March 29th & 30th 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Warming up, sun/cloud |
.. working on it
March 28th 2026
| LOCATION: Roseville Road, Kitchener | WEATHER: Chilly morning with sun & cloud |
It was a surprisingly birdy morning for me along a section of local road, on the outskirts of town. One species that seemed to be everywhere was the humble Song Sparrow. My technique today was to stop every 100 metres or so, and have a listen, while keeping an eye on the foliage for any activity. It seemed that at every spot I stopped I was picking up a Song Sparrow ... must have been dozens.
March 27th 2026
| LOCATION: South end of Kitchener | WEATHER: Very chilly morning (-8C), but sunny |
A nice morning so took the short drive around the back side of Blair, and also took a quick look at the river from the Lookout in the middle of the village. The back road was quite birdy at one spot, with a couple of Northern Flickers and several Brown-headed Cowbirds.
March 25th & 26th 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries ~Grass Lake area | WEATHER: Mix sun/cloud |
On Day 2, Tim & I took a drive along some of our favorite roads in North Dumfries and part of Brant County, and including the not-to-be-forgotten FWR Dickson Wilderness Area, which has a couple of Tufted Titmouse(s) - one of the few spots where they can be found in this area.
Back at home I found some crickets that I setup in a macro photoshoot - The image shown was a 20 image stack
Back at home I found some crickets that I setup in a macro photoshoot - The image shown was a 20 image stack
March 24th 2026
| LOCATION: Aylmer Wildlife Area | WEATHER: Some sun but mainly cloudy, and still not too warm |
Jen and I headed down to the Aylmer Wildlife Management area where, every year a few thousand Tundra Swans drop down and hang out for a few weeks before heading up to the arctic area for the summer.
March 23rd 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cold and with some light snow |
A pretty uneventful drive around other a little action around Grass Lake !!
March 20th & 22nd 2026
| LOCATION: Kitchener area | WEATHER: Wet start, but warmer |
The last couple of days I have been keeping an eye on bird (and any rodent) visitors to my back yard, with my camera setup on a tripod inside my dining room pointing out though the patio doors towards the feeders and shrubbery.
Tip of the Day: If any of you are like me with poor hearing then it is an excellent idea to download and use the mobile phone app .. Merlin. I absolutely couldn't be an active birder without this app, which can pick up and recognize 99.9% of bird calls allowing me to find and photograph them.
March 19th 2026
| LOCATION: Burlington area | WEATHER: Sun & cloud +7C |
Migration is still not really started other than the real earlybirds eg Red-winged Blackbirds & Robins, and on the other side of the coin, the winter visitors haven't really left yet either. On the weather side of things there is also the occasional snow flurry, so ....
The Brown-headed Cowbird was a nice surprise though - he was very active and was keeping an eye on me as I was photographing from inside my vehicle.
The Brown-headed Cowbird was a nice surprise though - he was very active and was keeping an eye on me as I was photographing from inside my vehicle.
March 18th 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cold, sun & cloud |
| Weather is still a bit on the chilly side, but birds are still moving into the area, so migration is on the slow side but at least it is starting to take place. On the other side of the coin there are still lots of winter visitors in and around the area still. A good example of the winter birds are the decent sized flock of Snow Buntings I came across along Paris Plains Church Road, |  Eastern Meadowlark |
March 15th & 16th 2026
| LOCATION: Kitchener & North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cloudy & cool(D1);cloudy & warm (D2) |
| The Kinglet has been hanging around with a small group of Chickadees pretty much all winter along the same section of road, but lately he has been a little harder to find. I usually see or hear the Chickadees first and when I do I keep my eyes peeled for the Kinglet. Today he volunteered a few shots. Today (16th) I also heard a Northern Shrike a couple of times along a different section of the same road, but I was unable to get a glimpse of it ... This is a species that I have been really hoping to find and photograph. |  Golden-crowned Kinglet |
March 14th 2026
| LOCATION: Brant County | WEATHER: Sunny, but windy & really cold |
Another nasty day, but I decided on a run down to a favorite location of mine ... Paris Plains Church Road, in Brant County, anyways and it was a "winner" of a decision as there were several Lapland Longspurs (first ones I have seen this winter season), a few Snow Buntings mixed in and lots and lots of Horned Larks.
Tip of the Day: Where the bird perches or decides to stand can make or break the shot. Branches or other natural elements can act as major distractions, especially if they’re across the front or growing out of the subject’s head. If these conditions exist, wait for the bird to move to a cleaner location or fly to a perch that’s free of distractions.
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
March 13th 2026
| LOCATION: Back yard- Kitchener | WEATHER: Lots more snow .. Yuk!! |
| We all woke up in this area this morning to the forecast that it was going to snow all day ... and they weren't wrong. For that reason I decided to set up a tripod inside my dining room pointing out towards my feeders at the edge of my deck. Quite a few birds popped by and and gave me a few shots. Nothing too exciting and definitely nothing unusual, but at least I managed a few clicks !! Tip of the Day: Sparkling white snow gives a photo a magical quality, but when you include snow in the frame, you must take extra care with exposure. In-camera light meters base their exposure readings on the assumption that any scene is middle-toned. Of course, snow is much lighter than a mid-tone. If the frame contains more snow than bird, using the camera’s suggested exposure settings will produce an image with dingy gray snow and an underexposed bird. You need to add light to the camera’s suggestion to keep the snow white. A good rule of thumb is to increase exposure by 1 to 2 stops, although it’s easy to go too far and overexpose white areas. |  Common Grackle |
March 12th 2026
| LOCATION: Burlington | WEATHER: Wintery start (snow), but warmed up with sun |
I took a drive down to Burlington and Flamborough today. The hope was that there would be a few duck species hanging out in either La Salle Marino or maybe at Valley Inn. As it turned out both of these locations were pretty shy on any bird species, but I was delighted to find a Winter Wren along the boardwalk at Las Salle, so it was almost worth the drive down .... almost !!
On the plus side of things I found a small pond in Farmborough that had a few ducks and a lots of Tundras (but they were way off !!)
On the plus side of things I found a small pond in Farmborough that had a few ducks and a lots of Tundras (but they were way off !!)
March 11th 2026
| LOCATION: Back yard, Kitchener | WEATHER: Mild but damp & drizzly |
With the weather being a tad damp, I generally decided to keep an eye around my back yard instead of driving around, and photograph any "visitors" from inside the house, through my patio doors at the rear of the house. Nothing very exciting except I was delighted with the Chipmunk that popped up every now and the,
March 10th 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sunny & warm (+18C) |
Spring starting to make its presence felt with temperatures today getting up to 18C, which I am not going to complain about, that's for sure!! With this warmer weather a few more birds showing up around the area. Today it seemed to me that there were Song Sparrows everywhere I stopped, and ended up photographing several over the period of a couple of hours.
Tip of the Day: Keep an eye on weather reports - warm fronts often bring waves of migratory birds.
March 9th 2026
| LOCATION: Long Point area | WEATHER: Sunny and quite warm (spring like) |
| Along with my good birding friend Jennifer Leat, we met early, and took the 90minute drive down to the Long Pont area, hoping to grab some early migrant shots, and some of the many waterfowl that are being sighted there right now. There were indeed lots and lots of ducks and swans - but for the most part they were a good distance out, so getting any workable images was pretty much impossible. However it was marvelous to see some "fresh faces" in the viewfinder. One species that there was no shortage of, up quite close, was Sandhill Cranes - there must have been hundreds scattered around the area We saw quite a few Killdeer, but they were too fast for either of us, but nice to get the sighting nonetheless. A distinct highlight of the day was the Eastern Comma Butterfly that Jennifer spotted and photographed. I was too slow to try to focus before it flew off. |  Eastern Comma - image by Jennifer Leat (I couldn't focus fast enough) |
March 7th 2026
| LOCATION: Local gravel road/ my backyard | WEATHER: Pleasantly warm +15C midday |
An interesting day after a temperature based mild night. After a few days looking for some early migrants they showed up in my back yard around lunchtime ... quite a surprise (a pleasant one). The only bird out of the set below that wasn't found in my back yard was the Flicker, which I spotted along the gravel road I often go to, close to my house. Funnily enough the birds that have normally been visiting my feeders up until today ... ie Juncos, Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows ... never showed today :)
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title
Tip of the Day: You don't need an expensive camera to take great bird photographs, just curiosity, patience, and a love for nature, so get out there !!
March 6th 2026
| LOCATION: Burlington | WEATHER: Cool, and a tad misty |
Its been a couple of weeks since I went down to Burlington, but this morning I thought there might be a decent chance to see some early migrants, and in particular a Red-winged Blackbird or maybe a Grackle. It didn't happen I never saw or heard either of these fellas. Still managed a few other of the wintering or overwintering bird though !!
March 4th 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries again | WEATHER: Blue sky and quite warm after a cold start |
| Some days are still pretty cold, but others are quite spring like, so all us birders are quite anxiously awaiting the start of of spring migration. Looking back over the last few years around this time has shown that some migrants have been slowly returning, but this year - pretty much nothing so far ... although I did have a Robin in my garden today. The one species I have been quite surprised that hasn't shown up yet (at least for me) is the Red-winged Blackbird. Maybe in the next few days .. I hope :) |  Raccoon |
March 2nd 2026
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sunny, but really cold (-14C) |
A drive around North Dumfries was not too exciting, but I did spot a few Bald Eagles circling above the Grand River - I expect getting close to mating and nesting, so I plan to keep an eye on things.
