Best photos of the bird. Not much else I could do! November 13th, 2010:
----------------
A few "line" shots, both shots show about a second of travel.
----------------
And a look at the weather (bird is in there!).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that's all she wrote on the SOSH front. I've decided to make this blog posting the best collection of terrible record bird photos ever assembled from a single trip! Hayeah:
Black Guillemot!!! woo! Can't you tell? Nov 10
2 images of the same distant Black-legged Kittiwake. Nov 17
Gray juv. Gyr! Nov 17. "Buzzed" us
One of 106 Hoary Redpolls I have in my notes. Nov 21
Pacific Loon! Nov 14
Thayer's Gull (left) with ad. Herring Gull. Nov 16
Pomarine Jaeger (juv). Nov 17
A fine collection of terrible bird photos, if I do say so myself!
Over the next 7-10 days, I'll be adding detailed daily bird sightings from the trip, more bird photos, and more scenery style photos to show what the place looks like!
Poor pictures are better than no pictures, Brandon. With the exception of Hoary Redpoll and the Gyrfalcon, I have yet to see any of the posted birds, so your distant pictures have given me a chance to find the field marks in less than perfect conditions. Thanks for taking a 'shot' at it. Looking forward to reading about the trip,
ReplyDeleteCarolle Eady
(Northwest Ontario)
Looks like fun Brandon. I'm rarely envious, but I love the subarctic. Any bears around? Regards to Alan as well.
ReplyDeleteSnowing heavily, -4 & windy here in Vancouver.
Cheers,
Brock May
Brandon
ReplyDeletePhoto records are more important sometimes than picture-perfect photos !
All the species you photographed show the profile and jizz we would expect. Good work under very difficult conditions.
Dave Milsom
I agree, Photos do not have to be perfect,
ReplyDeleteThanks for Posting Brandon!
Phil-Ottawa, Ont.
Thanks very much for the comments! I'm glad you're all happy with sub-par photos of these birds... It is a great place for birding, but tough for photography (especially in November!).
ReplyDeleteWe had some signs of Black Bears around the cabin, but we guessed they had largely gone to sleep for the winter. I've had a few people ask if Polar Bears are a concern in the area, but Netitishi Point is too far south for them. Akimiski Island to the north is the southern limit of their range
Many thanks again for the comments! Will see you at Pelee
Brandon
Hey Brandon,
ReplyDeleteGreat time you've been having! I spent a long and incredible season working around James Bay (mostly on Akimiski Island and later at Cape Henrietta Maria) It was a real highlight of my career and the place that I first got hooked on birds (I was studying geese, so you can see how it happened!). Anyway, that is a phenomenal record for the sooty, but I am only curious (and not at all trying to challenge you) how you came to think it was a sooty and not a short-tailed. I have spent a few years in W alaska on the coast and seen lots of short-tails, as well as both sooties and short tails offshore here in BC where I live, and I must confess that while flight style is slightly different, I can't imagine being able to pick out a single out-of-place bird by jiss alone. This ID has often confounded me, so I am just wondering how other people might look at it. I agree that Sooty is more likely by overall range...but on the other hand Short-tailed is much more likely to wander through the north-west passage, fly into or over land (I have seen them well up rivers in Alaska and also forage in close to land over shallow water. Obviously you guys got way better looks than those pictures would show, but it seems like a tricky situation! Either bird would be a tremendous record, but which one was it!
Anyway, good call on hitting the lowlands....a northern paradise, totally underbirded, and pound-for-pound up there with the best birding bang for your buck that you can get anywhere in the north.
Rock on!