31st May 2017
Location: Halton Region
Weather:Typical Spring day - sun and cloud
Last entry for the pretty good month of May. This month for me is what it is all about - the influx of so many new birds as they head north through our area, and of the nesters, both new and returning) that are beginning to set up their breeding base here in SW Ontario.Today, along with a great bird photography mentor & buddy, we checked out a few locations that have been quite productive over the last few weeks, as well as locations from previous years (always a good plan... so many birds return to the almost exact location, year after year). Highlights were a Gray Catbird at Badenoch Tract and a Pine Warbler at another Tract fairly close to Acton, that I had visited a few days ago.
30th May 2017
Location: Alps Woods near Cambridge
Weather: Light rain, then sun came out about 9:00am
Most mornings I check Ebird to see what is being seen, before I go out .. you never know what other birders have found over the last few days. This morning I noticed that a few good birds had been seen at Alps - Cerulean, Hooded, Ovenbird to name but a few, over the last 3 days. Now the Cerulean report got my blood pressure elevated a bit, and so it was worth checking. Unfortunately I didn't hear or see one, but an Ovenbird pair did show for a short time - they were foraging along the path almost oblivious to my presence.. Some days are like that
29th May 2017
Location: Halton Region - Badenoch Tract
Weather: Dull start and by 8:30 the sun was out
| I love the dull mornings - makes bird photography so much more dynamic. When the sun gets up the shadows tend to be too harsh and the highlights too rich. The first hour of today was just about perfect with the light just right and a bird (Chestnut-sided Warbler) that cooperated, for a short time anyways. I checked out Halton Region's Hilton Falls Conservation Area while I was in the neighbourhood and found the Redstart and the Blue-winged Warbler to top off the day | |
28th May 2017
Location: Halton Region - Badenoch Tract, Robertson Tract & Robert Edmondson Conservation area
Weather: Another seasonally pleasant day,with lots of sun, but some cloud too
Dry days have been a little scarce over the last couple of weeks, and so making the most of the stable weather I headed out fairly early with a good feeling (always a good feeling when going birding). My first stop was Badenoch Tract where in previous years I've had a very cooperating Chestnut-sided Warbler, but not so this year. BUT there was a Mourning Warbler there that gave me a few shots. An Indigo also stopped by and did a little "modeling" for me. Headed from here over to Robertson Tract, where it was very poor (uncharacteristically) where I literally never saw a Warbler or any bird for that matter. Close to this location is Robert Edmondson Conservation Area a little known Halton Region park that I go to occasionally, and I'm glad I thought of it as it was quite "birdy". This is a location that has given me sightings of several warblers in the past including Ovenbird. I could hear Cuckoos when I first arrived but the star for me was a Red-eyed Vireo that came in really close so that I was able to grab a couple of nice shots ... a nice day - I was even back in time for a late breakfast.
26th & 27th May 2017
Location: (26th) Acton/Georgetown and( 27th) Ancaster
Weather: Seasonally a little blow normal, but dry
On the 26th I headed to a Silvercreek Forest area near Georgetown where in previous years I have a ton of warblers around this time of year, but unfortunately other than a few Yellowthroats and Redstarts the "goodies" didn't materialize for me ... such is the wildlife game :) However on the way back while driving along a back road near Acton I spotted a warbler fly across in front of me and after stopping to investigate I found a) a Pine Warbler than shortly thereafter b) a superb male Mourning Warbler. A poor day ended up getting a whole lot better
On Saturday the 27th I picked up my birding friend Helen and we headed to a spot, where a few days ago, we had seen and photographed a very cooperative Scarlet Tanager .. our luck was in as it was still hanging around and gave us some great views, and I think I was able to get one of my all-time best shots of this super bird. To top a good day we bumped into a couple of great bird photographer friends (always great to see you guys)...
On Saturday the 27th I picked up my birding friend Helen and we headed to a spot, where a few days ago, we had seen and photographed a very cooperative Scarlet Tanager .. our luck was in as it was still hanging around and gave us some great views, and I think I was able to get one of my all-time best shots of this super bird. To top a good day we bumped into a couple of great bird photographer friends (always great to see you guys)...
23rd May 2017
Location: Hillside Trail in Hamilton Region
Weather: Bright & sunny, and seasonally warm
Not much to say ... a few pics from a nice morning spent along Hillside Trail in Ancaster. Quite a few nice birds seen incl Black-billed Cuckoo, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstarts, Red-eyed Vireos and the inevitable Baltimore Orioles, as well as the ones below ....
22nd May 2017
Location: Currie & Robertson Tracts in Halton Region
Weather: Generally overcast but sun popped out a few times (but cool)
After yesterday's rain it was good to get out and see if some of the avian migrants can be found & photographed. In previous years both Currie & Robertson Tracts have been quite "birdy" at this time of the year and with that thought ....
On the trail at Currie I bumped into a few fellow photographers and I tagged on for a while - more eyes out there usually means better sightings, but as it happened it was a tad quiet. We did however come across the birds below. Moved over to Robertson late morning but my late May target of a Canada Warbler wasn't fulfilled (I have seen Canada's at a certain spot along the trail the last two years, so either I'm too early, wrong spot, didn't make it through the winter, or they haven't arrived yet ....
On the trail at Currie I bumped into a few fellow photographers and I tagged on for a while - more eyes out there usually means better sightings, but as it happened it was a tad quiet. We did however come across the birds below. Moved over to Robertson late morning but my late May target of a Canada Warbler wasn't fulfilled (I have seen Canada's at a certain spot along the trail the last two years, so either I'm too early, wrong spot, didn't make it through the winter, or they haven't arrived yet ....
19th May 2017
Location: Ancaster
Weather: Cool morning (unlike the last few days) but sun & cloud
Always a pleasure to get out with a few birding friends, and so today I met up with a group of some of the best bird photographers I know and headed to a trail near Ancaster. Almost immediately we heard both Black & Yellow-billed Cuckoos as we prepared to hit the trail from the parking lot. The wood lot was as "birdy" as it gets as migrating birds were foraging in the trees close to the trail. Highlight for me was a cooperating Hooded Warbler and a Wood Thrush that gave us some great views. Great Day !!!
11th -17th May 2017
Location: Magee Marsh, Maumee Bay State Park & Oak Openings Metropark in North West Ohio
Weather: Other than a cooler start on Day 1 it was hot and sunny all week.
After traveling north from Portsmouth, Ohio the day before, I had an early night at my hotel. I drove the 45mins to Magee Marsh early the next morning arriving at the main parking lot at 6:30 am raring to go. Magee Marsh on Birding Week is extremely busy with several hundreds of birders from all over the US, Ontario and a significant amount from Europe. The attraction is the often overwhelming amount of Warblers and other species that stage along the Lake Erie coast waiting on a south wind that will propel them across the lake into Canada on their way to their breeding grounds. The numbers of birds of almost all the Eastern US warbler species can vary from day to day, but on a good day it's not unusual to see over 20 warbler species. My first day, however only allowed me to see and in most cases photograph approximately 15 species (still not too shabby) Over the next 7 days I was able to increase that total to 24 warbler species, but still a ways short of my target of 30 (oh well maybe next year). I have attached a copy of my checklist I used to keep track of sightings. I did however make my goal of over 100 species overall.
8th - 10th May 2017
Location: Shawnee State Forest, Portsmouth, Ohio
Weather: Poor and generally wet and dull
Early May has to be the best time for Birding enthusiasts, and I certainly have been looking forward to the influx of warblers as they pass through our area on their way to their summer breeding grounds. Unfortunately not all warblers make it as far as Canada, so this year we headed to the Kentucky border in South Central Ohio to capture some of the songbirds that can frequent that area. Our targets were Worm-eating Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Kentucky Warbler, Blue Grosbeak, and hopefully a few others. We arrived in the afternoon of day 1 after a significant drive through the night and morning to a bright sunny day. We were pretty tired so we only managed a couple of hours of birding but we did spot a few target birds. Day 2 (our only full day) was a virtual washout but it did stop raining for a couple of hours late afternoon allowing some high ISO birding. We didn't manage to photograph all our targets but all but the Blue Grosbeak were spotted. Highlights at Shawnee were the Yellow-throated Warbler and the White-eyed Vireo. Day 3 - we decided to, because of the poor weather, to head a bit further north and check out the Lake Hope - a well known birding area about 1.5 hours north of Portsmouth. Highlight here was a cooperating Louisiana Waterthrush. Early afternoon we headed north where I dropped off my traveling companion, who had to get back to work. My plan was to spend another week birding the "Warbler Capital of the World" ... Magee Marsh.
3rd May 2017
Location: Stoney Creek, Hamilton & Burlington
Weather: Bright & Sunny, but still a little less than seasonal temperature
Warblers are showing up all along the Great Lakes ... It's been a long wait for us,, or it least it seems that way. Choosing a location when it's pretty good almost everywhere, is tricky, but you "roll the dice" and take your chances. Our choice was a few of the known quantities - Edgelake in Stoney Creek & Paletta in Burlington. for the most part. We arrived early at Edgelake and had a few Warblers mainly along the side of the road - Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Palm and Yellows. Our highlight was a few Veery that were foraging in the house gardens across from Edgelake.
From here we headed to Paletta Mansion and had several Warblers along the trail with the Cedars - Yellow, Black-throated Blue, Black & White and Ovenbird.
From here we headed to Paletta Mansion and had several Warblers along the trail with the Cedars - Yellow, Black-throated Blue, Black & White and Ovenbird.
