I am making this entry to basically wrap up my 1st year writing and sharing my blog. I had some good days and some not so good days. Kinda like fishing ... you don't have to catch any fish to have a good day fishing - it's all about getting out and making experiences. One thing for sure .. I met a lot of great like minded Birders & Photographers during many of the days out
Some of the highlights for me were, my January trip to Costa Rica with the "missus" (stayed at a resort hotel in the Guancastle area, about an hour from Liberia Airport). Birding was awesome .. the hotel was on a few thousand acres, so other than a couple of field trips, I didn't have to leave the resort. Managed over 50 photographed species in and around the resort. In early May I took my 1st jaunt of the year to Point Pelee .. it seldom disappoints, especially in the Spring - birds at every turn ... difficult to beat in Ontario. In August I did my only trip this year to Calden Alvar ... not as good as I have had in past years but always worth the trip. Missed a few that were on my list, but hope to get them in 2014 especially owls. Other than a Barred Owl in the spring and Snowies a few weeks ago I didn't come across any in the wild. A male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was another that I really wanted to get a good shot of ... saw a few and have a few lousy record shots, so hoping to fix that in 2014.
I have a few overseas trips planned for 2014, starting on Jan 10th with a trip to Cuba, then Alaska on May 6th, and a trip to the UK sometime either before Alaska or after ... to be determined!
I'm now considering a new blog format for 2014, so plan to look at other similar blogs for ideas ...
Bill
Some of the highlights for me were, my January trip to Costa Rica with the "missus" (stayed at a resort hotel in the Guancastle area, about an hour from Liberia Airport). Birding was awesome .. the hotel was on a few thousand acres, so other than a couple of field trips, I didn't have to leave the resort. Managed over 50 photographed species in and around the resort. In early May I took my 1st jaunt of the year to Point Pelee .. it seldom disappoints, especially in the Spring - birds at every turn ... difficult to beat in Ontario. In August I did my only trip this year to Calden Alvar ... not as good as I have had in past years but always worth the trip. Missed a few that were on my list, but hope to get them in 2014 especially owls. Other than a Barred Owl in the spring and Snowies a few weeks ago I didn't come across any in the wild. A male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was another that I really wanted to get a good shot of ... saw a few and have a few lousy record shots, so hoping to fix that in 2014.
I have a few overseas trips planned for 2014, starting on Jan 10th with a trip to Cuba, then Alaska on May 6th, and a trip to the UK sometime either before Alaska or after ... to be determined!
I'm now considering a new blog format for 2014, so plan to look at other similar blogs for ideas ...
Bill
December 15th 2013
Cardinal Sunday 15th: Saturday was our first decent snowfall so far this year. Pretty as it was, it wasn't a day for being out with a camera, but Sunday was forecasted to be cloudy with sunny periods, but a tad cold (-12C). I have been thinking about trying to get some decent cold weather/snowy shots of the more common species, so this seemed to be as good a day as any. Riverside is always productive, so .....
I really wanted to get a male Cardinal sitting on a frosted or snowy branch, but unfortunately the branches were pretty much devoid of snow (I think the wind was the culprit). However I wasn't too disappointed with the shot opposite. Other species spotted along the boardwalk were ... Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Chickadee, Blue Jay, Juncos, White-throated Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Mourning Dove and an unknown Hawk that flew over that I was unable to ID.
I really wanted to get a male Cardinal sitting on a frosted or snowy branch, but unfortunately the branches were pretty much devoid of snow (I think the wind was the culprit). However I wasn't too disappointed with the shot opposite. Other species spotted along the boardwalk were ... Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Chickadee, Blue Jay, Juncos, White-throated Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Mourning Dove and an unknown Hawk that flew over that I was unable to ID.
December 7th 2013
Snowy Owl Saturday 7th: Cold morning, but the sky was destined to be clear for the start of the morning, so it seemed appropriate to do a Snowy Owl hunt. "Snowy's" are one of Southern Ontario's more glamorous winter visitors, and so after checking the sightings board at OFO, I headed off early (6:30am) to St Catherine's (not far from Niagara Falls), where Snowy Owls had been reported earlier in the week. This image was of one of two Snowy's that were in a field just outside St Catherine's, I believe this to be a male (being more white). The other owl was significantly further away, but had the nicer markings (A long distance shot below). They spend a lot of time on the ground so it took a significant amount of patience and good luck to get any kind of action (this one was just taking off). My favorite feature of these owls are the eyes .. they can be almost hypnotic!
Sunday 8th: Another cold one (-8C), so with limited time this morning I decided to head over to Riverside Park (again) ... Northern Shrikes and Red Breasted Woodpeckers were on my list, which are regular visitors to the park in the winter. Neither were seen and the cold eventually had me heading home after a couple of hours. Hit the shutter button a couple of times only .. results below.
Sunday 8th: Another cold one (-8C), so with limited time this morning I decided to head over to Riverside Park (again) ... Northern Shrikes and Red Breasted Woodpeckers were on my list, which are regular visitors to the park in the winter. Neither were seen and the cold eventually had me heading home after a couple of hours. Hit the shutter button a couple of times only .. results below.
