7 out of 10

It has been far too long since I've posted anything here, but it's also been far too long since I've managed to get out and get some decent shots. So here you are...a bit of a story and few shots from today.

This morning I was up bright and early at 3:15 a.m. (As my friend Ethan says, the most important tool in a photographer's toolkit is an alarm clock...and I had three set this morning.) I headed out in the blowing snow and gusting winds towards Carp. We left for Amherst Island at 4:45 a.m. in a race to catch the 7:30 a.m. ferry crossing to Amherst Island. We made it with time for a nap even after turning around to catch a Great Horned Owl on County Road 4 near Taylor Kidd Road. My first lifer of the day.

By 8:00 a.m. we were scouring The Owl Woods to see what was about. Attempt 1 found us Long-eared Owls, Short-eared Owls and a single Northern Saw-whet Owl. Disappointment! Bruce was certain the Boreal Owl was around and couldn't imagine where all the NSWO had gone.

After a few snacks we headed back in for a second attempt. After 4 hours of searching, we had uncovered three more NSWO (total 4) and Bruce said, "There's just one more tree I haven't check." Lo and behold, that tree held the Boreal!

I got three lifers in The Owl Woods...the Long-eared, the Boreal and a Golden-Crowned Kinglet (which I had heard many times but never seen).

We added a Snowy Owl to the list and left the Island at 1 p.m. with six owl species under our belts. We set a challenge to try to see the other four owl species found in Eastern Ontario by the end of the day.

We headed home through Smiths Falls where a Great Grey had been seen and made an attempt for a Northern Hawk-owl. Neither was successful. It was time for a mad dash to Ottawa to find the Northern Hawk-owl that had been seen and reported regularly on Grandview Road. As always, he was sitting up in a tree at dusk. Another lifer for me. 7 down, three to go...

The Barred Owl along March Valley Road didn't want to cooperate, there were no Great Greys to be found and who knows where we might have seen an Eastern Screech Owl.

We ended the day with 7 owl species, which was amazing!! What a great day. Here are a few shots. For those of you who don't quite understand why I get up at 3:30 a.m. on a blustery day, I hope these help you get a little taste for what I'm after.

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Boreal Owl

Good birding and happy photo shoots!
F.

Owls are tiring!

I've survived two days of birding on Amherst Island. I got 4 of the 5 species that were seen in the island while we were there...Northern Saw-whet, Barred, Short-earred and Snowy. What a weekend! The weather was unbelievable: although the breeze was nippy, the sun was lovely and warm. We also saw white winged-crossbill, purple finch, red poll, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, killer chickadees, black-bellied plover, scaup, scaup and more scaup, dunlin, tundra swan, red-breasted merganser, snow goose, Canada goose, bonaparte gull, and much, much more. Here are some more shots.

~Savannah Sparrow~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Downy Woodpecker in The Owl Woods~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Dark-eyed Junco in The Owl Woods~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Barred Owl in the Jack Pine Stand in The Owl Woods~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

Time for bed for me. Good birding!

~Frances

Owls, owls and more owls

Hello from Kingston. Today we left bright and early from Ottawa and headed straight to Amherst Island in Lake Ontario. First stop was the Owl Woods, where I saw my first Northern Saw-Whet Owl. The day continued with a Barred Owl, various water birds, shore birds, sparrows, finches, etc. and ended with a flock of 26 (yes, TWENTY-SIX!) Short-Eared Owls (also a first for me). The only owls I managed to capture today were two of the three Northern Saw-Whets we found in the Owl Woods. Here are some samples...

~Northern Saw-Whet Owl~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Northern Saw-Whet Owl~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Northern Saw-Whet Owl~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

More to come from our return visit tomorrow, if we don't freeze to death first. There were apparently both a snowy and a long-eared on the island that we didn't see...hopefully tomorrow.

~Frances

No turkeys this time

Happy Thanksgiving. This morning we went out to Andrew Hayden Park and then over to Shirley' Bay. This afternoon, one of my best friends and I went for a short walk on the Jack Pine Trail with her son. It's been a lovely start to the long weekend.

~Reflections on Shirley's Bay~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld


~Gaggle of Birders~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Bruce Di Labio~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

- Frances

The beauty of Fall

Yesterday I was out birding again and today I went poking around to see what I could shoot. The evening light was beautiful on both days. The wind from the last few days has certainly decimated the forests - the forest floor is covered now and there are bare branches appearing everywhere. I guess that means that the white stuff is just around the corner.

There were lots of warblers and sparrows and water birds at Mud Lake, along with a lot of screaming children. Given the fact that the birds were not likely to stick around after the screaming family headed down the trail ahead of me, I left. It was much quieter at Jack Pine in both the avian and human departments. A Greater Yellow Legs flew right over my head while on the boardwalk...he was definitely on a mission.

Here are a few pics from Mud Lake & Jack Pine Trail.

~Yellow-Rumped Warbler~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~White-Breasted Nuthatch~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~White-Breasted Nuthatch~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Maple Leaves~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

I plan to try to get out, maybe to Gatineau Park, after work tomorrow if the weather cooperates. I'll let you know the results.

~ Frances

It's been far too long since I've posted anything. During my last few days in Australia in May, the autofocus motor on my 70-300 mm lens died. With all the travelling I did over the summer I didn't get the lens in to be fixed until August. It's back in my hands now and is as good as ever (thanks Henry's! thank Nikon!) - thank goodness for warranties.

This weekend I was down at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. I had about 25 lifers - including a number of warblers. There was a huge movement of warblers yesterday during which Bruce identified at least 17 species in an hour or two. It was amazing!! No photos, though (just seeing them was hard enough!!).

Things were a little quieter today, unfortunately. We went out to High Bluff Island for a while and then did the tour of the park. A few more warblers, cedar waxwings, etc.

Here are a few pics from the two days.

~Sanderling~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld


~American Golden Plover (likely!)~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld


~Cackling Goose (little guy in the middle)~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld


~Cackling Goose (the little guy on the right)~
[This is the same photo as above but cropped]

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Doug McRae~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

While we were out on High Bluff Island this morning, flocks of blue jays flew over head, back and forth from Gull Island to the mainland and back again and again and again. The first flock we counted had about 300 birds...there were many, many more - we lost count!

~Flocks of migrating blue jays~
[The above four photos.]

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

I don't expect that it will be very long until my next post!

- Frances

Emus and more!

Well, only a few days left here in Australia. To date I've seen over 30 new species of birds, some spectacular landscapes and some remarkably strange wildlife (wombats, anyone??). Here are a few shots from the last week or so that I spent at Angelsea and Wilson's Promontory National Park.

~Emu~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Emu~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~White-faced Heron~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Masked Lapwing~

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

These were processed quickly on my laptop using Irfanview, so will be reprocessed and reposted once I'm home and can do things properly. I'll be home soon...

- Frances

Parrots!!!!!

Here's quick post from down under. I cannot believe how beautiful some of the birds are down here. And the parrots! They are sooooo colourful. Nothing like the LBJ we have back home!

All of the photos below are taken with my Nikon D80 and processed roughly on my laptop. I will fix them up when I get home.

~Australian King-Parrot~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Black Swan~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Crested Tern~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

~Rainbow Lorikeet~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G

Manual Mode, Handheld

I hope there are plenty more photos where these came from...I'll be sure to share. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the spring birding season!

- Frances

Spring has sprung

What a weekend! I was down at Presqu'ile Provincial Park (near Brighton, Ontario, about 110 km west of Kingston). The ducks, geese and swans are all staging, although it's a bit early for some species.

My weekend list is huge (see end of post), but includes quite a few "lifers." You birders will know what I'm talking about. Thanks Bruce and Ben!

Here are a few shots from the last two days:

~From the Calf Pasture, Presqu'ile Provincial Park~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/500, f/20, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Mute Swan on take off~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/1000, f/22, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Sunrise off Lighthouse Point~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 250, 1/250, f/10, 180 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Mute Swan on ice~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 250, 1/640, f/8, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Canada Geese in flight~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 250, 1/320, f/5.6, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Redheads in flight~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 250, 1/640, f/9, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame


~Curious coyote~
Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 250, 1/30, f/5.6, 70 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Cropped to 70%

And now for the weekend list:

• Long-tailed Duck
• Common Goldeneye
• Bufflehead
• White-winged Scoter
• Greater Scaup
• Ring-necked Duck
• Canvasback
• Redhead
• American Widgeon
• Gadwall
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Common Merganser
• Hooded Merganser
• American Coot
• Mute Swan
• Canada Goose
• Double-crested Cormorant (1 in flight)
• Hoary Redpoll
• Common Redpoll
• Turkey Vulture
• Great Blue Heron
• Ruffed Grouse
• Mourning Dove
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Brown Creeper
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Northern Harrier
• American Robin
• Song Sparrow

I can assure you spring is here!

- Frances

Signs of spring

I made yet another attempt to find the elusive Gray Partridge today, with no luck. What I did find was 40 Canada Geese hunkered down in a nearby field along Maple Grove Road. They were feeding on a corn "snow fence." As they took flight I managed to capture this photo.

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 400, 1/800, f/16, 70 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame

After that visit to Kanata, I headed back to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden to check out the duck pond and the feeder. It was a productive trip...once I got "unstuck" from the driveway into the FWG (thank you CAA!!!).

The duck pond was full of mallards. Unfortunately, I couldn't get quite low enough to get many good shots because of the height of the snow around the pond. The light was also pretty harsh given the time (due to the little tow truck delay).

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/200, f/18, 180 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/200, f/18, 240 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame

Spring must be almost here - I heard and saw my first red winged blackbirds of the season.

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/500, f/16, 210 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Cropped from Horizontal

Saw this little fellow at the FWG today, too. I think it's a female American Goldfinch with her winter plumage. [UPDATE: Super-Birder Ethan Meleg confirmed my ID...I was right!]

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/400, f/16, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Cropped from Horizontal

I'm not sure about this one...a female house sparrow, maybe? [UPDATE: Super-Birder Ethan Meleg confirmed my ID...I was right!]

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/500, f/18, 300 mm
Manual Mode, Handheld, Full Frame

Nikon D80, 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6G
ISO 640, 1/200, f/13, 300 mm
Fill Flash
Manual Mode, Handheld, ~70% crop

And here is evidence of the "stuckness." The people I trapped in the garden were awfully friendly, helpful and patient (perhaps because they are also Nikon photographers!).



So...here's to hoping spring comes soon so that these ruts melt away and let us have freer access to the FWG and the trails at the Arboretum.

- Frances