Kitchener Waterloo & Area Birding: Blog commentary on my, (Bill McDonald) birding and wildlife sightings & observations
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MARCH 2025

1/3/2025

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March 31st 2025

LOCATION: Brant & North Dumfries
WEATHER: Cold & drizzly, then dried up
Fellow bird photographer, and good friend Tim and I, headed out to one of our regular stomping grounds between North Dumfries and Paris, Ontario, looking for some new migrant arrivals that may be around. It was a warm night last night so the chances, INMO, that this was distinctly possible. However reality had a different opinion as we didn't see too much, at least in the small bird area anyways. On the plus side we saw a few interesting ducks, incl a First of Season Hooded Merganser, so the trip was definitely a decent one.
​As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

March 30th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener.. mostly my Back Yard
WEATHER: Icy to start then drizzly all day
A quiet day at home, but keeping an eye on and around our bird feeders. Only new face that showed up was the Song Sparrow ... a couple of times.
Tip of the Day: We see our world at five to six feet high, but birds see the world from a few inches to a few feet off the ground, especially shorebirds, ducks and other ground foraging species.  To get a feeling of the bird’s world, get down on their level! In other words, don’t be afraid to crouch, squat, crawl, or lie flat against the ground. Yes, you might get a bit muddy. However, it’s the key to professional-looking, low-perspective images.

March 28th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener.. my Back Yard
WEATHER: Pretty cold. but sun/cloud
During this poor weather, and with migration still on increase, there hasn't been too much to shoot. Today I focused on keeping an eye out around my feeders that I have set up in my back yard. Still lots of Juncos around, and lately getting a lot of Common Grackles (sometimes as many as 10 at a time, so they clean me out pretty quick). On the plus side of things - I have been hearing a Northern Flicker occasionally over the last couple of days, and today he came down and sat in our Trumper Vine (which is next to our feeder) and gave me a couple of shots. Things are looking up !!
Tip of the Day: One common mistake that took me years to train myself to watch out for is backgrounds. When you get your subject in front of you, pay attention to what’s in the background. Would that background be less messy and cleaner if you moved a little bit to the left or right? Are you shooting wide open or close to that so that you can blow out the background into a dreamy look? By all means, if it’s a rare bird that’s gonna be in position for about 1 second, get that shot. And if he’s still there, think about what your next few shots might be to improve on it.

March 26th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun, cloud, cold and snow flurries
It had a few days since our last foray around the gravel roads in and around North Dumfries, so Tim and I were hoping for some new migrant arrivals, but even though they were quite minimal, it wasn't too bad of a day image wise. Our primary target was to get a shot two of one of the Meadowlarks that our now hanging out at Grass Lake. The hope was to get a nice clean, relative closeup of one of these beauties, but unfortunately the only one we saw didn't cooperate as well as we had hoped.
We did find a pair of Ring-necked Ducks on small pond just outside Ayr, and a pair Green-winged Teal on Jedburgh Pond in Ayr, which didn't give us any shots.
​We also detected a calling Winter Wren at one spot, but unfortunately he never showed, but a location I hope to visit over the coming days ... would be great to get a shot.
Tip of the Day: Looking for birds is all about patience, luck, and movement. The best times of day to go birding are early mornings and late afternoons, when birds are the most active. To begin, let your eyes relax and scan trees, shrubs, and bushes for movement. When you first spot a bird, bring your binoculars or camera up to your eyes without looking away from it. This will ensure you don’t lose sight of the bird. 

March 25th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener home (back yard again)
WEATHER: Damp and cold all day
Weather remains unchanged, so strategy today was the same as yesterday. It worked reasonably well yesterday so why not. Saying that I did take a short walk along one of the local trails, but came back empty handed.
​Tip of the Day: Research your locations before heading out. Having a pre-researched location and/or habitat and or species in mind, will more than likely improve your chances and generally reap rewards for you, when it comes to the shots you might get.

March 24th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener home (back yard)
WEATHER: Damp, cold, snowy
The weather and the the season being what it is, I decided on a day just keeping an eye on my back yard for any birds that would be floating around my bird feeders. I keep hoping for something a tad more exotic that what I ended up getting, but I was still happy with the images I did end up getting. One of these days maybe catch something like a Fox Sparrow or a Rusty Blackbird, but so far this year .. nada !!
As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

March 23rd 2025

LOCATION: Tilts Bush & Riverside Park
WEATHER: Sunny & a tad chilly
In the morning I headed over to a trail very close to my house in Kitchener .. Tilts Bush. The trail is quite short and skirts a wetland with a couple of small ponds, and can be quite good for birds.. depending on the time of year. In the early afternoon, I headed down to Riverside Park in Cambridge with a hope to spot one or two of the more interesting spring arrivals eg: Fox Sparrow & Rusty Blackbird. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see or hear either of these guys, but maybe worth a look again in a week or so.

March 22nd 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener, close to home
WEATHER: Cloudy, around 0C
Some back yard shots - Still a few Juncos around ... seems to me like they should be gone by now, but I suppose the cooler weather her (as well as me keeping the feeders stocked, has them sticking around ... for a while anyways.

March 21st 2025

LOCATION: Flamborough/Burlington
WEATHER: Sunny, but a chilly start 
Yesterday was officially the first day of spring, so Tim & I headed to the Burlington area to see if there was any new spring arrivals. Being that it was very unseasonably cold (-3C or so first thing) there wasnt too much happening that would indicate that migration was under way, but we did find a single female Red-winged Blackbird, so birds are moving in. Maybe another week or so should see a difference ... I hope!!
​Tip of the Day: Don’t chase the birds. Find a good location and let the birds come to you. A hunted bird is not going to yield an outstanding photograph. If you find a group of birds, try to predict their movement and get ahead of them and let them come to you.

March 16th - 19th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener/Cambridge
Didn't venture too far from home over the last couple of days. I thought I might check out an old favorite location in my neighborhood that can be quite good for songbirds when spring eventually arrives ... Tilt's Bush. I went once in the morning and once in the afternoon, to some success (kinda). I will certainly visit more often in the coming weeks
​Tip of the Day: If you want to keep your ISO as low as possible in poor lighting conditions then with most long lenses it is important to use a tripod. Even shooting at 700mm (500mm x 1.4TC), I am often down as low as 250, and often somewhat lower, and still manage to get sharp images (mostly)

March 14th 2025

LOCATION: Burlington, ON
WEATHER: Chilly'ish start but warmed up later
Spring is starting to materialize and with a few new birds showing up around the area. Today Tim & I headed to Burlington to check out a couple of spots that usually produce a few birds. First, though we dropped by Farmborough Downs where a couple of rarities have shown up ... a Eurasian Wigeon and a White fronted Goose. We could see the Wigeon way out there but no images. The two spots we tried in Burlington were La Salle Marina and Valley Inn with, as you see from the volume of images below, some decent success. Nothing too exciting but nice to see nonetheless.
Tip of the Day: Amongst other things, birds are incredibly sensitive to movement. To combat this, once you have found a good shooting spot, limit your movement, and only move around when necessary and when you do, move slowly and deliberately. Most birds also have colour vision, making them sensitive to bright lights and colours, so if possible wear natural earth tones.

March 11th - 13th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener & Cambridge
WEATHER: Sun & cloud and warmer
Over the last few days there has been a few new spring migrants show up in around home (Kitchener), which I must admit has been a welcome site - I was getting fed up of only seeing Juncos and Tree Sparrows. These two species are still around, but seem to be in much less numbers that they were a week ago. I think the milder weather has got things moving a bit.
**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**

March 8th & 9th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun & Cloud .. and getting warmer
Day1 - I had a quick run down the old faithful road (Paris Plains) that has lots of Horned Larks and one or two of them give me excellent poses.
Day2 - I headed out with good friend Tim, to check out that same road and also a few other side roads in the same general area, with some super success .. especially the Northern Shrike. The Shrike was surprisingly bold. 

March 2nd 2025

LOCATION: Brant County & North Dumfries
WEATHER: Really cold, but mainly cloudy
Met up with my great birding friend, Helen, to do a little local birding. We had a few targets .. some of whom we managed to get and some we did not. After a much needed early morning coffee we headed down to Paris Plains to see if any of the decent birds were sitting out in the open - targets along here were the Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. The Larks were reasonably cooperative, but the Snow Buntings, yet again were not !!
Another spot we tried gave us a nice surprise, as we came across a Northern Shrike. It was some distance away as we tried to edge closer it took off, so the shot we did manage was pretty distant
Last spot for the day was at Blair Bridge lookout, where we had hoped to see the recently reported Long-tailed Duck. He drifted past our spot, but unfortunately he kept his head tucked in while he had a snooze.
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FEBRUARY 2025

1/2/2025

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February 25th & 26th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener & North Dumfries
WEATHER: Warner and quite bright
A little driving around North Dumfries on Day 1, and spotted lots of Horned Larks, and a flock of Snow Buntings. The Snow Buntings, unfortunately, didn't stick around long enough for me to focus .. they high tailed it never to be seen again that day. Day 2 was where I stopped off at Blair Bridge and checked out the Grand River for the reported male Long-tailed Duck, but unfortunately, I didn't spot him. There were, on the plus side of things, a few other species of ducks, but nothing out of the norm, but still nice to see and photograph.

February 20th & 21st 2025

LOCATION: In and around Kitchener
WEATHER: Snow flurries & cloudy...  and cold
Day1: I didn't travel too far - I started off at home looking out of my dining room windows, and other than a few Juncos, the only decent shot was the Woodpecker. A bit later in the morning I headed over to Riverside Park in Cambridge and again it was a bit shy on anything too interesting - Lots of Cardinals & Tree Sparrows, but there were also 3 or 4 White-throated Sparrows, so not a total loss.
Day2: Tim & I did our weekly drive around parts of North Dumfries and into Brant County. We almost didn't see a thing, but thankfully a Merlin gave us a few shots so at least I had something to process a bit later !!

February 15th & 16th 2025

LOCATION: Back yard Kitchener
WEATHER: Snowy & cold
Weather  has been very snowy with about 12 inches of the white stuff ... I am not too keen when its like that as a) |have to shovel it out of the driveway and b) I cannot go too far birding.

So ... best thing to do is set up a perch or two and lay out some bird seed to attract a few birds. The birds are 100% garden birds but better than nothing :)

I used the Canon R5 with my 500mm prime lens, setup inside my dining room and pointing out through the patio door glass. Not perfect but it works.
Picture
Northern Cardinal (F)
​​**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**

February 12th 2025

LOCATION: Riverside Park, Cambridge
WEATHER: Cloudy, and a tad cold
The missus had an appointment in Preston this morning so ... I decided to tag on and take a walk around Riverside Park. Riverside, not so many years ago, was one of the better places to do a little bird photography in the winter time, so I was quite hopeful.

I headed to the boardwalk section to check out what might be around. A few walkers quite often put a little bird seed down so the birds have grown accustomed to being provided for ... which is good for any bird watchers or photographers that pass through. 

Lots of the usual .. Juncos, Cardinals, Downy's, Chickadees, Tree Sparrows, but I was surprised to see a lot of White-throated Sparrows too, and even more surprising .. a Song Sparrow.
Just before I left (I was given an hour) Merlin was picking up House Finches, but because of that limited time, I never did find them.
Picture
Blue Jay

February 10th & 11th 2025

LOCATION: Day1(Home), Day2(North Dumfries)
WEATHER: Sun and cloud, but chilly
Tim and I headed our for our weekly drive around some of the local spots. Started off at Grass Lake, then did a few stops along some the gravel roads before getting to FWR Dickson. We were the first car to pull into the parking lot at FWR, and so when we walked along the trail heading to the boardwalk we had a ton of birds following us (they get used to being fed so they were getting anxious about when their breakfast was going to arrive :) )
The West Dumfries/Paris Plains loop had the usual Horned Larks, but we were hoping for Snow Buntings. We found them ... a good sized flock of maybe a 100 birds, but generally they kept back from the road, so getting a nice clean shot was tricky. At one point the flock swung around and landed in the tree above us so we managed a few under the tree shots .. not the best angle, but you take what you can get !!

February 6th - 9th 2025

LOCATION: At home in Kitchener
WEATHER: Wintery, with some new snow
As you see from the images below, activity around my feeders have been decent, but as you can also see nothing too "exotic" showing up. I keep hoping for maybe some Pine Siskins or possibly some Cedar Waxwings but so far this winter nothing as interesting as those two species. Although ... I have to say that the Leucistic Dark-eyed Junco I was seeing about 5 weeks ago for a few days takes a bit of beating too. Unfortunately this one has either moved on or succumbed to the Coopers Hawk that drops by occasionally .

February 5th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun/cloud/mild(ish)
Cerian and I took a drive around some of the popular spots in and around North Dumfries, with decent success. 
Picture
Tufted Titmouse
​​**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**

February 4th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Cloudy, but with dampness
Picture
Horned Lark
The weather "promised" to be fairly mild, with sun and cloud, but no snow or rain until at least late afternoon, so Tim and I arranged to meet up and look for a few birds in the usual area of North Dumfries and the surrounding areas. We tried a few spots that we hadn't been to in a long time, but generally it wasn't as good as we had hoped. We did, as usual, take a walk down the trail at FWR Dickson where there were lots of birds, but nothing too exciting ... no Titmouse or any Nuthatches or Wrens. We did hear some Waxwings but the stayed invisible unfortunately.  We came away with some images so not all bad.
​
We checked out a couple of spots along the Grand River where we did manage a few distant shots of a couple of Mergansers & Ducks.

February 1st, 2nd & 3rd 2025

LOCATION: KItchener
WEATHER: Mainly cold & cloudy
The last few days I didn't venture too far from home, and in fact all the images below were taken from my dining room out towards the bird feeders along my deck. Nothing very interesting, but I was certainly pretty happy that at least something showed up.
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JANUARY 2025

1/1/2025

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January 31st 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries, Brant & Kitchener
WEATHER: Mild, but wintery wet
Tim and I headed back around the usual spots in North Dumfries and Brant County, hoping for maybe some Snow Buntings, but it was not to be. We did, however, find a small group of Horned Larks, so that made up for the Snow Buntings ... almost !!

​January 28th - 30th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener (back yard)
WEATHER: Cloudy with occasional sun, milder
Spent the last few days at home with a camera & tripod set up in the house, pointed out through our dining room patio doors, towards the feeders, hoping for something interesting to drop by and generally I wasn't too disappointed, with quite a few species showing up. Most of the species were somewhat regular but the Coopers Hawk and Goldfinch not so much so. The White-throated Sparrow was an occasional visitor too.

January 27th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun and cloud
​Tim & I took a drive around some of the spots we thought produce a few interesting birds. First along Paris Plains Church Road looking for Snow Buntings , and at one spot halfway along there was a small flock, but as soon as we stopped they high-tailed it and we never saw them again. Next stop was at FWR Dickson where we saw the usual, including the Tufted Titmouse. Next stop was Wilkes Dam in Brantford where a few interesting water birds had been reported, but today there was nothing but Mallards and Canada Geese, ... Oh well some you win .....
Picture
Downy Woodpecker

January 19th - 23rd 2025

​LOCATION: Brant County and Kitchener
WEATHER: Sunny but bitter cold
xxxx

January 14th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun & cloud
Margaret & I toured a few of the back roads between Cambridge & Paris looking for some of the winter species. We hoped for some Snow Buntings but they played a bit hard to get.

​​January 10th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Mainly cloudy & COLD
Margaret & I took a drive around the gravel roads between Cambridge & Paris looking for Snow Buntings and hopefully some Horned Larks and were fortunate to find both species ... decent day !!!

January 8th 2025

LOCATION: Riverside Park and around
WEATHER: Sun, cloud and cold
Its been a long time since I took a walk along the boardwalk at Riverside Park in Cambridge, but it was a reasonably fruitful jaunt with lots of the common birds hanging out ... looking for bird seed handouts.

​January 6th 2025

LOCATION: North Dumfries & Brant County
WEATHER: Sun & cloud, but chilly
Along with a good friend Tim, we headed down to FWR Dickson to see what was around. As expected. there were the regulars ... Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Tree Sparrow, Chickadees, White-throated Sparrow, Cardinals, Downy, Red-bellied Woodpecker and prob another one or two I missed, Since we were in the area we headed down towards Paris Plains Church, and as hoped we found a couple of flocks of Snow Buntings, and a small flock of Horned Larks. Finally on the way back home we checked along a local gravel road and found a cooperating Carolina Wren who popped up  for a few minutes ... ended up being an OK day !!!

​January 3rd & 4th 2025

LOCATION: Kitchener
WEATHER: Snowy & cold
Spending some time at home, so I have the camera setup looking out my patio doors to some perches around our bird feeders. Nothing too intereste4d visiting since the Leucistic Dark-eyed Junco moved on, but still nice to see and photograph the regulars and the old favorites.
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DECEMBER 2024

6/12/2024

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December 25th & 28th 2024

LOCATION: Kitchener
WEATHER: Mainly cloudy. and somewhat damp
Weather hasn't been very good, so with that and the with the family visiting I wasn't able to get out much, so basically all the images, other than the Coyotes, have been taken in my back yard.  The Leucistic Dark-eyed Junco is still hanging around, but doesn't drop by too often, so lots of hours watching and waiting. ... Name of the game I suppose !!
​**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title**

December 22nd - 24th 2024

LOCATION: My backyard, Kitchener
WEATHER: Chilly, cloudy
Big surprise under my back yard feeders. I looked out on Day 1 and saw this white bird, that initially clicked as being a Snow Bunting, but after a couple of hours I realized it was a Leucistic Dark-eyed Junco. Now that made sense as it was hanging out with a few other Dark-eyed Juncos. So far he has been coming daily for 3 days, so likely he will stick around for a few more days ... I hope !!

December 18th & 19th 2024

LOCATION: North Dumfries/FWR
WEATHER: Dry, cloudy and not too chilly
These last two days have been a little slower than it has been, but I still managed a couple of sightings, but for the most part nothing too unusual. The most "rare"  would likely be the Merlin, and I see them fairly regular throughout the winter so certainly a borderline "rarity". Other sightings, that I was unable to get a snap of, included Brown-headed Cowbird, Hermit Thrush, Tufted Titmouse, both Nuthatches, and of course Juncos and Chickadees. The weather to turn a bit more wintery over the coming few days, so maybe that will induce some winter finches to show up ... I hope!!

December 13th & 14th 2024

LOCATION: In and around FWR Dickson
WEATHER: Day1-cloudy & cold, Day2 - Sunny, very cold


Still playing some catch up. Day1 was pretty uneventful with almost no sightings of anything, which as we all know is a pretty routine occurrence, but I did find a small flock of GC Kinglets and one of them was kind enough to give me a pose or two.
Day2: We started off early at FWR Dickson, but it was bitterly cold (-14C) although the birds didn't seem to mind too much.
After an hour I was distinctly chilled so I took my leave and did a drive around the area to see if there was anything to shoot, as I defrosted!. After 90 mins or so I ended up heading back to FWR and was delighted to get a couple of decent shots, in particular the Tufted Titmouse.
Picture
Chickadee
**As always .. click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title **

December 7th, 10th 11th 2024

LOCATION: North Dumfries
WEATHER: Wintery & mainly cloudy
Kinda playing a bit of catchup with my images as its been a tad busy around home over the last week or so. When I have been out its been either at FWR Dickson or along my local gravel road. Day3 was at Dickson, and even though it was a bit drizzly, the birds were still around. Nothing out of the ordinary, but what showed up did pose nicely for the most part.

December 3rd & 6th 2024

LOCATION: Day1-N.Dumfries; Day2-Hamilton
WEATHER: Wintery with some snow on Day2
Not too many interesting birds popping up, so other than a few garden birds, other than the Sandhill Crane, which was one of about a dozen I came across in a local field.
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    ​Blog Author

    Pretty much all my life I have had an interest in nature photography albeit in, off and on, phases of interest. Around 18 years ago, I found myself, again, getting that nature bug, and I am now, especially since I retired just over 8 years ago, very passionate about  wildlife & wildlife photography.

    ​Enough about me ...             I hope that you enjoy my ramblings and the occasional  decent  image.

                       Bill McDonald

    “In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” 
    ― Robert Lynd
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