Date: July 24-26th 2015
Weather: Yet more Sunny & Hot
Location: Friday: Local - Saturday: Georgetown and Sunday: Hockley Valley
On my way home from Work on Friday night I detoured around by Langdon Hall, and pulled in along the gravel road. I was looking for birds, but this guy caught my eye - a Short-tailed Weasel. Strangely there were three of them all together and they were crossing the road back & forward several times. At one point, what I assume was an adult grabbed the juvenile by the neck and dragged him across the road. They were so fast and incredibly difficult to keep in focus, so I snapped off a hundred or so shots, for about a half dozen relatively good 'uns.
Weather: Yet more Sunny & Hot
Location: Friday: Local - Saturday: Georgetown and Sunday: Hockley Valley
On my way home from Work on Friday night I detoured around by Langdon Hall, and pulled in along the gravel road. I was looking for birds, but this guy caught my eye - a Short-tailed Weasel. Strangely there were three of them all together and they were crossing the road back & forward several times. At one point, what I assume was an adult grabbed the juvenile by the neck and dragged him across the road. They were so fast and incredibly difficult to keep in focus, so I snapped off a hundred or so shots, for about a half dozen relatively good 'uns.
Forecast for Saturday and Sunday was to be pretty hot, so I had an early start both days. Saturday morning I headed to Silver Creek Conservation area and Sunday up to Mono Centre near Hockley Resort. At Silver Creek it started reasonably well with Black-throated Green Warbler, Great-crested Flycatchers, Red-eyed Vireos (several), Common Yellowthroats (several) and a couple of warblers that have me a bit stumped. Surprises were a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Green Heron. All in all a pretty good day. Now Sunday was a different story - I reached Hockley Resort at about 6:45am and immediately spotted a Black & White Warbler, and shortly after that a Yellow-rumped Warbler ... looking good :) , but sadly that was about it for the day .. oh well maybe next week !!
July 17,18,19th 2015
Date: July 17 -19th 2015
Weather: Sunny & Hot
Location: Locally (Home, Headwaters Trail & Beverley Swamp
Friday after work watched the Red-breasted Nuthatches & Woodpeckers in our back yard ... it was a lot of fun as the Nuthatches, Downy's & Hairy Woodpeckers quarreled over the peanuts in the Peanut Feeder, giving me a few good opportunities for some relatively close-up photography.
Up early and headed out with the thought the early morning mist might be interesting along the river (see below), and then over to the Headwater Trail near Copetown to see if I could nail the Mourning Warbler (That did not work out for me, but I did spot a Least Flycatcher), and then finally over to Beverley Swamp ... where things picked up for me, although the birds in general are VERY cautious and difficult to get out in the open. However I did spot Red-eyed Vireos, House Wren, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, a Blue-winged Warbler, Orioles, Kingbirds, and a few others.
Sunday: Yet another hot and sweaty morning, and back to Beverley Swamp, and the adjoining back roads. A more productive day, but again the birds are very difficult to get in the open (or semi close), but I had a House Wren, several Red-eyed Vireos, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Brown Thrasher, Indigoes, Waxwings, Blue-winged Warbler (2 at 2 locations) and my first Black-billed Cuckoo of the year.
Weather: Sunny & Hot
Location: Locally (Home, Headwaters Trail & Beverley Swamp
Friday after work watched the Red-breasted Nuthatches & Woodpeckers in our back yard ... it was a lot of fun as the Nuthatches, Downy's & Hairy Woodpeckers quarreled over the peanuts in the Peanut Feeder, giving me a few good opportunities for some relatively close-up photography.
Up early and headed out with the thought the early morning mist might be interesting along the river (see below), and then over to the Headwater Trail near Copetown to see if I could nail the Mourning Warbler (That did not work out for me, but I did spot a Least Flycatcher), and then finally over to Beverley Swamp ... where things picked up for me, although the birds in general are VERY cautious and difficult to get out in the open. However I did spot Red-eyed Vireos, House Wren, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, a Blue-winged Warbler, Orioles, Kingbirds, and a few others.
Sunday: Yet another hot and sweaty morning, and back to Beverley Swamp, and the adjoining back roads. A more productive day, but again the birds are very difficult to get in the open (or semi close), but I had a House Wren, several Red-eyed Vireos, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Brown Thrasher, Indigoes, Waxwings, Blue-winged Warbler (2 at 2 locations) and my first Black-billed Cuckoo of the year.
July 12th 2015
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Date: July 12th 2015
Weather: Sunny(hazy) & Hot, hot, hot ... again!
Location: at home in Kitchener
Today was looking to be a pretty good day to go birding - the light was perfect (at least the way I like it .. bright, but a tad hazy), but because my garden was starting to show signs of neglect I did the "right" thing and did a bit of weeding, trimming and pruning of a couple of trees. It was pretty exhausting (especially for an old guy like me ;) ). But it did give me a chance to setup the camera and periodically I was able to get a few shots of the Hummingbirds as they came & went, during the very short breaks (my wife is a slavedriver :) ). My bird count in the yard was pretty good for today - Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing, Starling, Robin, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Grackles, Baltimore Orioles, Cardinals, Blue Jay, House & Chipping Sparrows and of course the Hummingbirds.
Mmmmm! ... might be birding at home next weekend LOL
Weather: Sunny(hazy) & Hot, hot, hot ... again!
Location: at home in Kitchener
Today was looking to be a pretty good day to go birding - the light was perfect (at least the way I like it .. bright, but a tad hazy), but because my garden was starting to show signs of neglect I did the "right" thing and did a bit of weeding, trimming and pruning of a couple of trees. It was pretty exhausting (especially for an old guy like me ;) ). But it did give me a chance to setup the camera and periodically I was able to get a few shots of the Hummingbirds as they came & went, during the very short breaks (my wife is a slavedriver :) ). My bird count in the yard was pretty good for today - Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing, Starling, Robin, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Grackles, Baltimore Orioles, Cardinals, Blue Jay, House & Chipping Sparrows and of course the Hummingbirds.
Mmmmm! ... might be birding at home next weekend LOL
July 11th 2015
Date: July 11th 2015
Weather: Sunny & Hot, hot, hot
Location: Carden Alvar
Arrived pretty early ~6:00am after a 2 1/2 hour drive from Kitchener. The sun was already over the horizon, but had to take a pic of the beautiful start to the morning.
Lots of birds around, but very few warblers unfortunately. There were several Bluebird nests that were still active, so the Bluebird parents were constantly buzzing to & fro with food for the little guys. Same with the Thrashers & the Phoebes .. Times like this are excellent opportunities to get pretty close to the birds (without disturbing them or stressing them out too much). Targets today were Upland Sandpiper, Sedge Wren & Loggerhead Shrike - SOL with the Sandpiper and Loggerhead, but with the help of a couple of guys we met - Rico & Jim we were able to spot a couple of these pretty rare species. Can't thank you guys enough :) cheers!!
Spotted what I thought was a Philadelphia Vireo - I took a couple of shots of the bird as it settled on a branch for a few seconds. Quick camera view to check if this was a Red-eye or a Philadelphia .. No red-eye, so hey .. has to be a Phylly. Unfortunately when I uploaded later the red eye was quite prominent - I "counted those chickens before they hatched" .. again!! Other species of note was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that landed close and posed for a few seconds. All in all a great day and many thanks to Helen, Rico, Jim & Cynthia.
Weather: Sunny & Hot, hot, hot
Location: Carden Alvar
Arrived pretty early ~6:00am after a 2 1/2 hour drive from Kitchener. The sun was already over the horizon, but had to take a pic of the beautiful start to the morning.
Lots of birds around, but very few warblers unfortunately. There were several Bluebird nests that were still active, so the Bluebird parents were constantly buzzing to & fro with food for the little guys. Same with the Thrashers & the Phoebes .. Times like this are excellent opportunities to get pretty close to the birds (without disturbing them or stressing them out too much). Targets today were Upland Sandpiper, Sedge Wren & Loggerhead Shrike - SOL with the Sandpiper and Loggerhead, but with the help of a couple of guys we met - Rico & Jim we were able to spot a couple of these pretty rare species. Can't thank you guys enough :) cheers!!
Spotted what I thought was a Philadelphia Vireo - I took a couple of shots of the bird as it settled on a branch for a few seconds. Quick camera view to check if this was a Red-eye or a Philadelphia .. No red-eye, so hey .. has to be a Phylly. Unfortunately when I uploaded later the red eye was quite prominent - I "counted those chickens before they hatched" .. again!! Other species of note was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that landed close and posed for a few seconds. All in all a great day and many thanks to Helen, Rico, Jim & Cynthia.
July 6-9th 2015
Date: July 6-9th 2015
Weather: Generally sunny days
Location: Cambridge - Copetown, ON
Over the last few days I've managed an hour here & there. Nothing too exciting, but as always ... fun!
Weather: Generally sunny days
Location: Cambridge - Copetown, ON
Over the last few days I've managed an hour here & there. Nothing too exciting, but as always ... fun!
July 4th 2015
Date: July 4th 2015
Weather: Generally sunny, but a cool start to the day
Location: Cambridge, ON
Didn't have a lot of time this morning, so I limited my outing to two hours, but managed to squeeze in two locations around Cambridge. Started off at Freeport - my initial mission was to check up on a Flicker nest that I had been monitoring, but there was no activity at or around the nest, so I carried on a bit further along the trail and spotted an Indigo Bunting, A juvi Yellow Warbler, a Northern Flicker and a total of three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. There was a few garden species as well flying around - Cardinals, Robins, Song Sparrows, RWB's etc. Next stop was the Rare property along Blair Road although generally quite quiet I did see several Waxwings and a lone Red-eyed Vireo who posed for me nicely. :)
Weather: Generally sunny, but a cool start to the day
Location: Cambridge, ON
Didn't have a lot of time this morning, so I limited my outing to two hours, but managed to squeeze in two locations around Cambridge. Started off at Freeport - my initial mission was to check up on a Flicker nest that I had been monitoring, but there was no activity at or around the nest, so I carried on a bit further along the trail and spotted an Indigo Bunting, A juvi Yellow Warbler, a Northern Flicker and a total of three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. There was a few garden species as well flying around - Cardinals, Robins, Song Sparrows, RWB's etc. Next stop was the Rare property along Blair Road although generally quite quiet I did see several Waxwings and a lone Red-eyed Vireo who posed for me nicely. :)
July 1st 2015
Date: July 1st 2015
Weather: Cloud and a little sun
Location: near Silver Creek Conservation Area
Being Canada Day and a public holiday I had the opportunity to do a little midweek birding. I had never been to the Silver Creek area before so why not today ??
Silver Creek CA is on a windy (windy as in snaky) back road and looks great as a birding area ... it just had the right look and feel. I arrived around 7:15 and almost right away a Black-throated Green Warbler showed up ... Wow!
I teamed up with a fellow birder for the better part of the late morning, sharing the passion as well as an extra pair of eyes as we waited for any bird visitors to our chosen location. Thanks Bill for a pleasant morning!
I have a small feeder setup at home so in the late afternoon I popped off a few pics (pic #7 onwards) to round off a great Canada Day.
Weather: Cloud and a little sun
Location: near Silver Creek Conservation Area
Being Canada Day and a public holiday I had the opportunity to do a little midweek birding. I had never been to the Silver Creek area before so why not today ??
Silver Creek CA is on a windy (windy as in snaky) back road and looks great as a birding area ... it just had the right look and feel. I arrived around 7:15 and almost right away a Black-throated Green Warbler showed up ... Wow!
I teamed up with a fellow birder for the better part of the late morning, sharing the passion as well as an extra pair of eyes as we waited for any bird visitors to our chosen location. Thanks Bill for a pleasant morning!
I have a small feeder setup at home so in the late afternoon I popped off a few pics (pic #7 onwards) to round off a great Canada Day.
