NOVEMBER 2021

November 30th 2021

LOCATION: Near Grass Lake

WEATHER: Snow early, but cleared up

Early in the afternoon, the snow stopped and it looked reasonably interesting for photography, but as it was already quite late I did the short run out the Grass Lake area, to see if there is anything around. I almost left without a camera - that's how confident I was that wouldn't be too much to shoot. - Boy, I'm glad decided just before leaving that .... just in case, I should  throw the camera in the car. I am glad I did .. I found a small flock of Cedar Waxwings that were feeding along the side of the road.

Tip of the Day: IF you go out make sure you have a camera with you .... you never know :)

November 28th 2021

LOCATION: Luther Marsh area

WEATHER: really dull, but not windy

White-winged Crossbills

The other day I was a tad disappointed with the images I managed of the Snow Buntings, so today, based on the weather forecast, I headed back up to the same area as a couple of days ago.

Oddly, there wasn't a Snow Bunting to be found anywhere ... Oh well, name of the game .... right? 
​
On the plus side, along one of the many gravel roads in the area, I found a flock of about 20 or so White-winged Crossbills, that flitted about for a few minutes, before heading off.  Certainly made up for the lack of Snow Buntings.
​
Other sightings were a Northern Flicker pair that stopped by and a rather distant adult Bald Eagle ... which I thought was a bit unusual in that area ... or maybe not ?

November 26th 2021

LOCATION: Near New Hamburg

WEATHER: Dull, but mild

A few days ago I was in this area looking for what was reported as a Loggerhead Shrike. I saw the bird, but it was always too far away, so today I thought I would give it another try. I arrived around 8:15 and immediately I spotted it on the hydro wires, and I took a few shots from the car, then moved forward another 20 feet and repeated the process. The bird was cautious, but never moved - ultimately I was as close as I dared (still in the car) then a car in the opposite direction spooked the bird and it took off. I discovered that this was no Loggerhead, but the more common Northern Shrike (still VERY happy).
I left for an hour to check out a local woodlot, and then came back to same spot where I had photographed the Shrike earlier. I stopped the car and scanned the hydro lines and the local trees with my binoculars, but not a sign. I was almost going to drive off and looked out my drivers window, and there he was sitting on a fence post 20ft away... then sat there for a few minutes while I fired off a couple of doz frames. WOW!!!  my lucky day!!

Tip of the Day:  Research your subject - have an idea what you are hoping to see, and know what kind of habitat etc 

November 25th 2021

LOCATION: At home in KItchener

WEATHER: Cloudy, dull and chilly

Weather wasn't very appealing so didn't go out. I did however set up a tripod in my dining room, and point the camera out towards the feeders ... you never know !!
Managed quite a few garden birds coming in and out, but the highlight was a Coopers Hawk that landed on my deck top rail .. too close for a full body shot but he posed nice for about 15 seconds ... I'm glad I was ready.

Tip of the Day:  Before you start heading down that trail, or generally getting to your destination have all your settings ready to go ... A lesson I learned the hard way :) 

November 24th 2021

LOCATION: Luther Marsh

WEATHER: Sunny, but chilly

My target today was Snow Buntings, and maybe a Snowy Owl. I managed lots of Snow Buntings - I came across at least 6 flocks in a period of about an hour, and all within a few miles. It was an exiting hour, that's for sure. Highlight was one small flock that perched in a tree for a short time and within a decent shooting distance. Note the Tip of the Day ... this was definitely a negative factor for me today.
No Snowies, but a Northern Shrike popped up as a bit of a consolation prize :)

Tip of the Day:  Be aware that when shoot from the car on a cold day (like today was for me), that keep the car as cool as possible, as the heat haze from the car can affect the sharpness of your image as you you shoot through that haze.

November 20th 2021

LOCATION: At home in KItchener

WEATHER: Mix of sun and cloud

Hairy Woodpecker (F)

Today I didn't leave the house, and so this commentary on today's events, is also my "Tip of the Day".
At this time of year finding birds can be quite a challenge, so I quite often do backyard setups in order to get some birds in my viewfinder .. a lot cheaper than driving  countless miles and still coming back empty handed.
My "technique" is to setup my camera on a tripod, inside the house, looking out through a window or patio door, to my deck. On the deck handrail I positioned some sticks, branches and/or logs (I can vary it daily if need be) and beside said perches, layout some bird seed. Birds will often initially land on the provided perch, prior to dropping down to the food source. I try to prefocus on the branch or log, and then fire off a shot or two at the appropriate moment.
Birds seem quite oblivious to the fairly close proximity of the camera through the glass, but do get a bit jumpy of you move around, so I try to keep movement to a minimum during these times., and of course it's pretty important to keep the glass clean.
You might not get visits from some the more interesting species, but  you never know :)
​Happy Shooting 

November 18th 2021

LOCATION: Toronto

WEATHER: Cool, but pleasant

I'm quite ashamed to say that I visited a location in Toronto that has a few "celebrity" Owls. Why am I ashamed ... well it is well known that you can find owls here, and because of that there is a steady stream of photographers, sometimes that spend literally hours watching and waiting for that great shot, especially with the owl with its eyes open. These two owl species are sometimes referred to as daytime roosting owls, as they need to sleep during the day ... and of course with a parade of photographers clicking away, there is little chance of sleep for them.
For the above reason I have made a pledge that I will never visit these known locations (Toronto & Whitby) moving forward, and I would also urge everyone else to do the same ... Show some respect, and give these beauties some peace 

Tip of the Day: If you want to control each of the settings, you should choose the Manual Mode. Here you can set all the important things for yourself and adjust them just as you wish, which is my personal preference, but if you want to have an easier job, choose a semi-automatic mode. They make your workflow faster, and you’ll have more time to concentrate on your composition ... we hope.
Aperture Priority Mode lets you decide how much light do you let into the sensor, thus how blurred you want the background to be. If you set the aperture, the camera decides the others.
Shutter Priority Mode does the same, but with shutter speed. If you choose this, you can avoid motion blur more easily. This is optimal especially when you are photographing birds in flight.

November 16th 2021

LOCATION: Dundas

WEATHER: Cold start, but mainly sunny 

Harris's Sparrow

Today the target was the Harris's Sparrow that has turned up on a back road just north of Dundas, and is hanging out with several White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows.
Harris's Sparrows breed exclusively in northern Canada in areas of open tundra mixed with white pine, black spruce, larch, alder, and willow. In winter they use hedgerows, agricultural fields, shrubby pastures, backyards, and shrubby areas near streams of the southern Great Plains., and for some odd reason he has shown up here giving all us local birder/photographers a bit of a thrill.
Interestingly they are the only songbird in North America that exclusively breeds within the borders of Canada.
The immature individual who has shown up here seems to be  displaying their winter plumage, as pics I've seen show a much more dramatic feather marking, but nevertheless it still is a very beautiful bird.
While in the area we checked out LaSalle Marina, and grabbed a few shots of the male Pintail that is hanging out there.
​All in all a great day !!

Tip of the Day:  Playing calls to attract birds is often frowned on by many Ontarian hard core birders, but in many cases to get that shot, playing a call is the way to go. It pretty much only seem to be an issue here in Ontario as I've seen no problems with birders in both the US and the UK. Anyways, as long as you don't overdo it, or notice that the birds are uncomfortable, I see absolutely no issue. (Keep in mind other birds make calls too <smile>

November 11th - 14th 2021

LOCATION: Around home in KW

WEATHER: Mix of sun and cloud, and even a little snow

Hairy Woodpecker

Now that finding birds is getting a little tricky, it becomes time to start looking in our own back yard. Species might be quite common, but it's really nice to see some of our favorites up reasonably close. In my case I set up a few perches around the feeders, and shoot through my patio doors, so you will need to keep the glass clean. Personally, I close the blinds fairly tightly from one side and only keep a narrow slot through which I point my lens. By doing that I limit the amount of times I have \bird/window collisions, of which I am happy to say that to my knowledge I have zero such incidents. 

Tip of the Day:  Don't break your back raking leaves in the fall. While it's good to get big piles off the lawn, leave some leaf litter in garden areas and under shrubbery so birds can seek out the insects and seeds among the leaves. The leaves will also add another layer of insulation to brush piles and other shelter birds use in winter.

November 10th 2021

LOCATION: Sedgewick Park, Oakville

WEATHER: Another nice day .. almost cloudless

After yesterdays success, I decided to have another crack at getting some late Warbler images .. especially the Blue-headed Vireo and the Black-throated Green (which I didn't catch in the viewfinder yesterday). Unfortunately it looked like they had moved on (which is good) as I never saw hide nor hair of either species.  I did however see a few Yellow-rumped  but I left them alone to forage along the same section I had seen them previously. What I did see was a couple of Carolina Wrens, a Winter Wren (that was too close to photograph), and a couple of Fox Sparrows, so the day was still reasonably successful.

Tip of the Day:​  Set out bird feeders and keep them stocked. Another important factor with bird feeders is hygiene. Besides refilling them, a regular cleaning process for all your feeders in the field will help prevent spreading diseases for birds and keep them healthy.

November 9th 2021

LOCATION: Oakville area

WEATHER: Mild, some sun and some cloud

After reading a few reports of sightings in the general area of Oakville, I took a drive down and checked out a few of the better known places. My first stop wasn't actually Oakville, but it was a spot I had been to many times over the last 10 years or so ...  Paletta.  Unfortunately, other than a couple of Carolina Wrens, I didn't see too much else. Surprising, as this spot can be quite productive in the early part of the winter season.
After a couple of other stops, I ended up at an old favorite spot ... Sedgewick Park in Oakville. I was delighted to find that there was several birds hanging around, generally along the fence line of the Sewage Plant. Surrisingly there were Songbirds still here - I saw at least 6 or 7 Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Northern Parula, a Black-throated Green Warbler and a Blue-headed Vireo. On top of that there were both Kinglet species ... My 500 got a bit of a workout for a couple of hours.
Lastly I came across a butterfly foraging around some dandelions that were still in flower. An Orange Sulphur.
All in all ... an exceptional day!!   :)

Tip of the Day:  In the colder weather birds live on a razor-thin edge of starvation. Even birds that look like round puffballs of warmth are actually mostly feathers and air, puffed up in an effort to maintain their body temperature. Birds must take every opportunity to gain food and conserve energy during these difficult months. So if you're watching wild birds either foraging or at rest, be sure to keep your distance and let them go about their business undisturbed. This will increase your odds of getting to see them again tomorrow.

November 4th & 5th 2021

LOCATION: In and around home (Kitchener)

WEATHER: Mainly sunny and quite mild

To follow later .... maybe if I have time 

Tip of the Day: If you are like me and you shoot manual, then you like to choose all your exposure settings. I always choose my shutter speed first (based on what my subject is likely going to be doing - sitting or flying, and whether I have camera on a tripod - also plays a part in the decision) Next up is aperture. Generally with birds it's not too important, but if I have lots of light I will adjust so that my shutter isn't too wide open, but if light is an issue then I will keep the shutter as wide as I can. Lastly and for me it's the least important option, I adjust my ISO to suit conditions/light. With modern cameras you can shoot at very high ISO, and get away with very detailed images, even when ISO is 10,000 plus.

November 3rd 2021

LOCATION: Whitby

WEATHER: Mainly sunny, but chilly

Around this time of year we begin to see some of the owl species showing up in certain locales. One such location is in and around the town of Whitby on the shores of Lake Ontario just east of Toronto. Our targets today were both the Barred Owl and the cute little Saw-whet Owl which for several years have been showing up in the generally the same spots, but today after significant rooting around the woods and trails we couldn't find a Barred Owl, but we were fortunate to find the Saw-whet sitting at eye level just off one of the trails.  The pic opposite doesn't give any idea of scale but the Owl head to tail is a tiny 6 inches at the most.  
While looking for the owls we also came across a few other interesting species - Mockingbird, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a very surprisingly late warbler .. an American Redstart. Unfortunately the bright sun made it difficult to correctly expose these little gems, but I was grateful to lady luck for putting them in the frame, nonetheless.
Down by lake, at Halls Road, we found a large collection of ducks and geese,  and although most of these birds were very common species, there were also a few lesser  common, although most of this category were  Green-winged Teal ... still nice to see and photograph. I had hoped to see and photograph a Northern Pintail, that is being seen regularly, but unfortunately it didn't come into view.  Still a good day (other than the traffic chaos heading home)

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Tip of the Day:  xxxxx