The Addicted Birder

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Afternoon birding at Lake Ontario.

Today was nice; 3 degrees Celsius, no wind, and an overcast sky. I walked to Lake Ontario in under 15 minutes, and right offshore were many diving ducks! I then walked over to Ashbridges Bay Park and found two Iceland Gulls and more diving ducks!

Here's what I saw:

2 Mute Swan
1 Domestic Goose
30 Long-tailed Duck
20 Greater Scaup
10 Bufflehead
40 Redhead
5 Gadwall
6 White-winged Scoter
1 Common Merganser
6 Red-breasted Merganser
30 Common Goldeneye
5 Mallard
40 Ring-billed Gull
3 Iceland Gull!
2 Northern Cardinal
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Downy Woodpecker

(Keep in mind that I saw these at a place that's a short walk from my house!!!)

Here are some shots!

A Domestic Goose was the first bird I saw.

Long-tailed Ducks were within 40 feet of the shore and plentiful!

My best Red-breasted Merganser shot so far!

Greater Scaup

Greater Scaup flapping its wings.

Then suddenly a pale winged gull flew past - an adult Iceland Gull!

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck with an air of nobility!

Bufflehead

White-winged Scoter

Gadwall - Yearbird!

Redhead - Yearbird!

Redhead

Bufflehead

White-winged Scoters

Iceland Gull - 2nd year

Adult Iceland Gull!

Iceland Gull! (The same 2nd year individual)

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Sunday, 2 March 2014

White-breasted Nuthatches in the ravine.

On this cold, snowy, -10 degrees Celsius afternoon, I went for a small walk through my local ravine. I saw a Red-tailed Hawk overhead, a cardinal, a junco, a few robins, a Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, and most importantly, White-breasted Nuthatches. I always love seeing these little guys. They run up and down trees with ease trying to find something to eat, then they fly to another tree and do the same thing again. I saw over 8 today, and some got pretty close to me.

Ravine boardwalk entrance

Nuthatch POV

Snowy landscape

Nuthatch on the tree with his find

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Unexpected night-time visitor.

So, I was waiting to get picked up for hockey and I was looking through my front door for my ride. It was around 8:10 PM on February 3rd. Suddenly, a blur flew across my view. I quickly ruled out a bat because it was winter. Then I realized that ordinary birds like a cardinal wouldn't fly in pitch black like that. So I rushed outside to see if it was still there. There it was, an Eastern Screech Owl was staring right at me from the only tree in my front yard. It was only 10 feet away, and I stood there, stunned, for over 30 seconds. Then I realized that I should get my camera! I ran inside and ran back to my front door. I opened the door 10 inches and fired a few shots with flash at it in the tree. The camera, however, never focused on the owl! Then, something incredible occurred. The owl flew down and landed on my railing no more than 5 feet from my front door! I then proceeded to fire around 10 shots with flash of the owl. It seemed curious, and never flew away. A minute later, the owl flew into my neighbour's yard and my ride came.

Eastern Screech Owl - Lifer #179 (When least expected!)

Eastern Screech Owl in the tree.

The owl on my railing!

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Sunday, 26 January 2014

Ashbridge's Bay - the search for an Iceland Gull.

Today I went to Ashbridge's bay to look for an Iceland Gull - which would be a lifer! There had been reports of up to 8 in the past two weeks, but the last report was three days ago, so I had my fingers crossed! As we left, the thermometer read -13 Celsius, and with the wind chill it would be -27 Celsius. By the lake, the wind off the lake was freezing! If you stared into the wind, tears would run down your face within 30 seconds, and your fingers would freeze. I only had an hour to find the Iceland Gull, so I set off.

Here's what I saw:

15 Greater Scaup
20 Common Goldeneye
5 Common Merganser
15 Red-breasted Merganser
20 Bufflehead
30 Long-tailed Duck
1 White-winged Scoter
1 Northern Cardinal
15 Black-capped Chickadee
100 Ring-billed Gull
20 Herring Gull
1 Iceland Gull!

Here are some shots:

Common Goldeneye and Long-tailed Duck

This Common Goldeneye enjoys the little bit of open water under the dock

Lake Ontario

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Merganser

Ice, Sun, Sky

Northern Cardinal

Long-tailed Duck

Lake Ontario - I love this shot.

Yearbird #32 - White-winged Scoter with a Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

We finally came to the large group of gulls - it was going to be hard to find an Iceland in there!

But, one emerged and took flight - the white primaries and body were apparent even from a long way away!

Iceland Gull - Lifer #178!

This Mallard flew in and slid on 10 feet on the ice!

Mallard

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Saturday, 18 January 2014

Another Snowy Owl, as well as other great birds from Tommy Thompson Park!

Today I went to Tommy Thompson Park in hopes of seeing more Snowy Owls, and getting more yearbirds. The weather was nice - sunny, only -6 Celsius, and minimal wind. We had a great day, and I can't wait until my next trip to Tommy Thompson next month!

Here's what we saw:

7 Trumpeter Swan

10 American Black Duck

10 Mallard

40 Greater Scaup

80 Long-tailed Duck

2 Bufflehead

20 Common Goldeneye

1 Common Merganser

10 Red-breasted Merganser

4 Red-tailed Hawk

X Ring-billed Gull