2nd Visit to Desjardins Canal

After having been somewhat disappointed with my visit success the day before, I headed out to Desjardins Canal again for second lunch hour in a row.  This time, the wheels on the car hadn't even stopped and I had already seen two birds that had eluded me the day before.  A male and female American Wigeon (life bird #110) were up on the bank.  I quietly slid from the car and cautiously made my way over towards the water's edge and the two birds that were searching for food along with a large group of Mallards.

female and male American Wigeon

Hoping for closer shots, I flushed the Wigeons and they headed for the protection of the water.  I managed to catch one mediocre shot of the female flying, and then an obligatory water shot of the male.

female American Wigeon in flight

male American Wigeon

I headed west along the bank again, hoping that my "luck" would continue and I'd be able to turn up the Redhead.  Sure enough, a look through the binoculars brought the bright read head of the duck I was looking for into sight very quickly and I made my way over (life bird #111).  When I got there, the Wigeons had made their way over as well and I got a picture with the day's two life birds in one shot.

male Redhead and pair of American Wigeons

male Redhead

I headed for the opposite end of the canal section to see if there was anything else to see.  The Common Goldeneye was still there and wasn't quite so shy as the day before.

male Common Goldeneye and Canada Goose

male Common Goldeneye

As I headed further along, I flushed a Great Blue Heron from the long dead grasses against the bank of the road I was walking along.  Flight shots are so hard, and when you've just been in the mode of taking shots of stationary ducks, all the settings are wrong.  So I was quite please this one turned out nicely in focus despite single point focus and low shutter speed settings.

Great Blue Heron in flight

I had walked to the east again, but later noticed that the heron wasn't where it had landed earlier.  On a hunch, I returned more quietly to where it had been earlier, and sure enough, found it again.

Great Blue Heron hiding

When it finally saw me, it headed for the opposite side, not far from the roadway, at the bottom of a steep bank.  I thought I'd try an attempt to come up behind it and see what kind of shot I'd get.

Great Blue Heron behind Canada Geese

This was the result... I have to say, although it wasn't a new bird sighting, it was the most rewarding experience of the day.  I actually had to calm myself down once I had peeped over the ridge and saw it sitting there.  I think hunters have the same phenomenon - after a pursuit, getting all flustered and not being able to steady their weapon to aim and shoot. I guess it sound somewhat odd, but it was quite rewarding to sneak up that close.  We stared each other down for a long time.  I slowly raised my camera fearing it would spook.  I got off quite a few pictures, then got greedy for more bird and less hill in the picture, but that sent him far down the canal.

My favourite shot of the day!
Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron takeoff.

And now, a couple days later, we have a fresh layer of thick, white snow to return winter to our neighbourhood.  I am glad to see it and love all that goes with it.  Yes, I like shovelling, driving in the snow, and the colder temperatures.  Those who know me have heard me say often, "if we're going to have winter, then let's have it!".  What a beautiful place we live filled with many beautiful animals and birds, created to make us wonder at the source of the beauty and variety that we've been given to enjoy.  How is it that it's all here, and for that matter, why are we?

"The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1-3

A Visit to Desjardins Canal

I had two really great lunch trips to Desjardin Canal in Dundas this week.  Tipped off by Joanne Redwood in Hamilton Birders Group that there were American Wigeon and Redhead ducks there, I decided to try a trip there in my limited lunch hour.

Desjardins Canal freezes very late, often never.  I am quite sure that this phenomenon is connected to the Dundas waste-water treatment plant located just northwest of the end of the canal and I'm sure outlets here.  The sections of the canal still there today are remnants of what put Dundas on the map and made it prosperous, initially much more affluent than Hamilton for a time.  It extended from Hamilton Harbour's York Street high bridge all the way into Dundas through Coote's Paradise, completed in 1837.

But this is isn't a history blog :).  My first lunch trip on Wednesday didn't seem to be very successful at first.  There were a pair of Hooded Mergansers nicely swimming in tandem, a great shot for someone with a further reaching lens than mine for a nice shot though.  Lighting was a challenge, the sun shining brightly, for the most part, from across the canal.

Mallard and Hooded Merganser pairs.

I walked some of the canal shore, and sent hundreds of Canadian Geese skyward.  Notice all the birds in the distance of the first shot that are all gone in the second.  Because of the scrub in front of me, I couldn't really capture the size of the flock in the sky.  Needless to say, it was very noisy for the next 15 minutes while they all slowly circled and then finally landed in small groups again!

100's of Canada Geese sent aloft by me. 

Here are a few shots of geese as they did flyby's before landing again.

Canada Goose symmetry.

I did finally spot some other birds beside the many geese including a Double-crested Cormorant, 

There were some Common Goldeneyes there, and what I think was a first winter bird along with a more mature one.

first winter Common Goldeneye?

I did finally get to see one new bird though (life bird #109) though - a Pied-billed Grebe.  They are very cute little diving bird and in a large raft of geese and ducks, is easily missed even though they are easily distinguished by their small size and unique shape.  This was the best shot I could get, as it's quite shy and again, the lighting was not good.

Pied-billed Grebe

I bumped into Barry Cherriere (sp?) for the second time in half year and despite his search for me, could not turn up the Wigeons or Redhead for me.  He had just seen them 15 minutes before seeing me.  However, I was happy to have seen the Grebe and planned to return the next lunch to see if that would do the trick.

I'll fill you in on that visit in my next post (this one is getting too long!)

Two Lunches along Bayfront Trail

Earlier this week I was able to spend two lunch hours away from work along Bayfront Trail both on the Coote's Paradise and Hamilton Harbour sides enjoying the variety of birds that this time of year brings.  There has been quite a buzz about a number of birds rare for this time of year here including some warblers and gnatcatchers.  You can read the reports and see the photos on Josh Vandermeulen and Brandon Holden's blogs.

I've never chased any birds that I saw on any of the bird reports before, but this time, since the reports of these birds were on the Bayfront Trail right within reach from my work in Hamilton, I thought I'd give it a try and see if I could see them too, let alone maybe get a picture or two.  In my search, I met lots of other birders, young and old, thoroughly armed with binoculars and cameras.  The birds might be getting a little self conscious with all the equipment showing up because when I headed out there, not many were having success in finding them any more.  I did find the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, but they are hard to photograph - not staying still for long at all in their constant inspection of every little crook and bud of the brambles and shrubbery they were in, looking for bugs to supply the energy for their constant motion.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - best shot I could get.

Amongst the birders, I got to meet Josh Vandermeulen, a birder who I've learned quite a bit from while reading his very regular blog posts.  I got to chat with him for a while as we waited where the Black-throated Gray Warbler had been seen earlier.  While chatting, a runner flushed a bird up from the ground and we both saw the flash of it as it headed for cover.  We were sure it wasn't just a sparrow which shortly after seemed to be hanging around in the same vicinity - strange how your memory of something can sometimes be affected by what you want something to look like.  It might have been the warbler, but we never saw anything, and I wasn't to see any more of the other rareties either.

A Norther Mockingbird was also still there, enjoying the sun.

Northern Mockingbird

And a male Downy Woodpecker was tapping at trees branches looking for food.

male Downy Woodpecker

However, I did see many firsts in the duck department those two days.  Quite a list of firsts for me:

Goldeneye

Lesser (I think) Greater Scaup

Red-throated Merganser

Bufflehead

American Black Duck

Black Scoter - I think I saw one from a bit of a distance in the marina side of Bayfront Park, but I never ended up going back to check.

from left to right:
female Common Goldeneye, three male Common Goldeneye
and a female Greater Scaup

male Greater Scaup

male and female Northern Shovelers

This shot still makes me smile... The migrating ducks would skidaddle right out to deeper water with any approach of mine.  A lone mallard with in the mix of this group of birds and as they were heading out, he, more used to humans looks like he's thinking, "Calm down already!  Watch where you're going!"  He's pretty much headed the opposite direction of the Scaups and Goldeneyes paddling furiously to safety.

A male Mallard duck wonders what all the fuss is about.

I couldn't get very close to this little Bufflehead duck.  This one was the slowest of the bunch as the rest headed off quickly at my approach as well.

male Bufflehead

I also saw this pair (I think?) of American Black Ducks.

American Black Ducks

At the end of the hour which always goes way too quickly, I headed back to the parking lot.   Close to the boat launch end was a female Red-breasted (thanks Peter) Hooded Merganser that had just finished preening on a rock.

female Hooded Merganser through the Bullrushes.

female Hooded Merganser

Well, it's Christmas Eve and we'll be enjoying a movie night with the kids tonight.  A number of  us are struggling with a bad cold, but we exchanged our gifts with the kids last night and they're enjoying a new Wii!  They're quite excited and we're all getting the hang of it slowly.  Some very hilarious moments actually if you just watch the person moving about with the motion controller.  We'll likely be getting some teaching moments with the kids with this gift, and as parents, the opportunity to learn patience. :)  Looks like some fun family times ahead though...

But at this time of year we also remember that the Creator of all the amazing variety of birds and creatures we get to enjoy, humbled Himself to become one of us as a baby, growing up and eventually, as a man, dying to pay the debt we owe.  The debt owed is because He created all we see and know to praise Him. We all know none of us is perfect, but what we don't like to hear is that we owe a perfect life to the One who gave us life in the first place.  Thankfully, He chose to make a way available for us out of this mess, and believing in Him as our Saviour is the way to not only know the designer of all the amazing wildlife and heavenly wonders, but to know a new joy and meaning and purpose in life and see the world through different eyes.  If we believe and accept this gift, when we die some day, He'll welcome us instead of pronouncing judgement because of the debt paid for us on the cross.  

I was asked one time, "Why do you Christians always have to push your way as the only way and try and get more people in your club?"  This person was a "bystander" to me answering questions from someone else regarding my faith, and thought I should keep my opinion to myself.  My answer was something like this. "If you believed someone was desperately in need of life saving measures and you knew you had the cure, would you share it?  Even if you knew they might not appreciate it first?  Of course!  I believe the same has been done for me, and now I have the same great news to share.  Sharing the gospel has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with you!  It's only that I care for you that I'd risk our friendship or possibly what you'll think of me after, to let you know the great rescue that I've been given."

And so, if you even wonder a bit about what this Christmas Day is really all about, I encourage you to visit here.  It's doesn't directly speak to what Christmas Day itself is all about, but it does ask and answer some big questions about Christianity and who Jesus claimed he was.  And to the person who asks, "What do you gain from sending me here?" - nothing at all, but I hope you do.

Merry Christmas and happy birding(/wild-lifing?) in 2012!

Brian

PS. If you'd like to email me on anything at all, I welcome your thoughts or questions.