Feeeelings

(Palm Warbler)

Oh birds flying out over water... How much fun you are... Standing at the tip of Fish Point, Team Burrell and us (Dad, Jenn) were enjoying a reverse migration when the ever exciting Merlin arrived on the scene and began terrorizing the waterbound birds:

The bird moved so darn fast, I couldn't get shots in focus, but it gives you an idea of the events that unfolded this day:

How could you not be excited by this? We all watched on excitedly as the Merlin missed a few captures, and eventually took some sort of Warbler to the promise land...

>>>>>>>>>> FAST FORWARD >>>>>>>>>>

Suddenly it's 10 days later at Point Pelee, it rained overnight, and it's very cold. Birds are soaked and crawling around on the ground, many near death. We can't help but feel bad for the little buggers. 

You're a freezing Yellow-billed Cuckoo, right at the tip of Pelee. Fly south to the promise land? Must have seemed like a good idea at the time:

(note, I BLEW these photos, this is the best I have though) :

Flying out over the water, the cold cuckoo looked odd enough to attract the attention of the gulls. From there on out, it's textbook:

There's one difference however... Instead of being excited for the Merlin, we're watching in horror... If I had "Green-Lantern" style powers, I'd probably make up some sort of weapon and blast all of those damn gulls out of the air 

Wait, what the heck am I talking about? It's hard to really explain, but for some reason, my Dad and I were excited to watch the Merlin try and pick off a gull... But now that birds were dying around us, we felt TERRIBLE watching this Yellow-billed Cuckoo get harassed out over the water by dozens of gulls. And I mean TERRIBLE. And I have no explanation as to why there was such a difference in our feelings

Maybe it's because the gulls didn't really look like they knew what they were doing

Or maybe it's because the gulls didnt "need" to eat this starving bird, unlike the Merlin who makes a living at it. 

No matter what feelings we had (and if we could explain them or not), the Cuckoo continued to fly out to sea,  seemingly abandoning all hope of survival

And eventually became a meal for some overly excitable young gull.  

Just another day (or two) of spring birding in Ontario! 

Finding rare birds!

84% of the reason why I bird is finding rare birds. I still haven't really figured out why (I mean, I know why, but not REALLY why) but it's just tops.

Since we've just passed the half way mark of the year, I started to look back at how this year has been over-the-top crazy for my personal "self found" list. The way it's shaken down so far:

Feb 18 --- 5(+) Hornemann's Hoary Redpolls - near Matheson, ON.
Apr 2 --- Ross's Goose - Mountsberg C.A. (Hamilton) ON. (with Jennifer)
Apr 19 --- Eurasian Wigeon on Amherst
Apr 24 --- Neotropic Cormorant near Pelee
Apr 27 --- Glossy Ibis on Pelee Island (all next birds with Ken Burrell)
Apr 27 --- Eared Grebe on Pelee Island
Apr 27 --- Yellow-throated Warbler on Pelee Island
Apr 28 --- Summer Tanager (ad male) on Pelee Island (first of 8 for the spring)
Apr 28 --- Laughing Gull (ad) - to cap off a really nutty 24 hour rarity-spree
May 10 --- Kirtland's Warbler on Pelee Island (w/ the Burrells, Jenn and Dad)
May 14 --- Parasitic Jaeger on Pelee Island (Mom, Dad, K Burrell)
May 16 --- 2 Fish Crow's at Point Pelee (w/ Dad)
May 21 --- Western Tanager at Point Pelee (with 2 Summer Tanagers on the same morning!) (W/ K Burrell)

So when May was all said and done, I actually had more "self-found" rarities (to date) in 2011 than pretty much every other year I've been birding. Consider the fact I usually find a lot more in the fall than the spring, and something crazy has happened. My year list on Jun 30th was 265, and I had actually "self found" 256 of those!

I took a bit of a break for the month of June, but I'm getting "ready to go" when things begin to shake down in the next few weeks.

First up is rare shorebirds! It's a bit tough to do the required searching for July shorebirds, but whenever work allows, I try and stop by any good habitat in mid to late July. Here's the reason why:

(Ontario records):

Aug 1 – 1948 – Wandering Tattler – Windmill Point, Niagara

July 11-15, 1960 Wandering Tattler – Windmill Point, Niagara

July 25, 1976 – Spotted Redshank  - Niagara

July 11, 1976 – Red-necked Stint – Toronto, previously accepted,  then rejected by the OBRC. Next record will add the species to the Ontario list. Date sounds good for RNST, and Sanderling.

July 19-24, 1990 – Spotted Redshank – Cassleman

July 25, 1992 – Little Stint – Casselman

July 31-Aug1 – 1997 – “Palaearctic” Dunlin - Hamilton

 July 31, 2008 – Little Stint -  Townsend Sewage Lagoons – my record (that I count), not accepted by the OBRC though!

Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, American Avocet (etc) also have a pretty good record of occurring in July. 6 of Michigan's 8 fall records of Curlew Sandpiper have occurred in July! (dates of 11, 16, 20, 20, 29. 30) 

Not too bad at all! I have a theory that a lot of these birds shown above are actually "failed breeders" that spent the summer somewhere in Arctic Canada/Alaska - and were the only members of their species, couldn't find mates, and head south somewhat early. (Not that many people agree with me on that one) - but i'm sticking with it... Clearly it doesn't apply to all species (Eg,// Ad. Short-billed Dowitchers peak in the 2nd week of July for Ontario)

But anyways.. July it a fairly slow time for rarities in Ontario, but these mega-rare shorebirds definitely have a pattern of occurring this month. Some other huge rarities have occurred in the same time frame (Crested Caracara's for one)

(Ruff! I've found a few in Ontario.. So I'd happily take a Curlew Sandpiper now!)

So yeah! That's my birding forecast for the next few weeks... More rarities will be up for grabs in August (less-rare shorebirds, herons etc) ...


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Editors note: I wrote this back in June, but have been saving the posts. Clearly Josh Vandermulen is on the ball, and is already out finding rare shorebirds:

http://joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com/2011/07/fall-shorebird-blitz-kicks-off-with.html

If you haven't seen his blog, do take a look at the whole thing. It's superb!


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Pre-post edit #2 - Ruff! in ME

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhitchcox/5899274314/in/pool-437129@N20

Nature Photography Forums

An older blog posting (spring photos) prompted some discussion about online bird photography forums. Specifically, if they're good as a learning resource. I've decided to approach the topic from my own personal experience:


It was a warm summers day when I first starting taking pictures... (too far?) ... but soon afterwards, I joined a Nature Photography forum (naturescapes.net).. I had very little knowledge about bird photography, and poured over the forums on a daily (or even hourly) basis. I think they may have been more popular at the time (at least for long-time photographers) and there was a treasure of information I could pull from.

I learned some styles, I learned what individuals were able to take, with the equipment they used, where they got the photos etc. I started posting photos of my own, and received limited responses until I finally figured out what made for a "good" photo.

So, in short, I learned quite a bit from the forums, and I figure most people could probably learn a lot as well!

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At the same time, I think I fell into a trap, where I started to think that "popular" photos were always the best. Eventually, I was barely taking photos because I didn't have the energy (or desire?) to do the ultimate "set ups" to control everything and make the photos exactly as I wanted. (or cloned in/out enough things)

In my opinion, Alan Murphy has a huge collection of the best bird photos in North America:

http://alanmurphyphotography.com/blog/


But I eventually had to break free of the "nature photography forum" mind set, and realize that it wasn't the photography I wanted to do, and I would still be extremely happy taking the birds "where they land"...

Doesn't seem like an earth shattering personal discovery, but it was amazing how much I had fallen into the mindset.

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Now, I hardly look at the forum. Yet I don't think I would be taking the photos I take today, without the things I learned there about the technical side of photography. There are a handful of forums that I know, that I could write a quick biased opinion of:


http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/index.php

(no hotlinks eh? Well then you don't get a picture!)

Naturescapes was the forum I was talking about! I'm not 100% sure how things have changed, but I'm sure it's still a great place to learn. Post photos for critique, and try to not argue! Just take whatever you need from it to make the photos you want down the road. Probably not something they'd like to hear, but I'd recommend not paying for a membership (at least for a while? I never have...) and use an online web service to host your photos (flickr, picasa) if needed. 

Keep an open mind about what people say, yet pick and chose the things you want to apply to your own work. Also remember all o these places are a bit of a "pat eachnother on the back" kind of place, and the number of comments don't always reflect the quality of photo!

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Next:

http://www.naturesbestcreations.com/phpBB3/index.php?sid=92bcfdbd5d0cece8ddf30db0ab32a148

This is a forum I check from time to time, but could be an example of a generic "local forum" to use as a resource... You'll learn a fair bit, especially local locations for photography. I've now graduated to trying to find places WITHOUT people for photography, but that wasn't the case for 5+ years at the start. (and isn't always the case now)

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http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vg1&ns=1

A forum I've never really taken part of, but it looks great. A huge website, with lots of people taking part. I never want to pay for anything, and the "non-paying" option for the forum is pretty limited... But I've always been pretty impressed with some of the photos that turn up there.

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BirdPhotographers.net

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forum.php?s=ddffc9b46f5ebb0a2c78ad21a2de60ac

I'll keep this one short. Obviously a popular forum for bird photographers... I joined up when it was first created. After reading several posts from some of the owners saying "Ok, I've just given you my opinion, now you should buy a membership since you profited from my wisdom" ... or "I don't critique photos unless you're a paying member" I eventually got into a spat with a few of them, and was handed down a 30 day ban and never returned :P

May seem like a bit of a personal experience, but I know of several others who have had similar experiences (including two of the OWNERS of the site) have since left because they don't really agree with how it's run (or have been banned)....

I'm sure you could learn a fair bit here, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it! I think the $$$ is bigger here than all the others combined.




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So there you have it! My personal feelings about naturephotography forums. Yes, they'll tell you to remove every single stick from the background of your bird pictures, clone out feeders, use small rodents as bait etc. etc. etc. But you'll just have to pick and choose the stuff you want to use in your own photography! Then, it's just a great tool to add to your arsenal of photography goodness.

(an old set up of mine.. Used tapes, a stand, cut the branch and duct taped it in place).. But I really like it!

(A 100% natural image, with a *spark* I could never have planned, even if I wanted to)

Different = Rare ?

A valuable lesson I once learned about this birding game, is that learning the common species in your area will help you prepare to recognize when a bird is different, and potentially find a "rarity".


It really does work, but there's serious danger in that method as well! Different doesn't always equal rare!


I can't say how many times I'm shocked to find a rare subspecies, morph, aberrant plumage (leucsitic, melanistic) hybrid, backcross, abnormal molt, or just downright "messed up" bird, before finding a bonafide "rare bird"... The biggest case of this for me is every year at the Niagara River, looking at Gulls. I spend days and days down there searching, and find dozens of oddball gulls, multiple hybrids, yet never find the real deal (still waiting for a Slaty-backed Gull!!!!!) Whereas someone finds (or reports) a wide variety of rarities down there every year.


I don't usually mention these birds, but I managed a photograph of one at Pelee Island this spring that I was compelled to share:

The expected birding crew was at the Tip of Fish Point (the Burrells, Dad, Jenn) when we had this Common Loon fly directly over our heads. It was pretty obvious that the bird had a very pale (dare I say, Yellow) bill. Despite this, none of us really got all that excited .I managed a few photos as the bird flew past just for fun, but it became pretty clear to us that the bird looked like a Common Loon, other than the slightly funny bill colour. 

Looking at the photos later, I also noticed the bird has a lot of pink on the feet! (A quick look in the Sibley guide etc. shows Loons with dark/black feet). So even more proof that just because this bird is different, doesn't mean it's the mega-rare Yellow-billed Loon, just a silly Common Loon...


Just a little fun on a mid June day. A recent discussion of a photographed bird brought this topic to the front of my mind, which I won't mention here, but thought it'd be fun to do a post that different doesn't always equal rare!

The old two birds theory

More new spring photos... Two birds here with different stories... An Eastern Wood-Pewee and a Bay-breasted Warbler...

This is something that happens with my nature photography pretty frequently. Below are two of my absolute favourites from this spring (Pelee Island, Mid May) :

Taken in the afternoon at Fish Point, the light was excellent, and the bird was being just cooperative enough for some great photos. Even at this fairly large web-size, it doesn't do the photo justice at how silky smooth these photos are at their highest quality. Every feather shows excellent detail, and there is almost no visible grain in the background! 

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_EAWP.htm

And what's really great, is I now have two really nice (slightly different) photos of this Pewee to add to my collection. This happens a lot, where some of my collection (eg,/ Lawrence's Warbler) is 7 or 8 photos of the same individual bird! With a bird like a Pewee, you'd never really notice much of a difference from one Pewee to the next, so it works out great. Bring on this bird:

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_BBWA.htm

An ultra-dull female Bay-breasted Warbler that hung out in the same spot of the Woodland Nature Trail (Pt Pelee) during the cold snap, for multiple days. I managed a few "different" photos of this girl, but it's painfully obvious in my BBWA collection that 3 of the 5 photos are of the same bird!

Not a big deal, but just one of those things that happen in nature photography that may not always be obvious when looking at photo collections. 

Finder's Account of the Neotropic Cormorant!

A finder's account like you've never seen before:


So there I am, checking out Wheatley Harbour, when I remember a recent topic of conversation I had with Ken Burrell:

Ken: " I've never seen anything rare at Wheatley Harbour"


Me: "You didn't see the Slaty-backed Gull / Ivory Gull / Neotropic Corm here a few years ago"


Ken: "no"


Me: "no, neither did I" 

---

And guess what? The harbour had virtually nothing. Driving out, I did a quick scan of Muddy Creek from the moving car. There's a Cormorant there that looks small, but it's probably an optical illusion. I'll do what I do best: Take a picture and then ID the bird:

It probably looks small because it's low on the branch compared to the other birds. Cr@p, it looks pretty wierd in the photo. Is that white on the face? Maybe I should actually set my camera properly and get a good photo:

Ok yeah that's a Neotropic Cormorant. woo! (insert usual rare-bird finding excitement here). I set to telling my lovely girlfriend, my parents and then the birding world about the presence of the bird. 

Cr@p! They all just freaked out and jumped in the water!

Well, I guess it's good that I got a swimming photo too, but where is it going? Am I going to be the only person who see's this bird? (Always more fun when it hangs around).  Hey wait, it's actually pretty close to the road up there, I should drive up and take a photo:

^$^#!!! I didn't think the car would scare the birds!!!!! It's flying!!! $%^#~!!! I know there are people coming to see this bird!!!!!!!! Idiot

Oh thank god, they're all moving back to the first branch. Hey look, the Neo-corm is fighting with the others for a resting space. 

This is great... But man do I have to go to the bathroom. I bet if I drive up behind that big evergreen tree, I can go to the bathroom before anyone else arrives, and the cormorant won't be able to see me there. 

JESUS!!!! I just scared them all again.... They're swimming away! I knew I shouldn't have done this. I better leave before I totally ruin this.........

So yeah, there you go.. An excuse to post some more photos, and tell I story I would never have admitted to if the bird wasn't hanging around for all to see!

Gray Wolf

It's tough to compare the surprise and sudden excitement when you spot any manner of animal you rarely see. There I was, flying down a snow covered road*, when I see a WOLF sleeping on the edge of the woods. I was already past before my thoughts were fully processed. I had done this several times before, and sprung into action:

- stop the car far enough up the road to not scare the animal

- turn off radio/music

- turn off hot air (turned on the AC)

- open all windows**

- grab camera off back seat

- check exposure/settings to make sure the image will turn out

- position camera out window in proper position for shooting.

Now all I had to do was get back to the spot where the wolf was! In order to shoot out the drivers side window, I decide to go in reverse (with my camera half out the window). Thankfully there was virtually no traffic anywhere on this road, and the plan seemed like it was going to work.

---

The car comes to a stop and the confusion begins. The wolf is still sleeping, and i'm not 40ft away. I snap a few photos, and begin to think of this situation. We experience a rush when seeing a rare animal like this for that exact reason; it is very rare to encounter them anywhere! Their mystique fascinates us. If they showed up under our bird feeders and ate our birdseed, many would end up trying to deter their presence. A wild/happy/healthy Wolf is generally away from human eyes - so what's going on here?

Working in Algonquin Park for a few summers taught me that enough people can eventually tame just about any animal. They can really make a photographers day. I had a fantastic encounter with a Black Bear, taking dozens of photos, as it ate roadside berries 30ft off of the highway with 25+ people watching.  Had someone been feeding this Wolf? Causing it to prowl the sides of the road looking for handouts? The wolf then raises its head.

Maybe it was in the back of my mind the entire time, but it is better to ignore it until proven otherwise. A magnificent creature (a "life mammal" for myself) making a living in the seemingly lifeless environment of the boreal forest in winter. More often than not, views like this come at a price. The wolf starts to stir, and all of the surprise/excitement/mystique fades into rather harsh understanding. It can barely get to its feet, and is clearly either gravely sick or badly injured. It's not sadness that replaces all of my emotions (well, maybe a little) but mainly understanding. I've seen this many times before while out enjoying nature. This magnificent beast is reaching the end of its line.

There is not a single wolf that has ever walked on the planet, that hasn't passed on already, or will do so in the not-too-distant future. As with most things, it's seeing it with our own eyes that makes it real, unlike the others that are never seen deep in the northern woods. I decide to turn on the car, and drive off rather abruptly. I put things back into context; I had never seen a Gray Wolf before in my life, and even managed a few photos. No need to be sad! (well, not too sad)... 

* (Hwy 652, towards the Detour Lake Gold Mine) - pretty darn far north!

** hot air out the car window makes pictures blurry. It has to be COLD inside the car to get the shot! 

The Common Merganser

At the time of writing, I've managed to get 266 pictures re-sized for the website - or 1/4 of the re-sizing I expect to do in order to start getting my website back online. Not bad, considering it's painfully boring.

One neat thing is the chance to go back over all of the images I've edited over the years; and occasionally making changes. Sometimes I notice a dust spot that wasn't removed, or a slight change in crop. Occasionally I ponder what the duck I was thinking and re-do most of the post-processing.


--- but that's not all. I often find myself remembering exactly what was happening while I was taking the picture, and I often find myself able to re-create the feelings I had at the time - even when I took the picture years ago! Sounds crazy right? Well it is...

Enter, the Common Merganser. I spoke to anyone who would listen: this could well be the toughest bird to photograph in town. They're amazingly nervous, and yet not rare enough to warrant serious effort to capture them. Then came one fateful day at the Burlington ship canal; January 25, 2009

The wind was from the northwest at 350kmh, right across the frozen bay and in my face... Temperatures fell to somewhere around minus 96 C. (don't bother trying to calculate windchill) - just take my word on it... It was cold...              

And there I was before the sun rose - bundled up to the max, lying on the cold concrete and wishing for ducks. What happened? Well the ducks arrived. Scaup, Redhead, Bufflehead, Goldeneye, Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Scoters. They were all so close, I took my teleconverter off and photographed them at close range. No one dared wander down the pier in the killer weather - so I was alone to enjoy the ducks presence for hours. 

They eventually came. Common Mergansers. The bird I thought I might never really get. Close and comfortable with me - I took home dozens of images and was happy as someone could be in the nutty weather. 

So what's the point of this story? I don't know... But it reminds me of a happy time outside, and provides some extra motivation to get this junk done so I can head back outside to photograph the ducks again (and the other birds, of course ;)   )

OBRC and sketching

I started taking pictures because I can't draw... With that said, I'm currently working on a few things for the Ontario Bird Records Committee.

1.) I'm learning how to spell Committee. It's bad when the spell check doesn't even know what you're trying to say.

2.) I'm writing reports for birds I've found last year. I never really had time to finish them! A big help has been sketches I completed while I was up there. More on this below.

3.) I'm voting on records for the OBRC!! (first year on the team)... It's already pretty interesting. I'm sure the job is much easier today thanks to digital cameras!!!

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   So what does that jibberish above, have to do with this blog post? Well it has to do with sketching birds. I can't draw worth beans. I tried, and I ended up getting a camera. I've always been jealous of people who can draw - and have always thought Robert Bateman does some of the greatest things I've ever seen in print (sometimes I actually try to take photos that I think partially match his style.. if that's possible).

Ok - back to the point - sketches... I really can't draw (last time I say it, promise)... But even I seem mildly capable to draw rare birds, add some notes, and make something passable. They aren't the see-all end-all of my reports, but they really seem to add something.

As stated above, photos make voting for the OBRC really easy - but there are still a number of records that don't have photos! Those that have sketches add greatly to the report, whereas just text reports (while great) - are a pain to write and often get submitted to the OBRC rather short.

You see it every year in the report, and I've already seen some that will probably fall under the same category. " Person X probably did see bird Y, but there is not enough in this written report to accept it as a SCIENTIFIC RECORD*"

-----*getting records that pass the olde "scientific test" - the purpose of the OBRC. (not to try and shoot down your birds).

If a picture is worth 1000 words.. I'm guessing a sketch is at least 500 (if not more). Please consider doing it! It's easier, more fun, and adds a lot to a report.

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Ok, with all that said... Here are two of my recently submitted sketches (along with 2+ page typed reports, not shown here).

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The red numbers added in photoshop after scanning. I figured my writing was poor enough, that I numbered the text, and typed it out in my report so the voting members could read what I wrote!

So there you go... my horrible skills put to work - trying to sketch things. I never thought I could do it, and yes they're still pretty ugly, but if I can do it - so can you!