Owls - 43.58306535539629, -80.73250661320677
Because of the lockdown (amongst other things, including the fact that interesting birds are not that easy to find), I have been keeping pretty local. One local area that is somewhat productive, with some interesting species, is the area just north of Waterloo and in the heart of Mennonite country. Over the last few days I have been checking out a few spots that have some winter finches showing up, and so far I have seen a few Red Crossbills and several flocks of White-winged Crossbills. Unfortunately, the weather has ben for the most part really dull - I've always said that the best weather to photograph birds is cloud. With cloud there tends to be no harsh shadows or blinding highlights, so the resulting images are usually nicely balanced. However, there is a limit - lately it's been dull and grey with almost no light so I've been quite disappointed with the resulting imagery.
For any locals reading this the areas around Heidelberg and Linwood have been the most successful.
Red Crossbills - 43.539696647100854, -80.62958308858595
WW Crossbills - 43.511937519555886, -80.74521007274248
Short-eared Owls - 43.58306535539629, -80.73250661320677
January 2nd 2021
| LOCATION: Wellesley area | WEATHER: Dull, and pretty cold |
I headed back to an area on the north west of Waterloo (in the same general area as I was on New Years Eve). The target today as it was two days ago was to find and photograph any of the winter finches, and especially any of the Crossbills. As luck had it we found a small flock of about 15 birds or so, in an old cemetery. Unfortunately, even after watching them for a half hour or more, they kept well away from where we were, as well as keeping to the top end of the trees. So as you can imagine the images below were a long reach and therefore a little disappointing in resolution & quality. BUT, I was VERY happy withy the sightings and of the opportunity.
After the half hour (mentioned above) all of a sudden the birds disappeared and after waiting a bit, we started to drive away, and there up on a hydro pole 20 meters away, was (we think) the reason for the finches quick departure ... a Peregrine Falcon. I don't come across this species very often, so I was delighted to say the least.
After the half hour (mentioned above) all of a sudden the birds disappeared and after waiting a bit, we started to drive away, and there up on a hydro pole 20 meters away, was (we think) the reason for the finches quick departure ... a Peregrine Falcon. I don't come across this species very often, so I was delighted to say the least.
