Nov 20th 2017
Location: Burlington, Hamilton & Stoney Creek
Weather: Mix of some sun, but dull most of the morning (and cold - around 0C)
| It looked like it was going to be a really nice & sunny day, as I left the house in Kitchener, but by the time I reached Lake Ontario it had dulled down. Not that the loss of the sun was a big problem, other than my ISO was creeping up to levels I'd prefer it not to be at. I told myself ... live with it (no choice, right?) My targets today were Snowy Owl, Black & White-winged Scoters, King Eider and whatever else interesting that hit my viewfinder. I managed to see the Owl and the Scoters, but the Eider escaped me again. I headed to the Lift Bridge Pier late in the morning ... you never know what you might find there. Unfortunately it was Thousands of Long-tailed Ducks and a few Mergansers .. no surprises today, but it was a ton of fun photographing the ducks on their fly pasts. |  Long-tailed Duck |
Nov 13th 2017
Location: Oakville- Burlington- Stoney Creek
Weather: Dull and with dampness in the air, but mild
I hadn't done any "serious" birding for the best part of a week and although the weather wasn't too promising, I made the effort to get up reasonably early and head to Lake Ontario. I started off at one of favorite places - Sedgewick Forest, but other than a lone Winter Wren it was unusually lacking in avian life. However a Winter Wren isn't a bad catch so I left there quite pleased, albeit he didn't stick around very long. Next stop was Superior Drive just off Burloak - I was hoping for some Raptors, but it was another location that was "dry". My next stop was La Salle Marina and things looked up a bit with another Winter Wren and a close encounter with a Wood Duck ... he's definitely getting used to people - he hardly flinched as I got close to him. Final stop on my outing was 10th line in Salfleet (Stoney Creek). In previous years at this time I have usually had good sightings of a Northern Mockingbird, and right on cue ... he was hanging around the bushes near the railway tracks. While I was watching the Mockingbird a Kestrel dropped by for a few seconds, but didn't come too close, so images are poor ... IT will be a location I'll be visiting again soon, so my fingers are crossed.
Nov 5th 2017
Location: CRC - Vittoria, Ontario
Weather: Wet and wild, but dried up for an hour during our session
To make the most of the current birding lull I have spent a few days, over the last three weeks, at the Canadian Raptor Conservancy in Vittoria (near Port Dover). Today the forecast was wet & wild all day and so I was a bit apprehensive as to how successful our day was going to be, but our sessions are "rain or shine", so you have to deal with things as best as you can. The facility is geared for rain days with a good indoor section that can cater to birds in flight as well as static birds. Anyways, the gods were with us for the first part of our three hour session as the rain petered out and it even brightened up a tad. Our hosts flew a few birds including Golden Eagle, Great-horned Owl and Harris Hawk, and we had an opportunity to photograph a couple of static birds (Northern Goshawk & Peregrine Falcon) as well before heading indoors. Inside we were able to photograph a Barn Owl in flight and a Lannin Falcon, Aplomado Falcon and a Coopers Hawk in a static setup. All in all despite the poor forecast, our day was extremely enjoyable. As good as it was over the last three visits, the plan is not go back until well into next year ...
