Photo day at Ashbridges Bay and Lake Ontario.

I think I just had the best photo day this year! Went back down to the lake and Ashbridges Bay and found many diving ducks and scoters. I also found many gulls and a hawk! Highlights include 13 Iceland Gulls and 4 White-winged Scoters, including a beautiful adult male that was diving near the shore! It was 6 degrees Celsius today and overcast. It will be sunny tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to getting better pictures!


Here's what I saw:

40 Redhead
10 Greater Scaup
5 Gadwall
4 White-winged Scoter
60 Mallard
15 Common Goldeneye
10 Bufflehead
35 Long-tailed Duck
10 Red-breasted Merganser
200 Ring-billed Gull
50 Herring Gull
13 Iceland Gull

1 Cooper's hawk

Here are some shots!

White-winged Scoter

This beautiful adult male White-winged Scoter was diving 15 feet from the shore!

Red-breasted Merganser... on land?

A dog chased him off!

Long-tailed Duck

Bufflehead

Cooper's Hawk that allowed me to get within 20 feet of him!

Below are various Iceland Gulls of different ages:

I saw 13 today! A new city high count!

Iceland Gulls: left 

Herring Gull: right

Thanks for looking!

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Another afternoon birding at Lake Ontario!

Today was colder than yesterday; -4 degrees Celsius with a crisp breeze. However, it was sunny today which meant I could get better pictures than yesterday. I went down to the lake and saw a few diving ducks, then I walked over to Ashbridges Bay where I encountered 5 cooperative White-winged Scoters as well as mergansers, goldeneye, and Redhead. Then I found the huge mass of gulls on the ice and picked out 8 Iceland Gulls. The wind off the lake was freezing, so I quickly left for home after getting some shots.


Here's what I saw:

2 Mute Swan
30 Long-tailed Duck
10 Common Goldeneye
7 Bufflehead
5 White-winged Scoter
35 Redhead
15 Greater Scaup
2 Gadwall
5 Red-breasted Merganser
20 Mallard
1 American Black Duck
200 Ring-billed Gull
50 Herring Gull
8 Iceland Gull
1 Black-capped Chickadee

Here are some shots!

Common Goldeneye preening herself

Mallard

Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck

White-winged Scoter within 20 feet from the rocky shore. It was diving frequently giving excellent views!

Dive!

Reward!

Red-breasted Merganser

Redhead

Large mass of gulls on the ice. Surprisingly, the Iceland gulls were pretty easy to pick out!

3rd year Iceland Gull

Adult Iceland Gull

2nd year Iceland Gull

1st year Iceland Gull

Ring-billed Gull (left) with two juvenile Iceland Gulls (right)

2nd year Iceland Gull

Pretty Mallard hen

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

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

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

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