AUGUST 2019

August 30th 2019

Location: Currie & Robertson Tracts ... again

Weather: sunny

It's hard to believe that almost another month has passed and that we are drifting towards the very end of the summer and into the Fall. As Fall approaches I am seeing the start of the songbird fall migration.- yesterday & today there was quite a lot of Warblers and other songbirds about, albeit in batches where for 10 minutes or so there is a bunch of them flitting about the trees then nothing for quite a time, so very much hot and cold. Even though we were in the same spots as yesterday, we are not seeing the same birds, so obviously they move on nightly and a "fresh" batch arrive. A nice thought anyways.

August 29th 2019

Location: Currie Tract, then Robertson Tract

Weather: Sunny and bright, but a little cooler at 6:30am

After yesterdays outing with a good quantity of Fall migrants Steve and I decided to hit Currie Tract again, just to see how good it might be at first light. One word - awesome!!!  Not that we managed that many images, but there was Warblers & Vireos everywhere - It was a bit of a fallout. We had Blackburnian, Black & white, Canada, Chestnut-sided, Yellowthroats, Red-eyed Vireos, Warbling Vireo, Catbirds, Least & Great-crested Flycatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, Hummingbirds and a few more songbirds I can't quite recall ... and of course a Budgie. The Budgie was not only a big surprise, but also the highlight of the day 

August 28th 2019

Location: Currie Tract

Weather: Sunny, sun and yet more sun

Normally I like to hit the trails just after sun up, but this morning I didn't leave the house until quite late and didn't arrive at my spot until  10:30am +. Now as I might have mentioned in the past..  the absolute best time of the day to find and photograph birds is at first light and by the time noon approaches the best of the day is over. Today it was almost noon before I managed my first image ... I had to imagine that if I had arrived at the best time, just how good could it have been. mmmm!  

August 25th 2019

Location: Thornapple Loop

Weather: Damp & a little cool start but warmed up to pretty hot later

A quick down to one my favorite places in the Fall was reasonably successful even though it's still a tad early for Fall migration per-say. It was cooler this morning at 7:00 am which resulted in some lens fogging, which unfortunately wasn't noticed until an hour or so later, and by that time lots of images had been captured with a the resulting softness of quality that that fogging would create ... Aaaagh!
Other than that it was pretty successful and now a new addition to my outing checklist - check for moisture on the lens surface and have some thing available to fix that particular problem .....

August 21st - 22nd 2019

Location:

Weather:

A few critters from the last couple of days ................

August 19th 2019

Location: ​Guelph Arboretum

Weather: Sun & Cloud ... and of course, HOT

I had some spare time in the late afternoon, so I went back to the Arboretum ..... 

August 17th 2019

Location: Guelph Arboretum

Weather: Sun & Cloud ... and hot again

One of the best places locally to find and photograph Butterflies & Moths is at the Guelph Arboretum. Today was no exception with several interesting species floating around. Todays target was the Hummingbird Moth, and 2 or 3 of them dropped by periodically, so I was able to get a few shots of this awesome insect. I found them mainly in clumps of Bee Balm or sometimes in the Butterfly Bush(es). I tried a couple of photo methods for the Hummingbird Moth - initially I used a 100mm Macro lens and then a bit later with the 100-400. With both lenses I generally had my speed set at 1/640, but determined later that this was a bit on the slow side as I had a high percentage of my shots with motion blur.  The shot below was taken with the 100-400 and at the minimum focusing distance, which I found to be quite adequate - with the added advantages of being a bit further away and with better background bokeh.

August 15th 2019

Location: Parry Sound

Weather (Parry Sound): Cool start ... only +4C, at sunrise, but warmed up to a hot 28C+

On the road for just after 3:00am for the long, but easy drive at this time of the morning, to the area around Parry Sound in the 30 Thousand Islands Area. Birds were sporadic, but at one spot I encountered a flood of what was likely groups of juveniles - there was several of each species foraging together along the edge of a mixed conifer/hardwood woodland, so for an hour or so I fired off lots of frames. Unfortunately, the harsh light and deep shadows made it quite a challenge.
The original plan had been to make this my first stop on a 3 day jaunt up  to and through Manitoulin, but a last minute appointment in KW meant that I had limit my trip this far, and head back in the evening. Still, I enjoyed the mini "adventure"  and plan to make a second trip to this area in the coming weeks. but maybe when the light is not so harsh.

August 9th & 11th 2019

Location: Local trails

Weather: More sun and more hot

This morning Simon, my youngest grandson - he's 9, and I took a walk along one of the trails near my house and spotted a few interesting bugs, including these two. On the plus side .. Simon seems to be getting interested in nature - he asked if he could go bug hunting and is getting quite good with the names, so maybe a budding naturalist ! 

August 6th & 7th 2019

Location: Around Kitchener

Weather: Mainly sun & hot

A short jaunt around some of the local trails I always pick up a few fairly common bugs including the ones below.

August 3rd & 5th 2019

Locations: In and around town locally

Weather: What else .... SUN

Always fun to go out shooting (photographing ..for the less camera wise :) )) bugs 

August 1st 2019

Location: Kitchener

Weather: More sun and hot ... again

Time definitely is not standing still ... The month of July just whizzed past. I enjoyed the respite from my main passion (Birds) and a found myself enjoying bug hunting - it has it's own kind of magic.
Anyways .. I was thinking - I spend a good part of my life chasing and photographing birds, and of course I refer to myself as a birder, so was wondering, now that I'm chasing and photographing bugs .... what does that make me?? Just a thought LOL
A few bugs from the neighborhood park