AUGUST 2018

August 31st 2018

Location: 

Weather: Surprisingly cool at daybreak (~ 12C ) but warmed to around 28C later on

Last day of the month ... boy! the weeks and months just zoom along - They always told me when I was younger that time gets into higher gears as you get older, and I have to admit - it's so true. It will be almost three years retired in less than 2 months and I'm not sure where the time went.... it seem like yesterday   :)  
Today I spent the morning "birding" - I met up with a fellow birder and we "explored" the Hydro right-of-way on Currie Tract and although this has been a hot spot in previous years it was a tad disappointing this morning. A few birds showed, but not for long for the most part. We did, however, have a House Wren that showed up and gave us a few poses so that at least we didn't head out with nothing in the "can" . Of the birds we didn't photograph one was a nice one ... a Black-throated Blue Warbler - I would given up a days beer for a decent shot of this little beaut.
In the afternoon I went "buging" around parts of the RARE property in Blair and which can be pretty good for Butterflies, but today not so good, but still managed a few other Creepy Crawlies.

House Wren

August 28th 2018

Location: Thornapple

Weather: Hot with hazy, off and on sun.

Red-eyed Vireo

After last nights rain I suspected that things would have changed (hopefully for the better) at this location, but all said and done it really hadn't. The Red-eyed Vireo flock that had been hanging around was still there, and in fact I think it grew by a couple of birds. The female/juv Redstarts were also quite active albeit in sporadic activity where I was, but every now and then one or two would pop out of the undergrowth and give us the potential for photo. I did see a single full colour male, but he was just a fleeting encounter. Other than those two species I did spot a couple of new birds ... A nice surprise was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher that drifted past my chosen spot several times over the few hours that we were there. Another bird that showed up a few times was what looked like a Winter Wren, but it never came out for any length of time, so photos, and a positive ID were not an item, but still ... nice. Lastly, I had a Great-crested Flycatcher show up (distantly) for about 10 seconds or so, then poof! gone - I did manage a shot but it ended up in the delete pile 

August 25th & 26th 2018

Locations: Cambridge (25th) and Thornapple Loop in Dundas (26th)

Weather: Dry, clear and warm for the most part

Yesterday the 25th the missus, and I were heading up north mid morning to visit family, so I took a quick run out to Riverside Park in Cambridge. Over the last week or so warblers and other songbirds are starting to show up here as they migrate south, so was hoping to see one or two in the hour I had allowed myself before leaving. Quite a few songbirds around including Redstarts, Chestnut-sided, Magnolias, Red-eyed Vireo and Warbling Vireos, but it was an ultra bold Rose-breasted Grosbeak that stole the show - He landed less than 7 feet away and so I drifted towards him snapping away as I got closer to him. I think I was less than 3 feet before he hopped up on a branch away from me, but he certainly wasn't in alarm. and upset with my proximity. Amazing... 
Today (the 26th) I headed down to one of my favorite migration spots near Dundas ie Thornapple Loop which is part of the Royal Botanical Gardens network of trails. I arrived just as the light was workable (6:45am) and almost immediately I was seeing Redstarts - not sure if they were females or juvie males as they were all "female" colouring, but in the fall it's somewhat  difficult to tell, but they came into camera range every now and then. Other birds were Ovenbird, Wilson's Warbler, Black & White Warbler and a few Red-eyed Vireos. 

Ovenbird

August 24th 2018

Location: Kitchener

Weather: I was inside, so doesn't matter ;)

A couple of spiders from my garage macro "studio" setup  ...  Spiders were located in and around the garden and returned back to their habitat after posing for me for 10 or 15 minutes LOL

​​​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

August 23rd 2018

Location: Thornapple Loop, Dundas

Weather: Sunny and hot 

I hadn't been here since early spring but this location can often have a few songbirds during migration. I spent several hours browsing a section of trail and was rewarded with a few decent sightings, including Redstarts, Chestnut-sided, Carolina Wren, and several Red-eyed Vireos. These I managed to photograph but missed out on another couple including a Brown Thrasher ....  good day, for being this early in fall migration.

​​​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

August 20th 2018

Location: In and around Cambridge

Weather:Hot again !!

Spun around a few spots looking for birds and or bugs. The Great-Crested Flycatcher and the Solitary Sandpiper I found at Riverside Park. not too far from Preston Town Centre- always amazes me that this park can produce some good birds.

August 19th 2018

Location: In and around Cambridge

Weather: Sunny, with a little cloud, but still hot

A few birds from around Cambridge.

​​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

August 18th - 20th  2018

Location: RARE property, Cambridge

Weather: Sunny and hot

A few Butterflies from the last couple of days

August 16th & 17th 2018

Location: Beverley Swamp

Weather: Sunny & Hot

One of the nice things about Birds and Butterflies, as I mentioned in my previous post, is that you can use the same lens - Today I headed out to an area that I have been visiting off and on for many years and can sometimes be quite productive for birds (sometimes not) and of course I had the 500 hooked up and ready for whatever action came my way. I knew Butterflies are quite abundant in this area so although I was hopeful for birds I realistically accepted that likely I was going to shoot butterflies. Just as I arrived at my planned spot along Safari Road I saw what I initially thought was a Goldfinch, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a Blue-winged Warbler. I was really pleased with this find and I suspect that this was a herald to the upcoming fall migration of Warblers, at least I hope so.

​All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

August 14th & 15th 2018

Location: In and around Cambridge

Weather: Sunny and continuing HOT

Today was a Butterfly day ... I did some experimenting with different methods for photographing Butterflies and Moths - I have a Macro Lens (100mm L series) which for image quality is really good ....  if you can close enough, which isn't always that easy, and can quite frustrating.  Next I also tried using my 500mm F4 and if I combined it with an extension tube or two then I had the ability to get razor sharp images but from a distance that didn't spook the butterflies. I found that with adding 50mm of Extension that this allowed me to get as close as (approx) 7 feet, and almost fill the frame with eg a Swallowtail. The big disadvantage is that a) it's unwieldy and b) a tad heavy. Moving on I tried using a 100-400 also with a about 50mm of Extension and found this resulted in getting an image almost as good a quality as the 500 and or the 100mm, but certainly easier to handle, although the zoom feature wasn't very practical, so I found that locking the zoom at the full 400 being the best method. An interesting experiment .....

August 13th 2018

Location: Gravel Roads near Ayr

Weather: Sunny and hot 

Most days I head out with the thought of finding birds, but as most other birders are finding out they have been pretty thin on the ground this month. However that only makes the chase more interesting does it not. I headed out to a agricultural area near Ayr, ON where some of the back roads are bordered by various woodlots and swampy areas. These are not birded very frequently but nevertheless they can often have a few birds. Today along  the one stretch I found two individual Black-billed Cuckoos and a Great-crested Flycatcher plus a few odds and ends. Also along this same road (if my memory serves me correctly). I also had a few butterflies including a nice Millbert's Tortoiseshell ... A first for me and it certainly made the day worthwhile.

August 11th 2018

Location: Beverley Swamp

Weather: Hot and Sunny

Although it's getting really late in the season for them, I'm determined to get a decent shot of a Hummingbird Moth and so I went back to Beverley Swamp, where I had spotted a little one there yesterday (10th). Unfortunately I couldn't find any, but I did find a good show of miscellaneous Butterflies, including one that has been on my wish list .. the tiny Silvery Blue, which every time I see one never seems to settle. This one dropped down a couple of times, but I didn't get the back pose (which shows the blue really well). Still I got some shots so I was happy. Another one that photographed and I don't believe I had seen before was the Great Spangled Fritillary. A good "Flutterby" day .....
All images are clickable to go full size, and hovering over will display species or description

August 10th 2018

Location: Hamilton and then Beverley Swamp on my way home

Weather: Cooler by the Lake, but inland hot again

Along with a friend I headed to Hamilton with hopes of finding and photographing the Long-tailed Jaeger. For me this was my second day having photographed it several times yesterday (9th) but my companion had yet to see it. Unfortunately it was not to be - there was a distinct change in the wind direction overnight so it would appear that our target had "flown the coop".
We couldn't even find  the shorebirds that I had seen the day before so our day overall wasn't looking so good. We stopped in at Valley Inn in the hope of maybe a Green Heron or Black-crowned Night Heron, but although we did see a distant pair of Greens we didn't get a shot. Our only birds were a couple of Ospreys and a few Caspian Terns, but even these guys failed to perform (take fish in a dive). Some days are like that.
On my way home I dropped in at Beverley Swamp - I had been here a couple of days ago and had seen a few decent Butterflies, so my plan was to spend a bit more time and try to get a Silvery Blue which had eluded me on my previous visit..... as it did today as well :( I did however photograph a Tiger Swallowtail and a Giant Swallowtail and the highlight of my day a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Unfortunately ... my image of the Moth was pretty awful, as you can see below, but certainly pretty excited to see it 

August 9th 2018

Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Weather: Continuing hot (~29C)

Long-tailed Jaeger

I don't usually chase vagrant species of bird, but this morning I decided to check out the multiple sightings in Hamilton of a Long-tailed Jaeger. After a couple of stops at different parts of the beach I eventually found the bird in the parking lot of Wild Waterworks just off South Service Road. I couldn't believe how bold the bird was - Along with another couple of birders we were only 20 feet away and it was wandering closer and did not seem in the least bothered by our presence - In fact its close proximity had us moving back as it was wandering in to our too close focus range (kind of a nice change ... usually we have the opposite problem).  After a time it flew off (and I missed the flight shots.........  doh!) and headed to the beach area around Van Wagners and Hutch's. We headed down and re-found it a couple of times as it hung out with a few SH's (Ring-billed Gulls) along the waters edge. It was a good day as while we were on the beach we also found and photographed a Ruddy Turnstone and a small group of Sanderling. It was definitely worth the drive. BTW the Jaeger was a life bird for me .... not something I get too often these days.

August 4th - 6th 2018

Location: In and around KW

Weather: Hot & Sultry

Birds are still in short supply, but with a little effort some can still be found. Highlight of the last few days was the Yellow-crowned Night Heron - A juvenile, but still very notable. The Night Heron has been hanging along the Speed River and generally near the Beaverdale Road Bridge in Cambridge, as he/she was today (Monday). This was the third day I had been to this location, so it was definitely a case of third time lucky.  The other notable bird in the last few days was the Scarlet Tanager - We went to a spot where I knew they breed and over the period of an hour or so we found two bright plumaged males, albeit they were pretty distant. The other portions of the last few days I did some macro work ... very challenging, but I'm getting the hang of it (I think). Images below the bird gallery (below)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (juv)

.... and some bugs from the last couple of days 

August 2nd 2018

Location: Kitchener, ON

Weather: Sun and cloud & warm (28C)

Gray Tree Frog

Another non-birding day - I checked out Huron Natural Area in Kitchener, for bugs and insects. Turns out that it's a great spot for Dragonflies & Damsel Flies - they seemed to be everywhere. I also came across a first for me ... a Gray Tree Frog - it was a juvenile and quite small (about an inch or so) and if I hadn't been looking for insects in this particular tree I would have missed it for sure. I was tucked in to a leaf and stayed perfectly still for the 10 mins that I watched and photographed it, even when I came really close with my macro lens. Image left ....