Northern Shrike & Winter Raptorfest in Melbourne ON

 

Happy New Year!  I had driven afar to pick up a new lens on Jan 5th and on the way home, I figured I would try my luck with Northern Shrike and sure enough, I was able to find one. I was a little surprised at how nice the Melbourne Ontario (Mayfair?) area was - It has lots of side roads to traverse through and has some nice pasture, nature, waterway and farmers field habitat. 

The lens I had picked up was a little bit of a treat - a 200-600mm telephoto, which in cropped sensor mode offers a breathtaking, frame-filling, 900mm of zoom strength. I have a big learning curve with this lens but I figured between birdwatching and astronomy - I can enjoy this lens and get some value out of it for a few years. 

 

This Shrike was my personal highlight on this trip. I was able to get a few shots while sitting in my car with this bird 30-40m away from me. My goal when photographing birds is to appreciate the bird from a distance, get some photos without disturbing the bird, then quietly moving on. I was photographing this Merlin through a crack in my car's sunroof!

Soon after seeing the Shrike, I had noted many raptors - Mainly Red-tailed Hawks - but also seeing the following, all taken from my car: Bald Eagles, Rough-legged Hawk, Eastern Bluebirds, another Merlin, and a Coopers Hawk.

Overall - this was a nice stop and not too far away from home. Melbourne is just south of London ON. A beautiful place with some nice winter raptors. 

Good Birding,

Dwayne

A flock of Eastern Bluebirds

I stopped by Holiday Beach this afternoon hoping to see some late migrant raptors. I had a chance to meet this years official hawk counter - Maryse. She was a really nice person! One of the highlights this afternoon was a flock of 16 Eastern Bluebirds which landed in a tree next to the hawk tower. 

Sadly - my photos are poor - the lighting this afternoon was a little crappy. I couldn't seem to get decent photos--- but even still - I've shared a few with various crops and contrast adjustments. 

Seeing a flock of Bluebirds definitely a treat for me. Other good birds seen today were Red-shouldered Hawks, Winter Wren, Belted Kingfisher. 

Good Birding!

October Back Yard Birds and Other Sightings

The last week or two have been a little lack-luster for birding. The weekends have had horrible weather and weekdays are filled with work commitments!

Backyard birds over the last few weeks include:

• Palm Warblers
• White crowned Sparrows
• White throated Sparrows
• Red breasted Woodpecker
• Dark eyed Junco
• Blue Jays
• Cardinals

I had ventured out to Hillman Marsh about two weeks ago since I was out in Essex for a work commitment. I went to Hillman as I heard that some Nelson's Sparrows were being seen there. Unfortunately, there were gail-force winds making birding (and standing outside) difficult. I did see a roadkilled Eastern Fox Snake which was sad to see.

Karen H recently informed me that there was a Blue-Morph Snow Goose at the Volmer Pond in Lasalle and I was able to follow up on that sighting. Overhead, a Bald Eagle soared in the sky... always nice to see. 

It will be interesting to see if this year is a great year for winter finches (See Ron Pittaway's Winter Finch Forecast). I think seeing Common Redpolls or White winged Crossbills will be a nice treat to make the upcoming winter season a little more bearable. I bought a new nyjer seed feeder in hopes of attracting some good northern birds.

Perhaps the same factors that are giving Snowy Owls booming populations in the north will also make sightings of Gyrfalcons and Northern Shrikes a little more abundant as well.

This weekend seems to be a complete washout in terms of rain... It would have been really nice to go to Holiday Beach to do some hawk-watching. Late October always gives some nice views of late migrating raptors such as Red Shouldered and Rough Legged Hawks as well as Golden Eagles.

Maybe next weekend's weather will be a little better? Lets hope....

Good birding,
Dwayne

Thanksgiving Weekend Pelee Birding - Winter Wrens and more...

I had visited Pelee with my in-laws from Ottawa this weekend and on a few occasions, I was able to step away from the group to follow up on some birds that I was seeing. Near Blue Heron & the Marsh Boardwalk - I was able to see many Eastern Phoebes, Winter Wrens, Ruby crowned Kinglets, White crowned and White throated sparrows. Hermit Thrush, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel were seen along with many Sharp shinned Hawks flying overhead.

Later, near the tip of Pelee along a closed off section of West beach footpath I had seen many of the same birds that were mentioned above, along with Dark eyed Juncos, Red breasted nuthatches, with singles of Blue headed Vireo, Cape May Warbler and Yellow rumped Warblers.

Just outside the park gates, I had seen yet another Merlin perched atop a dead tree. I feel like I've seen many of them this fall season. There are some years where I feel like I miss them so its nice to see so many during this fall migration.

Fall migration really presents a nice, gradual mix of birds that changes week by week.  I really wanted to scan other areas of the park - such as Delaurier Trail and perhaps Hillman Marsh --- but it wasn't to be with my out of town guests...

Ebird checklist:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49032695

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving  & Good birding!
-Dwayne

Bald Eagle with Interesting Prey

Back in late December, while driving along a road out in Harrow and I stopped to look at a Bald Eagle in the middle of an agricultural field. While reaching into the back seat of my car to grab my camera, the Eagle took flight and I was only able to take some diagnostic photos of the bird as it flew away. Taking a closer look at the images reveal it had caught an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit! 

Needless to say, seeing this was a hair hare raising experience.  :^p    

All joking aside, the main habitat and dietary preference for Bald Eagles is along the water's edge looking for fish but this beautiful eagle seems to have a penchant for surf and turf. 

Good birding,
Dwayne

Pelee Sunrise

I had taken a photo of the sun rising over the boardwalk, but I did not have my wide angle lens. I was told once that the sun rises directly over this boardwalk on May 1st. This photo is from the first week of May last year.

Birded Pelee today with the Ojibway Birding Group. This is the first time in a long time I was able to join the group on their outings. I arrived at Point Pelee early (6:45am) and walked the marsh trail first thing. One highlight (besides the sunrise through the light mist over the marsh) was the sound of Virginia Rail calling at one point along the boardwalk. Next, I walked Tilden's Trail to have another great highlight... A Waterthrush! I'm torn on the identification, I did not hear it make so much as a chip note! It foraged the slough along the northern boardwalk at north end of Tilden's Trail.  (David Sibley has a small writeup here on  differentiating Northern from Louisiana Waterthrushes: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2012/08/identification-of-waterthrushes/)

 

The Ojibway birding group met in the parking lot and walked the West Beach path northward. Some West beach highlights include:
Black and White Warbler
Brown Thrasher
Yellow Warbler
Yellow rumped Warbler

Amazing raptors flew overhead all afternoon... they included: Broad-winged Hawk, Coopers, N. Harriers, Bald Eagles... (No Kites!). Even Sandhill Cranes flew overhead on a few occasions.

After a quick lunch at Paula's Fish Place, Kory and I walked Northwest Beach where we found a small but nice pocket of warblers. We had:
Pine Warbler (my first in Canada?),
Black throated Green,
Palm Warbler,
Yellow rumped Warbler
Blue headed Vireo
Eastern Phoebe
House Wren (FOS)! ... Oddly, the House Wren was not calling when we saw it.

At 3:30, I left the park and dropped by Hillman Marsh. I had very little time to really bird the shorebird cell, but I did get a glimpse at a pair of Long billed Dowitchers, as well as many Dunlin, Black-bellied Plovers and  Caspian Terns.

Thanks to the Ojibway birding group for a great morning of birding. Birds were sparse today, but it was great to be out there!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava


http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13908493
68 species total