Barn Swallow Chick Date: June 30th 2015
Weather: Dull
Location: cruising the back roads near Guelph
My last stop today, before the Canada Day Holiday, was in Guelph, so cruised a few of the back roads south and near Guelph, before calling it a day.
Weather: Dull
Location: cruising the back roads near Guelph
My last stop today, before the Canada Day Holiday, was in Guelph, so cruised a few of the back roads south and near Guelph, before calling it a day.
June 29th 2015
Date: June 29th 2015
Weather: Sunny
Location:Grass Lake
I have to admit my job sometimes compliments my passion for wildlife photography, and today was another good example. I had an appointment to visit a client in Brantford and so on the way back I made a very minor detour past Grass Lake (my office is in Ayr), with the intent that I should check up on the Sandhill Crane family and so was quite delighted to spot one adult and the one Colt fairly close to the road.
Weather: Sunny
Location:Grass Lake
I have to admit my job sometimes compliments my passion for wildlife photography, and today was another good example. I had an appointment to visit a client in Brantford and so on the way back I made a very minor detour past Grass Lake (my office is in Ayr), with the intent that I should check up on the Sandhill Crane family and so was quite delighted to spot one adult and the one Colt fairly close to the road.
June 28th 2015
Date: June 28th 2015
Weather: Wet, wet wet!
Location: Between Elmvale & Wasaga Beach (near Tiny Marsh)
A long overdue visit, with my wife, to visit my daughter, son-in-law & grandkids. I had hoped to get out for a half hour or so to a) check out the Piping Plovers at the beach and b) maybe get over to Tiny Marsh and see if the Black Terns etc were still around. Because of the incessant rainy weather I never made it any further than the porch. When I arrived my family mentioned that they had an unusual bird nesting in the front yard trees, which turned out to be Brown Thrashers, so we had a pleasant afternoon sitting on the porch watching Mom & Pop Thrasher foraging for food for their family, sometimes as close as 10 ft from where we were sitting.... nice! The Thrashers were a nice compliment to a fantastic visit and an amazing dinner prepared by my son-in-law Lawrence.
Weather: Wet, wet wet!
Location: Between Elmvale & Wasaga Beach (near Tiny Marsh)
A long overdue visit, with my wife, to visit my daughter, son-in-law & grandkids. I had hoped to get out for a half hour or so to a) check out the Piping Plovers at the beach and b) maybe get over to Tiny Marsh and see if the Black Terns etc were still around. Because of the incessant rainy weather I never made it any further than the porch. When I arrived my family mentioned that they had an unusual bird nesting in the front yard trees, which turned out to be Brown Thrashers, so we had a pleasant afternoon sitting on the porch watching Mom & Pop Thrasher foraging for food for their family, sometimes as close as 10 ft from where we were sitting.... nice! The Thrashers were a nice compliment to a fantastic visit and an amazing dinner prepared by my son-in-law Lawrence.
June 27th 2015
Wilson's Snipe Date: June 27th 2015
Weather: Dull, but dry (but only just)
Location: Carden Alvar
Up at 3:15 and out the door by 4:00am for the 2 1/2 hour trip to Carden Alvar. I have to admit that when the alarm goes off I have grave doubts about my passion for bird photography. Arrived in poor light but was encouraged by the sight of (2) Brown Thrashers, a Yellow Warbler and a Grasshopper Sparrow within a few minutes of entering Wylie Road. Carden can be spectacular on a good day and average on a bad day - today it was leaning towards average, but I was able to spot several Thrashers, Bluebirds, Kingbirds, Snipes, Waxwings, Grasshopper, Chipping & Song Sparrows, as well as Catbirds, Phoebes, Yellow Warblers, Yellowthroats, but unfortunately none of the Carden specialties - Loggerhead Shrike, Sedge Wren, Upland Sandpiper (although several other visitors had no problem spotting them :( ) and Golden-winged Warbler. Maybe next trip !
Weather: Dull, but dry (but only just)
Location: Carden Alvar
Up at 3:15 and out the door by 4:00am for the 2 1/2 hour trip to Carden Alvar. I have to admit that when the alarm goes off I have grave doubts about my passion for bird photography. Arrived in poor light but was encouraged by the sight of (2) Brown Thrashers, a Yellow Warbler and a Grasshopper Sparrow within a few minutes of entering Wylie Road. Carden can be spectacular on a good day and average on a bad day - today it was leaning towards average, but I was able to spot several Thrashers, Bluebirds, Kingbirds, Snipes, Waxwings, Grasshopper, Chipping & Song Sparrows, as well as Catbirds, Phoebes, Yellow Warblers, Yellowthroats, but unfortunately none of the Carden specialties - Loggerhead Shrike, Sedge Wren, Upland Sandpiper (although several other visitors had no problem spotting them :( ) and Golden-winged Warbler. Maybe next trip !
June 26th 2015
American Redstart Date: June 26th 2015
Weather: Sunny
Location: Mountsberg & Grass Lake
I had a business appointment in Toronto 1st thing this morning and with a gap in appointments after that I detoured to one of my all-time favorite local locations - Mountsberg Reservoir. For the last 4 years or so I've visited this location late spring and for the last for years I've seen & photographed the same species - American Redstart, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Kingbird & Baltimore Oriole - all of which have nested in the short trail along the outfall creek from Mountsberg Reservoir. It's one of the things I love about birding .. kinda knowing what to expect from any particular location at a given time of the year. All the pics shown on this entry were taken within an hour or so.
Forecast for the weekend is poor locally, so I think a road trip north is in order - Carden Alvar - the weather is supposed to be reasonable for most of the day
Weather: Sunny
Location: Mountsberg & Grass Lake
I had a business appointment in Toronto 1st thing this morning and with a gap in appointments after that I detoured to one of my all-time favorite local locations - Mountsberg Reservoir. For the last 4 years or so I've visited this location late spring and for the last for years I've seen & photographed the same species - American Redstart, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Kingbird & Baltimore Oriole - all of which have nested in the short trail along the outfall creek from Mountsberg Reservoir. It's one of the things I love about birding .. kinda knowing what to expect from any particular location at a given time of the year. All the pics shown on this entry were taken within an hour or so.
Forecast for the weekend is poor locally, so I think a road trip north is in order - Carden Alvar - the weather is supposed to be reasonable for most of the day
June 20th 2015
Eastern Towhee Date: June 21st 2015
Weather: Hazy Sun
Location: In and around Cambridge
Destination this morning was the Crown Land area on Alps Road, Cambridge. Strange morning - I had expected the weak sun to be perfect for bringing out a few birds, but in fact I saw very few, even after I played a few bird songs as an enticement. There appeared to be an electric feel in the air as if a thunderstorm wasn't too far away, so maybe the birds keep there head down during times like this ... mmmm! Anyways I did spot this Towhee, and a short time later a family of Brown Thrashers who, in both cases, only stayed around for a couple of minutes.
Weather: Hazy Sun
Location: In and around Cambridge
Destination this morning was the Crown Land area on Alps Road, Cambridge. Strange morning - I had expected the weak sun to be perfect for bringing out a few birds, but in fact I saw very few, even after I played a few bird songs as an enticement. There appeared to be an electric feel in the air as if a thunderstorm wasn't too far away, so maybe the birds keep there head down during times like this ... mmmm! Anyways I did spot this Towhee, and a short time later a family of Brown Thrashers who, in both cases, only stayed around for a couple of minutes.
June 20th 2015
Common Yellowthroat Date: June 20th 2015
Weather: Generally Sunny
Location: Backus Woods, Port Rowan
Up at 4:00am to get out the door at 5:00 am and down to Port Rowan for 6:30 . Arrived at the north side of Backus Woods to see if I could spot a Hooded Warbler (this spot is quite well known as an annual nesting area for this species) and recently reported
Cerulean Warblers. Unfortunately I was SOL on the Warblers, but did spot a few others of note - Scarlet Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (at least 7 or 8), Red-eyed Vireos, Common Yellowthroats and a single Great-crested Flycatcher. On the Cerulean I should say that a group of fellow birders identified at least two of them high in the treetops. From the North side I flipped over to the south side and after a brief jaunt I came upon an Indigo Bunting and further on a Blue-winged Warbler. Late morning and I went to the Bird Studies HQ property and other than a few Yellow Warblers and yet another Blue-winged Warbler it was pretty quiet. I had hoped to see a Black-billed Cuckoo here (previous years at this time I was able to see one), but not to be today!
Weather: Generally Sunny
Location: Backus Woods, Port Rowan
Up at 4:00am to get out the door at 5:00 am and down to Port Rowan for 6:30 . Arrived at the north side of Backus Woods to see if I could spot a Hooded Warbler (this spot is quite well known as an annual nesting area for this species) and recently reported
Cerulean Warblers. Unfortunately I was SOL on the Warblers, but did spot a few others of note - Scarlet Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (at least 7 or 8), Red-eyed Vireos, Common Yellowthroats and a single Great-crested Flycatcher. On the Cerulean I should say that a group of fellow birders identified at least two of them high in the treetops. From the North side I flipped over to the south side and after a brief jaunt I came upon an Indigo Bunting and further on a Blue-winged Warbler. Late morning and I went to the Bird Studies HQ property and other than a few Yellow Warblers and yet another Blue-winged Warbler it was pretty quiet. I had hoped to see a Black-billed Cuckoo here (previous years at this time I was able to see one), but not to be today!
June 13th 2015
Blue-winged Warbler Date: June 13th 2015
Weather: Cloudy, but turned sunny later
Location: Mainly Alps Road Crown Land
Dull morning with terrible light .. I almost stayed at home, but knowing that Sunday was to be worse I headed out anyways. Stopped off to check out a Northern Flicker nest that I found a couple of weeks back and hadn't been back since then .. Looks like babies are in the nest but still too small to be head popping out of the nest hole. I'll leave them alone for another week I think. A couple of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were active and pretty inquisitive as well and I was able to get a couple of poor shots in the terrible light :(
From here I headed to Alps Road - first checking out the Bluebird nest near the Alps/Dumfries Road intersection .. yep, they were around, but I didn't stay to take pics, but kept on to my intended destination - the Crown land trail on Alps Road. A few years back I discovered this spot, as a great spot to see Indigos at this time of year. Today was no exception - a male Indigo popped up seconds after I arrived at the planned spot (Indigos like sunny clearings in the forest), but he kept a good distance away, making pictures a challenge. The female was also visible, but she kept even further back. I also was fortunate to see a Scarlet Tanager, who dropped by (so to speak) for a few seconds. I fired off one shot, which based on the poor light, the distance, the fact he was behind some leaves guaranteed this was no National Geographic image ;) . I dropped by Grass Lake to see how the Sandhills were progressing and was pleased to see that a pair had a fairly new colt that was barely visible above the short corn.
I was joined later in the morning by a good friend, Helen Lam, and we returned to the spot where I had seen the Indigos earlier in the morning. A male came by and we were able to fire off a few hopefully decent shots (the light was improving). Earlier in the day a lady passed me by and mentioned that she had heard a Blue-winged Warbler fairly close by, so Helen and I decided to check it out ... this was the highlight of the day - along the forest edge we quickly spotted an Eastern Towhee, who was pretty cooperative, then the Blue-winged came by and we were able to get some pretty good, fairly close, shots. Another indigo showed up who also came in pretty close. All in all ... a damned good day!
Weather: Cloudy, but turned sunny later
Location: Mainly Alps Road Crown Land
Dull morning with terrible light .. I almost stayed at home, but knowing that Sunday was to be worse I headed out anyways. Stopped off to check out a Northern Flicker nest that I found a couple of weeks back and hadn't been back since then .. Looks like babies are in the nest but still too small to be head popping out of the nest hole. I'll leave them alone for another week I think. A couple of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were active and pretty inquisitive as well and I was able to get a couple of poor shots in the terrible light :(
From here I headed to Alps Road - first checking out the Bluebird nest near the Alps/Dumfries Road intersection .. yep, they were around, but I didn't stay to take pics, but kept on to my intended destination - the Crown land trail on Alps Road. A few years back I discovered this spot, as a great spot to see Indigos at this time of year. Today was no exception - a male Indigo popped up seconds after I arrived at the planned spot (Indigos like sunny clearings in the forest), but he kept a good distance away, making pictures a challenge. The female was also visible, but she kept even further back. I also was fortunate to see a Scarlet Tanager, who dropped by (so to speak) for a few seconds. I fired off one shot, which based on the poor light, the distance, the fact he was behind some leaves guaranteed this was no National Geographic image ;) . I dropped by Grass Lake to see how the Sandhills were progressing and was pleased to see that a pair had a fairly new colt that was barely visible above the short corn.
I was joined later in the morning by a good friend, Helen Lam, and we returned to the spot where I had seen the Indigos earlier in the morning. A male came by and we were able to fire off a few hopefully decent shots (the light was improving). Earlier in the day a lady passed me by and mentioned that she had heard a Blue-winged Warbler fairly close by, so Helen and I decided to check it out ... this was the highlight of the day - along the forest edge we quickly spotted an Eastern Towhee, who was pretty cooperative, then the Blue-winged came by and we were able to get some pretty good, fairly close, shots. Another indigo showed up who also came in pretty close. All in all ... a damned good day!
June 1st 2015 (approx)
Chaffinch Date: between May 28th and June 8th
Weather: varied
Location: SW Scotland
Went to Scotland for a family wedding, and took a few opportunities to do a little birding while I was there. Weather wise it was pretty good, but with the poor light (in a lot of cases) the images are pushed somewhat. The fact that I was using my old 5D2 (the 5D3 is in for repair) and my somewhat ancient 100-400 didn't help with image quality either. Generally, I concentrated on woodland and field type species and was rewarded with Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Wrens, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Warblers, etc etc. I left Scotland 30 years ago for a new life in Canada, and over that time and after many visits to the homeland, I have noticed a change in the quantity of some birds. eg Bullfinches and Goldfinches were pretty rare in the area I used to live, but on the last couple of visits I've noticed a distinct increase in quantities. Jackdaws & Wood Pigeons, although always have been reasonably plentiful in the past, now seem to be everywhere. I suspect that decreasing quantities of farming pesticides have resulted in the increase of some of these species ...
Weather: varied
Location: SW Scotland
Went to Scotland for a family wedding, and took a few opportunities to do a little birding while I was there. Weather wise it was pretty good, but with the poor light (in a lot of cases) the images are pushed somewhat. The fact that I was using my old 5D2 (the 5D3 is in for repair) and my somewhat ancient 100-400 didn't help with image quality either. Generally, I concentrated on woodland and field type species and was rewarded with Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Wrens, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Warblers, etc etc. I left Scotland 30 years ago for a new life in Canada, and over that time and after many visits to the homeland, I have noticed a change in the quantity of some birds. eg Bullfinches and Goldfinches were pretty rare in the area I used to live, but on the last couple of visits I've noticed a distinct increase in quantities. Jackdaws & Wood Pigeons, although always have been reasonably plentiful in the past, now seem to be everywhere. I suspect that decreasing quantities of farming pesticides have resulted in the increase of some of these species ...
