Birding has been a little slow locally, so we have been planning a short trip up to the Algonquin area, where many songbirds are spending the summer, but we have been keeping an eye on the weather, so that we didn't have too much sun.... Nothing worse than having colourful songbird plumage blown out because of harsh lighting conditions. Anyways, today (Saturday) the lighting was looking generally OK with cloudy, albeit rainy conditions. 
Up at 2:00am, out by 3:00am and headed out, picking up my birding partner in the city, then north towards Huntsville for that 4 hour drive and arrived in our first shooting location at around 7:00am. My personal hearing is not good, and it's been a long time since I heard small birdsong, but fortunately my partner has incredibly fine hearing, so it wasn't too long before we were pointing long lenses at our first target ... a Magnolia Warbler.
For the next 8 hours we explored our chosen area, picking up several Warblers and the occasional other avian species. One of the surprise birds was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet ... probably the first time I have ever seen one in its breeding territory.

Over the last week or so I have been looking for and photographing various insects

For the next few weeks I will be posting a mix of birds and bugs. During June I usually, and prefer, shooting birds, but as the opportunities drop off, I sometimes take a day or two and shoot insects.
These babies, I found not too far from home, so my mileage is certainly improving - not driving hundreds of miles each way in search of interesting birds. 

Last couple of days have been a little flat, with not too much bird activity, but although quantity being small I made up for with quality. Yesterday I was delighted to find a Yellow-throated Vireo that passed through my chosen spot, giving me a few frames, but I was double delighted this morning to have a Hooded Warbler female pop into the open for about 5 seconds, giving me a couple of shots. Over the years I have seen many, many Hooded Warblers, but they have all been males, so this was pure delight to have a first ever sighting of the female.

Many thanks to Helen (Birding by Ear) Lam for rearing these two magnificent specimens, and for bringing them to my home based "bug studio" (my garage) so that Steve, Helen and myself can get a few frames of these two beauties, which are brother and sister Cecropia Moths. I should say that these are Ontario's largest moth - They don't get to spend much time alive. They emerge, find a mate, lay an egg, then drop dead. Sadly, we don't see them too often because they only live for about a week or two. 

Every year or so, a few friends and I head down to Vittoria, near Port Dover, to the Canadian Raptor Conservancy, to take advantage of this awesome facilty. At CRC  they have dozens of native or foreign raptors which they, depending on each individuals training or capability, either fly them or set them so that us crazy photographers can get a few snaps.
https://canadianraptorconservancy.com

After that initial surge through of migrating songbirds, things have quietened down somewhat with sightings now being generally pretty hard to get. Knowing where to go can help immensely and what many of us is to return to spots, where in previous years, we have had good sightings and where we have seen good birds. Many songbirds return year after year to nest in almost identical spots, so these individuals are often quite well known, and many photographers/birders almost lie in wait for them (metaphorically speaking). This is true for the Hooded Warbler - this individual, I seem to remember, I photographed literally  within 100 feet of todays spot.

Day1: was pretty short with a few things on the go, but still managed a few birds ... The Ovenbird was the best sighting, but several sightings of Black & White Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and a Redstart. 
Day2: I was on my own today and took a walk around several of the Halton area tracts, and although things were generally quiet, I did manage the occasional sighting. Highlight was the female Mourning Warbler that popped up for a few seconds, and thankfully I was ready and managed a few snaps (tip - be prepared at all times). It was a kind of a Mourning morning as I managed to photograph three individuals - 2 males and the one female at a couple of different Tracts.

Day1: was a fairly quiet day with not too much showing up. I did, however, catch some movement, while sitting parked, along the side of the road, and was delighted to see that it was a Wilson's Warbler ... I was reasonably prepared with my camera on the passenger seat so managed a couple of shots before the bird headed back into the brush, never to seen again (for me at least). Unfortunately the shots were not sharp, so was a bit disappointing.. 
Day2: was around the same area, but this time I was with a birding partner, who has amazing hearing, so lots more birds were sighted and photographed. Hearing the birds is absolutely important ...... but for me, I have a huge disadvantage, being that my high end hearing has left me may years ago, so rely solely on sighting and habitat knowledge. 

Forecast was pretty much rain all day here, so after a little research we discovered that Carden was only rain until around 10:00 am, so it seemed to be a good idea to make use of this opportunity. A friend a couple of days ago had found a Lawrence's Warbler, and being that this would be a lifer for the three of us, sealed the deal., especially given that we were privy to the exact location.
Almost immediately we found the Lawrence's so personally I was ecstatic, right from the get go, and that anything else we found was going to be a bonus. After some scouting around I found a few other birds that gave me a few opportunities. Getting a life bird after a dozen or so years in this wonderful hobby, isn't something I get every day, so I had a couple of glasses of vino to celebrate when I got home.

Day one, the target was the Scarlet Tanager, and we were fortunate enough to actually see three males and two females in this area. One of the males was very curious and came down low a couple of times.
Day two: we headed up a bit north of Toronto looking for some interesting Warblers - we had heard there was a couple of interesting species lurking in certain areas. After some looking around we were delighted to find the Blackburnian and the Black-throated Green about 2 km from each other.  A local pond we passed had a GBH that was completely at ease with our fairly close presence, so getting a few shots of him was a bonus.

A good day out, with a few decent birds. 

Nothing too exciting, but I took a drive around a few back roads, and saw a few interesting subjects. Nothing earth shattering, but fun nonetheless.

It was a Warbler kind of day ... there was quite a bit of activity high up in the trees, but seeing anything low was tough, but every now and then one would venture lower and give us a few opprtunities.

A couple of days of bright sun, with very little cloud, makes it quite a challenge to get decent images, that aren't too harsh - ie without deep shadows and blown out highlights.
In order to try and get the best light, that wasn't too harsh, was to start early and shoot in that soft morning light. However that great light doesn't last too long, so the rest of the morning was spent looking for birds in the shady areas, or at best trying to keep the sun behind us.

Lets just say it was a tough day to get any shots. Birds are getting harder to find until the next migration push from the south.

Migration can be a little frustrating as we head into what should be prime songbird sightings and photography time, and find out that because of cooler temperatures, which are generally due to winds that are coming from the north instead of the south, as is ideal for migration, that birds are just not moving through. Today was one of those frustration days where almost no activity was seen, other than a couple of stray birds. Saying that both birds photographed this morning were pretty awesome ... a Wood Thrush and a yellow-throated Vireo. A 3rd bird made a very brief appearance - a Brewsters Warbler ... I would have loved to have had him in the frame, but sadly it wasn't to be. Makes good sense to keep checking weather patterns, especially wind directions and overnight temperatures. A south wind and decent overnight temperatures could like trigger a good overnight push of songbirds ... I hope

Not a very productive day for the most part, and the images we did managed to get, were hard earned. However every day out is a pleasure, and very enjoyable. Other sightings other than posted below ... Gray Catbird, Nashville Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Common Yellowthroat

A pretty good day !! Today I headed out on my own to visit a local park (Lakeside), where amongst a few other migrants, was a reported Prairie Warbler. After a little rooting around and with some help from a fellow birder, I saw and  photographed this celebrity, which was feeding down low along the side of one of the trails ... a great start to the day.
After the Park, I headed to one of my favorite spots in North Dumfries, and again was delighted with a couple of sightings .. specifically the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Blue-winged Warbler 
​As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

First thing in the morning of that first morning, we took a short walk along one of the excellent Halton trails looking for Warblers and/or other songbirds. It was a tad quiet, but a few good Warblers (Blackburnian & Magnolia) did pop up but they were too quick for us, so sadly no shots. However a Black and White did show and gave us a plenty shots. While we were hanging around waiting on something happening, I glanced over and was delighted that a Veery had ambled on to the trail and gave us a couple of shots, before heading back to the obscurity of the trail edge .. awesome!
On Day 2 we were back on the same trail, but again very quiet but we did manage a few sightings incl Magnolia, Black & White, Warbling Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a brief visit by a Common Yellowthroat.

First thing this morning, on one of my favorite Halton Tracts, we had a brief "Mini Fallout" experience, which started, as I was walking the trail cameraless (doh) and had a Cape May Warbler jump out into the open in front of me. After quickly returning to my vehicle to gear up and returned to the same spot, and of course the Cape May had moved on, but almost immediately a Magnolia Warbler popped up. For the next 10 minutes or so we had Black & White Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue-headed Vireos, another Magnolia, Pine Warbler and a Golden-winged Warbler, which were all mixed in with several Ruby-crowned Kinglets. It was stupendous, but they moved through so quickly, that shots were all but impossible 
On another Halton Trail we managed a few other FOY birds ... Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Least Flycatcher and a Baltimore Oriole and our old favorite ... a Yellow Warbler

Each day, it seems, we are seeing more and more new migrants a they hit our area, and today was no exception. I had a later start than I had expected due to a small emergency that happened, but even from late morning, which is typically not the best part of a birding day, I was seeing a few birds. I was very happy with the images I got, but I was extremely excited by a sighting that I was too slow to focus on ... a Golden-winged Warbler. Every year I see a few of these 'babies" but always a thrill to see my FOY of this species.

May.... my favorite month for birding and  for photographing my favorite kind of birds, which is migrating songbirds. Today was a little sunny for my liking, but it did bring in a few new birds - Black & White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler & Yellow-rumped Warbler. These little guys can be a real challenge to photograph, as their time in the open can be very brief, so be ready and act fast.

Wow ... last day of the month already !!!

Over the last couple of days, I have been driving around the Puslinch area, in search of any early migrating Warblers. It has been a bit of a fruitless search, other than finding several Northern Waterthrushes at several different locations. However .. I'm not complaining as I love finding and photographing these amazing birds. Northern Waterthrush prefer cool, dark, wooded swamps, and bogs. During the spring, the bird can generally be found in thick cover along streams, in marshes, and by stagnant pools. Listen for its distinct "chee-chee-chee, chip-chip-chip-chew-chew-chew" call, loud and ringing
After supper, and it being such a nice night, I headed out towards Grass Lake hoping for a Warbler or two. At one spot I found a few Palm Warblers, with a couple of Yellow-rumped foraging along the roadside. One of the Palms looks like it picked up a tick ... so look out folks - Ticks are around.
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

Thankfully the weather is getting generally warmer, so the anticipation of birds arriving is getting to be quite intense. However it's still a little slow. First thing I headed to a well known wetland, and had a little fun photographing a few of the regulars  - Cormorants, Ospreys and Great Blue Herons. I'm sure there quite well could have been a Night Heron or a Green Heron skulking, but neither species was showing face, so I had to be satisfied with what I found.
A bit later in the morning I headed out to a gravel road in the Flamborough area in search of something a little more interesting but even though I saw both Hermit Thrushes and Northern Waterthrushes, neither was too cooperative,, The Waterthrush a little more so, but I'm pretty sure National Geographic isn't going to be calling anytime soon for copies of the images I did manage... oh well

I'll start by saying that I get a huge kick out of seeing a bird for the first time seasonally ie what we often refer to as a FOY (First of Year) bird. A bigger thrill is always seeing and photographing a lifer bird ie one that I had never seen before .. unfortunately, because I have been looking for and photographing birds for many years, a lifer is getting to be a rare event, and today was no exception, but today I did see a FOY - the Brown Thrasher. Maybe a few lifers in the coming weeks (I hope)
Today, Helen (my long time birding buddy) & I, didn't have as much luck as we had hoped for, but the weather was pretty reasonable .. Plenty of light and, best of all, very little wind. We cruised a few back roads but there wasn't too much around, so shots in can were minimal ... However it's only a matter of a few days or a week or two before the migrants hit our area in numbers, so we keep on looking.

Many thanks to my shooting partner for coming up with a location for a den of fox cubs in my general area. We dropped by and were really fortunate to hit a time when they were active and playful just outside their den. Cubs were nothing more than a little inquisitive about our presence and, other than glance our way occasionally, they cavorted and generally enjoyed the sunny weather. Because they were fairly close to my vehicle I left the big guns (Canon EF500) in the car and used my little used 100-400, which I have to say was perfect for the job in hand. 
Before heading to the fox area I spent an hour so along a gravel road just outside Cambridge, where a few Hooded Mergansers were, and although the males didn't cooperate and do the full mating display, one of them dropped by reasonably close so I was able to get a couple of decent close to shore images.

Tip of the Day: Sometimes all we seem to get is one of the classic bird poses bird photo, but you can add interest by getting an action shot - this might be a bird in flight or nesting, eating, fighting, preening and if you are lucky .. performing their courtship display. Interesting action can trump a perfectly focused and exposed shot !!

A short drive around a few of the back roads just outside of town was a little disappointing with almost no movement, so I wasn't able to find too much. Unfortunately I've lost my higher end hearing (and the low end isn't much good either :) ), so it's days like this I really miss that ability to hear birds. However I did see and photograph a male Pileated Woodpecker that gave me a shot or two.

A short day just outside of town was the schedule, so to be honest I wasn't too confident in getting anything too interesting, but ... luck was with me, and lots of help from a fellow birder didn't go amiss either, and managed two FOY (first of year) images ... a small flock of Pine Siskins and a Yellow-rumped Warbler as well. 

 The Ford government has made it a bit more difficult for us bird photographers, by restricting movement outside our local areas, to find and photograph birds, but even within those limitations it's still possible to catch a few birds albeit frustratingly difficult.  However, a couple of FOY's today made up for it somewhat. Highlights were two sparrows that I can add to my FOY list ... the White-throated and the Chipping.
So far I've seen  3 or 4 Hermit Thrushes this season, but yet again I failed to get that shot I had been hoping for ... oh well !!

Migrants are a bit slow in arriving - the weather was warm for the time of year, but it seems birds are sticking to their "schedule" and waiting a bit . Still .... today was reasonably successful with at least one FOY ... the Swamp Sparrow. 

To follow ..

Steve & I headed out to check out a few public areas in the Halton Region - It wasn't the best of days, but it certainty wasn't the worst. We had a very cooperative Pine Warbler that gave us some pretty decent shots, which was one of two main highlights for the day. The other highlight was a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers that came close and gave us a few shots

A rainy start, but a few birds around.
The big surprise today was that we saw and photographed three separate Eastern Towhees, so it's safe to say ... they are back!!. Today, I teamed up with my great friend, Helen Lam, who was instrumental in getting these sightings with her incredible hearing and audio ID ability. Picture it - driving along, then a shout "stop the car - I hear a Towhee" and sure enough there it was :)  - Great job Helen !! 
The only FOY for me today was the Savannah Sparrow. In fact we saw several in several different locations, so really nice to see them back.

Tip of the Day:  Look for, and try to capture the catchlight in the birds eye .. The catchlight gives the bird’s eyes expression and makes them look alive and gives the image viewer a point of focus.

My luck continues - today I managed to find and photograph a second Warbler - It would have been nice if had been a different species from the other day, but I'm still happy with another Pine Warbler. About 100 yards from the Pine, a Brown Creeper was foraging down some large deciduous trees, and gave me a couple of shots, so all in all not too bad of a day.

My luck is continuing - I found my first of year (FOY) Eastern Towhee alongside a gravel road in the Flamborough area.  It was quite an inquisitive bird, so wasn't hard to shoot once it dropped into the open.
Based on yesterdays Warbler and today's Towhee it looks like the songbird season is getting underway quite early this year, of which I am very, very happy. :) 

It's been a long winter, and today I spotted my first Warbler of the year, so it's officially Warbler season for me. I will looking more now for these returning beauties (all the Warblers), and of course their cousins in the songbird world - Vireos, Towhees, Buntings etc etc..  My Pine Warbler sighting was a little surprising as it wasn't quite the habitat I was expecting - I found it in a rough swampy area with low birches and lots of dogwood out front of the swamp. 
Moving on getting nearer the Grass Lake area, I saw some movement up in a grove of trees and it was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, so I managed my first shots of 2021 of this little guy as well - so two FOY (first of year) on the same day was awesome - although technically the Sapsucker wasn't sighting wise, as I had seen one a couple of days ago, but no photograph.

First stop this morning was to check out the report that there was some Bohemian Waxwings at the Guelph Arboretum, and apparently, according to a fellow birder I met there, there was around 3 or 4 of them. However there was also 40 or 50 Cedar Waxwings, and all of them buzzing around above me, so although I didn't particularly get one in my sights, I likely did see one (I think)​.

It's been a while since I was at this spot, and even though it lots of people around it also held a few birds ... which is good :)
Initially the plan had been to track down one of the resident Pileated Woodpeckers, but we came across a few other birds, so the focus changed slightly, as it often happens, I suppose. One of the local Pileated was really easy to find, and even though my hearing is pretty bad, we could hear this individual hammering away from several hundred yards away, so it was a case of following the noise until we spotted it fairly high up in a tree that he was banging away on. We hung out there for at least 15 minutes, and during that time he never let up .. banging away on the exact same spot.

Some days things just go to plan, and today was one of those days. Along with a fellow birder we dropped by a location known to have a Wilson's Snipe, so after setting up and scoping the area we spotted one up in a tree. First step on this occasion was to give a few short burst of their call - immediately after doing that the bird dropped down on the ground and wandered around giving us incredible shots for the next half hour. I should point out that persistent use of the call was not done .. In all the years I have been photographing birds, I can't remember a time when any bird was as persistent as this one. After a half hour or so I had to physically chase the bird to end the session...   Incredible!!!
​As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

It was a little cooler today, but generally there were many signs of an impeding Spring - migrating birds arriving, birds moving into courting plumage and a few other signs. Highlight of my day was of a bold Eastern Meadowlark that seemed to be determined to get across the roadway I was (sitting in my car). I sat very still, with my camera/lens resting on the window ledge of my vehicle, and he just kept on coming closer and closer, until he was about 35 feet away, then pause for about 5 seconds or so, then turned around and flew off, but not before I had clicked off a few decent images, including the one below. The whole episode was not very quick and between spotting him and the eventual fly away, was probably 45 minutes plus ... so some patience was needed.
One of my favorite birding techniques is to explore back roads, driving along slowly, scanning treetops, along hedgerows and along the field horizons. It's amazing just how many times I spot movement or a shape or silhouette that ends up being a "target". Sometimes, of course, I end up seeing nothing and coming home empty handed, but  sometimes  I hit a jackpot (so to speak). The thing is ... if you don't go out then you are definitely going to have nothing to show for the day.

The last time I visited Colonel Sam Smith Park, a week or two back, there was quite a lot of different ducks in the west bay, but today the numbers were way down, so not too many shots were taken. The predominant species there seemed to be Red-necked Grebes of which I wasn't too keen on, as I had many, many images the last time I was there, so more of pretty much the same images was overkill somewhat. 
After a bit I drifted away, to attend to a call of nature, and while I was behind a tree - what popped up directly in front of me, but my first of the year sighting of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. I was instantly refocused and walked around that same area looking for the next hour or so, getting a couple of shots of this, my highlight of the day.

Things are pretty quiet right now, but I expect not for long - the warmer temperatures, with the accompanying south winds, will no doubt have lots of migrating new birds arriving at the local hot spots. In the meantime and because I had some stuff do around home, I set up a perch and did some shooting out of my dining room window, Of course, nothing too exciting showed up, but sometimes it's just as much fun shooting the common birds - I'm always fond of saying that I would much rather have a great image of a Chickadee than a crappy pic of a much rarer bird. Anyways no great shots of any Chickadees (although they were hanging around) but I was very happy with the visitors I did get.

Today was a day that I only had an hour or so to spare, so I kept to one of my local areas, which today was the Grass Lake area. Quite a few birds around, and I could see the numbers of certain species were increasing - especially Robins & Killdeer.

It was an early start, but because the light was likely to get very harsh, very quickly, it seemed likely the best strategy. Get as much of the bird photographs in the can, before the light became too harsh. First stop was around Flamborough where the Bluebirds had been so cooperative the day before, but today they weren't too interested. I noticed that there was now an extra pair of birds at this location, so I tend to believe that because of the natural conflict between these two pairs, they were less interested in my vehicle parked near their nesting box.
Moving on we found a significant flock of Cedar Waxwings that were foraging along the side of the road.. feeding on some berries that they obviously found tasty. We found that they were very tolerant of us as we paced up and down this back road in and around where they were feeding, getting in shots when we could.

The target this morning was Eastern Bluebirds, and so we headed to a spot that always seems to have a few at this time of year ie along Valens Road in the Flamborough area. A pair of these beauties were hanging around one of the nesting boxes so with very little encouragement from us, had them flying in and out. The main plan was to try and get some take-offs or possibly some coming to land shots, Capturing that perfect moment was extremely tricky, as they don't give any warning before launching off their perch - I initially tried with my finger hovering over the shutter button, then at the very first sign of movement, hitting the shutter at what I hoped was light speed, but they were always, always too fast for me. Plan B was to wait until they were on the perch then after several seconds of inactivity, starting rapid clicked the shutter button, and then eventually it would take off, during the rapid fire sequence - every now and then I would time it reasonably close and get a decent shot, but It was tricky I can tell you, and I ended with hundreds of shots that I ended up deleting.

Driving into Toronto is one of my least favorite places to go - not because the birding isn't good, but because the traffic is insane and I'm sure my blood pressure goes wild during these visits. However, todays visit was really good with lots of water birds around and some of them quite close., so it certainly made up for the discomfort I endured getting there and getting back.
First stop was Col Sam Smith Park where we found and photographed a few Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Long-tailed Ducks & Buffleheads. Most of the birds were located at the west beach area.
Next stop was Humber Bay East, which is only 10 mins from Colonel Sams, so not too much of a drive, and as I found out, well worth the visit. Sightings and photographed Lesser Scaup, more Buffleheads, Redheads and the star of the show were a few pairs of Red-necked Grebes, that were in a romantic mood, so I was able to witness and record some of their antics ... awesome !!
​Tip of the Day: Just as humans have daily schedules, birds also have daily patterns for feeding, roosting, and other activities. Learning those patterns of behavior can help birders and photographers learn when best to see birds.
​As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

Original plan was to stay at home, but when I saw that it was dull and going to stay that way for the rest of the day, I headed out, not wanting to waste the type of days I love for photography. See Tip below ..
The other day when I was at La Salle the sun was so fierce, and the direction it was coming from (out in the lake at 90deg towards shore) so photography was pretty much impossible along the shore, so we didn't even try that day. This morning though it was much better, so amongst other things I headed along the boardwalk to see if I could find a Winter Wren, and/or maybe a Carolina Wren. Almost immediately one of the Winter Wrens popped up and gave me quite a show - hopping around on logs and fallen branches, making getting a few keeper shots quite easy. Winter Wrens have been at this same spot for many years, and I can't remember a time when there wasn't one. I suppose being that he hangs out next to the boardwalk, has given him less fear of humans. 
I dropped by Valley Inn and was quite pleased to see that as well as lots of Gadwall there was also a few Northern Shovelers - the males are so dynamic looking, and so I popped off a few shots, but as you can see from the frame below, based on the unfortunate shooting distance, not razer sharp. These guys have an oversized and uniquely shaped beak, that they use to strain the water for crustaceans when feeding.
TIP of the Day: With sunnier weather upon us, lots of you are out there photographing birds in the bright sun.  To be honest the bright sun is my LEAST favorite light for avian photography - I much prefer cloudy days or if I really have to - shoot in the shade. The problem is the harsh shadows & the intense highlights. However if you are out in the sun shooting then point your shadow at the bird.  That means that the sun should be coming right over the top of your head. Working no more than 15 degrees off sun angle can be effective if you are careful about how the sunlight hits the bird’s face. And that has everything to do with opening your eyes with regards to head angle.

Based on yesterdays file transfer calamity, I was pretty anxious to to get some images, so that I could test the process and verify things were back to normal. The good news is that the shots that I took seem to be OK, so I'm a happy camper.
My outing was twofold - a) I wanted to get back to where the Red-shouldered Hawk was yesterday and see if I could get another chance, but sadly I never saw it. ... and b) see what I could find in Flambourough and and in North Dumfries. One of the highlight was that a Pileated Woodpecker flew over me while I was stopped, so I watched where it seemed to land, and then followed it to that same general area, then ... waited & hoped. Eventually it drifted close, so I was able to get a few clicks, but they were at quite a distance, but if the R5 has one large advantage is it's ability to handle distant shots and the subsequent large crops.  
Another highlight was the sighting of a small flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds, which were a "first of year" for me, so a step closer to spring ... 
Sightings between Flamborough and North Dumfries were ... Brown-headed Cowbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Horned Larks, Tundra Swans, Trumpeter Swans, Hooded Mergansers, and a few of the more common ones in there too :)

OK today my entry is going to be without any images, even though I snapped off over 200. We did a short run around some of the back roads south and west of Highway6 close to the 401, and managed to find a few cooperative birds including a few Eastern Meadowlarks, Horned larks and several Bluebirds, at different spots. Prize sighting was a Red-shouldered Hawk that, although it was a tad distant, a pretty exciting moment just the same. We fired of half a dozen frames before it took off and left us standing there with our jaws hanging open. 
I mentioned no images, and I know some of them would be very much in the keeper pile, but after transferring the files from my memory card to an external hard drive, that I use to store this years images, and finally importing the same images into Lightroom. I found at this point that the images, although I could see them on LR, they were blurry and unclear, as if they were still loading. Somewhere in the transference process my files were cornuted - either because my memory card was somehow faulty/corrupt (although the images looked great on the camera), or I transferred to a bad sector on the external hard drive, or LR itself was somehow at fault (I have had trouble with LR locking up occasionally) . Either way the files, even after a few futile attempts at trying to fix the images, I was left with 200+ images that were useless.
Here is where I learned a valuable lesson ..... I have always transferred files from my memory card, using the Cut and Paste technique and having done that the files were committed, and gone from the memory card. What I should have done, and will definitely be doing going forward, is to Copy and Paste .. at least that way, should something go amiss during transfer, than at least I still have the originals, and be able to try again or read from the card instead. 
As a precaution I also re-formatted the card and did a few test shots and all seems to be OK. But I'm really annoyed about that Red-shouldered .... valuable lesson indeed, so my my advice to anybody reading this, is to be aware. Happy Shooting :)

With migration getting underway, and with the bay at La Salle Marina in Burlington, generally ice free, we headed down with a few fingers crossed, hoping for some decent shots. La Salle did have a few interesting species around, but they were either too far out, or tight to the facing sun, making shots impractical. The American Coot (one of 4) we were able to get with our backs to the sun (almost) so the the shots we locked on to were OK, but in this kind of light they weren't perfect. 
While in the area we dropped by the ponds at Valley Inn, but anything that was around was a bit far out, so I personally never fired off one shot. I could see a few Buffleheads, Mergansers, Widgeon, Gadwall, Scaup, Mallards, and a few others that is not coming to me. While there we a had a flight of Tundra Swans fly over, and most interestingly, the V-formation also included 8 or 9 Canada Geese, so something I hadn't seen before.
From here we dropped the Gates of Heaven Cemetery  where we almost immediately saw a Northern Shrike, but it stayed too far off for a shot, but a Killdeer stopped by and was bold enough to allow me to get quite close, so for me this was the shot of the day.

Another trip to the Long Point area was hard to resist after the trip we had over the weekend. It looked like there were fewer birds around, but still pretty impressive numbers in the fields next to Highway 59. Highlights were some great opportunities with the incoming flights of Sandhill Cranes, and also the passing through flights of Tundra Swans.
On the way back I stopped at a woodlot just off the highway, and was delighted to see and photograph a couple of Brown Creepers, which were a "first of year" for me. 

Today I decided to stock up the feeders and do a little back yard shooting. Nothing very exciting came by to have a snack, but it was entertaining nonetheless. 
Species: Starling, Grackle, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, House Finch, Chickadees, Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatch

When it comes to seeing & photographing Sandhill Cranes, it doesn't come better than this. We arrived at Port Rowan around 6:45 am after an eventful drive down down from KW. The sunrise was spectacular - The location just at the bridge of the Big Creek inlet never fails to inspire me - The view from the bridge at sunrise is amazing, and it was worth the visit down for that view alone. However the main reason for our trip down was to see and photograph the over-wintering Sandhill Cranes that number in their countless thousands in and around the area. 
We found one spot along the river that had a few thousand birds -it was amazing, and certainly the largest group of individuals I have ever seen in one spot. The image below is but a fraction of the total view. It seemed that every field in around 59, and the adjacent side roads had a flock of a few hundred birds - truly awesome !!!
I mentioned that the trip down was eventful, and it certainly put a dampener on the whole outing. About 20mins from Port Rowan on Highway 59 a deer ran out from what seemed to be nowhere, and even although I braked and swerved, we made contact (heavily) and sad to say that the poor creature was killed. The car suffered some front fender damage, and will need a bit of $$$ to put right. The whole episode put a huge dampener on the day.