QCbirding 2008

-15 ha, I laugh at your so called cold temperatures

2008-12-20T18:15:00.002-05:00

Its been a bit nippy of late with more snow but it didn't stop me getting out on Saturday afternoon around the lanes of St-Clet. Below a not great piece of video of one of the Snowies, a female I think, note the extensive white patches either side of the back of the neck. She was the second bird of the afternoon, the first being a very dark immature, new for the area, individual number six of the winter.

A little later on I took a different route home and chanced upon the first male of the winter. It sat imperiously atop a rather tall tree and just would not look at me, the net result being a record shot of its side, good enough to ID it again.

Very little else was at large, a few Snow Bunts again and a couple of Lapland Longpurs were all I could muster, perhaps tomorrow will be better.

I'm still using the spice jar lid but In-Focus Optics UK assure me that my digiscoping rig is on the way so perhaps the first post of the New Year will be an improvement.

And now the photos for Dec 13 2008

2008-12-13T19:17:00.014-05:00

Despite the snow, courtesy of a storm the preceeding week, and despite the cold, about -14, we still found reason to cheer with some good birding locally on December 13 2008.

Starting at dawn I, not Sandra-more sense, slid around the St-Clet area checking out the Snowy Owls. An easy one was on a barn roof just off Ste-Julie, a second sat fluffy faced on a low grain silo. Apart from a few Snow Bunts and Horned Larks that was it so it was back home in one piece for a brew.

Checking the email and news of a nearby Northern Hawk Owl was about to save a trip to Gatineau so off we went. For some reason, as soon as you cross the border into Ontario, there are more birds than our bit of Quebec. We passed several each of Rough-legged Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk idling by the roadside before reaching a minor road south of Vanleek Hill.

Our first drive took us a couple of miles along the bird's quiet road but no sign so, doubling back, we crept along, eyes on the tree tops (which, it has to be said, is my normal driving mode!). In a woody bit we flushed a couple of Pine Grosbeaks off the road which just waited until the traffic passed before resuming their gritting. As we were watching the grosbeaks a local property owner stopped and asked us whether we had seen the owl, we said not yet so he led us along the road to where the owl had appeared on an icy tree top. We soon attracted a crowd and locals passing stopped in the road to view through my scope, hopefully a small seed of interest firmly planted.

The owl's position, although good for views, was lousy for photos so we headed off to Casselman twenty or so minutes further west. We flushed loads of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks off the farm roads before seeing a Snowy Owl cruising across a field onto a pole. We then quickly found three more, two of which were absolutely bomb proof.

Heading back, we decided to do our once a year visit to the chip van in Alexandria for fries and the best onion rings anywhere, now that is a real lunch! As luck would have it we passed a fruiting bush containing three lumps of Ruffed Grouse, clumsily bouncing around and enjoying the fare.

Back at the Hawk Owl and it had changed trees so, once more into the cold for posterity, results below.

Pine Grosbeaks without a face full of berry mush

2008-12-13T18:41:00.002-05:00

On the way to see the Hawk Owl we passed some Pine Grosbeaks gritting on a quiet road, so, taking the opportunity to get a photo of the birds without a face full of chewed berries, I took stills and video. The second bird is less active.

This short video shows the birds busily taking up the grit and also shows what a great finch this is, even as an immature they are colourful and, being about the size of a Spaniel, they are all the more impressive. We also saw a couple of Bohemian Waxwings too, our first of the winter.

Two of the six Snowies seen 13-12-08

2008-12-13T18:31:00.003-05:00

My usual Saturday trip around St-Clet, QC, revealed two Snowy Owls, both immatures. Only one was in camera range and the first bird on the video is it. It seems to have back-combed its face!

Later, in Ontario, we visited the farmlands around Casselman, finding four Snowy Owls, two of which were tame, including this female, the second bird on the video. Unfortunately, on the second bird I had not pushed the camera far enough into the spice jar lid, a situation soon to be rectified when In-Focus Optics post me the digiscoping rig already paid for.

Northern Hawk Owl just down the road

2008-12-13T18:04:00.000-05:00

This Northern Hawk Owl showed very nicely in nearby Ontario. on Saturday 13th December 2008. It even got locals excited and they all took a turn viewing through my scope, I hope none of them fancy it for their mantlepiece! More posts on the day later.

50 posts but not quite finished

2008-12-06T18:18:00.001-05:00

An early morning run around the lanes, as I call the St-Clet area of Quebec, revealed a new Snowy Owl, the fourth of the winter there for me so far. One of the owls was on a barn roof about 120m from the road so I did a bit of video and digiscoping even though the light was not too great, overcast, light snow. The video shows two birds, the first is the one mentioned above, the slight vibration at times, caused by a brisk wind rocking the car, makes the video a bit blurry in places but the head bobbing action is worth seeing.

The second bird was 250m+ away but I took footage anyway. I'm taking any photo or video I can so that I can produce an ID reference based on the head spotting patterns which are surely unique to each bird. You can see the snow scudding across the field of view and, again, it was breezy. Normally a few judicious squeaks, as heard on the video, is enough to gain any bird's attention but at this range it required a less than subtle whistle.

Elsewhere in Quebec, Northern Hawk Owls continue to be seen, I'm hoping one comes our way soon, otherwise I'll have to go and see one anyway. I live in hopes of one at the pits one day.

The Snowy Owls are back

2008-12-01T16:56:00.000-05:00

Back in Quebec after a week in England, snow on the ground, in St-Lazare at least, three Snowy Owls out around St-Clet and White-winged Crossbills feeding in the garden.

The trip back was interesting, the flight back ended in New Jersey when the Montreal leg was cancelled due to the weather. With options limited, a 24h delay or drive back, we chose the later and what fun it turned out to be. It snowed in the Adirondaks, several cars left the road, we were not one of them! We got home around 2.am, 24.5 hours after setting off from Preston, Lancashire.

Below a couple of shots and a short video of feeding crossbills.

Typical!

2008-11-29T09:14:00.000-05:00

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.

Wet wet, wet

2008-11-23T11:16:00.000-05:00

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.

An hour before the rain came

2008-11-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

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!

A Quebec tick - finally

2008-11-09T14:24:00.000-05:00

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.

Perhaps I should predict the Lottery numbers!

2008-11-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

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.

Florida 2001

2008-11-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

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

Fox Sparrows are back

2008-10-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

Another pointer to the impending winter is the October arrival of Fox Sparrows. At least five are around the area, paying regular visits to my seed carpet (which will one day attract a Harris's Sparrow). In lousy weather I took this short video. Any explanation why the sparrows continue to 'garden' for seeds when they are surrounded by several hundred thousand.

Out with the old

2008-10-20T17:50:00.000-04:00

The digital age means that there is little point keeping thousands of slides, especially as most of them are pretty awful anyway, so I decided to continue the process of copying them using a digital copying attachment for my Canon Rebel. I have worked my way through the Gambia slides so thought I would post a few here. I still have thousands to go from other trips so expect more poor to average images of things you cannot identify.

Gambia is one of the West Coast African countries which can be pretty much covered in two weeks. This we did in 2001, taking a package tour and getting a local guide. The trip worked out pretty well, lots of great birds, a very genial guide and most of the hoped for species seen.

On the down side I did manage to get one of the dysentries, I broke the golden rule and ate some tepid prawns in Marie-Salmonella sauce and ended up going home in a coma! For a bad flier its a great way to travel although the subsequent squitting through the eye of a needle for two weeks is not recommended.

Incidentally, I recommend the Senegambia Hotel as the place to stay in Gambia, the grounds are superb for birding with zero hassle (and they were not responsible for the Prawn Cocktail), the rooms are fine, the food good and the staff very friendly. It really is worth the extra cost.

Western Plantain-eater (below). A big obvious bird.

Wattled Plover with wattles

A White-crowned Robin-Chat which is actually more like a thrush.

Red-billed Hornbills, very common.

African Pygmy Kingfisher, perhaps a misnomer as I think they actually eat insects and fish, not pygmys.

Little Bee-eater, not very big.

Hooded Vulture. They feed these things daily with disgruntled guests (just kidding, they use noisy kids really), they will walk up to you and try to eat your shoes.

Yellow-crowned Gonolek, stunning looking bird.

Egyptian Plover, one of the must see World birds. We took a battered Mercedes 18 hours up river to the town of Basse to find this bird.

Bearded Barbet, its a barbet with the beard.

Yellow-billed Shrike above, female Bufflehead below (the latter is not a Gambian species).

Autumn colour

2008-10-11T10:09:00.000-04:00

I took the opportunity to spend an hour at the pits on Wednesday 8th October, the weather was fair and there were a few birds to enjoy.

Despite the dearth of shorebird habitat, the pits have continued to suprise and I added Baird's Sandpiper to the year list. Also there were three Pectoral Sandpipers, three Black-bellied Plovers and a Dunlin.

With the influx of geese comes the autumn cull by local shooters. Judging by the 15 or so corpses around the pits they are hitting and wounding more than in recent years, leaving them to die in their pits roost. I suppose I should be grateful that they don't shoot there and long may that continue. A few Snow Geese are also around but I did not see any casualties amongst them.

A opportunist Coyote was hanging around on the far shore of the pits, perhaps 600m away, hoping for a goose meal. I took a short video before he realised the attention he was attracting and reverted to being wily.

Moving on to the small wood by the sports complex car par, lots of American Robins were feasting on the berry crop while Yellow-rumped Warblers chipped from every bush. I had hoped to find a Winter Wren, I have them in the garden now and so there had to be a chance. As good fortune would have it I found a Brown Creeper instead, Pits tick 295.

Finally a pretty shot of the trees in the garden. Dark-eyed Juncos are definately in with perhaps 20 around, time to put the sparrow seed out.

Late Bigby surge

2008-09-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

A pretty dank weekend with rain spells and poor light. On the up side, Saturday delivered a nice mixed warbler flock to the front door although photographing anything was a challenge. An hour or so sat on the stoop (front porch) produced:

Orange-crowned Warbler (Garden tick)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Northern Parula
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blue-headed Vireo
Golden-crowned Kinglet (a plethora = more than 3)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Below a few photos including a three piece photofit for the Black-throated Blue Warbler, it just would not sit still.

Downy woodpecker

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Put them all together and what have you got?

Blue-headed Vireo, it looked much nicer in real life than in these photos

On Sunday it was pretty dark for most of the day but around 3pm the light got better, the clouds higher and a small passage of hawks slipped over the house. My standard hawk watching perch is on the back deck roof. The modest totals were:

Cooper's Hawk 7

Sharp-shinned Hawk 4

Peregrine Falcon 2

American Kestrel 3

Turkey Vulture 1

Monarch 2

Common Loon 1 (not a hawk!)

And while up there a Brown Creeper made the Bigby list.

Incidentally, if you are not sure what a Bigby is Google it, if you don't know what Google is, oh dear!

Slipping away

2008-09-23T20:35:00.000-04:00

The leaves are rapidly turning and the morning chill heralds another Canadian winter around the corner. The birch trees around the house are a daily source of activity, a chickadee means a warbler and, as time is progressing, a warbler means a kinglet. The sky holds Canada Geese as they arrive for the autumn pause, pick up a bit of lead and then on further south to entertain others.

Another sign of autumn is that Canada is having yet another General Election where the competitors have all the appeal of lettuce and wet lettuce at that. This poor country does not appear to have a credible politician anywhere and its a pretty dead cert that, if a famous Hockey player were to stand for whatever party, they would get elected.

Back to the birds. The migration has been steady but not spectacular. As usual a few birds have appeared of interest but this province is pretty much the Cornwall of North America. I have concentrated locally on our immediate area and St-Lazare sand pits. The pits have had a few birds but shorebird habitat is at a premium although Dunlin, Short-biiled Dowitcher and a few Pectoral Sandpipers have popped in.

Below are a few snaps, nothing spectacular but I live in hope.

Hairy Woodpecker, Tennessee Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Northern Parula, lurking Sharp-shinned Hawk, spectaculer wasp sp.

Bad light but better birding

2008-09-13T10:27:00.000-04:00

After a dismal spring migration it is good to see that the autumn is holding fast with tradition and providing some good local birding. Around Saddlebrook Bog, warblers are gathering, commuting garden to bog to garden with the roaming Black-capped Chickadees. By maintaining our garden feeders throughout the year, it guarantees that the local flocks (three at least) pass through the garden at some point, bringing their temporary guests with them.

This morning the first two hours after dawn and the late afternoon in the garden produced the following (in no particular systematic order and a list as much for European readers as anything):

Ovenbird (3)
Magnolia Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Nashvile Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Parula
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Chipping Sparrow
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Scarlet Tanager
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Northern Flicker
American Robin
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk

Below a few shots, mostly from today but including some shots of Hummingbird Hawk-moth, a species which has been subject to local discussion recently.

Tennessee Warbler & Red-eyed Vireo

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and an American Painted Lady butterfly.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth.

Black-throated Green Warbler and lower down the page, Shadow Darner.

Green Darner (below), very spectacular, click on the photo for the full effect.

A Broad-winged Hawk taking advantage of the brighter weather

Blackpoll Warbler about to terminate a Cherry-faced Meadowhawk

Magnolia Warbler

Lance-tipped Darner. We really need a good dragonfly field guide here in North America!

Saddlebrook Bog

2008-08-20T18:54:00.001-04:00

Near where I live is a small bog, Saddlebrook Bog. It is not very big but provides me with common passage migrants and the occasional surprise, such as a Prairie Warbler a few years ago, an Orchard Oriole nearby and fairly regular Orange-crowned Warblers.

The bog is slap bang in the middle of a housing development and under pressure from dollar greedy developers who would happily fill it in and build on it. The local council have some protection for it but its quality is likly to degrade with the news that the small woodland between it and a feeder lake will be taken out and built on, bye bye Ovenbirds, Red-shouldered Hawks etc etc.

Until it does end up the road it was designated to be, cynical I know but sadly realistic, it will continue to be attractive to birders and naturalists alike. The good news is that it has a shiny new boardwalk which will be open to the public soon hopefully. The fact that the public are already using it, and so are their dogs, means that it is now fair game so I joined the party.

It is well constructed and a pleasure to walk but I was a little surprised to find it cuts off the main drag at a right angle and plunges through the actual bog, ending in a previously unkown (to me) path into the soon to be lost wood. It certainly puts a new spin on conserving habitat by pushing paths through it, still, I have made a couple of sorties in the past few days, the results are below.

A few views.

Above a couple of the many Baltimore Orioles around the bog.

Great Spangled Fritillary, common in the area.

Below, one of a couple of female/imm Scarlet Tanagers present.

The first fall warbler, an imm Magnolia.

I saw the Spurn Rock Thrush in 1984

2008-08-16T20:34:00.001-04:00

Nostalgic Froth

You know its quiet when I resort to posting nostalgic froth but I have said before, its my blog so there you go.

For reasons I won't bother with at the moment I was browsing my old notebooks. I've kept a birding notebok since June 1981, they sit in our study and are very precious to me. They contain barely legible notes, bird counts, weather notes, descriptions of suspicious characters, anything that ocurred to me at the time. The older ones also contain field sketches and the odd painting so I thought, for posterity you understand, I would reproduce the 'best' here for you.

All of the context here is British birding so, if you are not interested, look away now as they say.

To go on. I know my paintings are garbage, I have no illusions about my skills, but they are representative of the bird at the time. I also know that the feather tracts are not right and the structure and posture of most of the birds in the paintings suggests mutation but I don't care, much. I've tried to add capptions but you know how fussy blogger can be, I hope it all makes sense. Oh and there is no real sequence, just as I uploaded them.

Below. A male Surf Scoter. This bird was in St-Andrews Bay in Scotland, they play golf there too I think. It was December 23rd 1984, I was with Barry Studdulp from Bolden and some upstart from Newcastle. We had been on a three day tour of Scotland mopping up the Scottish specials, Crested Tit, Capercallie, King Eider and a Ross's Gull I think. With the King Eider I joined the 300 species in a year club in the UK, that was when it meant something.

This is a sociable Plover (not lapwing as we now have to call it!), they are pretty rare anywhere now but they used to pop up in the UK from time to time. This one was near London and got the usual hassle from the Northern Lapwings.

This is the page from my notebook which shows that I was at Spurn in East Yorkshire when this then mega showed up. I had been on Shetland and the Outer Hebrides for two weeks ticking off Black-browed Albatross, Snowy Owl and Steller's Eider. Arriving home I called Nancy's Cafe in Norfolk, the only source of bird news in those days, and they had a vague report of the Rock Thrush. I got there in two hours and found a couple of intransigent birders who ignored me. Luckily the bird popped up on a broken wall ( I think it was a wall) and made me very happy. I only thought of adding this when I saw a photo of the bird on the Spurn website, Google it, it is a good site to visit.

This Pied-billed Grebe was on a small lochan at Askernish on Benbecula off the west coast of Scotland. I made a trip with a hardcore twitcher, a nice old buffer and Steve Henson who gave me a cookie. Those who knew him then were very impressed by this. The vegetation is somewhat psychadelic, or perhaps I was tired after the long trip.

This Nutcracker was a much appreciated tick when it showed up on a Suffolk organic farm and ate all their apples. I think it died of alchoholic poisoning. Here is is depicted using an apple as a football.

Left is the dinkiest Mediterranean Gull you have ever seen. You will note I was pretty good at painting the bird droppings, very realistically coating the perch.

Below a couple of Mealy Redpolls posing for the paintbrush.

A bank holiday trip to Cley in Norfolk coincided with the arrival of a true mega, A Little Whimbrel (Curlew). The bird strolled around fields showing superbly, I don't think there has been another in the twenty years UK since.

This Lesser Grey Shrike was at Jarrow in 1984. It started its tenure as a Great Grey Shrike but closer scrutiny by knowledgeable locals corrected the ID and very nice it was too.

This Laughing Gull lived in Newcastle from its arrival as a first-winter to its presumed demise as an adult a few years later. It favoured the roof above the student Nurses quarters, a difficult place to train a scope on and not get arrested.

After a lengthy trip to dip a Pallid Swift the day before, news broke of a Desert Wheatear at Porthgwarra in Cornwall. The bird was just about as far away from Nottingham as it is possible to be in the UK but a team went south and we saw the bird very well. Had we dipped it would definitely have gone down as a lost weekend!

Now we are on familiar ground, this is a Yellowthroat, no really! It was on Scilly in the autumn of 1984 and adopted this pose to pluck the fly from the branch. At the time it was the 3rd for Britain and so a big tick for everyone.

Below a Bonaparte's Gull at Newlyn in Cornwall, this was painted about five years after all of the others, not really much better, things improved when I got a camera.

This Black-winged Stilt was in Devon in 1985 and a long awaited tick of a 'commoner' species. They have since bred a few times in the UK but they are always special to encounter.

A hot day in June saw me travel south with John Hopper to Portland Bill in Dorset for this smart Black-eared Wheatear. For a few years it was actually easier to see a Pied Wheatear in the UK than a Black-eared.

Back to Spurn and in 1986 I was birding the area while on a break from work when I looked up and the first ever Black Kite for the site flew over my head. Excitedly I ran towards a group of birders about a mile away trying to raise their attention, they thought I was crazy but joined in the fun when they got the bird. It sat on a post (in the Triangle) for 45 minutes being mobbed by Magpies before flying off. A real spurn and UK mega.

I spent a whole day in March 1985 looking for this Arctic (Hoary) Redpoll in Wells Wood, Norfolk. We eventually tracked it down with around 300 Common Redpolls but it was hard work. Strangely the painting almost resembles the bird. While looking for this bird, news came in that David Hunt, the Birdman of the Scillies, had been killed by a Tiger in India, a sad loss.

Below an Alpine Swift, a species that used to be tough to get in the UK. This one stayed three days at Cromer, Norfolk.

This bird caused another Spurn dash having been identified as a possible Oriental Cuckoo. It showed really well and, although I would not have known an Oriental Cuckoo if it had flown up my nose, I liked the look of it.

Some still think it was a good ID, pity it never sang. I think, instead of "cuckoo-cuckoo" they go "ying tang ying tang ying tang ying tang ying tang diddle I po" according to the Goons book of birds.

Below a White-throated Sparrow. This huge tick (at the time) chose to reside on a grotty footpath in Belfast Docks. Thinking back, it must have set a few military hearts beating a little faster to see groups of young men in virtual camouflage carrying tripods looking like armourlites.

2008-08-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

A little local luck

I nipped out to St-Lazare sand pits this aftenoon hoping to see a Caspian Tern seen there yesterday. My luck was in and an immature was ambling around one of the few muddy islands present on the main pits lake. A short while later a noisy adult joined it, occasionally offering titbits (Americans note that is how you say and spell it, don't be so bashful, the word "bits" can be said in public!). I stayed 45 minutes or so seeing three groups of Wood Duck, two Purple Martins and a few other nice things before a thunderstorm began to brew (see view shot).

My plan had been to drop down to the Chemin de Fleuve (I might have missed a la there, sorry) at Les Cedres to see what was bobbing about but the approaching soaking forced a change so I drove back home via the St-Lazare pinade on the off-chance. This proved to be a good decision as, just off the road by the fifty fifth no parking sign (sarcasm, Google it), an Olive-sided Flycatcher was sallying forth spelling doom to insects within range. Normally these are on the top of some distant tree at Parc Tremblant (see previous posting from 2007 or sneeze on your computer screen and squint at the dots, same thing).

The light was going quicker than a Bank Manager's patience so I took a few shots with the Canon 400m lens then digiscoped it using a wobbly window clamp. Luckily it kept returning to the same perch so I enjoyed my best ever views of this scarce Quebec breeder.

The results are not great but you get the idea. Is this the turning point and the autumn passage is now fully underway? Incidentally, in the Caspian Tern video is the darkest Greater Yellowlegs I have ever seen, at first glance through bins a moulting Spotted Redshank was considered but the scope soon put paid to that fantasy, interesting though.

2008-07-28T20:26:00.001-04:00

Belize reprise

Its quiet so why not, a few more images from Belize.

Chan Chich from a big mound.

A White-nosed Coati which gave us a hard time.

Some fat bloke on a bridge.
White-collared Manakin above, a male about to go pop.

Occelated they may be but they hide it well.

Gallon Jug, almost like Notts

A bit of red eye on this pauraque

Bird's Eye Lodge from the water.

Below the Crooked Tree Police station, banged to rights.

Little Blue Heron in its uninspired phase.

Ringed Kingfisher, stupid name, it rattles not rings.

Tropical Mockingbird. They have a very distinctive song for Canadians "hot enough for ya eh!"

Central American Spider Monkey, a name as long as its tail. Also a Violaceous Trogon and Northern Jacana.

A plethora of Neotropical Cormorants.

Mayan Rubble piled high

A mother Yucatan Black Howler Monkey and bebe below.

A Laughing Falcon having a quiet chuckle to itself.

Steamy Jungle

What do you wanna do next!

Jabiru, big birds.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, not sure what tune though.

Its yellow, its green, its a Yellow-green Vireo.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker about to peck some wood.

2008-07-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

The middle bit

July, a month for looking at dragonflies and butterflies and only occasionally seeing birds.

After the bird overload that is a visit to the Neotropics, motiviating to go birding at home is always tough, doubly so when the weather restricted opportunities are few.

Some of the best places to go birding in Quebec are from cycle paths. They bisect the better marses and cut through scrub and farmlands, skirt rivers and follow streams. They also attract lots of users in summer and even dawn visits are no guarantee of some peace. I'm not complaining about the users here, they enjoy the countrside in their own way although the ones who strap a radio to the handlebars and share with the World at high volume should be drowned in a bucket.

I had hoped to visit St-Lazare sand pits more often this year but the habitat is reduced by more workings and the water body has been found by anglers, the least said about them the better.

In passing I dropped in, expecting nothing but actually fnding a couple of Eastern Bluebirds for the pits year list. Further on a four Purple Martins were hawking the fly ridden tree tops, another pits year tick and a bird I only see there perhaps one a year.

Below is all I managed, it was a bit grey for flight shots and the martins got a bit edgy when they realised I was not just a big fly.

The video clip shows the Eastern Bluebird at the end of a good preen. The grainy photo shows an immature Purple Martin just about to terminate a fly.

Things will get better.

2008-07-02T17:38:00.000-04:00

Odd looking Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

The bird on the peanut feeder is odd in two ways. First its a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on a peanut feeder, the first I have ever seen utilising one. Second it has no red on the head at all, and quite extensive white on the back when it flew (off). According to the literature it is a second-year female, a plumage I have never seen before. It did occur to me that it might be a hybrid Hairy Woodpecker x Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and I am not at sure it isn't, comments welcome.

The subject in the video, a Woodchuck, is an addition to the garden animal list and, it seems, a new resident. It has taken a liking to some of Sandra's plants but mostly eats other vegetation which grows freely in our wildlife garden.

2008-06-28T10:35:00.001-04:00

Bunch of birds from Belize

So we went to Belize in the rainy season and it hardly rained! The birding was not as good as it would be in winter and the bugs had not read the script but we did ok. If you are not sure where Belize is I suggest you go back to High School and finish your education.

Our first five nights were at Chan Chich, just Google it to see what it is like. Lots of birds, good food, start saving!

Our second base was Bird's Eye Lodge at Crooked Tree. It was ok but I can't get as excited about Crooked Tree as some.

The highlights of the trip were mainly birds, especially Great Curassow, Crested Guan, Ocellated Turkey and Tody Motmot. We also enjoyed just being back in the tropics, the sounds, smells and landscape, but not the biting bugs.

Our trip total was 201 with 45 new species, we also had a good haul of animals, perhaps the highlight of which was flushing a Puma about 40-45 feet away at Chan Chich.

Anyway, enjoy the photos.

Male Vermillion Flycatcher

Tody Motmot, the tail ticks from side to side almost continuously.

Two hawks, Short-tailed Hawk above, Snail Kite below.

Short-billed Pigeon in need of enlargement perhaps.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, owner of all hummingbird feeders.

A Roadside Hawk in habitat.

Plain Chachalacas but something's got to be.

A Pale-billed Woodpecker destroying another tree.

A Common Paraque pretending to be gravel.

Ocellated Turkey although I can't remember which bit Oscillates.

Norther Jacana, try getting sandals for those feet!

Mangrove Swallow.

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture dreaming of great things.

Limpkin, which bit is the kin?

Tropical Kingbirds although Couch's Kingbirds from another angle.

Ivory-billed Woodcreeper below.

Below: Grey-necked Wood-rail skulking.

Grey Hawk.

Ferruginous Pygmy-owl with ex-friend.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher.

Crested Guan below, looking inconspicuous.

Collared Aracari pron: Ar-ass-ari

Clay-coloured Robin, pron: boring!

Bat Falcon. Who would think that there would be enough of this little bird to make a Cricket bat out of.

Boat-billed Heron showing its good side.

Violaceous Trogons below.

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron.

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Black-collared Hawk.

Acorn Woodpecker, as close to looking like a flying penguin as it is possible to be.

2008-06-24T19:56:00.000-04:00

A little bit of film from Belize

Just back from 10 days in Belize, the tiny country in Central America which used to be British Honduras.

We spent five nights at Chan Chich Lodge then five more at Bird's Eye View Lodge. Both sites were very different and had a different suite of birds. We also travelled out from the latter site a bit, seeing just over 200 species. June is a month when not many birders visit Belize, it being the wet season, but we had very hot days of sunshine with rain at night only a couple of times. Visits in winter usually produce 250+ species as the local populations are bolstered by our summer birds.

The four species in the video are Pale-billed Woodpecker, the nearest thing left that equates to a (visible) Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Tody Motmot, an enigmatic little species that is a Chan Chich speciality. The third species is Acorn Woodpecker and the fourth a young Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl waiting for the adult to return with food while panting in the heat and haing the same mosquito problems we were having.

As I work through the photos I'll post a few more.

2008-06-11T20:05:00.000-04:00

Looking at a couple of Empids.

Click to enlarge to view properly.

2008-06-10T20:11:00.000-04:00

Trying things out

Quiet birdwise so I played around with the Remembird and managed to record a Northern Waterthush singing away. Taking a photo of the bird was more challenging but I managed a snap through the undergrowth. If you have decent speakers on your computer, click on the video to see a couple of shots with the song as a background.

I also continued to play around with the compact Nikon (nothing from Nikon has appeared in the post yet, perhaps they missed my endorsement), the Mourning Dove below was photographed trying to swallow a whole doughnut sideways. Reverting to the Canon, the Northern Flicker was terrorising the ants in the garden and the Hairy Woodpecker posed nicely.

Just for the record, the Remembird seems to be a real addition to the active birders kit. In Montreal its only available from CCFA. If you want to read up on the recorder Google Remembird. The CFA also have a web site. I'll do a full review in a few weeks when I've had more chance to field test it.

2008-06-04T18:56:00.000-04:00

Tried a few video clips from the small Nikon, not too bad. I also now own a Remembird digital sound recorder and when I figure out how to upload MP3 tracks I'll try a bit of sound. A full report and review of the Remembird will appear here soon.

2008-05-27T19:58:00.000-04:00

Last few weekend photos

So here are the last few photos from a busy weekend. The oft spoken of birding law which says 'go somewhere and something will show up there after you have gone' sort of kicked in with a Piping Plover at St-Barthelemy today. I can't go though.

Shots below, all with the Canon Rebel + 100-400mm IS lens.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak belting outits crazy rythmn.

A Lesser Scaup showing its diagnostic bill pattern and a Redhead head below showing its red head.

A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at Cap Tourmente

2008-05-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

Another stab at digiscoping

After watching bird guides in Ecuador using compact digital cameras to great effect, I decided to try again the mystic art of digiscoping.

My previous efforts have been with traditional Nikon Coolpix housebricks and the sort of adaptor that requires a degree in geometry and more fingers than is fashionable. I also did a bit of hand held stuff but we don't talk about that. The new rig should have been pretty easy to set up as Nikon had deigned to develope an adaptor specific to their cameras and scopes, the bad news is that they only seem to have made one of each and the cameras they were made for, although launched in 2006, are available nowhere.

Having worn out a key board trying to find the digiscope adaptor, really its easier to find a holy grail, I decided to mackle something up, as we ex-mechanics say.

The main use for the rig is on vacations, in jungle and with birds that only blink once every three minutes, trogons and the like. The rest of this is going to sound a bit like Blue Peter (just Google it if you are not English) but so be it.

Take a spice jar lid, plastic, any flavour, only birds with the olefactory abilities of vultures can tell the difference. Cut a 7/8ths hole in it, from the centre (sorry, may contain peanuts mentality kicking in here), then use fine sandpaper to smooth out the hole, regularly checking it for interferance fit on the camera lens, that means tightish. Er, that is it really. To make the lid stay on the eyepiece I used broad, short elastic bands. Technical details below.

This scope is a Nikon 50mm travel scope with an up to 75x (on a big scope) zoom. They also do a small mag lens just for digiscoping which I am prepared to accept as a gift from Nikon for this advert for their excellent products.

The camera is a Nikon (that word again) Coolpix S210, very important because the camera is diddy and the lens central. It just pushes into the Special Particular Instrument Calibration Equipment (SPICE) cap, clever eh? It sits there nicely and you can use the two second delay shutter release to stop wobble.

See below for the camera, $170 from Best Buy.

These phalarope shots were taken at 15 feet range through the 50mm Nikon and zoom lens.

The Wilson's Snipe was taken using the 85mm Nikon, it was rather front on which is why it looks so well fed.

The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was in deep dark woods where the Wolves roam (just setting the scene) on two second time release through the 50mm scope.

2008-05-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

Phalaropes - what great birds they are

In need of a migrant fix we decided to go off to Cap Tourmente, east of Quebec City. Its a great reserve to visit although get this, this migration hub actually has a falconry display, how stupid is that! Anyway, more of Cap Tourmente later.

On the way we dropped in at Baie du Febvre, which I'm sure I always spell wrong. Usually its blowing a gale there, this time it was refreshingly calm and pretty birdy. The highlight was two phalarope, both females so the pretty ones, a Wilson's and a Red-necked.

In the bad old days taking over 900 photos would have meant re-mortgaging the house, digital has changed that and so below you see my humble efforts. Being phalaropes they were constantly on the go picking insects from the surface of their favourite pool. Just standing, without bins, watching them go about their business was a great birding experience.

The demi weekend yielded 110 species including a few migrants and we still managed to miss a Sandhill Crane and Northern Mockingbirds, it hardly mattered.

Click on the images for the full phalarope experience.

2008-05-21T19:23:00.000-04:00

Footsore and virtually bird free!

This has been a lousy spring so far. Migrant warblers have been like Rocking Horse manure out west of Montreal, it has been very hard work! Despite this, and although my 50 year old body objected, I decided to do a Bigby big day.

The whole idea was to go out and see what I could see on foot, the alternative, give my remaining vacation days back to the company, no contest. So Tuesday 20th May, the day after all of Quebec celebrated Queen Victoria's birthday!!! (God bless you maam, no matter how dead you are), I started out checking out the local lake and migrant tepid spots before walking to the pits. Things started well, a Pileated Woodpecker was setting about a local tree and my summer resident Northern Waterthrush even obliged with an impressive display of tail pumping.

The eight kilometer walk to the pits added a few birds to the Bigby list and attracted stares from local residents who used the formula guy + rucksack + walking = call 911, or at least that is how it felt. The pits were not great, there is way too much water now and some of the marginal habitat has disappeared. A pair of Greater Scaup remained, the regular hirundines were about and the breeding Pied-billed Grebes eventually came out of the margins but, can you believe it, no Ring-billed Gull! At least the reliable Vesper Sparrows had read the script.

Moving on I walked the St-Lazare Pinade, normally quite reliable for several species but useless this time. My final throw of the dice was the meadows on Montee Ste-Angelique. This area normally has a nice mixture of species associated with grasslands, even Grasshopper Sparrows breed there sometimes. I did see Savannah Sparrow and Bobolink but no Eastern Meadowlarks, Eastern Bluebirds or even an Eastern Kingbird. To top it all a shiny new 'For sale' sign had appeared dooming the meadows to becoming a Horse playground or, worse still, more 'executive' homes.

I arrived home footsore, added White-breasted Nuthatch in the garden to the Bigby Big Day for a total of 63 species, a list that contained no migrating warblers, just the odd summer resident Yellows, Nashvilles, Yellowthroats and Pine Warblers.

To rub salt into the blisters, the next day three Solitary Sandpipers stood in the middle of a local lake not being solitary at all. Where were they on the Bigby Big Day?

Below a few photos, I've just added a tiny coolpix to the armoury and I'm hand holding the camera, training for those distant trogons in Belize but more of that later.

Solitary Sandpipers ignoring each other and using a little known call which goes ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

When Pileated Woodpecker decides to destroy a tree its more effective that a local property developer, almost.

This shot and the one below digiscoped through the Nikon 50mm travel scope using a spice lid with a hole in it to centralise the image.

One White-crowned Sparrow lingered long enough to make the Bigby Big Day list, my favourite sparrow.

2008-05-12T18:52:00.000-04:00

Duck dip

In keeping with the Universal law of chaos, two good birds appeared in Quebec the very weekend that we had guests from Europe. The first, a male Garganey was, by all accounts, awkward to see but quite getable. The second was an addition to the Quebec list, a Common Pochard.

Common Pochard is a bird I know very well and so when the opportunity arrived, a week after its discovery, we went off early to St-Barthelemy. Typically it was not where it had been the day before so we set about searching all areas. The main floods to the south of highway 40 were the only place where we found any aythyas but the light was rubbish and it was hard to make out any detail on the Redheads present. One bird was slightly smaller but features were just impossible in the heat haze and over the distance.

We saw a few birds though including a Greater White-fronted Goose but had to accept that the views of the probable Common Pochard were just not tickable. Only later the same day did a birder we met there reveal, via email to OrnithoQuebec, that the Common Pochard was present with the Redheads where we had looked but that you needed to ask permission to cross a field, I wonder why he never mentioned this when we saw him later after he'd seen the bird, he knew we'd been looking, he'd even asked me whether we had located it.

It might stay a bit longer but the water level will drop quickly and getting to and from St-Barthelemy from the west of Montreal on a weekday is a pain in many regions.

2008-05-07T21:18:00.000-04:00

What a difference a month makes!

The spring rush continues apace with species filling the gaps where the snow used to be. A sortie on May 7th around the general area, St-Lazare sand pits, Le Grande Montee and then over to St-Timothee marsh and environs produced an absorbing day and the first 100 species trip of the year.

Starting at Saddlebrook Bog, or at least what is left of it, an earlyish Common Yellowthroat and a couple of Rusty Blackbirds got the day cooking, also a singing warbler just would not show and I'm hoping to settle down with the tapes later to confirm my tentative ID.

Moving on to the pits where a flock of 25 American Pipits were a nice surprise although they are annual there. Both Scaup species were on the main body of water and the Vesper Sparrows were singing loudly. New for the year there were Nashville Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grsobeak and Warbling Vireo. Northern Rough-winged Swallows were 'in' and a Solitary Sandpiper stood a lone vigil in solitude.

A few miles further on and Montee St-Angelique had a thrashing Brown Thrasher and a couple of Purple Finch, no bluebirds evident though.

I regularly visit an area called Le Grande Montee which is a minor road that is 150m into Ontario. I was a bit late in the day so the Upland Sandpipers were not showing but several Bobolinks were back from their South American wintering grounds, singing their larynx twisting song.

Progressing to St-Timothee in an orderly manner as they say, a pleasant few hours failed to be troubled by anything unusual. At around this point I realised 100 species was possible though and so I made a bit of effort. At Melocheville the first two Caspian Terns of the year loafed with the Ring-billed Gulls above the hydro dam and I found a few Hooded Mergansers and some Green-winged Teal.

With two species to go for the ton I resorted to the garden feeders adding Red-breasted Nuthatch in the evening drizzle.

Below a few shots, you are all big birders now so don't really need the ID on a plate now do you?

Noisy the local Red-shouldered Hawk setting up the territory with a few chosen threats.

A little sequence of Ruby-crowned Kinglets with their ruby crowns a glowing.

The Caspian Terns at Melocheville, a neat birding spot for a scan around.

Below a Mourning Cloak, there are more thing flying than just birds and the all round naturalist should be able to take time out to ID at least the common species.

Don't House Finches look gorgeous when wet!

2008-04-23T19:51:00.000-04:00

Long winter, warm spring

So the long and snowy winter has finally departed and the headlong rush of northward migrants is filling the bushes, pools and lists.

Locally we had a ton of Snow Geese, hard to estimate how many but most of the wet fields around St-Clet were clothed in white. The short lived flood melt pools there were also well populated with Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and Black Ducks. Now we have open water everywhere and the sawbills are in, the aythyas back and the winter ducks are massing to move off.

The pits have been worth visiting recently and the Brown Thrashers, White-throated and Vesper Sparrows are all competing for the ear and other bits of passing mates. One session of migration watching produced a Wild Turkey, initally heard about 1km away, it picked its way steadily over the pits floor then dashed over the rough access track into the woods. Red-shouldered Hawks are in territory, Northern Goshawks are also around though less visible than in previous years.

The Bigby is picking up pace, most additions are from the garden but we have a circuit opened up that takes in some of the forest areas locally. Last Sunday a couple of Pine Warblers were back and an early Yellow-rumped Warbler showed nicely.

Species 100 for the year was Winter Wren, I expect 101 to be very close behind.

Below a few random shots.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the photo is not great, I used the digital camcorder.

Tree Swallow at Dundee, nice to watch these and a couple of Sandhill Cranes there too.

Song Sparrow in the garden, we don't get very many.

Some Snow Geese shots

Click on these for the full effect, 15km of roads held similar numbers.

Male Purple Finch at the feeder. I don't like feeder shots but he refused to sit anywhere but...

Three Fox Sparrows in the garden making for an entertaining dawn chorus.

One of the local Hermit Thrushes, they like to be alone!

2008-04-12T08:16:00.000-04:00

A welcome change

Spring creeps in here bringing with it the usual rush of wildfowl, mainly Canada and Snow Geese but also a few ducks especially Pintail of the northern variety.

Having registered for the Bigby this year (Google it if you want to join) the first three months offered a pretty static set of species but now that we can see the garden a bit, the early migrants are popping up boosting my total to 32!, as I write my favourite sparrow, Fox, feeds outside my window.

Winter did not go away quietly, offering a further six inches of snow for our roof to deal with but the owls knew the score, the Snowy Owl below is my last from the St-Clet lanes, typicaly sat out away from the road, the field below it is now a temporary lake, much like many of the fields in the area.

Finally, a little story, the rudiments of which were published in the Nottinghamshire Birdwatchers newsletter.

Forty years at the bins, man and boy

Sometime in the early summer of 1967 a group of snotty nosed English urchins were doing what kids do best, misbehaving. We were roaming our local playing fields, small gangs playing football, picking fights, breaking things, and we came across a small flock of flying birds, hanging on the corner of a wood in the late day sunshine.

For reasons unknown, one of the kids had an old 78 record and was using it as a Frisbee, the sort of dangerous thing kids did in those days. By pure fluke, the flying record neatly severed one of the birds in two, we were all amazed and delighted. The next day several kids returned with their parent’s treasured Elvis records and began trying to repeat the event, resulting in several injuries, either caused by a direct hit from a record, or from the beating delivered by irate parents, in serious mourning for their compromised treasured musical collection.

My fascination was somewhat more intense than most of the other kids, and I kept the bits of the bird for a while, identifying it from the pocket Observers Book of Birds, as a House Martin, my first ever tick! I then started to spend a bit more time looking at the birds in the local wood, and even taking their eggs until the summer holidays ended and school, or at least avoiding it, became my focus.

The next year a pair of House Martins decided to breed on my friend Terry’s house and, although I was very jealous, I could not resist dropping in on Terry with increased frequency and keeping an eye on the nest. I remember that we wrote down how many times the birds visited and what date we first saw a young bird at the entrance. We saw them fly out for the first time and then suddenly found a big gap in our lives when they left.

That spring of 1968 I regard as when I first started birding because, from then on, I had to know what I was looking at. And now, in the spring of 2008, I am celebrating 40 years as a birder.

This short note records that and I will never mention it again, promise!

2008-03-24T20:05:00.001-04:00

Bouncy Great Grey

The lingering Great Grey Owl at Hudson was in its favourite tree this evening. The bitter wind that tortured us over the Easter break had subsided and with it -20 wind chill.

On arrival the bird greeted me with its usual indifference so I ventured out into the field, trying to change the angle to lessen the effect of the sinking sun. The bird showed no sign of noticing me so I took a few photos hoping for a full frontal. Suddenly it started to bob its head, range finding a sound beyond my hearing. I'd just started to snap again when it launched from its perch off across the field.

Thinking that was it for the day, I was captivated when it twisted in mid air 30m away and hit the ice crusted snow with enough force to cause it to bounce about a foot high. It settled onto the ice looking disappointed at having made no headway. It lingered a while so I started switching from auto to manual hoping to get an edge, it then effortlessly flapped back to its perch and resumed its vigil, almost deliberately turning its back on me in disdain.

In the fading light I eased my way back to the road having had one of those wildlife experiences that linger long. This has been a lousy winter weather wise and we are supposed to have a bit more yet. Events like this take the edge of the winter very nicely.

2008-03-18T18:34:00.001-04:00

OK so this is the tamest ever Snowy Owl!

We took another trip out Sunday into whitest Ontario in search of a confiding immature Snowy Owl. When we go there it was 350m away sheltering under a shrub! Despite my age I put the big boots on and started out across the snow covered field. It was not too bad, a few bits were three feet deep but mostly I was able to propel my lithe body over the snow towards the bird.

As I got to within 100m it showed the tell tale signs of moving, a fluff up here, a stretch there. My experience around St-Clet is that they are ready to scoot when they do that, but this one surprised me a little by scooting in my direction and landing within 30m. I steadily stalked it using all available cover (none) getting to within about 10m, it cautiously ignored me. I then took around 250 shots, some of which are below.

When another guy arrived to photograph it he just walked up beside me and started clicking. As I left he edged nearer so I waited hoping for flight shots, I had not bargained for the bird just walking away from him when he got close enough to smell its breath. Thanks Darren for directions.

On the way out we had diverted via Hudson hoping that the Great Grey Owl might show again but no luck there, nearby a nice flock of 60 or so Bohemian Waxwings sat trilling in a roadside clump of trees.

So below my shots in no particular order, I thought I'd put the one with the photographer in for perspective. Do click on the for that 'in your face' experience.

2008-03-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

Lucky Owl

Having just dropped off my tax documents for the annual pay all you earn session, I thought I'd go out looking for Snowy Owls via the fields west of Hudson. The Great Grey Owls there had not been reported for a couple of weeks but off-chance often works and so it did this time. One owl was reasonably close to the road although slightly obscured so I took a few quick photos.

During the time I was there, parked on the road but well visible, three cars cruised by and were not in the slightest bit inconvenienced. Unfortunately the fourth car was a Police cruiser piloted by someone's twelve year old daughter. She told me 'mister you are blocking the road'. I tried a little logic but she probably dozed off during that class so I had to move. My last gambit was to offer her a view through a scope but she declined, a future Police wildlife liaison officer in the making I think.

The area around St-Clet was Snowy Owl-less but 170+ Horned Larks indicated a spring build up, 70+ Snow Buntings were in their roost and a couple of Pine Grosbeaks were at a feeder.

I tried St-Lazare sand pits but the snow banks are now over six feet high so only two tree top dwelling Northern Grey Shrikes were seen.

It was good to get out for a few hours birding, especially as last weekend was spent shoveling snow off the roof. We now have a 14 foot high mountain of the stuff running the entire length of the house and I can't see some of the feeders, disaster!

2008-03-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

The tamest Snowy Owl ever

We did a little trip west into Ontario to look for Snowy Owls in the Casselman area. After seeing a lot of snow we eventually came across this female atop a utility pole so we parked a respectable distance and took a few snaps. After twenty minutes or so the other car bound birder present left so we drove a little closer, and snapped. Then, because we were facing the wrong way, we drove past the bird, turned and parked, and snapped.

During all of this activity the only thing the bird did, apart from swivel its head, was do a dump, leaving a rather pleased look on its face (see if you can spot the post dump photo).

Eventually I got out of the car and approached cautiously, ready to freeze at the first sign of disturbing her, hoping she might look down. Soon I was directly under the bird who's indifference to me was bordering on the insulting. Other cars passed (and slowed down in that Canadian way they do in case anything interesting was happening but rarely actually asking what) and the owl just sat there.

Using my full repetoire of proven noises that attract owls' attention I retreated deflated, it cast a passing gance but, with me being relatively fur free, decided I was not worth the fuss of a stare. She was still there when we left.

On the way home we drove around Hudson a bit, finding a small flock of Pine Grosbeaks in the top of a tree. Not great subjects for a photo at that range but what the hell. No sign of yesterday's Great Grey Owl but it was pretty bright and we only looked from the road.

Click on the first owl shot for the full effect.

2008-03-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

No really, it is a Great Grey Owl!

In what looked like perfect Great Grey Owling weather I risked life and lung walking the tracks west of Hudson this afternoon hoping to locate and perhaps photograph one of the two Great Grey Owls in residence. The walk ended up being just that but with a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings with a few Cedars thrown in and an inquisitive Northern Grey Shrike as compensation.

The shrike actually flew off the top of a tall tree and landed in the bushes beside me, it then ran through the bushes in the same way that I once saw one chasing an American Tree Sparrow around our garden.

After the walk I tried the roadsides west of Finnegan's Market and viola, there was a distant bird, so I took a distant shot, some might call it atmospheric, I'd call it garbage but then I'm not artistic.

The only bird event during the week was the return of Peregrines to the Ille Aux Tortes bridge which I cross twice a day, those dozy pigeons will be getting their spring wake up call anytime now.

Below un-treated, then one with auto-levels, either way they are aweful and the shrikes not much better c'est la vie.

2008-02-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

Great weather but where are the birds?

Clear blue skies with tolerable temperatures this weekend so far but very little bird activity around St-Clet. Even species like Snow Bunting and Lapland Longspur har proving scarce and the Snowy Owls are just keeping well out of the way. We still have a couple but they seem less inclined to approach the roadsides this year.

On a brighter note, a Great Grey Owl was at Boucherville a few days ago and now another couple have made their way to Hudson which is not too far from me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will get a chance to see and photograph one soon. If we have a mini invasion I might even get one on my pits list.

There is a definite feeling that spring is coming, I don't know whether working outdoors for 15 years gave me a subconcious empathy with the weather but I just get the feeling that we might see the grass a few weeks earlier this year. It would be nice, we have had record breaking levels of snowfall, over ten feet so far and more promised.

Enough waffle, a couple of poor photos below.

Through the wonders of digital photography this Snowy Owl perched high up on a grain silo becomes almost a record shot.

2008-02-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

If the snow gets any deeper I'll on be tip toes to avoid sounding falsetto!

Its pretty cold at the moment but, being a stupid birder, I went out in stiff winds and -36 wind chill, it was still bright and I had spent the day looking at a computer screen, so off down the lanes I went.

One good feature of the mass of drifting snow that covered some of the roads was that the local's speeds were kept to the low 140 kph, they even almost paused before pulling around snow ploughs into the oncoming traffic (me), almost!

My main reason for risking life and bodywork was to try to get a good look at the male Snowy Owl that others keep seeing and photographing around St-Clet. This time I was lucky although the photos were not great, I did get a good look as he sat atop a steel hydro pylon, wind buffeted looking for hardy voles.

It was bitterly cold so I took the shots from the van and the bird steadfastly ignored me despite convincing squeaking. It only looked down when I started the van, so I rattled of a few fast shots on auto. In the short space of time that the window was open, I lost the feeling in my fingers and that was either a potato chip or one of my ears that I noticed in the footwell, I must do a count.

Winding back to Sunday and a new Hoary Redpoll was a regular visitor to the feeders. This one is a hornemanni, possibly a female. It was hard to get a photo of it in a natural setting although for redpolls this winter I think a feeder qualifes as a natural setting.

The other bird here is a White-breasted Nuthatch which is pretending to be part of the tree to fool the Cooper's that was hanging around.

Roll on spring.

2008-02-03T15:35:00.000-05:00

A rubbish day

So here is a rubbish video! Just messing around with it really, they are redpolls if you are not sure.

2008-02-02T19:31:00.000-05:00

Oh good, more redpolls!

Friday saw the third reasonable snow event of the winter and so on Saturday access to my usual winter weekend haunts was not easy so, what to post? The obvious answer is more redpoll shots so here they are.

The first redpoll is quite interesting and so I posted this sequence of photos for your delictation. The bird is obviously quite chunky with a broad back and grey base colour. The rump is white but with streaking at the base of the tail, I don't think we have a minimum of 10mm white there. The structure does suggest Hoary Redpoll until you look at the bill which is not delicate. My thoughts are that I would call this a Mealy Redpoll in Europe, here its a common but then so are the darker, less distinct other redpolls with it. I fear there is much to learn about these enigmatic little finches.

Below are another set of shots, all of Common Redpoll although some of the birds are marginal.

Who ate all the pies, who ate all the pies, you fat redpoll you fat redpoll, who ate all the pies?
A little something for the football fans there, incidentally you North American readers, football is played with a round ball that is kicked and the players only dress like nancy boys off the pitch (unless you are Petr Cech that is)!

2008-01-27T16:50:00.000-05:00

Nervous Nora

Having had to work Saturday, I made sure that on Sunday I would get around the lanes of St-Clet to check the owls. The morning was pretty grey but I managed to locate one female Snowy Owl, who I call nervous Nora, because just does not seem to like being looked at. Today she was right by the road side on a pole, completely ignoring traffic. I used the tactic of following a passing car then easing over and sitting still for a while until she was calm. It only worked for a few minutes but I did manage a few photos and took some video with my new toy, a digital camcorder. When I passed later she was back on the pole so I stopped some distance away, to see how she would respond. Despite continuing to ignore moving traffic she eventually flew anyway, perhaps she's not nervous, just a fidget.

The video is a bit shaky, I didn't have time to use the window clamp, the range was about 70m or so, the squeak is me attracting her attention, something that generally only works once, then they ignore you.

I went back later in the day and Nora was way out in the fields, I also located a male, probably the lightly spotted one, and a female on a distant post. She was 200m plus away, I video'd her but the image is poor, however, she did respond to a squeak, which is pretty impressive at that range.

I also took a few more redpoll shots, you have been warned.

2008-01-20T19:39:00.000-05:00

Colder

Temperatures have dipped a little, -16 this morning, and feeder activity has increased accordingly. I also took a short late afternoon sortie around the lanes, two Snowy Owls, one female at the start of Ste-Julie and another immature type on Ste-Marie. Other birders had seen the male I had earlier in the week so still three around.

Back in the garden after a week's absence. and below, very distant snowy but some idea of how close to St-Clet you can find them.

You need to click on this to make it work, just a few comments on how to identify Hoary Redpolls of the form exilipes, identifying the race hornemanni is not that difficult, what with them being the size of a Mallard and all that.

2008-01-19T17:19:00.000-05:00

19 January 2008

Its been fairly quiet of late although I did manage to find a male Snowy Owl out around the St-Clet lanes, my sixth individual of the winter so far. The garden continues to attract redpolls, possibly because I put enough Nyger (PC spelling) seed out to bankrupt an average third World country. The flock has diminished as the weather has warmed and only around 60 are coming down, and with only the occasional Hoary or rostrata amongst them. I have managed a few more photos, see below.

I've also been nipping down to the pits as often as possible, hoping for a snowy there or perhaps a short-eared, no luck so far. I have a regular immature Northern Grey Shrike that likes to sing a bit and regular flock of Bohemian Waxwings, 31 today, but little else, still it will soon be spring.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll muster enough energy to go and look for a King Eider down the road, its in a pretty spacky plumage but as they are usually no nearer than eight hours drive I should make the effort.

Eat quickly little redpolls, you only have to scroll down to see what is waiting a bit of a snack!

2008-01-12T15:50:00.000-05:00

Feeder facts & other bits

12 January 2008

Last week we nipped out to bird the Chateguay area and just about the first bird seen was a Tufted Titmouse. Readers of my blogs will know that the species eluded me during 2007 and my Big Year, never mind...

This weekend, well Saturday, I spent an hour at the pits seeing a fine adult Bald Eagle, an immature Northern Grey Shrike and a small movement through of Great Black-backed Gulls, all taking the pits year list to 12! I checked the lanes around St-Clet but the big thaw seems to have moved the Snowy Owls around a bit and none were seen.

At home and the Redpoll flocks continue to visit, this weekend containing two exilipes Hoary Redpolls. They are very nervous though, perhaps the Cooper's Hawk has been browsing again.

For those interested, and because I haven't photographed anything else, I thought I'd show my winter feeder arrangements. The keen eyed amongst you will note that I strapped dead twigs to the feeders, all the better for photography because, seriously, birds at feeders don't look natural. I also adapted the feeders using cable ties to increase the amount of feeders available, useful when 100 redpolls descend at once.

On my feeder by the house I have a washing up bowl with a hole cut in and slotted over the pole, sitting on the squirrel baffle (this is sounding like Blue Peter!). I fill it with Black Sunflower seeds which attract several species and keep the entertainment going all day. The close proximity of the feeder to the house does not seem to deter birds and watching Black-capped Chickadees making endless visits is infinitely more interesting than anything on Canadian TV, Corner Gas and The Simpsons excepted.

2008-01-05T20:37:00.000-05:00

Owl time

5 January 2008

A nice bright morning tempted me out along ’the lanes’, an area of farm roads around St-Clet, west of Montreal (you Notts birders think Gringley Carr x 20 in size). But first there was the matter of a visit to my local patch, St-Lazare sand pits, expecting really to only look at the snow. It was deep and crisp and even as usual but a distant blob in one of my hawk trees was clarified by a scope view as a fine Northern Goshawk basking in the sun. I’ve said it before but these North American Goshawks look very different from the European version, they differ structurally and have more of a longer tailed buteo jizz than the very accipiter jizz of a Eurasian Goshawk (for N. American readers, jizz = shape/impression).

This little success, when measured against the fact that our city is allowing the wholesale destruction of the local forests, pleased me no end. I have been seeing Northern Goshawk at the pits since I first started birding there in 2003 and still they hang on.

I then moved on to the lanes and voila, three distant immature Snowy Owls and, after a bit of touring, I turned up a couple of Northern Grey Shrikes (surely another split) and two Merlins as well as the regular Snow Bunts, Horned Larks etc.

The presence of a male Snowy in the earlier inspired a return visit late afternoon and another immature Snowy Owl was found (the other three being still in the general area).
I managed to photograph one of the Merlins and two of the Snowies, enjoy..

2008-01-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Every picture tells a story

New Year's Day 2008 was OK, up until 10.00 when a 'snow event' took place dumping yet more of the white stuff on us. Prior to that I took a look around the fields at St-Clet just west of Montreal, seeing one immature Snowy Owl, 300+ Snow Buntings, two Lapland Longspurs, 30 Horned Larks and 10 Wild Turkeys.

Dropping down onto the Chemin de la Fleuve between Les Cedres and Point-aux-Cascades a few Black Duck, Common Goldeneyes and Mallards were mixed in with 40 or so Common Mergansers and two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Northern Grey Shrike was nearby.

St-Lazare sand pits is a barren, snowy waste at the moment, I expect to improve on Blue Jay, American Crow and the omnipresent Rock Doves when the weather improves.

A bientot

2007-12-30T17:28:00.000-05:00

Here we go again

This year the blog will have a largely local feel. I intend to concentrate on my local patch at St-Lazare sand pits although I am also tempted to include the St-Lazare Pinade as part of the patch, given that they are one large chunk of continuous habitat, that would seem logical.

The winter period is unlikely to account for many posts from the site so I'll diversify as and when I see fit. This first posting deals with redpolls which have errupted south and are providing daily entertainment at my feeders.

The shots posted so far were from the last week and a half of 2007, I'll add more to this post if I get them.

Perhaps as many as 170 redpolls have been attending the feeders, I deliberately concentrated on nyger feeders as in the previous erruption, winter 2003/4, they proved to be the food of preference for the birds.

Reading 'Redpoll Challenge: 4 subspecies' posted on Ontbirds and ID-Frontiers by Ron Pittaway on 18-12-07 I'd like to say here and now, done it!

The challenge is to see all four of the redpoll types in one flock. On 22 December 2007 I had my first 'Snowball' Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll Carduelis hornemanni in a flock of c120 birds with two C h exilipes Hoary Redpolls, three 'Greater' Common Redpolls Carduelis flammea rostrata, a.k.a Greenland Redpoll and the rest nominate 'Southern Common Redpoll C flammea.

Since then, whenever the opportunity has arisen, I have been checking through the visiting flocks for it again and taking photographs of the other varities where possible. I have not been helped much by the local Cooper's Hawk and, on one memorable occasion, a Northern Grey Shrike but in the case of the latter, I did not mind too much, it was new for the garden list.

Below some shots of redpolls. I've made comments where ambiguity exists between the given knowledge on redpoll identification and the features shown by the individuals photographed.

I would be happy to discuss any of my comments, please feel free to leave a message using the blog system or email me at DennisM@videotron.ca

The first batch are pretty standard Common Redpolls C flammea.

The preceding three shots show an interesting bird with limited dark streaking on the undertail coverts, some of which are possibly dark feather shafts. If also has a seemingly small bill but the rump is well streaked and not obviously white, I think Common Redpoll C flammea

After the ambiguous bird commented on earlier, the subsequent run of photos were all Common Redpolls C flammea.

The bird above has a single dark centered undertail covert but the bill is relatively large and its breast is rather pink. I think its a Common Redpoll C flammea.

A sequence of birds above showing some of the features of Hoary Redpoll C h exilipes but others of Common. They may all be Hoary, but I am only certain about the bird in the last two shots (same bird) which shows classic Hoary Redpoll C h exilipes features.

Three shots of the same 'Greater' Common Redpoll C f rostrata. The structure and size difference from the nominate C flammea , also present, is readily apparent.