Killer Whale photos

Killer Whales! Also known as Orca! (Not Orca Whales).... From a few trips to BC -

Not the best photos, but amazing to see in real life

The first and third pics are of a "resident" group - this guy above is a mammal-eating "Bigg's" or "transient" Killer Whale 

So cool... 

Weather Network Photoz

It's that time again!

Chickadee:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/lovely-birds/19093748

ID Please - 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/female-baltimore-oriole/19011192

Mmm.. What's goin on here? - 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/black-headed-grosbeak-female/19013378

Loon: 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/flight-of-the-loon/19014326

Pipl!

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/piping-plover/19021172

More cuteness:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/owl/19036306

Too much!!.. -

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/all-in-the-family/18989612

Looks like a Summer Tanager, but what the heck is goin on here? - 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/new-visitor/19038600

Messed up House Sparrow - 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/strang-lil-finch/18996618

Cra-zay-zay photo - 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/osprey-attack-on-a-couple-of-canada-geese/18987958

Umm....

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/the-show-is-on/18987410

Easy now... Easy....

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/photos/view/birds/american-flamingo/18973858

Passerines in flight - QUIZ!

Every year I have crappy photos of birds flying off the tip of Pelee - and I turn it into a blog post quiz... Just for fun, and a chance to use them (cause their too bad for anything else)..

Give it a go! Leave a comment! -

First person to get all 10 right, wins no prize!

My life in June

Welcome to June!

Kind of reminds me just how awesome spring migration is on the Great Lakes each May...

What are you up to these days? 

A lil rare bird pulse (Mon/Tue)

I don't really know how the blogger stat things work, but last month (May) was the highest month to date for visits. Thanks to everyone who reads! I hope you're enjoying it.

=====================

Tuesday

Monday

 A sub 1000mb low moving over Lake Superior Monday and Tuesday should set the stage for some good birds to get blown into Ontario (rares!)

It's nothing too crazy, but it's not too bad either - and the first week of June is still prime time for rarities. You'll just get bored out of your mind looking for them in the leaves...

I know that these beauties have been seen in Ontario, Upstate New York, Ohio (erie), Michigan (erie) and Wisconsin so far this spring... Are they done? Or should we still expect a few more?>

Get low! Get low, get low, get low, get low...

A little photography illustration (just for fun)... Back at Pelee in May I was photographing some Turkeys along the road to the tip...

I sat down on the road, and tried to "get low" - to get a better angle for photography. Here's what it looked like:

While sitting 

I wasn't terrible impressed, so I tried to get the camera lower...  I tried to "lean over" a bit and get about half way closer to the ground. It had rained overnight, so I didn't want to get wet! Here's the result:

The scene looked cooler, but I was also having a very difficult time keeping the camera level (awkward twisting)... I could still see that yellow dotted line as well... 

Eventually I bit the bullet, and laid perfectly flat on the ground (on my belly) and rested the camera directly on the pavement. Sure, it was wet... But here's what the first images looked like:

I think the background (pavement, grass, shrubs, trees) all looked really cool, and it was much easier keeping the camera level. I also had an easier time looking through the viewfinder, so I could "snap" at just the right moments!

---

I took quite a few images as they walked closer and closer... At some point in time, I'll have to do a "photoshoot" of the good images, but I thought this made for a cool illustration in the short term. 

Repeat OBRC request + sample (Neotropic Cormorant)

I did this a few days ago, and for blog filler - I'm going to do it again! A request to send in those OBRC reports for all the rarities you saw this spring!!!



As another sample, I'll show off the report I sent to the OBRC of the Neotropic Cormorant from the tip of Pelee this spring. Having good photos allows me to keep things short (eg,/ description) - although note how I still mentioned details (eg,/ size vs DC Corm) that are not visible in the photos.

-------



OBRC Report – Neotropic Cormorant – Point Pelee National Park (Tip) – May 13, 2014

Optics: Vortex Razor 8x42 Binoculars. Canon 1DM4 DSLR + 600mm F4 lens.


Circumstances: I was birding the very tip of Point Pelee with Ken Burrell. We were largely watching the reverse migration when I noticed a small cormorant approaching the tip (from the SW). It was flying directly with 2 DC Corms, making the small size much more apparent. I yelled out that it was approaching, and took several photos as it flew very close (within 100ft I would guess). The photos revealed a young Neotropic Cormorant. The birds continued NE and were lost.


Description: See photo. Bird appears to be less than a year old. I am unsure as to the molt of NECO but I assume the bird is either juvenal or 1st basic.


Similar Species: Slim build, long tail, pointed facial skin and the thin white border eliminate everything.

Weather: gentle SE winds (I believe). Sun. Warm.

Notes: Ohio’s 1st record (earlier this spring) was of a similarly aged bird. They had their 2nd soon after (adult) and another NECO was just reported from Rondeau (written May 16th, 2014).


Brandon Holden

-------


Again  I removed my contact info (that I always include). Thanks for taking the time to send in your reports! The OBRC relies 100% on volunteer effort, and without people submitting their records - there's no point!

Condo Birding Update - May 21 to 26th

3:30am moonrise! 

May 21st -

Worked over the grass at confederation park, hoping for a secretive sparrow. Flushed 1 Song Sparrow and 1 Red-winged Blackbird. Whoops!

Tennessee Warblers singing everywhere....


May 22nd - not much looking (once again). Lots of ducks out there! And large numbers of Chimney Swifts moving along the lake...

More Tennessee's singing like mad!


May 23rd - Today there were Redstarts singing outside my windows... Cooler weather meant lots of Swallows close to the windows...

Calm water gave me a chance to scan:

150ish White-winged Scoter
25ish Surf Scoter
500ish Long-tailed Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
20ish Red-breasted Mergs

Why so many ducks still? Ice? 

---

I also stopped by edgelake park for a quick mid-afternoon search before I had to finish my work for the day. The highlights were 8 Warbler species and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18533892

Somehow Indigo Bunting was actually new for my patch!


May 24th - A bit of balcony watching today:

6+ Common Loons
1 Blackpoll Warbler (singing)
1 Wilson's Warbler (singing)
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Kestrel
Lots of Blue Jays (60-70?)

I didn't really make notes... Which prompted me to keep notes on May 25th (so I didn't forget everything) -

Look! A Blue Jay!

May 25th - FUDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another missed bird.. Around 11:35am my ladyfriend and I heard some strange noises. I thought it was rather "dove-like" - yet also sounded somewhat like a child moaning... The only "doves" that I was unfamiliar with (the calls) were White-winged and Band-tailed Pigeon... I started with White-winged Dove...

The song of WW Dove was wrong... Very wrong, but the quality was the same.... I did some more digging. And it turns out, they have a call as well! In fact, it was VERY CLOSE to what we had just heard from the balcony. Check it out here (the "call" starts around 8-9 seconds):

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/sounds/mp3/WHWIDO.mp3

We went outside and looked, and found nothing. We then sat on the balcony for the rest of the day - and heard no more... White-winged Dove is easily one of my top 3 "nemesis" birds for Ontario, and this adds to the fun.

I HATE IT when birds "get away".... I would be very very happy to find a pigeon doing the calls, just so I would know what it was. But I HATE it when this happens... So yeah... I'm just going to "continue on" with the day:


May 25th - more balcony watching:

Red-throated Loon - 1 (on water)
Common Loon - 2 (flybys)
Great Blue Heron - 1
Canada Goose - 4 (molt migrants??)
Dunlin - 150

American Redstart - 1 (singing)
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 (singing) (late, no?)

There was also some passerines moving along the lake early.. Not many, but it was fun. Most were Blackbirds and Robins, but also:

Eastern Kingbird - 6
Indigo Bunting - 3
Cedar Waxwing - 70
Baltimore Oriole - 1
Blue Jay - 35
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 (NEW condo/patch bird!) - a spankin male of all things.. An odd sighting.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1

Lots of Chimney Swifts as well!

2 Broad-winged Hawks mid-day with a group of Turkey Vultures... Hawk migration seems to skirt behind my balcony... I also had 1 Bald Eagle and 1 American Kestrel...

Thee bird

May 26th - I had 15 or 20 minutes before leaving for work. Why can't I just stay home all the time? It's so nice!

Strong (and warm) SW winds gave me nearly 1000 (!!!!!) freakin waxwings. I can only imagine how many were moving along the lake.

As I got in my car, I had a molting PEREGRINE FALCON fly over my head and circle my building for a while! What a send-off!!!

================

I've been banished for work for the next 2-ish weeks, so the condo birding is going to dry up! (Maybe even until August)... I'm up to 197 species for my "patch" - so perhaps i'll get some rares this fall to finally hit 200!!!

Eagle + Martin from the 25th 

Why am I still talking about ice?!

There's still ice on Lake Superior!!!

There's tons of ice on James/Hudson Bays!

There's still solid snowcover in extreme northern Ontario!!!

Sea ice cover (overall for the arctic) is par for the course compared to the past few years...

A closer look at the remaining ice... Not too much left. 

According to this, there is still 3x more ice left on the Great Lakes compared to any year in the past 30+ 

Now that the cold weather is over (for us) - and the heat is on - don't you miss just how awesome this past winter was? I know I do!

One last kick at the migratory-bird can?

Forecast Map for overnight Tuesday showing some rain pushing through the southern great lakes. Could drop enough late migrants to keep things exciting...

Late may is a superb time for migration and vagrants... It just isn't as much fun for birders. There will probably be enough leaves out to block your view of many birds, and you'll probably eat about 1000 midges if you're anywhere near the great lakes shoreline. 

A bit of overnight rain could ground big numbers of birds, keeping it exciting! This may happen Tuesday morning... Other methods that I like are the "sit and watch" methods - such as finding a good place to watch a lake for Whimbrel and other songbirds...

I also find this high pressure is very good for light "reverse migrations" or "dawn flights" ... Places like the tips of Pelee, Fish Point or Long Point could get several rarities during this type of weather... The only problem is - if you go down there - you'll be bored for 80% of the day afterwards...

Just a few thoughts! I'll keep updating (when possible) if I see any exciting weather, but we're entering a dull time of year... For me, it's the time of year to get working (! a lot !), and to do some social activities when possible. 

More work-related birding - May 22, 23

May 22nd -

Tundra Swan! (1 adult) in a field near Cayuga

Grand River - nothing! (even a hotspot that I like- nada!)

Lake Erie Shoreline - more of the same... Lots of ducks, gulls, terns etc - but where are the "others"?

Grand River Mouth - lots of gulls, incl 2 Great Black-backs - but not much else..

Fields - 1 Upland Sandpiper was nice

Mosaic Ponds - 1 Semipalmated Plover - 40+ Caspian Terns... The habitat is there! But not much at all worth reporting. Yikes...

10th rd quarry pond in Stoney Creek - nada


----------------


May 23rd -

Lake Erie Shoreline - 50-60 flyby Whimbrel! Very  nice

Port Ryerse - 50-60 Flyby Whimbrel! Nice again! (different birds I think)

Port Dover - nada (Caspian's)


Townsend Sewage Lagoons -

2 White-rumped Sandpipers
25ish Least Sandpipers
20ish Semipalmated Sandpipers
20ish Semipalmated Plover
75ish Dunlin

Spotted Sand, Killdeer etc...

I only checked one lagoon... A truck driver had managed to get his 18'wheeler stuck in a pretty rough spot (down the bank of the first lagoon) so I didn't linger!


------------------

Side note - awesome feeder birds in IL:

http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=54938.msg95257#new

Worky Birding - May 21st

Between job sites, I had some time to drive around and not see too many birds. Some notes:


Jarvis SL - nada


Townsend SL - THEE spot -

Wilson's Phalarope -1 (female)
Short-billed Dowitcher - 1
Semi Plover - 5
Dunlin - 14
Spotted Sand - sev

Red-breasted Merganser (!) - 2
Green-winged Teal - 1
Northern Pintail - 1
Blue-winged Teal - 10
American Wigeon - 7
Mallard - x
Ruddy Duck - 16ish
Greater Scaup - 2
Lesser Scaup - 4
Hooded Merg - 3
Northern Shoveler - 8

Green Heron - 3



Random Lagoon - 1 male Hooded Merg

Port Dover - 10ish Caspian Terns

Silver Lake - Nada

Turkey Point Beach - lots of birds around... Including warblers (cape may, canada, blackpoll etc etc)... But nothing "to report" really...

Booth's Harbour - 1 Ruddy Turnstone

Nanticoke - 1 female Common Merganser (odd), Gadwall, lots of gulls and terns (but no other notables).

Princess Point - 700ish Bonaparte's Gulls, 500ish Red-breasted Mergs

Random Point 1 - Redhead, 20 G. Scaup, 2 Bufflehead, lots of bonies

Random Point 2 - 14ish Whimbrel, Gulls, etc etc

Grand River - not much (where i looked)...


That's all she wrote!

OBRC reports time! - plus a sample (Mississippi Kite)

Putting out a request - if you found (or have photos) of an OBRC rarity from this spring - could you send it along to the OBRC?! The email is obrc@ofo.ca


When I acted as secretary for 2013 birds, it was funny how rarities that arrived in January-March (very few) had TONS of documentation submitted, but then when mega's started arriving in April/May - we were all busy birding (then busy with work/summer in June-August) - and many of the most exciting birds were largely forgotten.


So I'm putting out the request! If you've got some spare time, please send along your reports/notes/photos etc! It would be greatly appreciated.


Below is a sample of a (short) OBRC report I wrote for the Mississippi Kite I found this spring... Reports don't need to be long, they just need the relevant information in relation to the sighting, as well as enough details to seal the deal on the ID... In this case, I had photos!

Here's a look at it:


=========================================


OBRC Report – Mississippi Kite One – 1st basic
Just east of Wheatley P.P. in a cottage backyard right on the lakeshore.
~2:50pm – May 14, 2014

Optics: Vortex Razor 20-60x Spotting Scope. Canon 1DM4 + 600mm F4 lens.

Circumstances:    After heavy rain/t-storms, the sun showed briefly and I could see low level clouds racing from the NE along the lakeshore. I decided to do a combo sky/lake watch for rarities. In less than 10 minutes I had a medium-sized (pointed wing) raptor with 6-7 Turkey Vultures and 1 RT Hawk. It was higher than the others, and was actually going inside the low level clouds (obscuring view) from time to time. It was only ~200-400m up.

I had somehow expected a Peregrine, but it was stupidly obvious as a MIKI when I first got it in the scope.


Description:     See photo. Signs of immaturity point to 1st basic.


Notes:    Barb Charlton was inside the cottage reading, and I yelled to her so she could come outside and observe the bird before it continued along the lakeshore.

I twitched a MIKI inside PPNP the earlier day, and 2 had been photo’d in Simcoe County earlier in the spring. 4 birds were seen in SW Michigan and another on Pelee Island. I believe Ohio also had a bird. A good spring for MIKI.


Brandon Holden

(edit - I removed my contact info, which I included)

=========================================

Hopefully a few more goodies arrive in Ontario before May is out!

Condo Birding Update - April 20th - May 20th

CONDO!!!!!


April 20th - I didn't watch much, but did note there were Bonaparte's all over! I ended up with SEVEN adult Little Gulls!!! (I probably watched for ~90mins max all day)... How many were out there? The gentle east winds and high pressure seemed to have pushed the Oshawa birds into Hamilton...


April 21st - SIX King Eiders once again graced my shores... Too bad they were flushed by a fishing boat. A bit later in the morning, Ken Burrell stopped by (we had birding plans at Beamer, which stunk) - but we did get an early Chimney Swift before leaving!


23rd - home late in the day... Still Bonaparte's around... I wonder how many Little's have been out there?



------------

Wow - that May thing really gets in the way - doesn't it?!


-----------


May 19th -

Edgelake Park -

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18487229

(11 Warbler species)


Confederation Park (east end - patch part) -

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18487288

(some notables not seen at Edgelake already)


The bird of the evening was an ORIOLE SP - that I had just outside my condo building. It was in some flowering trees, surrounded by townhouses...

It was pretty big, and singing a song I didn't recognize.. When I first got a glipse of it, I thought it was going to be a young Bullock's....

It then flew into the open, and I could tell it "looked" like a young male Orchard Oriole - but wasn't quite right. I made some notes (strange song - more like a mimid, duller body colour than normal Orchard, poorly defined wingbars (esp the lower), strong fork in the tail)...

And then left it, because I didn't have a camera, and I thought Hooded Oriole would be "orange" by this time of year (incl young males)...

Turns out I was wrong! I also listened to the tapes, and the song was a pretty good match to Hooded... I've walked around twice since (and played tapes) and couldn't re-find the thing... One of those that may be lost forever methinks...


-------

May 20th -

I looked for the Oriole in the morning and failed. There were Tennessee Warblers singing from front yards, parking lots and the nearby woods.

Best birds flying past the condo were:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18486415


Tons of ducks around. The Herons were also nice. Hopefully more to come! Watch this space!

The view - May 20th (early) 

Humpback Whale(s) -- Photoshoot

From my time on boats in BC! - I should have some condo birding news eventually...

Distant Humpback doing "cartwheels" 

Typical view of Humpbacks -a "blow" on the left, and a shallow dive/travelling on the right. 

Two Humpbacks up close. When you see tail (on the left) - it typically means the dive will be deep - so you wont' see it for a little while

Another close Humpback - the spray in the air is the leftover "blow" (breathing)

The next two images are of "flick feeding" - a behaviour I only saw once. They can really throw a lot of water with their tails! (Flukes?)

Pretty phenomenal creatures! Someday I'll have to create a proper index for mammal images on my website. For now, it doesn't exist!

Pacific Loon back on May 14?? (Pelee)

Back on May 14th (at the tip of Pelee) I had two small loons fly past (to the south) of the point. All I had were binoculars and my 300mm lens (on my camera) - not the best gear for a flyby loon!

Anyways, I snapped a few photos - and just looked at them recently. I'm thinking it looks rather Pacific-ish!

Full res - all images together

1st basic/alternate

Let me know what you think!

-----

I hope to do some patch/condo birding over the next few days while I go back to work - that should provide some birding updates!

As for weather, Wednesday is looking pretty sweet - but not much that's really flashy otherwise...

Overnight Tues-Weds! 

Good for rares!

Late May is a superb time for serious rarities - but I think most of us just don't care anymore (had our fill - and now birds have more places to hide with the leaves) - but you could be rewarded if you get out and look!

(activity also dies earlier on hot days - so going to a place like Pelee full-time can be dull)

(Right time of year for these beauties)