Saturday, November 29, 2008

Typical!

The last full day on these blessed shores (England) is nearly over and, typically, it dawned very foggy and stayed that way. I still went to the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss, Lancashire and saw a few birds, 56 species to be exact, but the trip was disappointing because Leighton Moss now appears to cater more to Robin stroking grannies and less to birders. Their book selection was much reduced in favour of pithy gifts and the like, pity really but I suppose the buyers of such things are the common denominator on RSPB reserves these days.

Earlier in the week we were in Notts. We didn't get the chance to look at birds much, no information was forthcoming on the now resident Cetti's Warblers at Attenborough so I was not able to add that one to my Notts list. Likewise a Red Kite in the south-west of the county chose to be three miles north of where I was looking for it but never mind. Rather more galling was the discovery of a Penduline Tit at Attenborough, possibly as we drove out of Notts up the A453 overlooking the place. Hopefully this smart little bird will be eaten by a Sparrowhawk before too many see it, only joking, a Kestrel or even Merlin will do!

Our trip list this time is only around 80 species and photo ops were few. Below a few snaps, I`m sure you will know what they are.















Sunday, November 23, 2008

Wet wet, wet

In England for a week, northwest first, then the Midlands, we took time out from Sandra's parent's 50 Wedding celebrations to drop in to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands reserve near Southport.

Squally storms blasted across the open fields with depressing frequency and the birds were just as brassed off with it as we were. Highlights were a Common Buzzard tearing bits off a dead bird at 200m range and a reasonable number of ducks, swans and geese to enjoy. After a couple of years away I find I appreciate the birds more than when I saw them daily and took them for granted.

Below a few photos and clips. More later if we see more and find a working broadband connection.




















Saturday, November 15, 2008

An hour before the rain came

The weather forecast for this weekend is not very encouraging, rain basically, so I slipped out before first light to look for owls, then on to St-Lazare sand pits for a looksee.

Owls were absent, but they will be here soon, the pits were a mass of honking Canada Geese with three Cackling Geese, cackling in the background. In with the small Snow Geese flock was the adult Ross's Goose from last week so I took a few more record shots, not great but certainly better than I had managed previously.

Also at the pits, my first Northern Grey Shrike of the autumn, an immature which preened part way up the tree. I took the video clip below on 60x through the scope and at 3x optical zoom on the camera, not great but...

Aside from a few flyover Snow Buntings nothing much else was afoot, still not too bad considering the murkiness.

I'm hoping for a break in the weather later today or tomorrow to go out and try to find a Cave Swallow, there are lots being reported in Canada, surely here in south-west Quebec we have at least one!














Sunday, November 9, 2008

A Quebec tick - finally

It has been something of a barren year for me and new species for my Quebec list. This, in part, has been because I consciously decided to bird locally more, but it is also because any Quebec rarities have been three days travel on a good horse away. When a White-eyed Vireo showed up in Mont Royal (Montreal, get it) Cemetery, it looked like my luck had turned but would it stay to the weekend?

With typical consideration for the dramatic, Saturday was lousy. Heavy rain, zilch visibilty. Sunday was better so, after a check around St-Lazare sand pits (Ross's Goose still there) we went off into deepest Montreal to navigate the Ray Charles (or Helen Keller) memorial trafic system. Eventually we pitched up at the right place and found the bird's location by listening to the high volume drone of the photographers. Despite this, the bird showed within five minutes, perched up, stole a berry and then left. We hung around aother 45 minutes but the photographers had now formed a chorus so we left the smart little vireo to its wanderings.

Below a couple of photos to prove we had a successful twitch in Quebec and there is a bonus photo of a distant White-winged Crossbill in our garden.






Thursday, November 6, 2008

Perhaps I should predict the Lottery numbers!

Taking a day off work to go birding in Quebec ,based on The Weather Network's forecast is a bit hit and miss. Cloudy skies but bright and warm seemed perfect for an autumn day's birding, instead it was blue skies all day so not quite so good. One of our favourite games when watching local weather is flipping from the English channel to the French channel to see who gets the best weather. You might think that it would be the same but no, usually there is a couple of degrees difference and I can't help wishing I was Bilingual so I could enjoy their warmer days when they get the nod from the weather experts!

Back to the birding. Early morning fog effectively ruled out birding until 10.00 so I did the shopping adding duck, turkey and chicken to my oven ready list. At the pits there were good numbers of Canada Geese, most in the process of preparing to commit suicide by flying out over nearby farmland. On the main island around 30 Snow Geese snoozed in the 17 degree heat so I scanned through picking out a slightly smaller bird, different in shape around the head which was neatly tucked under its wing. After several sweeps of the rest of the avian delights, I returned to the sleeper and up popped its head for three seconds, Ross's Goose!!! I then waited another 35 mintes before it stuck its head up again, had a look around, yawned and went to sleep. Brief but at least I was able to confirm the ID as pure Ross's and not a hybrid, species 196 for my patch list. The bird was about 200m away so photos were difficult, eventually it had a prolonged fidget and I got some distant video.

While waiting for the sleeping goose I also snatched a short video of the Hooded Mergansers as they breezed around. Later a Cackling (Richardson's Canada) Goose dropped in but I've spared you the video of that, now that was distant.

In addition to the wildfowl a nice little flock of White-winged Crossbills were roaming around, a portent for later on when 20 dropped into the garden making them Bigby species 140 and a new species for the garden.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Florida 2001

The slide copying continues and below are a few examples from a trip we made to Florida in April 2001. The trip was memorable for the fact that we were both ill throughout with Flu, and also for some excellent birding, especially a trip out to the Dry Tortugas.

We also visited the Everglades, stopping at Flamingo and walking the famously itchy Snake Bight Trail, managing to avoid all Mangrove Cuckoos, and the ridiculously named Ding Darling Preserve which was pretty quiet. We saw 155 species on the week long trip, the number seen was fairly low as we were concentrating on seeing some of the Floridian specialities although we were too early for some, begging a return at some point in the future.

Quebec wise its been nippy, there has been very little migration and the weekend was way too bright for my liking. I still harbour hopes of another pits tick before the winter shuts us down, perhaps a Ross's Goose tucked in with the Snow Geese that roost there.



Green Heron, pre-digital age.


Wurdemann's (Great Blue) Heron



Snowy Egret




Tricoloured Heron





Yellow-crowned Night-Heron






Florida Scrub Jay







Burrowing Owl








Little Blue Heron









Palm Warbler










Limpkin











Black Racer












Alligator

Black Vulture