Had the chance to enjoy these lil fella's (and fellettes) while in BC this past March. I didn't have the right gear for the job but i was happy to get some of these photos anyways -
More about them - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall's_porpoise
Friday, April 18, 2014
Dall's Porpoise photoshoot
Had the chance to enjoy these lil fella's (and fellettes) while in BC this past March. I didn't have the right gear for the job but i was happy to get some of these photos anyways -
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Here comes the boom?!!!!!!!!!!!
Then on April 16th, the map suddenly changed to this!!! (for April 24-30th)...
The 6-10 day really got warm as well!!!!!!!!
6-10 day outlook for Apr 22-26th....
Is this it?! Is this the beginning of the warblers and rarities!?
A check of the GFS forecasts didn't really show any weather I would typically get excited about - although this storm looked pretty neat -
(Apr 26th)
Coming soon!?!
Watch this space!!!
Update -
Ok I take it back - a 983mb low nearing the Great Lakes on April 25th looks pretty dang exciting!!!!!!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Dark (ish) Male American Robin (ish)
I always enjoy seeing migrant flocks of robins in the spring. Typically there are some really sharp looking males in the bunch - contrasting plumage with rich colour. Recently though, this male caught my eye. Overall it was quite dark!
I actually had my point-and-shoot camera in my hand, so I decided to snap some photos. I made sure I got a few of the back, given that "atlantic" birds are typically described as being darker (Black-backed subspecies or something?!)
Not that I actually thought I was dealing with anything too funky - but it did strike me as odd. I can only imagine that we (as birders) often see common species from the "wrong" area - (eg,/ an "overshoot" Chipping Sparrow that typically hangs out in Ohio that ends up at Pelee this May - we'd never know the difference).
Could that be the case with this fella? Who knows! Sibley has a post online talking about how it is likely little more than variation - that is more common in the NE: http://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/american-robin/
As per usual, different light/camera angles tended to change the appearance at times, but overall I was confident that this wasn't a "run of the mill" bird, even if he's a local... The throat was quite dark, and the few times I saw it fly - there was little white in the tail.
Just a little fun! Only 3 weeks until the reallly crazy vagrants are around (if not sooner!) Thursday and Sunday will be our first blasts of SW winds. Maybe something like an Avocet will be found?
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Beamer and Area - April 12th
My lovely ladyfriend and I spent the day at Beamer on April 12th... I had high hopes for a decent flight - and apparently I was the only one - as few hawkwatchers arrived... Heck, few birds arrived!
I didn't keep an exact count - but while in the parking lot we saw:
~25 Vultures
~20 Red-tails
~ 40 Sharp-shins
~ 2 Coop's
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Rough-legged Hawk
1 Bald Eagle
1 American Kestrel
1 Merlin
The rough-legg - light morph adult female.
The Eagle - a subadult bald
Other migrants were around, although not in great numbers... Caspian Tern, lots of Cormorants, Barn swallow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, kinglets/creepers etc.
We decided to walk into Grimsby (downtown) for lunch, and enjoyed the sights along the way:
Several Mourning Cloaks were around! My first leps of the year!!!
A few dozen of these beauties also! First snakes of the year!!!
Overall, it's a pretty nice walk down into Grimsby... (see above)... I rarely do it, due to my constant distraction via hawks - but I had a lot of fun!
On a related note, what the heck is with this sign?
Anyone?
Monday, April 14, 2014
Total Lunar Eclipse this Tuesday!! (April 15th)
In just a few days, the first total eclipse of the moon to be visible across the whole of North America since December of 2010 will occur. But to make the most of your moon-watching experience, there are some tips to keep in mind.
The first total lunar eclipse of 2014 will occur in the overnight hours next Monday and Tuesday (April 14 and 15), peaking at about 3 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) on Tuesday. Weather permitting, the moon event could be a striking lunar sight.
http://www.space.com/25447-moon-observing-tips-total-lunar-eclipse.html
Check out the article above...
Below are my feeble attempts at photographing a lunar eclipse back in 2008... It isn't easy! The moon has most of its light blocked by earth, so it's really dull... If you slow down your shutter speed - you end up with a blurry moon!
My camera has much greater abilities in low light than my version in 2008, so I may have to give this one another try. Here's hoping for clear skies!!!
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Birding forecast - RARITY ALERT for Sunday/Monday
Sunday and Monday should bring some mega rare bird(s) into the great lakes. "Long distance" south winds with limited precipitation boundaries...
April 13th-14th seems TOO early to me... It really does, but who knows... This is Bahama Woodstar in PA - or Elaenia species in Chicago - kind of winds...Sure - you could go birding and see nothing of note, but a mega could be lurking for the next several days...
8pm Sunday night (above) - should bring strong south winds from the gulf of mexico right to Lake Erie before hitting rain...
Current wind map for Saturday at 5pm... Winds are hitting Lake Michigan right now... This should improve over the next 24 hours.. Keep an eye on the wind map - http://hint.fm/wind/ ... These "long-distance" straight-line winds seem to be VERY important for vagrancy, indicating they likely do huge flights to get flung so far away from their usual haunts (in my opinion).
It seems too early for this! Anyways... Worth thinking about...
Friday, April 11, 2014
Next blast of S winds - even better (Sunday and Monday)
Boom goes - the SW winds?!
GFS run for this Monday at 8-ish AM - SUPER SW winds pushing into southern Ontario ahead of a front... This could bring real live vagrant birds into the province (from the south!!!)
All it takes is one good push of S or SW winds, and the vagrants arrive. The Chicago Elaenia was found on April 17th... A Fork-tailed Flycatcher arrived at Long Point under the same weather conditions... The Bahama Woodstar arrived in PA in late April last year (18th? 19th?) You get my point!
We're likely a LITTLE too early for anything realllly crazy, but who knows...
Some recent birds -
IBIS on Lake ERIE - http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=669446&MLID=OH&MLNM=Ohio
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on Lake ERIE - https://www.flickr.com/photos/85567104@N05/13770282764/
Swainson's Hawk in Indiana - https://secure.flickr.com/photos/gregmillerbirding/13769331125/
Neotropic Cormorant in Indiana - https://www.flickr.com/photos/67388199@N00/13750693583/
Snowy Plover in Illinois - http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=54657.0
White Pelican on Lake ONTARIO - (NY) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/arctictraveler/13780146445/
Swainson's Hawk and Black Vulture at Braddock Bay (April 10th) - http://hawkcount.org/day_summary.php?rsite=353&ryear=2014&rmonth=04&rday=10
- we're getting REALLY close!!!!!!!!!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Lake Erie is still LOADED with ice - and it's almost mid April! -- Imagine Ibis and Ice?
I'm not sure why google did this, but its kind of cool (it created a gif of my small-ish cormorant) - and sent it to me (without me asking) -
Unless someone else did it... I'm not really sure....
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Beached Bird Sur-vey (Apr 5th)
And by survey, I mean a slow walk along the beach for a little while.... This Osprey (above) was a highlight.
Back on Apr 5th, I took a walk down Van Wagner's Beach with someone! We went from the Lakeland Centre towards the lift bridge, and maybe went 2/3'rds of the way! I was keeping track of the dead-fowl...
Some rough counts -
Ring-billed Gull - 3
Herring Gull - 1
White-winged Scoter - 6
Long-tailed Duck - 9
Lesser Scaup - 1
Bufflehead - 1
Ruddy Duck - 2
Seemed like a strange list! Stranged of all, the Ruddy Ducks! What are the odds of finding two?? I took some scenic photos of the one (above) - but I also noticed the second had some funky tail-molt happening (see below) -
Were the Ruddies flying into the hydro wires? Or did they die on the lake and get washed up?
A few days later I noted another dead Long-tailed Duck and a dead Mute Swan on a stretch of beach we didn't cover (while rollerblading)... Never a dull moment in the bird world - even if it isn't the happiest of bird-related activities.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Condo Birding Update - Apr 8 - 9
April 8 - North winds early... I had to go to work! Yet a healthy supply of Ring-billed Gulls (hundreds) kept me close to the window, searching for goodies. The tally:
Glaucous Gull - 2
Great Black-backed Gull - 4
Caspian Tern - 1
Horned Grebe - 1
Tree Swallow ~20
Cormorants stole the show though!
The last Corm in the flock has a band on its leg! Making it look like a white hip-patch! But it's still just a DCCO... The bird below is small! A small cormorant! I rarely see variation in size in DC Corms, yet this year I've already seen two little'uns -
(Middle bird each time) -
Easiest to compare it with the bird right (right) beside it...
In photos where the middle bird is "hunched" - it looks very small..
Nearly the same posture/distance/angle here - slimmer and shorter wings
These are all the photos of the bird in existence!
I'm not saying its a NECO - but hey, maybe it is... Doesn't look that different in size to the NECO photo in the Pelee annual report -
Or some of the NECO photos from NY last summer (some it looks tiny though)
Or heck, even the first set of photos I took of my condo-NECO last August - (bottom two) -
To be really honest - I just don't care... I've found two in Ontario, including the one from my balcony last year. If I really wanted to figure these things out - I'd spend some early mornings (or late afternoons) scanning the cormorants around Hamilton Harbour (just the CCIW and tollgate ponds)...
I also have little doubt that this bird here is a NECO - http://berrienbirder.blogspot.ca/2013/03/what-am-i.html - which would mean that a March arrival on the great lakes is not out of the question.
Sibley states that NECO is 8 inches shorter with a 12 inch shorter wingspan... That means each wing would only look (roughly) 5 inches longer... A weight difference of 1700g vs 1200g doesn't seem that great either (in the grand scheme).
I think its likely just a Double-crested Cormorant (for the record) - but it doesn't mean I'm not interested in these types of things! Onto the next day!
April 9th- boom!!! Got home around 7pm after a trip to the ROM and some rollerblading... Stuck my head out the window, and heard a pair of crows causing a ruckus... Over what you ask? A new condo bird!!!!!
Great Horned Owl!!!
I was pretty excited.... It sat there for quite a while, getting harassed. It's probably the most annoyed I've ever seen a GHOW (while being harassed by crows)... I took a few brief videos! Here's one -
Pretty cool stuff!
I think this post is long enough... Hoping for a good showing of creatures tomorrow (Apr 10) on strong SW winds... Watch this space!
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