Feb 28th 2018
Location: Cambridge, Ontario
Weather: Sunny and very spring like (+12C)
What a fantastic spring like day to end the month. Winter has been a pretty crappy at times, so it is a relief to see that after today it will be March .... woohoo! I'm sure there will be plenty of the white stuff still to come, but the weather is, for sure, heading in the right direction. First thing this morning I headed to a few spots around Cambridge including Riverside Park, where all the shots below were taken. Nothing other than the commoner birds seem to be around, but they definitely posed for the camera, and to be honest I would almost rather take a great image of a Chickadee or a Nutty than a crappy and unusable shot of a rarity ...
Reminder: All images are click-able to go full size, and hovering over an image will display species or description
Reminder: All images are click-able to go full size, and hovering over an image will display species or description
Feb 26th 2018
Location: Cambridge, Ontario
Weather: Sunny and almost spring like, but still a tad chilly
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Being such a pleasant day it was pretty easy to get the motivation to head out. Clear blue skies and some heat in the sun where you were out of the wind. It was feeling almost spring like and I think some of the birds were thinking the same ... I spotted my first of the year Grackles and a few Red-winged Blackbirds as well. Even a pair of House Finches were looking if romance was in the air (see image below). In an area where I had been seeing lots of Juncos and Tree Sparrows over the last few months was strangely quiet, so I suspect these guys were also starting to head back up to their northern breeding grounds. Jon Ruddy, an Ontario based birding expert, has put together a short guide to arrival dates of our soon to arrive, spring and summer migrating visitors. and can be found HERE
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Red-winged Blackbird
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Feb 25th 2018
Location: Kitchener, Ontario
Over the last few days birds have become a little scarcer. I suspect that the winter birds are starting to head out due to the milder weather that we are encountering here in SW Ontario, but then again the seasonally high winds could be keeping the birds low and out of site. Anyways with limited targets to aim for I started to think about my year list. A year list is a kind of personal challenge to record as many species as possible during a single calendar year. It's not something that I hold a lot of importance to but it can be very interesting as to the accumulated numbers. As of the last week in February I seem to have accumulated 79 species for 2018 with most of them photographed.
Several of my birding friends/acquaintances seem to be almost obsessed with getting their numbers as high as possible, and chase down every rarity that shows its beak in our part of the province, and sometimes further afield in order to get that all important life list added to. I have, on occasion, done the "Twitching" thing and headed out to parts near and far for a chance to see said rarity, but I certainly don't make a habit of it. Sometimes as an afterthought (usually after the rare bird has moved on) I regret not making the trip. This was the case end of last year when a Townsend Warbler showed up at Rondeau. I'm still kicking myself ... I have a personal goal of seeing and preferably photographing every Warbler that is known to be found in US/Canada, and according to my Stokes Field Guide that would be 58 species, and the Townsend is one of the ones I have never seen. (for the record I'm at 41).
BTW: The term twitcher, sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or counted on a list. The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used for the nervous behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. <Wikipedia>
Several of my birding friends/acquaintances seem to be almost obsessed with getting their numbers as high as possible, and chase down every rarity that shows its beak in our part of the province, and sometimes further afield in order to get that all important life list added to. I have, on occasion, done the "Twitching" thing and headed out to parts near and far for a chance to see said rarity, but I certainly don't make a habit of it. Sometimes as an afterthought (usually after the rare bird has moved on) I regret not making the trip. This was the case end of last year when a Townsend Warbler showed up at Rondeau. I'm still kicking myself ... I have a personal goal of seeing and preferably photographing every Warbler that is known to be found in US/Canada, and according to my Stokes Field Guide that would be 58 species, and the Townsend is one of the ones I have never seen. (for the record I'm at 41).
BTW: The term twitcher, sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or counted on a list. The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used for the nervous behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. <Wikipedia>
Feb 22nd 2018
Location: La Salle Marina, Burlington
Weather: -3C, cloudy
I've been doing this for quite a few years - the last 7 or 8 as a serious birder, and before that as a casual birder. Even as a casual birder I knew a significant amount of birds by sight, but had trouble with the more uncommon, and quite a lot of the females of each species. I rarely have to resort to getting out one of the many field guides I have in my office/den here at home. However every now and then I have been known to make a stupid call or make an assumption that puts me in my place. Today was one of those days ... I spotted a duck out of the water ( a species I had never seen out of water) that had me puzzled and to which I incorrectly assumed it to be a hybrid. After all many ducks interbreed and hybrids are not uncommon. I could make a ton of excuses of why I made this error, but basically it was an ASSUME error (If you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME). Enough said. Lesson number 1005 ... check the field guide if you are not sure. :)
Anyways popped into La Salle today lots of fresh birds hanging around the marina including American Coot, Gadwall, Widgeon and a lone Horned Grebe.
Anyways popped into La Salle today lots of fresh birds hanging around the marina including American Coot, Gadwall, Widgeon and a lone Horned Grebe.
Feb 19th 2018
Every now and then I change the look of my pages here, and it's been mentioned to me a few times to me that what they see, when they visit, is the old content. In order to fix that inconvenience, I've added a button below that will force a "refresh" which will ensure that what you see is the latest and greatest (well maybe not that great, but you know what I mean). So if you have ever visited this blog in the past, please click the button below ....
Feb 17th - 18th 2018
Location: Road Trip to NE Ontario and SW Quebec
Weather: Dull on 17th, but Sunny on 18th. Fairly mild both days
After rethinking a trip, we had been considering, to North East Minnesota - the 16 hour drive (each way) in the winter didn't make much sense, we decided that maybe a trip up to Quebec might might be reasonable and sensible alternate (I've been a little bored with the the same subjects I seem to see on all my local outings). The primary location we were aiming for was Parc Omega - A wildlife park in southern Quebec, that houses most of the wild Canadian species - Wolves, Elk, Bison, Bears, Musk Ox, Foxes etc etc, in natural surroundings. On the way up to Quebec we detoured to Amherst Island at the East end of Lake Ontario, with the plan to visit the well known Owl Woods.
On reflection Amherst Island was not a great plan - the island is under major construction with a Wind Farm being built and every road on the island being reworked (trucks and heavy equipment everywhere). Owl Woods itself was a fair hike along a slippery, icy trail that, in the end, produced zero owls for us. We did however see a few Pileated Woodpeckers at very close range. It was a good reminder that before any trip it pays to do a little research ... next time :)
on route to Omega we detoured to Parc national de Plaisance - a Conservation area juts out into the north side of the Ottawa River, where we had hoped to find some interesting Species, but regrettably it was not to be - we saw nothing of interest.
At 10:00am we arrived at Parc Omega - The weather was bright and sunny and fairly mild (decent photography weather for the most part) - The park was quite impressive and certainly worth the drive. Over the next several hours lots of images were captured, but like most days - some better than others ... these I liked
On reflection Amherst Island was not a great plan - the island is under major construction with a Wind Farm being built and every road on the island being reworked (trucks and heavy equipment everywhere). Owl Woods itself was a fair hike along a slippery, icy trail that, in the end, produced zero owls for us. We did however see a few Pileated Woodpeckers at very close range. It was a good reminder that before any trip it pays to do a little research ... next time :)
on route to Omega we detoured to Parc national de Plaisance - a Conservation area juts out into the north side of the Ottawa River, where we had hoped to find some interesting Species, but regrettably it was not to be - we saw nothing of interest.
At 10:00am we arrived at Parc Omega - The weather was bright and sunny and fairly mild (decent photography weather for the most part) - The park was quite impressive and certainly worth the drive. Over the next several hours lots of images were captured, but like most days - some better than others ... these I liked
Feb 15th 2018
Location: Kitchener
I follow the dialogue on several forums and facebook groups and am constantly dismayed at the attitudes of many birders and bird photographers that also call themselves naturalists and conservationists. The issue I keep reading about is their objection to the unethical practices that some wildlife photographers use to get that “killer shot” I refer to owl baiting and to a lesser extent the use of bird calls to attract songbirds.
I personally have never done it, but I know that baiting raptors does happen. In the last 7 or 8 years that I have been active as a wildlife photographer (and I go out almost daily), I have only witnessed this activity the one time. Looking at the big picture … I believe that the objection to feeding the odd Owl a couple of mice, is almost a joke, relative to the REAL crimes against wildlife. I refer to hunting, trapping, fishing etc etc.
I grew up in a rural community (many years ago) where hunting and fishing were practiced by almost every household, but primarily to supplement the family larder (money was tight back then). These days it’s all about sport, which in my opinion is a totally different situation. I can say that, based on my own experiences that many of these hunted animals die a slow agonizing death after being wounded.
So what’s worse … feeding an owl or hawk, a couple of mice that may or may not keep the bird alive through lean times, or attacking a moose or deer with deadly weapons, just for the thrill of the kill. I think these bleeding heart “conservationists” need to get their priorities in line.
Just a point of view
I personally have never done it, but I know that baiting raptors does happen. In the last 7 or 8 years that I have been active as a wildlife photographer (and I go out almost daily), I have only witnessed this activity the one time. Looking at the big picture … I believe that the objection to feeding the odd Owl a couple of mice, is almost a joke, relative to the REAL crimes against wildlife. I refer to hunting, trapping, fishing etc etc.
I grew up in a rural community (many years ago) where hunting and fishing were practiced by almost every household, but primarily to supplement the family larder (money was tight back then). These days it’s all about sport, which in my opinion is a totally different situation. I can say that, based on my own experiences that many of these hunted animals die a slow agonizing death after being wounded.
So what’s worse … feeding an owl or hawk, a couple of mice that may or may not keep the bird alive through lean times, or attacking a moose or deer with deadly weapons, just for the thrill of the kill. I think these bleeding heart “conservationists” need to get their priorities in line.
Just a point of view
Feb 11th 2018
Location: Riverside Park, Cambridge
Weather: cloudy & dull, but fairly mild (-3C)
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Yesterday's visit to Riverside was missing the one bird that I wanted to photograph, and had been seen there most days . I returned to the same spot early this morning and although he didn't show for long, I managed a few shots. One of the distinguishing traits of the Nuthatch is its ability to zig-zag down tree trunks headfirst with apparent ease, and even cling to the underside of branches while foraging for food. Awesome to watch!!
Fairly predictably the Red-bellied Woodpecker, as well as a Downy, also made an appearance, making the outing pretty good. Mind you a visit by one of the Pileated Woodpeckers that hang out in this area would have been the icing on the cake. Oh well maybe next time. .... And of course, a few other regulars popped up - Chickadees, Northern Cardinals and American Tree Sparrows. |
Red-breasted Nuthatch
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Feb 10th 2018
Weather: Snowy, but not too cold (for Feb)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
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More snow this morning ... it seems to be a somewhat never-ending winter, but snow can add a little magic to some bird shots. I went over to one my local parks - Riverside, in Cambridge and was able to get a few shots of some of the more common winter species. Highlight was a cooperating Red-bellied Woodpecker that showed itself nicely for the camera.
Animal symbolism and indeed nature symbols as a whole, feature heavily into Native American belief systems and one of the more important ones is the Woodpecker. It is a symbol of prophecy and devotion. As a totem animal, the woodpecker is considered to be lucky and is associated with friendship and happiness. Well, I can say that seeing this beautiful bird certainly made me feel friendly and happy. :) |
Feb 1st 2018
Location: Kitchener, Ontario
It's hard to believe that as of this month I've been compiling this blog for 5 years. It started off as a kind of personal diary ... I thought it would be useful to know where I'd been, what I had seen and when. I decided shortly after getting it going, to open it up to anybody who was interested. I still use the information, that's in the archives, on a weekly basis to give me ideas where to go and what I might see. So local visitors feel free to browse that history and those who have popped in to check me out take a look around.
For those who don't participate, the sheer joy of bird photography can be hard to explain but basically it is a celebration of nature. For me, and thousands more, it is the thrill of the "chase", the complete unpredictability of what I might encounter on my (almost daily) ramblings ... It's like a treasure hunt every time I go out. I consider myself a birder first and a photographer second, but that amazing feeling of getting that "killer shot" ... a great bird in a great backdrop scenario, is an unbelievable experience. So, please ... browse my images and make a comment if the urge takes you.
Here's hoping the next five years are as much birding fun ☺... stay tuned !
For those who don't participate, the sheer joy of bird photography can be hard to explain but basically it is a celebration of nature. For me, and thousands more, it is the thrill of the "chase", the complete unpredictability of what I might encounter on my (almost daily) ramblings ... It's like a treasure hunt every time I go out. I consider myself a birder first and a photographer second, but that amazing feeling of getting that "killer shot" ... a great bird in a great backdrop scenario, is an unbelievable experience. So, please ... browse my images and make a comment if the urge takes you.
Here's hoping the next five years are as much birding fun ☺... stay tuned !
