May 29th & 31st 2023
LOCATION: Day1 - Cambridge, Day2 - Halton | WEATHER: More pure sun, and hot |
May 27th & 28th 2023
LOCATION: Glen Morris area | WEATHER: Endless blue skies |
May 25th 2023
LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cool start, but sunny, and warm later |
It was a decent day with some decent sightings .. as per below. One Merlin "sighting" eluded me totally and I was a tad disappointed - I was calling constantly but I never got a glimpse of the little fella ... a Blackpoll Warbler. Another visit could be on the cards.
May 24th 2023
LOCATION: Halton region near 401 | WEATHER: mainly sunny, but quite chilly |
May 23rd 2023
LOCATION: Halton area, near 401 | WEATHER: Sun and cloud |
May 21st & 22nd 2023
LOCATION: Ontario local | WEATHER: Sun & cloud, but still a tad chilly |
May 19th & 20th 2023
LOCATION: Day1 - Kitchener, Day2 - Halton | WEATHER: Day2 - rain to start then dried up |
Day2 I headed up again to the Halton forest area, which has been quite productive in the past. Like the other day I was hearing lots of species but finding it tough to get a bird in the virefinder.
May 16th & 17th 2023
LOCATION: Day1 North Dumfries Day2 Halton | WEATHER: Day1 mild but Day2 chilly |
Migration over the last week had been a little slow, or at least it was in my general area, but .. over the last two days I noticed a distinct improvement with lots of decent sightings (at last). Birds eg Red-eyed Vireo, Common Yellowthroat and many others are just everywhere now. It also seems that the bulk of the northern Warblers have passed through, but there are still a few still to show .. most obviously (for me) is the Mourning Warbler, but I expect to hear-see one or two in the next few days (I hope) Day 2 was very cool - with an early morning temperature of only +1C .. this was for the most part not good for the bird sightings, as at that temperature the birds were quite subdued, and like many of us bird photographers we rely on the bird calls to see whats about . Personally because of my bad hearing I rely on Merlin. |
May 14th & 15th 2023
LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Sunny, but not as warm |
I dug out my macro gear and setup the WeMacro, and did a couple of test shoots and went through the stacking process ... always fun, and I now can confirm to myself that everything seems to be working OK.
May 12th & 13th 2023
LOCATION: North Dumfries area | WEATHER: Mainly sunny and quite hot |
At last the birds are starting to show up in my local area, but they are very slow to react, so getting them individually to react is tough. I tried initially going to spots I know where it is generally easy to find birds, and when that was not really working I started using pre-recorded bird calls, which ended up being a little better, but still wasn't foolproof. On both days I spotted lots of birds but only photographed a handful of them. Day 2 for example I watched a group of songbirds high up in the canopy which included Northern Parula, Tennessee Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Nashville Warbler and a Cape May Warbler, but even after going through a series of calls I had to give up. Other good sightings were a male Scarlet Tanager that I watched for ages, but it was just too far away for a shot, but nice to see him back on territory. |
May 10th & 11th 2023
LOCATION: Pushlinch Lake Day1 & N Dumfries Day2 | WEATHER: Sunny and getting warmer |
Day2 was a tad disappointing. The reports were for a massive warbler migration surge through our area, but even though I checked out some usually hot spots, the sightings were minimal to say the least, and those that did show were for a few seconds at most.. However I am hopeful in the coming days for some decent action.
May 7th - 9th 2023
LOCATION: Various spots near home | WEATHER: Mix of sun, cloud and the odd shower |
May 4th, 5th & 6th 2023
LOCATION: Central Ohio | WEATHER: Sun & cloud and quite warm |
We had planned to do some birding on the morning of our third day, but an issue at the end of day 2 meant that it was a case of just get home.
The issue was that later in the day 2 I had a puncture on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and when I went to change my tire, the tool for the security lug nuts was missing ???, so had to get a tow truck, then get tire fixed on the third morning. Not a great ending to a decent trip.
May 2nd 2023
LOCATION: North Dumfries | WEATHER: Cloudy with light showers |