June 30th 2023
| LOCATION: North Dumfries, close to home | WEATHER: Nice |
There is a gravel road close to home and just outside Blair that often produces a few decent sightings. There was one species, though I could hear it most days, wouldn't pop up for a pic, but today it di ... the Brown Thrasher
June 27th & 28th 2023
| LOCATION: Wellington County | WEATHER: Mix as per usual |
A couple of days on the north side of the 401 in Wellington County produced a few decent birds, and while there I picked up a few bugs for photographing later.
While photographing the tiny spider, I posted below, I noticed a tiny spec on the same leaf, so I switched to my 65 MP-E lens that allowed me to get an image at 5x. I still cropped the image to get this shot. He was maybe 0.5mm total ... this is the plant hopper I show below.
Oddly enough as I was looking through the viewfinder at 5x , another minute mite
scurried past - it was about the size of this guys eye ... incredible !!
Single shot
While photographing the tiny spider, I posted below, I noticed a tiny spec on the same leaf, so I switched to my 65 MP-E lens that allowed me to get an image at 5x. I still cropped the image to get this shot. He was maybe 0.5mm total ... this is the plant hopper I show below.
Oddly enough as I was looking through the viewfinder at 5x , another minute mite
scurried past - it was about the size of this guys eye ... incredible !!
Single shot
June 25th & 26th 2023
| LOCATION: Local | WEATHER: More sun and cloud |
As the bird migrations draw to a close I find myself, as I do every year, moving to more macro type subjects.
June 23rd 2023
| LOCATION: Sundridge area | WEATHER: Mainly cloudy but muggy warm |
| It was a long drive to the Sundridge area, and it meant that I was up at 3:00am to be out the door for 3:45am. The drive was approx 4 hours so, after picking up my birding partner and good friend Helen, we arrived at our 1st spot just after 8:00am. The weather was perfect - very little wind and basically cloudy skies. Even though we were a little later in the month than in previous years, we had high hopes for a few good sightings and hopefully some decent shots. Our targets were some of the areas harder to find breeding Warblers incl Canada, Magnolia, Cape May, Bay-breasted, Black-throated Blue and Northern Parula, and other than the Cape May & Bay-breasted we filled our quota. We did hear both of these missed birds, but couldn't get them in the open for that shot opportunity ... oh well still pretty happy. Other sightings were a pair of Moose out in the swamp, but couldn't get an opening in the foliage for a shot. |  Hermit Thrush |
Jun 19th 2023
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sun and cloud |
In the morning I took a drive around some of my favorite spots in Nort Dumfries. Over the years I have found several locations in this township where songbirds can be found - not always at the same time of year, but you never know what might show up on any particular day. While waiting for birds to surface | often browse along the side of the road for any interesting insects (mainly dragonflies and butterflies right now). When I get home I do a setup on my macro rig. Just s0 you know all insects are kept alive and released unharmed after the shoot.
June 17th & 18th 2023
| LOCATION: Kitchener & close to home | WEATHER: Sunny for the most part, and warm |
For the last couple of days I didn't venture too far - I did a little macro work, so I collected a few little fellas from the local woodlot, then did a setup in my garage "bug studio".
On Day 2 I headed over to the Huron Natural area where for the last few weeks Red-headed Woodpecker has been hanging out. In fact a pair of them, and they have nested in a spot which is almost reachable by photography.
On Day 2 I headed over to the Huron Natural area where for the last few weeks Red-headed Woodpecker has been hanging out. In fact a pair of them, and they have nested in a spot which is almost reachable by photography.
Tip of the Day: If you want to keep your ISO as low as possible in poor lighting conditions then with most long lenses it is important to use a tripod. Even shooting at 700mm (500mm x 1.4TC), I am often down as low as 250, and often somewhat lower, and still manage to get sharp images (mostly)
June 15th 2023
| LOCATION: Halton area, near Robertson Tract | WEATHER: Sun and cloud, and quite warm |
Always excellent to meet up with my long time birding partner - Helen. We toured the trails and gravel roads off Guelph Line, and as usual in that area there was quite a bit of activity. Highlight was the Hooded Warbler sighting at Currie (which is well documented in the local Facebook Groups, but nice to see anyways, In Ohio last month we saw quire a few, but that was the first of the season for me in Ontario.
Tip of the Day: As the hot weather is now here be aware of ticks !! Here’s what you can do to avoid getting a tick bite. Wear: ....
- light-coloured clothing, so it’s easier to see ticks
- closed-toed shoes
- long-sleeved shirts
- long pants, tucked into your socks
- special clothing designed to repel ticks
June 13th 2023
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Some sun, and a bit of cloud too |
I took one of my regular drives between Cambridge, Ayr & Paris - it never fails to disappoint. On the way around I picked up a few Dragonflies for later so that I could photograph them using a photo-stacking technique, but that generally has to be done in a controlled environment to keep things rigidly still.
June 11th 2023
| LOCATION: Kitchener | WEATHER: mixed wet and dry |
Weather wasn't too good, so picked a few insects locally and done a series of image stackings in the comfort of my "macro studio" ie my garage.
June 9th & 10th 2023
| LOCATION: Halton area, near Guelph Line | WEATHER: Mainly sunny |
Over the last couple of days I did a little exploring in and around Guelph Line. Merlin sure picked up lots of bird calls and songs, so with a little patience and whole lot of luck I was able to get a few shots. Highlight for me I suppose was the Clay-coloured Sparrow .. I don't see too many of these little fellas so pretty happy.
June 7th & 8th 2023
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sun and cloud, but cooler |
| My local area - North Dumfries, which is between Kitchener & Paris, is a great area with lots of varying habitat, so because of that there is a great selection of birds to be found, and the big plus for me is that it's 20 mins from home. |  Alder Flycatcher |
June 6th 2023
| LOCATION: Carden Alvar | WEATHER: Mainly sunny, but with smoke haze |
A few days ago we went to the Bruce area, mainly hoping for Golden-winged Warblers, but unfortunately we didn't find a single bird .. so the other spot I knew off that has some Goldens is the Carden area, so off we go !!
An early start for 2.5 hour trip up the Kawarthas (left at 4:00am) and arrived to find I had the Wylie Road area to myself. It didn't take too long to find my first Golden-winged, but it wasn't keen to come out into the open, and thast was pretty much the order of the day with the other 3 or 4 birds | came across .. oh well !!
As far as the other birds were concerned - there were several sightings of Grasshopper Sparrows, lots of Bluebirds, several Easter Towhees and lots of the other plains birds you would expect - Savannah Sparrows, Bobolinks, Song Sparrows etc etc.
An early start for 2.5 hour trip up the Kawarthas (left at 4:00am) and arrived to find I had the Wylie Road area to myself. It didn't take too long to find my first Golden-winged, but it wasn't keen to come out into the open, and thast was pretty much the order of the day with the other 3 or 4 birds | came across .. oh well !!
As far as the other birds were concerned - there were several sightings of Grasshopper Sparrows, lots of Bluebirds, several Easter Towhees and lots of the other plains birds you would expect - Savannah Sparrows, Bobolinks, Song Sparrows etc etc.
June 3rd & 5th 2023
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Mostly pure sun |
With lots do around home I didn't venture very far over the last few days. Birding highlight was a very cooperative Veery that I found along Beke Road. With the warmer weather there is a few butterflies starting to show up, so I dug out the macro lenses and managed a few pics.
June 2nd 2023
| LOCATION: Northern Bruce Peninsula | WEATHER: Sunny with a bit of cloud, and hot |
A late start, but as the weather seemed to improve (clouds rolling in, making it less of a pure sun kind of day) - as it ended up the clouds were very thin and making little difference .. oh well!! Arrived near noon and spent the next several hours patrolling the back roads looking initially for Golden-winged Warblers, but unlike previous years in the same area, there was no sign of a single bird anywhere. However, there was a few other subjects to photograph ...as per below.
