Saturday: The light was less than perfect for bird photography, but headed out anyways to check on the local Bald Eagle nesting pair in Preston. When I arrived I noticed that one of the Ospreys had returned and was perched beside the old nest at the Grand River bridge. Somebody had commented on one of the forums that, when the Osprey arrives and because of the close proximity of the two nests, that there could be "fireworks" . Sure enough and I was fortunate to witness one of these confrontations (picture below).
Sunday: I got up with the intention to head back out to the eagle nest, but as it was promising to be a nice sunny/warmer day, so on impulse I headed down to Long Point to check out the possibility of something new. Locally, it had snowed over night so couldn't get away from Old-man Winter, even when after heading south. Checked out Bird Studies HQ, Sewage Ponds, Old Cut Station & the Marsh. Migrating Tundra Swans were in huge numbers (several thousand out on the ice about a mile from where I was). Saw two adult Northern Harriers at two different locations, but my best opportunity was lost as I scrambled to get gear set up. Interestingly, I witnessed wave after wave of returning migrants, mainly Grackles & Red Wing Blackbirds ... they were non-stop!
Sunday: I got up with the intention to head back out to the eagle nest, but as it was promising to be a nice sunny/warmer day, so on impulse I headed down to Long Point to check out the possibility of something new. Locally, it had snowed over night so couldn't get away from Old-man Winter, even when after heading south. Checked out Bird Studies HQ, Sewage Ponds, Old Cut Station & the Marsh. Migrating Tundra Swans were in huge numbers (several thousand out on the ice about a mile from where I was). Saw two adult Northern Harriers at two different locations, but my best opportunity was lost as I scrambled to get gear set up. Interestingly, I witnessed wave after wave of returning migrants, mainly Grackles & Red Wing Blackbirds ... they were non-stop!
March 23rd 2014
Bald Eagle First day of spring a few days ago but nobody has informed the weather gods yet it seems ... still lots of snow and some days bitterly cold. Ventured out anyways and by accident came across a stake out at a Bald Eagle nest just outside Preston. If it hadn't been for a few fellow birders/photographers I spotted, I would driven straight past. The eagle pair have built a significant nest and I'm told that the female is on eggs although she did, along with her mate, head out to grab a few more twigs/branches to spruce up their boudoir. Shot opposite, is the male outbound on a foraging flight. On his way back I learned another important lesson the hard way ... Eagle was on the return leg and flying in low & close to my location - PERFECT! ... Aimed the lens at this great opportunity and pressed shutter button ... Nothing, battery died. Yet another note to self: FRESH battery before going out!
Some of the more common migrants are starting to show up. Lots of Robins, Red Wing Blackbirds & Grackles so at least these guys think it's spring, but with the ground still frozen, even where grass is showing, the Robins are having a hard time forraging.
Some of the more common migrants are starting to show up. Lots of Robins, Red Wing Blackbirds & Grackles so at least these guys think it's spring, but with the ground still frozen, even where grass is showing, the Robins are having a hard time forraging.
March 8th 2014
Saturday March 8th ... It's that time of year where not much new is happening yet - migrants are a month or so away, but we have to make do with what's available. Last weekend we went down to Fifty Point and missed out on the the Short-eared & Saw-whet Owls so I went down to see if they were still around. Long-eared and Short-eared were not to be found but managed to get a shot (albeit pretty awful) of the Northern Saw-whet Owl exactly where it's been reported for the last few weeks (on the same branch of the same tree all this time). Mr Owl: I apologize for waking you up. Took a walk around the harbour and missed out on a great opportunity - I had just finished looking into some trees beside the harbour and turned to see an Immature Bald Eagle rising from the outer harbour with an unfortunate duck in its talons - in the time it took to get a line on the bird all I got was its backside flying over the trees. If only I had been watching the harbour!! Anyways, I went around to the other side of the harbour in the direction the eagle flew to see if he had landed in a tree to enjoy his meal. On arrival there was no sign of him. However after another 5 minutes I spotted him flying straight towards me (still with the duck hanging from one talon) I clicked of a few shots and then he dropped his prize and veered away, and gone! It was then I realized that my camera & flash settings were squirrelly and what I ended up was as per the pic (and that's after some Photoshop tweaking) .... Reminder to self: CHECK YOUR SETTINGS and BE PREPARED!!
The Bald Eagle shot that should have been so much better!
March 1st 2014
Long-eared Owl March 1st ... One more month and it should be warmer weather (at least it should be, but then again this has been the winter from hell). Steve Lindsay and I headed out today on what essentially ended up being an owl hunt. We started off at Fifty Point in Stoney Creek, and after talking to some local birders we located four Long-eared Owls in a tree close to the park road ... Unbelievable! I've never seen this bird before and there's four in the same tree !!! The same local birders pointed us to two other locations in the park where we could find Short-eared Owls (apparently two of them are seen regularly at this spot). but we were out of luck and didn't see them, but we did see a Snowy Owl sitting on an ice flow about 200 yards off shore. Moving on, we headed to the campgrounds where we expected to see a Saw-whet Owl, which apparently is almost always sitting on the same tree ... except today. Oh well. Next stop was Woodland Cemetery in Hamilton, where Steve knew of a Eastern Screech Owl that was often seen there, and fortunately .. it was exactly where Steve predicted (great job Steve .. I owe you). Last stop of the day was across the street from Woodland at Hendrie Valley, where I had been a few times before, and where a pair of Great Horned Owls were reported earlier this week, but we were unable to spot them. On the plus side there was plethora of birds around the boardwalk .. Red-tailed Hawk, Red-breasted; Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatches; Tree, White-throated & Song Sparrows. So, three Owl species in a day is still a good day in anybody's books.
