June 28th & 30th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries (again) | WEATHER: Cool, with occasional sun |
Today was a bit on the cool side of pleasant, and although I was hoping for a decent butterfly sightings, it was just too cool. On the plus side (albeit very minor) there was a few birds around. You take what you can get !!
Tip of the Day: Macro: When looking for insects, and it is a bit cooler and/or a bit windy .. look for a sheltered spot out out of the wind and hopefully with a little sun. Bugs tend to home in on spots like that.
June 27th 2024
| LOCATION: Luther Marsh area | WEATHER: Seasonally cooler, but sun and cloud |
This used to be quite a favorite area of mine, but its been a few years since I checked it out. Being at a loose end this morning I thought .. why not? Its not too far from home at 1.25 hours and you never know what can be found. The main targets were either the Sedge Wren or the Marsh Wren (both being reported on-line) but today Merlin picked up neither even though the habitat looked perfect .. oh well!! On the plus side there were a few songbirds, as well as lots of butterflies .. so a good day !!
June 25th & 26th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries & Kitchener | WEATHER: Sun & cloud |
Birding has been a little flat recently, and bugging has been a little tough as well (somewhat), so I decided that I should give a few of my favorite local birding spots a few tries. If I get some birds great, but if its not good I can see what shows up on the insect side !! As it happened it wasn't terrible on either count :)
Tip of the Day: Some novice macro shooters will mistakenly correlate field macro to shooting fish in a barrel. Since bugs are everywhere, it should be easy, right? Not quite. While warm weather can bring plenty of subjects into view, it doesn’t mean capturing stunning close-ups will be easy. Try to mentally relax and physically slow your pace. You’ll find more subjects, hold your camera steadier, and ultimately produce better images.
June 23rd 2024
| LOCATION: Cambridge Butterfly Conservancy | WEATHER: n/a |
It was a friends birthday so we though a day out at the Butterfly Conservancy in Cambridge would be a great opportunity to hang out and for us both to get a few photographs of a creature we are both very keen to get on!!
The faculty is very well laid out (other some corners were poor in light making some of the exposures up in some very ISO ranges) However there were also lots of spots where the lighting was perfect.
The faculty is very well laid out (other some corners were poor in light making some of the exposures up in some very ISO ranges) However there were also lots of spots where the lighting was perfect.
June 22nd 2024
| LOCATION: Local roads close to home | WEATHER: Hot and hot !! |
Late afternoon I took a drive around some local wetlands looking for some insect subjects, and if I was lucky maybe a bird or two, but nothing popped up on the bird side, but thankfully I did find some butterflies and dragonflies.
The highlight was the Clouded Sulphur - I have seen the occasional one over the last week or so, but they always seemed to be buzzing along on the road to somewhere else more interesting.
The highlight was the Clouded Sulphur - I have seen the occasional one over the last week or so, but they always seemed to be buzzing along on the road to somewhere else more interesting.
June 17th-20th 2024
| LOCATION: Local back roads | WEATHER: Hot & sultry |
With the weather moving to hot and hotter, its this time of year where I switch to shooting insects, which are somewhat more available and photogenic. Today, as have been the last couple of days, very insect available.
June 16th 2024
| LOCATION: Flamborough area | WEATHER: Cooler start but heated up quickly later |
I took a drive down some roads that I hadn't been along for quite some time, with a little success (minor). Highlight was finding an Alder Flycatcher that popped up and gave me a few poses. Alders are tricky as they very closely resemble the Willow Flycatcher, but the call is unmistakably different which it was in this case ... thanks to Merlin :)
June 14th & 15th 2024
| LOCATION: Day1-Skunks Misery; Day2-N. Dumfries | WEATHER: Typical spring days .. a bit of sun & cloud |
Not much to say .. just typical spring days with a bit of mixed action. Skunks was a bit slow, but always a nice place to visit.
Tip of the day: A basic one today ... stay focused, be prepared, and as always if you are driving between spots and looking for birds, pick your spot where you stop your vehicle ie look for a perch that would work for you and keep those fingers crossed !!
June 13th 2024
| LOCATION: Flamborough area | WEATHER: Cooler start then hot (30C) |
On impulse I headed down to the Flamborough area this morning. It's been an area I used to frequent quite a lot a few years ago, but kinda moved on a bit I suppose. Now I wish I had spent more time there and I certainly will be moving forward. Not shown or photographed, but heard strongly, were several other species including Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Alder Flycatcher and a few others ... The big surprise was the Canada Warbler !!
On the negative side, I didn't see too many butterflies .. lots of Dragonflies, but not so many BF's.
On the negative side, I didn't see too many butterflies .. lots of Dragonflies, but not so many BF's.
June 11th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries .. the usual route! | WEATHER: Generally sunny (20C) |
My plan today was only to be out for a couple of hours, so I took my drive around a few spots pretty close to home .. with some minor success ,, Highlight was a very cooperative Indigo Bunting that posed nicely for me.
June 9th 2024
| LOCATION: St William's | WEATHER: Sun and Cloud, but quite cool (seasonally) |
Another day out with my photography buddy.. Helen. With birding we make a great team - Helen has excellent hearing and exceptional bird call recognition skills. Today we planned to a bit of birding and a lot of butterfly chasing. This area down near Long Point has some superb habitat for butterflies, and we have visited it several times over the years.
It was a little cooler than normal for the season, and not a lot of flowers out yet, but still quite a lot of butterflies around, but some species eg the American Copper (which we normally find in decent numbers) were not to be seen .. although we did catch a glimpse of one before it disappeared.
It was a little cooler than normal for the season, and not a lot of flowers out yet, but still quite a lot of butterflies around, but some species eg the American Copper (which we normally find in decent numbers) were not to be seen .. although we did catch a glimpse of one before it disappeared.
Tip of the Day: Butterflies are easiest to spot during calm, sunny conditions around the middle of day – this is when they're most active. This isn't a hard and fast rule though. You'll see them in the early evening on hot days and on warm, cloudy days too.
June 8th 2024
| LOCATION: Guelph Arboretum | WEATHER: Sunny, but cooler |
Along with a good birding and bugging photography friend, we headed to the Arboretum in Guelph, which has some great habitat for butterflies. We were hoping for some more interesting species than we have been finding around here, and after a couple of hours we had photographed some interesting subjects.
Today, I brought the 200-800 Canon lens, which I initially purchased as my trail walking lens for birds, but today I tried it out as a butterfly/dragonfly lens and found it to be excellent .. way better than I would have suspected. At 200mm I could get really close around 27" ish (tip of lens to subject) which almost filled the frame on a butterfly. So going forward ... I will be using this lens, and save my 100mm Macro for small insects and studio work.
Today, I brought the 200-800 Canon lens, which I initially purchased as my trail walking lens for birds, but today I tried it out as a butterfly/dragonfly lens and found it to be excellent .. way better than I would have suspected. At 200mm I could get really close around 27" ish (tip of lens to subject) which almost filled the frame on a butterfly. So going forward ... I will be using this lens, and save my 100mm Macro for small insects and studio work.
** As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a titl
June 6th & 7th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sun and cloud |
There is a back road (gravel) fairly close to my house that usually has a good mixture of birds and bugs, so always worth a drive around looking and listening. The highlight today was discovering this really large dragonfly, that turned out to be Twin-spotted Spiketail ... I species I hadn't even heard about ... so I was pretty pumped :)
Tip of the Day: Typically dragonflies look for three basics elements: sun, perching structure and water, so when looking for these beautiful subjects, these 3 elements are important.
June 4th & 5th 2024
| LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County | WEATHER: Quite warm |
Spent an hour or two foraging in a local meadow looking for a few insects. These days I seem to be taking more interest in Butterflies, but it still a little early in the season, so pickings are a little slim .. but it should pick up soon.
June 2nd & 3rd 2024
| LOCATION: Day1-Algonquin area : Day2-NorthDumfries | WEATHER: Typical spring mornings |
Birds are getting harder to find now that they are actively nesting, so on days like this I tend to flip to insects and whatever else is around.
