Ontario Photography & Birding Blog

AUGUST 2022

1/8/2022

August 29th 2022

LOCATION: Burlington, Valley Inn

WEATHER: Mainly sunny

I hadn't planned to be in the area, especially in the afternoon, but I had to run my wife down (wifes car had an issue), and then kill a couple of hours before picking her back up. What better place to check out than Valley Inn. I am glad I did, as there were several Semipalmated Plovers along the muddy edge of the inlet near the bridges. A few other species were there too, but nothing that was quite as good as the Plovers.

** As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

August 27th & 28th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries (again)

WEATHER: Sun and cloud, and hot

A pretty good couple of days, with very little time spent there each day. Pretty much all of the shots were taken at thge gateway (location for my info). Migration is most certainly underway, but still a tad slow with not too much variety, but I expect that to pickup in the coming week or so ...

August 23rd - 25th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries, and around Grass Lake

WEATHER: Mild and cloudy both days

Stayed local both mornings and headed around my normal run around the gravel roads around Grass Lake & Glen Morris. The 25th was the first morning where I was kept really busy following several migrating songbirds. The highlight was the Brewster's which popped up out of nowhere so thankfully I was ready and managed a few shots.

August 22nd 2022

LOCATION: Burlington (Valley Inn)

WEATHER: Sun & cloud

Tim and I headed to Valley Inn in Burlington. A few days ago Steve & I had a decent day with Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers, but today they were not in camera range, so that was that. However we did manage a couple of other of the regulars down here - the Great Egret and a Cormorant.
In the cemetery next to Valley Inn can be quite a good spot for migrating songbirds, and this morning there were a couple of same along the ridge. All in all - I have had worse days :)

August 19th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Occasionally sunny with some cloud

With fall migration starting to get going, I headed down to one of my most favorite areas - the gravel roads around Grass Lake & Glen Morris. to see if any "Wobblies" had shown up. I was delighted to see a little activity at a couple of spots - the one spot had the Black & White and the Chestnut. At other spots I did see a few others but they were high in the canopy so no pics - mainly Blackburnian and a couple of Bay-breasted Warblers.

August 18th 2022

LOCATION: Bronte Beach Park

WEATHER: Sunny for the most part

I arranged to meet a couple of friends at this spot, as there had been for a few days, a Ruddy Turnstone hanging out on a little gravel island just west of the harbour entrance. Just my luck .. the bird had moved on, so we weren't able to get a pic or two ... oh well - that's birding!!
On the plus side we had a couple of Least Sandpipers coming in close and not to mention a Great Blue Heron that was almost suicidal - he landed less than 20 feet away and then proceeded to wade even closer to our location. The portrait shot was almost full frame - I even had to swing my camera 90deg to get the shot I did. Apparently, as I find out later, he is a bit of a celebrity at this spot.

August 16th 2022

LOCATION: Valley Inn, Burlington

WEATHER: Mainly sunny, but not too hot

I am falling behind with my write ups, so for those who follow this page ... my apologies.
Today I headed down to an OK spot in Burlington, that can be quite good for a variety of wetland birds .. Shorebirds, ducks, egrets, heron etc. Today the highlights were a few Lesser Yellowlegs and a small flock of Least Sandpipers. There was also some Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Belted Kingfisher, Ospreys and a few Caspian Terns.
I was pleased to meet up with a few friends while there so all in all it was a pleasant day :)

August 15th 2022

LOCATION: Kilally Meadows, London

WEATHER: Sun and Cloud

I did a little bird research on the latest movements of birds, and one spot that seemed to have it's fair share of songbird sightings was at a park area in London, so along with Tim, we headed down to check this spot out. We managed quite a few shots of a few birds, but we could see lots of movements of several different birds, but they were hard to get in the frame. We spoke with a couple of birders who were having some luck with sightings - they spotted Tennessee, Canada, Magnolia, Bay-breasted and a few others, but unfortunately we weren't so lucky. However I was happy with the images I managed.
One "bad" thing about locations such as this is that it is quite unpractical to lug the big EF prime lens, and tripod, along the narrow congested paths and trails at this location, so I had to drop down to my other birding lens .. the RF 100-500. However it performed really well and I am very happy with the resulting images.

Tip of the Day: Fall migration- species can be divided into diurnal migrants that travel during the day and nocturnal migrants that travel during the night. Diurnal migrants tend to need thermal winds to generate lift; accordingly, they often travel along ridges, peninsulas or coastlines.

August 14th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries near Grass Lake

WEATHER: Cloudy and no wind (awesome)

Weather was perfect for bird photography this morning (cloudy with no wind), so at the last minute I headed out to the Grass Lake area, to see if any fall migration birds were in motion. I am pleased to say that there wasn't many but I did have these two below that gave me a couple of shots. Awesome ... after several weeks of little or no bird activity it was nice to see my favorite bird genus (ie Warblers) again.
Unfortunately, just after 10:00 am I had some phone problems that I couldn't fix on the spot, so I was forced to pack it in .... Oh well :)

August 10th - 13th 2022

LOCATION: In and around Kitchener

WEATHER: Hot ... and hot !

Northern Green Frog

Over the last few days it has been really quiet - both in the avian and in the insect side of things. Surprises have been few and far between, but the Scarlet Tanager female that popped up a couple of days ago fell into that category for sure. I initially had it tagged as a Baltimore Oriole juvie or female, so it was a nice surprise to find out otherwise. On the negative side ... yeah it was a poor pic :(

Today (13th) I revisited Huron Natural area, which is about 5 mins from my house, and I have to admit I hadn't been for a couple of years, but it was a great visit. Not that I saw anything interesting, but I realized whilst there, it could be be great on the right day. (which wasn't today) ... I will probably hit it again the next few weeks.

Happy birding (and bugging) all :)

August 7th , 8th & 9th 2022

LOCATION: Local

WEATHER: Endless sun

Every day a little different, but finding birds is somewhat tricky still. However you can only photograph what pops up, so I am still grateful what fate puts into my viewfinder. On the other side of things, the bug possibilities are endless.

August 4th, 5th & 6th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries (1&3) & Halton (2)

WEATHER: Sunny and Hot mainly

Birds are tricky to find and even more difficult to catch in the open and photograph. Calling birds using recorded calls, as an attracter, is almost a waste of time for those that use this technique, and BTW I am not against calling birds myself, when the conditions are right.

Tip of the Day : Many birds are raising young or starting to migrate and need to devote their time and energy to these challenging tasks. Use binoculars or long camera lenses to see birds up close without disturbing them.

** As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

August 3rd 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Mainly cloudy, but hot (30+C)

Hoverfly

The light was pretty good this morning so I headed to one of my most favorite local spots - the gravel road along from the quarry just outside Blair.

As is quite often the case over the last week or two there were a few Sandhill Cranes in the field. Unfortunately they didn't wait for me to get in a perfect spot to photograph them in the fields, but as they took off I managed a shot or two.

A nice surprise today was a Grey Catbird that did a little foraging in the open, so it was awesome to get a few of him. He, or maybe its a she, was a little scruffball, so either a young bird or an adult in molt.

A few bugs to finish off the day :)

Tip of the Day: Birds. People don’t realize how addictive bird photography can be until they try it. With about ten thousand species of birds around the world, finding and photographing new birds can quickly become an obsession. So on your next walk outside, don't forget to take your camera and start snapping. Who knows—there could be a few birds already in your backyard waiting for you.

August 1st & 2nd 2022

LOCATION: Local in North Dumfries

WEATHER: Bit of sun, bit of cloud

It was really quite over the last couple of days with no bird photography opportunities, so yet again it's down to bugs to fill my day ... as little as it was.

Tip of the Day: (Insect) Ebony Jewelwings are quite easy to sex - the female has a white spot at the wing tips, and is a little browner wing wise, The male has a fluorescent green body and blackish wings.

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JULY 2022

4/7/2022

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July 30th & 31st 2022

LOCATION: Flamborough

WEATHER: Sunny, with a some cloud, but hot

Not too much to say - it was a pretty slow day where birds are concerned, but a few bugs gave me a few shots.

Tip of the Day: (Birds) Just like any other wild animal, birds have a heightened sense of awareness. They probably know you’re lurking around even before you see them. Fortunately, there are a few tactics you can try to minimize your chances of scaring them away. First, wear something that doesn’t attract attention. You can wear camouflaged hunting clothing or keep it simple with a muted, neutral-colored shirt and pants. Remember that bright colors aren’t just distracting, but birds can also misinterpret them as a sign of danger. Steer clear of brining along any gear that could alert them.

July 27th - 28th 2022

LOCATION: Innerkip/Drumbo

WEATHER: Sun and cloud and not too hot

I read some reports about a couple of locations that might have a Red-headed Woodpecker. I have seen them many times in the past, but so far this season they have eluded me. So researched a couple of spots where I might one, and along with Tim, headed out on day1 to the first spot. Almost immediately we had 4 of them flying back and forward, so managed a few shots and was really happy. We decided to head over to the other spot that was about 15km away, and would you believe it ... there was another 3 birds there as well.
Next day I headed back down on my own to an area closer to Drumbo, but habitat wise was pretty impressive, so I was curious as to whether an early morning visit might yield a few decent birds. Unfortunately on the bird side of things it was pretty quiet, but on the insect side it was pretty good.

Tip of the Day: The way to get a detailed macro photo is to use focus stacking. For this, a large number of photographs, each focused on different regions of the insect, are combined to create a sharp photo. Sometimes, you may need to take hundreds of pictures. It takes hours to create a single photo, but the result is worth it. The Garden Spider above was a 24 image stack.

July 24th - 26th 2022

LOCATION: Close to home - Blair etc

WEATHER: Summer :)

Not a bad day with a few decent sightings.

July 22nd & 23rd 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: You guessed it ... sunny and hot

Quite a nice day with a decent variety of species showing up - both birds and bugs. I was really happy with the Grasshopper Sparrow that sat nicely for me. Funnily enough it wasn't at Grass Lake where I normally expect to find them but near the quarry next to Blair.

** As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

July 20th & 21st 2022

LOCATION: Gravel road near Blair

WEATHER: Mainly sun (again)

Northern Bush Katydid

As you can see from the month, bugs are taking prominence - basically because birds are not as active and are harder to find, and the opposite is true when it comes to insects, so I keep macro lenses close to hand, and will continue to do so for the month or so.

My preferred time for getting out looking for insects is just as the sun gets up and the temperature is still a little cool. This is when insects are still not as active. Another added advantage is the light is better somewhat.

I still look for birds, and I almost always setup the Merlin app to "listen" for birds, while I am looking for a few "creepy crawlies" , so that when I get back to the vehicle I can see if there is anything interesting on the avian side of things.

Tip of the Day: Macro photography bugs are most easlily found near lakes, ponds, marsh areas and tall grasses. Overgrown fields with a nearby water source are also perfect.

July 18th 2022

LOCATION: Grass Lake area

WEATHER: Sun, sun & sun

Today I went back to the Grass Lake area - I like this general area as there are so many spots along the gravel roads and alongside some of the swamps and wetlands. Grass Lake itself has superb prairie type habitat where lots of bugs and birds can be found. Today the highlight was finding a Marsh Wren that came into the open for a few seconds - I had been looking for one of these guys all season, so I can now check him off my list so to speak.

Tip of the Day: Insects can dart around a lot so you will need to be patient. However, after just a few minutes you will even be able to predict where they might land and get good at following their movements. This is where the magic happens. Once you can get in since with their habits, you can create some pretty amazing pictures.

July 17th 2022

LOCATION: Grass Lake area

WEATHER: Mainly cloudy, but muggy & hot

The dull lighting today was perfect for photographing birds, so I headed to Grass Lake to see what I could find. Surprisingly it was quite birdy today and I spotted lots of birds, and managed to even photograph a few as well. Highlight for me was the Scarlet Tanager, who was one of 4 birds foraging together in the same corner of a woodlot next to a swamp. Once or twice one of them would venture close so I was able to get a couple of decent frames.
While hanging around some of the swampy areas I also managed to find some butterflies and some dragonflies. Highlight in this genre was the Baltimore Checkerspot ... a FOS for me, so I was delighted .

July 14th & 16th 2022

LOCATION: Blair/Kitchener

WEATHER: Mainly sunny & hot

Today was a bug day ... and they were a little hard to find for some reason, but it's the nature of the bug .. so to speak, I suppose.
The one insect I did have fun photographing was the leafhopper. He was tiny and no more than 1/8" long tip to tail, so for this I brought the little fella home and set it up in my "studio" layout in my garage. I managed to get him sit still and so I was able to use my 65mm MP-E lens, set at 5x1, and did a 15 image stack, which I then processed in Photoshop to create the final image. Each image of the stack was taken 0.125 mm apart over a total distance of 2mm (approx).
For lighting I used two flashguns, each with a diffuser, triggered remotely and automatically.
The camera & lens were mounted on a Wemacro motorized rail, to provide that 0.125mm incrementation.

Tip of the Day: Exposure with tiny insects can be quite tricky, especially when you’re shooting inside of a poorly lit bush or other flora. That’s why a lot of insect photographers carry an external flash unit, and they bounce their flash onto a reflective surface so it’s evenly distributed by the time it hits the actual insect. Never shine a flash directly at an insect while photographing it. Chances are it will overexpose the shot, and you’ll get an unusable result.

July 13th 2022

LOCATION: Kitchener

WEATHER: Mainly sunny with cloud and a tad cooler

...later :)

July 12th 2022

LOCATION: Kitchener area

WEATHER: Sun and cloud, hot

A local day - I headed out to some waste ground close to home that I have found that can have a great flying insect population. The area is populated with lots of flowering weeds and plants eg thistles etc, so a great habitat for butterflies, dragonflies & damselflies.

Tip of the Day: With Macro photography one of the best ways to create an image that your audience will connect with, is to make eye contact with your subject through the lens. Depth of field with macro can be very slim, so by focusing on the eye will make your image stand out.

July 1st - 11th 2022

LOCATION: SW Ontario

WEATHER: Mainly sunny and hot

It happens every now and again .. I procrastinate and don't keep the blog up to date, so here yet again I am almost two weeks behind, so rather than try to remember individual days I thought I wou;d just put a gallery of images taken in that time slot.
Now that birds are more difficult to find many of us nature photographers switch to photographing insects. In many ways bug photography is almost as much fun as finding and photographing birds. (almost :) )

** As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

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JUNE 2022

31/5/2022

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June 30th 2022

LOCATION: In and around my neighborhood (KW)

WEATHER: Sunny and hot

Another "Birds first then Bugs" day. Initially started off in the North Dumfries area then as I drifted closer to home I picked up a few insects.

Tip of the Day: Insect Macro Tip: At such a close range to your subject, your camera won’t be able to autofocus correctly. As a result, you will need to use manual focus. But, because your room for error regarding sharp focus is so thin, you will also need to use your camera’s live view feature so you can inspect the image on your camera’s LCD. This will give you the best view to determine whether your image is in focus or not.

June 29th 2022

LOCATION: KIncardine area

WEATHER: Cloudy with some sun

I always keep an eye on one or two of the rare bird alerts for southern Ontario, and sometime something will pop up that tweaks my interest. Yesterday a report came in of a Dickcissal being reported along a side road just inland from Kincardine, so it's only a two hour drive, so off we went. Unfortunately after a few hours we were still without a sighting or even hearing their distinctive call. Oh well luck of the draw so to speak.

Tip of the Day: There is a rule that photographers use to compose great images. It’s called the Rule of Thirds. Rather than placing the subject right in the middle of a shot, try placing it roughly one third of the way along the photograph. Add more interest to the photo by including some other interesting features to frame the main subject such as tree branches or leaves.

June 27th 2022

LOCATION: near Woodstock

WEATHER: Bright sun and Hot

Headed down to Sweaburg Swamp with the thought that this area might be worth checking out. It had been a few years since I had visited, but it was a tad disappointing.

June 26th 2022

LOCATION: Halton region near Guelph Line

WEATHER: Cloudy with some sun

The weather looked very promising, with cloudy skies, and a little cooler, and not too much wind, so it was very much the kind of day to go birding. The Guelph Line area has always been pretty good to me over the years, so it was a fairly easy choice of location for the day.
Almost immediately on getting there I am picking up several warblers on Merlin (I have no high end hearing, so I rely so much on Merlin). Over the period of the next few hours I was able to get a few decent shots of my favorite bird genus ... Warblers. There was a even a few species I ignored .. ie Redstarts and Yellow Warblers.

Tip of the Day: Learn everything that you can about birds. Any type of photography can be improved by studying your subjects, and this is especially true of Bird Photography. Since birds don’t necessarily pose whenever a photographer points a lens in their direction, you need to understand their behavior so that you can be ready when opportunities present themselves. Know your subject. The more you know about the way birds behave, the better your images of birds will be.

June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2022

LOCATION: In and around Kitchener

WEATHER: Mixed, but mainly sunny

The last few days have been "Bug Days", which is what we bird photographers often revert to when birds are slow, and getting harder to find. We unclip the large telephotos and snap in the macro lenses. Macro has it's own magic, and I think I like shooting insects almost as much as birds ... almost :)

June 20th & 21st 2022

LOCATION: Sundridge & Huntsville

WEATHER: Day1 hot, but dull Day2 sunny & hot

As you see from the pics below the trip was pretty successful. My main targets (again) were both the Bay-breasted Warbler and the Cape May Warbler. I did hear a couple of Cape Mays, but I never once caught a glimpse, so a tad disappointed in that respect, but very happy with my captures overall.
On the, other than birds, side of things I did see a couple of interesting mammals - First thing a Wolf ran across on front of me, then a bit later a Fox wandered past. Mid morning on Day 1 I had a Moose stand in the middle of the road for a couple of minutes.
Season is most certainly advancing as many of the bird sightings were with food in their beaks, so chick rearing is well under way.
Most common sightings were Magnolia Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Northern Parulas and Blackburnian Warblers. Merlin also picked up a lot of Ovenbirds, but only a couple of sightings. The one singly most common call that Merlin picked up was the Winter Wren (at almost every stop), but even after making lots of calls I saw, or glimpsed movement, approximately zero birds ... strange, I thought.

Tip of the Day: Looking outside is a great way to start your bird photography journey, but sometimes it’s hard to catch all the little details from so far away. Buying binoculars is a great way to enhance your experience and analyze the vibrant colours and rough edges each bird has to offer, as well as confirming the species and target. Binoculars can range from tens of dollars to thousands, but a tip from someone who has went down that road .. if you are serious then buy the best you can afford.

June 16th & 17th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Sunny

Over the past few weeks I have been seeing things that I have never really noticed before. As many of you know my hearing is pretty poor especially at the higher frequencies ie bird calls, so over the years I have compensated by watching and observing, and to some extent playing a few calls to attract birds.
So with the advent of the Merlin app it has opened up so many more opportunities for me. Anyways ... I have noticed that a couple of birds that show up on Merlin eg the Philadelphia Vireo are not what they seem, and although this species has been a target bird for all this season, the calls are in fact those of the Red-eyed Vireo. It would seem that the Red-eyed is mimicking the Phillie ... This hasn't been an isolated event as it has happened several times.
Another bird that seems to have a tendency to mimic is Yellow Warbler. Several times Merlin has popped up an unlikely Warbler (eg Cape May or similar) and the next thing I see is a Yellow Warbler.
I wonder how many other species has this trait ??

Tip of the Day: As the hot weather is now here be aware of ticks !! Here’s what you can do to avoid getting a tick bite. Wear: ....

light-coloured clothing, so it’s easier to see ticks
closed-toed shoes
long-sleeved shirts
long pants, tucked into your socks
special clothing designed to repel ticks

June 14th 2022

LOCATION: Luther Marsh

WEATHER: Sunny for the most part

Luther is quite a well known area where the Sedge Wren can be found and so we headed up there with this target high on our wish list. Unfortunately, although the Merlin app was picking up the call in several spots, we never did see one, even for a split second. Oh well sometime it doesn't work out. However, what we did find were several Canada Warblers, so the day was still a success.

Tip of the Day: If you’re not poised and ready to shoot, there’s no way you’ll have enough time to capture that once-in-a-lifetime shot. So, remember to set your baseline settings before you head out, and make sure you’re fully ready to pick up your camera and shoot at a moment’s notice

June 12th & 13th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Mainly cloudy

I headed down to the North Dumfries area again, but for these two days I did a little exploring on some of the other roads and trails in the area, that I don't usually go to. I am certainly glad I did, as I found some new spots that I now have added to my "go to" spots. The Yellow-throated Vireo was at one those locations and it was a real nice surprise to come across him.

Tip of the Day: As with most living subjects, observe what the birds are doing, and think about how you can best take a picture of them. Try to take a profile (showing one of the bird's eyes, or full view of it's face, with both eyes visible. If you can't see the eyes, the image will have less impact.

June 10th & 11th 2022

LOCATION: Halton & North Dumfries

WEATHER: Continuing sunny

Another Bird and Bug day. Day 1 we headed up to one of the Halton tracts, as I had been hearing about a Hooded Warbler that is hanging out there. A few years back I remembered about one we had been seeing quite a ways along the track next to a swampy area, so off we went. Unfortunately we came up blank after a significant amount of time so we gave up and headed back to the parking lot, and would you believe it .. we spotted the bird right in the parking lot (could have saved some shoe leather <wink> )

Tip of the Day: Head out early in the morning when birds are actively feeding will improve your chances of a good sighting

June 8th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Sun and cloud

As you can see from some of the images it is getting in to macro season, which is something that I do as the birding starts to slow down., so for the next few weeks you can expect to see a mix of both birds and bugs.
On the birding side I drove around some off the back roads fairly close to home and spotted a few birds, but the highlight was the Vesper Sparrow, which was a FOY (first of year) for me.

Tip of the Day: Respect your subject. The beautiful birds did not ask us to click a picture of them in the first place. So during the process, it is only fair to come back with photographs putting least stress on our subjects. Approach and part from them as unobtrusively as possible, so they would ignore you immaterial of you bagging the shot or not.

June 4th 2022

LOCATION: Along 4th side Road, Halton

WEATHER: Mainly cloudy

It was a nice day ... cool and little or no direct sun. This road always seems to be quite birdy, and today we managed to find a reactive and inquisitive Blackburnian Warbler. Always nice to see this beauty not too far from home.

Tip of the Day: Shutter speed should be the equivalent of the focal length of the lens to get cleaner shots. In aperture priority the shutter speed is controlled by the camera. The bigger the aperture (small f/stop number) the faster the shutter speed. Shutter speed can also be increased by elevating the ISO and/or adjusting the exposure compensation down. Note: The use of a tripod provides a bit more flexibility with being able to use a slower shutter speed as the camera is more stabilized.

June 1st - 2nd 2022

LOCATION: Sundridge area

WEATHER: Mainly cloudy

Up by 2:15 am and out the door in Kitchener before 3:00am. It wasn't easy to get the butt moving this early, but the anticipation of catching a few Warblers during the best part of the day (ie before 7:00am) made it a little easier than I thought it would be. The drive to this most awesome songbird area was generally easy enough, other than a very dramatic drive through a severe thunder & lightning storm.
Arrived at my destination and was looking at Warblers very soon thereafter. I had a list of birds in mind and other than a couple of species that eluded me a bit - the Cape May Warbler and the Bay-breasted Warbler. I did actually see them, and even managed a coupe of absolutely terrible shots, so I suppose I reached all my targets.
This was a two day trip so after a decent sleep at a local Hotel I was back out there at the crack of stupid. Day two was pretty good, but not quite as active as the day before.
Now I cant wait for the next trip up these, which might end up being pretty soon.

Tip of the Day: Funny enough, one of the most difficult aspects of photographing warblers is actually finding them in the viewfinder of your camera. Because they like to hop around in varying densities of foliage, they often disappear for a short period of time into the brush. You’d be surprised at the number of times you look through your camera and completely lose sight of your subject. The best advice we can give you is to use an obvious detail in the surrounding landscape to get you started. A unique shape of a tree branch, a distinct bark texture, anything that’s easy to point out quickly through the viewfinder. First, use your naked eye to map out the general distance the warbler is away from this feature. Then, find your “landmark” feature in the viewfinder, and scan in the direction you noted before bringing the camera to your eye.

As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

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MAY 2022

7/5/2022

3 Comments

May 29th - 30th 2022

LOCATION: Blair to North Dumfries

WEATHER: Sun & Cloud

Basically the same route both days, and with very similar results (not too surprising I suppose)., but still a great set of locations. Day 2 was a bit on the hot side, with the first fiery day of the spring at approx 32C, so ended up calling it a day quite early.

Tip of the Day: Good backgrounds in warbler photos can be very difficult to obtain. In practice, because the birds tend to move so quickly, often the best you can do is to take at least one shot of the bird every time it moves to a new perch, and to hope that at least one of the shots features a decent background. However noticing the pest perch at any particular location is a good plan, and with a bit of luck the bird will land there, and you will be ready (I hope)

May 27th - 28th 2022

LOCATION: Close to home (Blair & N.Dumfries)

WEATHER: 27th sunny, and 28th Cloudy

Birds are pretty much settled in to their breeding spots and the males doing some chasing of females around their respective areas (I remember those days myself <wink>). It is my favorite time, and where its almost the easiest time to get a good looking bird on a nice perch. It still takes a lot of pre-work and effort and whole SL of patience, but that effort can pay great dividends. Foe the last few weeks I have been relying so much on the Merlin app - knowing what's in the vicinity makes it a tad easier, that's for sure. I think this app was developed for people with terrible hearing like me.

Tip of the Day: Before trying to photograph a flying bird, it is important to practice your focusing so that you can get sharp images of a moving object, and which is also composed effectively. Set the focus mode to continuous focusing (AI Servo AF Canon/AF-C Nikon) so that the lens can constantly maintain its focus on the flying bird. Choose a fast shutter speed of 1/1000s or higher to freeze the action. Be aware that smaller subjects are harder to focus.

As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

May 26th 2022

LOCATION: Guelph Line

WEATHER: Mix of sun and cloud, quite warm, but windy

Northern Flicker

I went back up into the Milton area today, to continue my ongoing "exploration" of decent birding spots. It wasn't bad with a few likely spots added to places top drop by in the coming weeks, as the songbirds continue their territory marking etc. I'm already starting to realize that in a few short weeks songbirds will be really hard to locate, and at which time I will likely hang up the telephoto lenses and dig out the macro stuff, for a month or two. Actually I almost enjoy the macro stuff just as much as the birds ... almost <wink>

Todays highlights were minimal, but the Mourning Warbler that I found was almost suicidal as it came out in the open several times. It was almost like he wanted his picture taken, and to be honest, I was happy to oblige. As always I didn't hang around more that 15 minutes as birds in this situation can get quite stressed, so I moved on and looked for a new target or two.

Tip of the Day: Respect your subject. Don't invade habitat carelessly. Birds and other wildlife can be very sensitive to humans, so, even though you want the shot, don't get so close that your proximity will alter the behavior of the bird or animal..

May 23rd - 24th 2022

LOCATION: Back near Milton, both days

WEATHER Sun and cloud .. variable

Day 1 was a short one for me as I had things to see to at home, but still managed some decent shots of the Scarlet Tanagers, both male & female, before hitting the road home. Row 1 below was the results of said Day1.
Day2 we had much more time, and as it would seem many more opportunities as well - seems that we managed a few decent and somewhat varied sightings. This would be rows 2, 3 & 4. Basically all the shots on both days were taken along the one road in Halton region, so it will definitely be on my goto list for the coming couple of weeks. Not that there were any rarities in the days captures, but the birds were most certainly active, and volunteered some awesome poses for us.

Tip of the Day: Many of us these days use Canon R5's and I suspect that the same "issue" exists for other mirrorless camera bodies. Its not that it is a serious problem and many of you will probably say that it it isn't an issue at all. Personally I have my exposure settings to manual, with my order of importance being speed, aperture then ISO. What I have been finding is that if I have my settings such that it looks perfect in the viewfinder, then once uploaded to my PC, the image looks a bit more towards being over-exposed. Now to compensate I set my settings in the camera a little towards underexposed in the camera (approx 1/2 stop) then on the PC it is bang on.

As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

May 22nd 2022

LOCATION: Near Milton

WEATHER: drizzly start then cloud, but cool

Some days just seem to work, and even when the weather looks, on the surface, to be poor and not very birdy looking. So these kind of days I think give the most pleasure.

Tip of the Day: a) Try to capture a "catch light" in the eye(s). b) Light in the eyes keeps the bird looking "alive" in photos.
and c) Keep the eyes in focus and get some light in there to really make them pop.

As always ... click on any image to show full size. Also by hovering your cursor over any image will provide a title

May 21st 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries to St George

WEATHER: Quite warm, part cloud then Thunderstorm

Like many of my fellow bird photographers, I much prefer to shoot in cloudy dull conditions, but even better that that can be a morning with very subdued & hazy conditions, whereby we get the best of both worlds ie lots of light but with almost zero shadows, but with some light variances. This morning, for the first hour, was like that, but sadly it didn't last. The light around mid morning turned to harsh sun, then oddly at around noon turned very dark and then a dramatic thunderstorm erupted. At that point I scooted home as the high winds in a forested area isn't a good combination.

I toured around a few of my favorite spots and saw and (Merlin) heard several species, so I was able to get a few snaps. I also, as I often like to do, check out back roads that I hadn't been to in a while or ever, and so this am I checked out some of the back roads in and around St George, with some success.

All in all a reasonable day.

Eastern Wood Pewee

Tip of the Day: Spring songbird photography brings colorful, vibrant photography opportunities. If one of your favorite birds is in a colorful tree, stay with it and take advantage of the moment. Birds dart in and out as they are curious little creatures. Watching their movements will help anticipate where they may be next .... so be ready!

May 20th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries - wide range

WEATHER: Wet start then some sun

Another local day, but today I decided to explore some adjacent roads to my normal routing ... with mixed success.

Tip of the Day: One of my favourite things about birding and bird photography are the locations to which my passion takes me. Bird habitat is not only often beautiful, but it’s necessary for their survival, and the survival of a multitude of other species. By including habitat in your photo, you can tell more of a story with your imagery. You also won’t have to approach as close – and risk disturbing birds – to get a great shot. When you do want to get closer, use techniques such as photo blinds, observing behaviour to predict movement, and staying low to the ground (obscuring the human silhouette) to help minimize your impact.

May 19th 2022

LOCATION: Bruce area

WEATHER: Damp start and colder a bit

Another trip to the spots we were at a few days ago, and it always amazes me how so different things can be from just a day or two ago. The other day we had some good sightings and a few decent captures, but today it was if the switch was thrown and it was back into the darkness of "no sightings" (or at least very few sightings).

Early on we managed a few oddball Warblers, but as the day progressed they seemed less interested, and like many other times, we had to be happy with what we got.
Still Nashville's and Northern Waterthrushes are still pretty good ... almost <wink>

Tip of the Day: More than any other part of a bird’s body, the eye absolutely, 100% needs to look good.
What does this mean? For one, if there is no light in the eyes, birds look dull or lifeless. Whereas birds with a clear catchlight look much, much better.

Golden-winged Warbler

May 18th 2022

LOCATION: Halton Tracts, then back roads home

WEATHER: Cool start, mix sun and clouds

The last time I was up at these Tracts a few days ago, it wasn't too successful, so it made sense to leave it a few days, then have another go. Unfortunately, nothing much changed, and although these particular trails over the years have been very productive, it would seem as if they haven't kicked up into high gear yet.

Oh well ... we have good luck and poor luck, so I started the trip back home by taking many of the back roads and checking out some likely looking habitat, with some success I am glad to say. The two highlights were a very cooperative Blue-winged Warbler, and a shy Bay-breasted Warbler - both of whom made the day worthwhile.

A pretty common bird in the winter and early spring is the White-throated Sparrow, but as breeding season emerges, they tend to be much harder to find, so thanks to Merlin (again) I was able to get a few shots of a nice looking bird in breeding plumage.

Blue-winged Warbler

Tip of the Day: When targeting songbirds, it might seem natural to enter the forest itself in order to find the Warblers and other songbirds. While you certainly can have success this way, but it doesn’t tend to be the most productive method with regards to photography. Beneath the forest canopy, light can be scarce., which can mean high ISO’s and slow shutter speeds. The flowering and fruiting shrubs and small trees that thrive along the forest edge tend to be far more attractive to songbirds of many varieties. Not only for feeding, but also for nesting where the dense growth creates plenty of cover.

May 17th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries

WEATHER: Sun and cloud

A close to home day, with a few decent sightings, but I couldn't get them in the viewfinder .. one of those days LOL
Sightings included Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blackpoll Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark and a few others ...

Tip of the Day: You’ll find different species in wetlands than you’ll find on beaches and in forest areas. In Ontario, it’s possible to spot close to 340 species of birds, many of them along the shores of the Great Lakes ... so get out there and look/listen

May 16th 2022

LOCATION: Bruce Peninsula

WEATHER: Rain early then stopped on arrival, then cloud

Targets on this trip were the Golden-winged and the Blue-winged Warbler, and especially the hybrids produced by these two individual species - the Brewster's Warbler and the Lawrence's Warbler. We did quite OK with both the Golden-winged and the Brewster's. Both of which are hard to find . Funnily enough we didn't locate a Blue-winged, which is the much easier of the quad, or did we find a Lawrence's, the harderst of the group. All in all - I was very happy.
Other sightings were The Yellow-throated Vireo - an odd find this far north (but I wasn't complaining), an Ovenbird (which we heard almost everywhere), a Nashville Warbler an a Black-throated Green Warbler.
A pretty good and successful day

Tip of the Day: Spring migrating warblers are looking for a place for a pit stop, so they need food and shelter. That usually means forested areas for warblers. Some species like low, wet areas; some like spruces; some will look for clusters of willows. Look for either large areas of forest that many warblers will shoot for, or stop at a random cluster of trees amidst a large expanse of unsheltered open space. Warblers may stop there after not seeing shelter for a while

May 14th - 15th 2022

LOCATION: North Dumfries and Grass Lake

WEATHER: Bright and sunny

For the most part I only spotted what I expected to see .. except!! I found a Blackpoll Warbler - now that was a huge surprise. I see this species on rare occasions only, so I was pretty happy... and at one of my favorite and least known spots.
Grasshopper Sparrows are back at Grass Lake, joining the Savannah Sparrows that have been here for a few weeks now. I was keeping my eyes open for Lapland Longspurs, but so far I haven't seen any, but you never know

Tip of the Day: Research your subject - have an idea what you are hoping to see, and know what kind of habitat etc

May 12th 2022

LOCATION: Lakeside Park, then North Dumfries

WEATHER: Clear blue sky and very warm

Started off at Lakeside that over the last few days has been quite active with migrating songbirds, but today it was very quiet with only a couple of common species, so I went some of my old favorite spots in the North Dumfries area.
Big surprise at one spot, with a Yellow-throated Vireo visit, but unfortunately only for a few seconds then he was gone

Tip of the Day: As many of you know I have very bad hearing that generally has affected the higher frequencies. This has made it impossible for me to hear most of the birds, so when I am birding on my own I have to rely on sight only. HOWEVER, I was reminded a few days ago that the Merlin App for my phone would make things much easier for me, and I have to say the app is amazing. What it does is ID the birds in the area, by picking up the sounds from the phone's microphone and ID'ing the species. It is amazing, and well worth the download and installation.

May 11th 2022

LOCATION: Point Pelee

WEATHER: Cooler start but quite hot later

A very early start this morning, with my alarm set at 2:15am and out the the door at 3:00am for the 3.25 hour drive to one of Mays hotspots - Point Pelee. Arrived at 06:15 and even this early the main parking lot was full, so ended up parking at the West beach parking lot.
The plan was to meet up with a couple of friends from Scotland who were there for a couple of weeks. We met up at the Visitor Centre, and then walked a few of the trails with mixed success, but still managed several FOY (first of year) sightings, so all in all well worth the trip, but Boy, was it busy with hundreds of birders and photographers. It was incredible to meet up with Iain again, and his wife .. thanks folks:)
Highlights for me were the sightings and photographs of both Cuckoo species (Black-billed & Yellow-billed Cuckoos), but only managed a decent shot of the Yellow-billed.

Tip of the Day: If you are like me and you shoot manual, then you like to choose all your exposure settings. I always choose my shutter speed first (based on what my subject is likely going to be doing - sitting or flying, and whether I have camera on a tripod - also plays a part in the decision) Next up is aperture. Generally with birds it's not too important, but if I have lots of light I will adjust so that my shutter isn't too wide open, but if light is an issue then I will keep the shutter as wide as I can. Lastly and for me it's the least important option, I adjust my ISO to suit conditions/light. With modern cameras you can shoot at very high ISO, and get away with very detailed images, even when ISO is 10,000 plus.

May 9th 2022

LOCATION: Puslinch, and surrounding area

WEATHER: Mainly sunny, and getting warmer

The back roads on the north east side of Puslinch Lake have always been on of my local favorites, and today I visited a few spots that, in the past, I have had some luck. The land is owned by the Grand Rive Conservancy people, and is very well maintained, and of course, is awesome habitat for the current hot targets ... Warblers.
Although I spotted several birds that I would loved to have photographed, they were for the most part quite high ib the trees and reluctant to drop down to a height where shooting (with a camera LOL) is decent. I spotted at least 3 Blackburnian Warblers at 3 different spots, and a couple of Nashville Warbler. I also got a quick look at what I think was an Orange-crowned Warbler.
On the plus side I spotted several Northern Waterthrushes along the edge of a couple of slow moving creeks. Other sightings were Pine Warblers, of which there were a few, and a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. The male was kind enough to pose for me for a few minutes.
Non-bird wise I spotted this Comptons Tortoiseshell butterfly, and another FOY for me. I shot it with the long lens - I did head back to the car for a macro, but it had moved on by then.

Tip of the Day: Be careful and quiet when shooting - slow and sure is always better. Sudden movements or unnecessary chatter will often scare the bird away, so be quiet, be still and if the subject bird doesn't feel too threatened, then you, as the photographer, might just get that shot of a lifetime. Good luck

May 8th 2022

LOCATION: Grass Lake area

WEATHER: Cool start, then really warm. Sunny

A cooler start, but things warmed up very nicely a bit later. Lots of new birds arriving and several FOY for me. The target for me was, and the reason for visiting the Grass Lake area, was the Bobolink. Quite a few warblers around and several species seen, but unfortunately not all photographed .. they can be tricky little devils sometimes. Seen: Yellow Warblers, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Nashville Warbler.

Tip of the Day: Personally, I keep a birding diary, and have done for many, many years, which keeps track of what, when and where of birds I've seen and photographed. Birds typically hang out in pretty much the same places around the same times of year, so useful to know when, looking for a spot to go.

May 1st - 6th 2022

LOCATION: Lake Hope, Ohio

WEATHER: Mix of sun and cloud, but very warm

As you can see from the location above, I was in SE Ohio for 5 days, along with another pair of bird photography fanatics (Steve & Cerian), on what used to be our annual visit to this part of the US until Covid hit, and so after 3 years we were able to return, and shoot a few of that areas specialty songbirds. Most of them can be found in Ontario, but for the most part are quite rare, so it is real nice to have them fairly easy to find.
Personally, I had a target list which I was able to get, other than the Yellow-breasted Chat - we saw one almost daily, but couldn't get a decent shot, other than a couple of snaps for record purposes..
The last time we were in the area we found it quite a challenge to see and photograph the Cerulean Warbler, but this year we found several cooperative birds, and managed several decent images ... so all in all I was really pleased with the collection, as below, and dozens more that I haven't published. Roll on 2023 :)

Tip of the Day: Its been a while since I posted a tip, so my apologies for anyone that follows my ramblings.
There are two of our human senses that make locating and photographing birds .. especially songbirds, a definite must. First is obviously sight, and to enhance that is a good pair of binoculars. The second sense is good hearing, and in a lot of ways the more important of the senses for locating our targets. Personally I have lost the high end of the frequency ranges, so I have to rely on someone else, and thankfully I have a couple of birding partners that have excellent hearing. Good hearing is only the first part - it is incredibly important to learn the bird songs that are sung by the birds. These songs can help you identify what is out there and the direction and distance that they can be found. So learn your bird calls !!