JUNE 2019

June 29th 2019

Location: West side of Algonquin

Weather: Misty start, some early cloud then sun, sun, sun

This was the Canada Day long weekend, and although we suspected the area might be busy and the traffic up might be a bit of a challenge, Jamie and I headed up to an area on the west side of Algonquin to look for and hopefully photograph a few Warblers anyways. The original plan was to spend a couple of days in the area, but after a long and pretty successful day we headed back (The next day was forecasted to be clear & blue sky,  which as I have mentioned in the past, my least favorite weather for photographing birds), and we saved the price of a couple of hotel rooms to boot :)
The early dull part of the day was a bit of a problem which resulted in some higher than preferred ISO levels, but that's the price you pay for shooting out of the sun I suppose. Sightings were pretty steady all day with some good birds seen and photographed. There was a couple of birds we saw but didn't manage a click eg the Blue-headed Vireo, so maybe next time ... maybe. 
One bird we saw and and was saddened to see that it had a tick embedded just above its eye was a Red-eyed Vireo. I found out later that migrating birds are a significant element in the transfer & spreading of these little B's. It also reminded me to check myself for any "hangers on" - I'm glad to say I came up clean. Great trip and thanks again Jamie, for the great company, and the use of your super ears for locating many of the birds.
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Black-throated Blue Warbler

June 24th 2019

Location: Happy Valley

Weather: Cloudy, with occasional drizzle, and some sun later in the day

I think I have probably mentioned in the past that I like to have a target or two in mind every time I go out. Planning is so important in the art of bird photography, and going through as many resources as possible, so important in that process. Ebird,  I  find very useful - as well as Facebook, Flickr and asking friends and acquaintances what they've seen and where (I get asked all the time)

Today my targets were ... Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Hooded Warbler. I came up with these after a bit of research on Ebird as to where I might find (initially the Vireo & Sapsucker) these species and was delighted to find that the Happy Valley Conservation area was good for both these birds and also the Hooded Warbler (nice surprise). Next thought in the process was ... what day - an important part of "the day" decision is weather, and the worst weather is pure sun, so today the weather forecast was calling for cloud and possibly light rain ... PERFECT.

Over the next several hours we checked out several areas in The Happy Valley area - deep woods, open plains, forest edges, wetlands etc and was delighted to see more than one Blue-headed Vireos (they were calling almost everywhere). A few other birds also were around so all in all the Happy Valley trip was quite successful, and because we missed a couple of the targets, a good reason to put the spot as a future trip location in the coming days/weeks. 

June 18-19th 2019

Location: Back road near Stratford

Weather: (18th) Mainly cloudy with some sun. (19th) Mainly sunny with occasional cloud

With the super long lenses. and high quality full-frame cameras that I've been using for many years, it makes it practical to  follow a situation without intruding too much. Over the last couple of days I have been watching a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers as they popped back and forward to their nest, which has some little ones.  I should point out that these shots were taken from some distance and are severely cropped to create the images displayed here. The birds, both male & female, popped back and forward to the nest hole in short bursts of activity - often with both birds in the hole at the same time (it must have been pretty crowded in there). One thing I noticed was that they would stash food in a few places around - one being directly on top of the stump, where they would appear to pound the prey into a cavity, then come back a short time later, retrieve it and then feed the babies. Red-headed, unlike most other Woodpeckers, capture their prey, which was a mixture of caterpillars, bugs, beetles & spiders, on the surface or on the wing. Other woodpeckers tend to excavate cavities in search of food.
On further exploration of the immediate area, I noticed that a second pair have a nest in an adjacent dead tree, but because of the general inactivity around that nest, it would seem that this pair is incubating eggs. I will have to keep my eyes on both these nests in the coming weeks, and of course at no time will I be getting too close or disturb the birds in any way.
On a photography note - birds like this with dramatic red feathers are very difficult to the get the exposure just right. I have found that in the sun these red feathers get "blown out" and loose photographic detail I much prefer shooting in a cloudy or even in a rainy environment.  

June 13-14th 2019

Location: Muskoka Region

Weather: Day 1 - sunny and Day 2 cloudy and rain later

With 99.5% of the Warblers all through our area it was time for a trip up into the lower breeding grounds of many of these sought after little beauties. Our trip was just south of North Bay, but many Warblers head much further north, so we had to be contended with the ones that breed in our visited area. Over the two days, and many hours out looking, we found Black-throated Green, Northern Parula, Canada, Chestnut-sided, Nashville, Blackburnian & Black & White Warblers, as well as a few other odds & sods. The big "misses" for me were the Black-throated Blue Warbler & the Blue-headed Vireo. We had glimpses of the Black-throated Blue, but none made it into the viewfinder .... maybe next time. The one thing we didn't miss out on were the Mosquitoes & Black Flies - we had lots (& felt the effects of many more) ..... little #$@*% !!!

June 10th 2019

Location: Various Halton Region Tracts

Weather: Fine misty rain and periods of just cloud

A day out in the misty rain meant that I didn't have harsh shadows to contend with, but the dullness of the day (my favorite kind of photography day) meant that the ISO was a bit high ... in same cases I was up around 10000. However I am pleased to say that my Full frame Canon Camera and top-end lens handled this with little or no problem. This kind of day is almost mandatory when you plan to shoot Indigo Buntings ... in the harsh sun the blue just "blows out" making them all but heading to the delete bin. Today the light was perfect ... and I came away very happy with these shots.
The highlight of the day was to come across a Northern Waterthrush ... not the most glamorous  of Warblers, but it was a "first of year" for me, so an exciting find. We found him in a typical Northern Waterthrush type location - still waters alongside ​a wooded swamp or bog.

June 6th 2019

Location: Halton Region Tracts

Weather: Fine rain first thing but brightened up to sun & cloud later (& warm)

One of my favorite areas to go birding locally in the spring is along some of the very fine Halton Region Tracts, near Milton. This morning I checked out Britton Tract, Cox Tract,  Finney Tract & Acton Tract. There wasn't too many birds at any of them but what I did see was quality, especially the Mourning Warbler, which was one of two I saw this morning, but this one ventured quite close and gave me some nice views. Other birds seen were Blue-winged Warbler, Indigo Bunting & Ovenbird.

June 4th 2019

Location: Paris, Brantford & surrounding areas

Weather: Cloud for the most part, but the rain held off

Grasshopper Sparrow

One thing I would always recommend birders & photographers is that when you head out for the day, have a bit of a plan in mind, and more importantly have a species in mind. I know sometimes we head out with a location in mind, and then hope to see/photograph a selection of different birds that you fly out in to your chosen path, but I prefer the calculated and deliberate path of tracking down a target or targets at different spots.
Today was another of those days where we headed to a known spot, where we were pretty sure that a Prothonotary Warbler would be hanging around, and as suspected we saw our "prey" several times over a period of a couple of hours. The light was a bit drab, but on the plus side the sun stayed nicely behind the clouds. (I am not keen on shooting birds in bright sunshine - always a challenge to deal with the harsh shadows.)
Next stop and a new target was a disused quarry where over many years the grasses had grown over the whole area and allowed a few of the field sparrow species to take up residence, including the Field Sparrow (of course),  Song Sparrow, Clay-coloured Sparrow and the beautiful Grasshopper Sparrow. Strangely I never came across any Savannah Sparrows at this spot. The two main species of interest were the Clay-coloured and the Grasshopper - both of which popped up a few times giving us some great shots.

June 1st 2019

Location: Cambridge - Caledonia

Weather: Bright & sunny but with a chance of rain later

The Prothonotary Warbler has always been a favorite of mine - once called the Golden Swamp Warbler, the Prothonotary is classed as an endangered bird here in Canada, so always a bit of prize to come across one, as I did today along a gravel road in rural SW Ontario. I watched him/her for several minutes as he/she foraged along the edge of a swamp collecting juicy morsels for what must have been young on the nest. Awesome !!!
Later in the morning as I was heading back towards home, driving down all the back roads I thought might be productive, I saw a Red-eyed Vireo in a low tree beside roadway, and after some coaxing and lots of waiting, he popped out again to give me a shot or two. The red eye was so prominent that he/she was a delight to see, and photograph, this fairly common, but very beautiful bird.