October 31st 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Very mild (22C) - sun and cloud |
Last day of the month - the weeks go really fast as the my years progress, it seems :)
Very mild day ... short sleeves and shorts weather, which is kinda out of season, but I am not complaining!!
Lots of Tree Sparrows around now - and I see that the numbers of the other sparrow types are way down (White-throated & White-crowned). Almost no Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but still good numbers of Golden-crowned.
I have been actively looking for some of the "wintery" type birds ... Redpolls, :Lapland Longspurs, Siskins and of course Snow Buntings, but so far nothing in my area ... so far !!
Very mild day ... short sleeves and shorts weather, which is kinda out of season, but I am not complaining!!
Lots of Tree Sparrows around now - and I see that the numbers of the other sparrow types are way down (White-throated & White-crowned). Almost no Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but still good numbers of Golden-crowned.
I have been actively looking for some of the "wintery" type birds ... Redpolls, :Lapland Longspurs, Siskins and of course Snow Buntings, but so far nothing in my area ... so far !!
October 27th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (gravel road) | WEATHER: Generally cloudy, and getting cooler |
Along my usual almost daily spot, which is only a couple of miles from where I live. Even though most of the migrating birds, which had been quite prolific a week ago, are it seems .. all moved on. Last week there were still a couple of Warblers around, as well as lots of Sparrow types, but on the plus side today there are a few new arrivals .. specifically the American Tree Sparrows - there were a dozen or so foraging on and alongside the road.
Tip of the Day: Look for a great background, which is one of the keys to an excellent bird photo. You want a background that is not too close to the bird so that the bird will stand out from the environment and create a pleasing bokeh. Also
watch the light and avoid shooting into the light. You want to find a location where the bird will be front-lit. Point your shadow at the bird !!
watch the light and avoid shooting into the light. You want to find a location where the bird will be front-lit. Point your shadow at the bird !!
October 26th 2024
| LOCATION: FWR Dickson & locations close to | WEATHER: Sunny, but significantly cooler, than of late |
Another visit to FWR was mostly not that good .. The Tufted Titmouse group were still hanging around but the bright sun made it difficult to get a decently exposed image .. IMHO the best days here are the cloudy days - that way the harsh contrast problem is eliminated. Still ... always a pleasure to visit this spot. Merlin picked up Winter Wren, Carolina Wren and a few others
Tip of the Day: It doesn't matter if it's an animal or human portrait, the principles are the same. You need to keep the face/head, particularly the eyes, as sharp as possible. Do this by setting a fast enough shutter speed (or higher ISO) and placing the autofocus point carefully over the eyes.
October 25th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (gravel road) | WEATHER: Sun and cloud .. fairly mild |
A short drive along my local "hot spot" was a mixed bag ... The dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers that have been semi resident at one spot for a few weeks now have, I suppose, at last, headed southerly as they were all gone. On the plus side a Northern Shrike was sitting on the exact same tree where I would normally see the Yellow rumps, so maybe this predator prompted the exodus of these late Warblers.
October 23rd 2024
| LOCATION: FWR Dickson | WEATHER: Sun & cloud, and still very mild |
I always enjoy going to FWR a) there are usually a fair amount of birds floating around and b) I always meet some really nice people there .. some I know, and some I don't. At this time of year it is well known about spot, with the local "celebrity" birds ... the Tufted Titmouse keeping the human visitor count quite high. As well as the ones below, I also saw and heard Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, American Robin, Chickadees, Juncos, Cedar Waxwing, and likely a few more I forgot about.
Tip of the Day: Going out with a group of like-minded bird photographers has many advantages. In addition to the camaraderie, you also have the fact that there are more sets of eyes looking for birds and interesting shots. Someone always sees something that I don’t.
October 20th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (gravel road) | WEATHER: Cool start, but by noon it was 20deg plus |
This section of back road, close to Cambridge/Kitchener always seems to have some activity. Today, was a sparrow kind of day ... At one spot Merlin was licking up Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Field Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow and the surprises .. a Fox Sparrow and a Savannah Sparrow - the last two I posted below. The attraction at this spot seemed to be a section of waste ground with lots of Golden Rod, on which they seemed to feeding.
**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**
October 17th & 18th 2024
| LOCATION: Day1:North Dumfries & Day2 near Long Point | WEATHER: Cool first thing then pleasantly sunny |
On impulse, after waking up very early, I headed down to Norfolk County, with an idea I might go to Long Point. My thoughts were maybe there be a few late Warblers, but as it happened there wasn't too much different than I was seeing in the Kitchener area - lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Hermit Thrushes & Kinglets. The highlight sighting was a first-of-season Winter Wren.
October 14th 2024
| LOCATION: N. Dumfries (gravel) &my back yard in KW | WEATHER: Cool and cloudy |
Other than some minor camera issues, it was a good birdy day .... a bit cool though !!
Other sightings included Yellow-rumped Warblers (lots of them), Dark-eyed Junco, Sandhill Cranes (saw 8 fly over), Downy Woodpeckers, Red-winged Blackbirds (40 or 50), and a few others ..
Other sightings included Yellow-rumped Warblers (lots of them), Dark-eyed Junco, Sandhill Cranes (saw 8 fly over), Downy Woodpeckers, Red-winged Blackbirds (40 or 50), and a few others ..
October 10th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries back roads | WEATHER: sunny, but definitely getting cooler |
One of my hope to find targets today was Rusty Blackbird. As it turned out there were a few around but they kept themselves high up in the trees, so photos, at least decent photos, were tough to get, but the shots I did get were FOS (first of season).
October 8th & 9th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries & my back yard | WEATHER: Sun and cloud |
Keeping close to home and also doing some back yard shooting. Back yard getting a few visitors since I put out the bird feeders and of course a few squirrels as well, who don't take too long to empty them - I have tried a couple of different feeder types, that claim to be somewhat squirrel proof, but the little devils still seem to get quite a bit of seed out of them ... so I suppose I will have to keep looking at other ways to limit their appetites - I see a few bird seed types that claim to be types that they don't like, so I might try them.
October 6th & 7th 2024
| LOCATION: Brant County & my back yard in Kitchener | WEATHER: Sun and cloud. and cooler |
Both days the routine was to drive down to a couple of spots I know, and visit fairly regularly, in Brant County just off the Cambridge - Paris highway. Both days I spotted a field with quite a few American Pipits (a FOY for me), the 2nd half of each day I just watched and waited around my bird feeders in my back yard. On day2 it was particularly good with lots of foraging birds, including my FOS Dark-eyed Junco ,,,
October 5th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (gravel road) | WEATHER: Chilly start (6C), then warmed up and sunny |
Same spot as yesterday, but the bird numbers were down quite a bit. I could see a few up in the trees, but too far to photograph. White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and a Lincoln or two as well.
October 4th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sun and cloud. but cool start |
Another good morning along the gravel road, with a few Warblers still hanging about.. I also took a drive down to a spot in Brant County, at my gate location. The big surprise here was there was a Bay-breasted still showing.
October 3rd 2024
| LOCATION: FWR Dickson | WEATHER: Cooler start, but warmed up |
As you can see from the quantity of images taken, that it was a pretty successful morning. I was quite surprised to still see some Warblers migrating through. Both Kinglet species were quite evident for the most part, and as were the Hermit Thrushes. The Thrushes were in good numbers with at least 5 or 6 buzzing around.
**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**
October 1st & 2nd 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (gravel road) | WEATHER: Sun and cloud . |
A few more migrating species of birds starting to show up - most notably the Hermit Thrushes. They are getting quite common along my usual stretch. Another couple of species that are showing up in good numbers are the Yellow-rumped Warblers and the Palm Warblers., both of who I love to photograph ... and ... not forgetting the cute Kinglets, with both species showing up in many places.
