Mother's Day

The weather on Mother's Day was beautiful. With plans to visit my Mom later in the day, I went for a walk with the kids to the park in town to give the dear mother of my kids a quiet afternoon at home.  I took the camera along and wandered the grounds around the playground.  I did not linger long by the playground with my long lens for fear someone would call the cops reporting a strange guy with a big camera taking pictures of kids - don't laugh, it's happened before.  Another blogger I follow had it happen to him once when was in a woodlot abutting a school yard!

I watched the always present Robins combing the "grass-scape" for works and grubs, pausing for a few seconds to scan the grass below, and then hopping the next five paces to another place to search.

American Robin

I watched this Common Grackle take on a different approach to finding food, or should I say, obtaining food.  When the Robins would find a grub or worm, the Grackle would swoop in and pounce.  The undersized Robin would drop the catch and flee, leaving the Grackle to pickup the fallen prize.

Common Grackle thief.

This Grackle did it a few times while I was watching and picked up a good supply of food, likely for a nest full of young somewhere nearby.

Common Grackle with stolen meal.

The familiar high pitched notes of an American Goldfinch caught my attention up in a tree.  It was serenading a female that was calmly sitting by while the male switched from branch to branch, singing its heart out hoping to convince the lady of its worth.

Male American Goldfinch with female in background.

Although I'm doubting it now, I'm pretty sure the bird in the background is the female. Usually Goldfinches are quite camera shy but it seems this pair was quite distracted and I could get quite close. Too bad they were way up in the tree.

male American Goldfinch singing away.

female American Goldfinch

male American Goldfinch

After returning from the park, I wandered behind our place in the church yard to see if any migrants might have stopped for a rest in our little area of town.  Way up in the tops of some old spruce trees was some movement and I took some pictures with harsh mid-day lighting.  The birds were constantly moving through the branches and it was a challenge to try and get a few good pictures.  Previewing the pictures I assumed they were Yellow-Rumped Warblers and didn't think much about it till editing them recently.  I'm still not 100 percent sure, but I think they were They were Cape May Warblers (Thanks Dwayne!).  I'm pretty sure the bird pictured below is a young male.  Life bird #203.

Cape May Warbler

These little birds prefer the spruce budworm, but also have a unique feature in the warbler world.  They have a curled, semi-tubular tongue which they use to gather nectar during the colder seasons after having migrated to the West Indies islands.

Cape May Warbler

What had actually brought me to these tall spruces was a Gray Catbird which was eluding me earlier.  I was able to get one quick shot as it played cat and mouse (yes, pun intended!) between the large row of stout spruce trunk bases.  Although not a great shot, I thought I'd include it as it shows, albeit obscured somewhat, the bright rusty colour under its tail.

Gray Catbird

We headed to my parents church in Cambridge for their second service, and afterwards, my youngest brother pointed out a neatly carved hole in an aging Maple tree in the front yard of the church.  Soon enough, the curious head of a Red-bellied Woodpecker appeared, giving away location of an active nest site.

Red-bellied Woodpecker in nest cavity.

Once it got used to us standing there, it seemed content to just watch us right back.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

However, once the curiosity of the young boys running on the other side of the church lawn brought them over, the woodpecker had enough and fled with its trademark, scolding call.  We didn't stay long after that and let it return to the nest.

Just as we were about to leave, a Cooper's Hawk soared over, nice and slowly so I could get a reasonably clear picture as it coasted west, way above us.

Cooper's Hawk

That afternoon we headed to the Huron Natural Area near my parent's place for a walk before supper.  It's a beautiful spot in an area quickly being developed with new housing.  Great to see such a large area being left for conservation.  Since the camera was in use for capturing our family time, I didn't do a lot of bird searching or photography.  I was surprised though that there weren't more birds to be seen then we did.

Spring fiddlehead in the afternoon sun.

We headed back to the home of half my childhood (after we moved) and enjoyed time with family and spent time appreciating my great Mom!!

Mourning Dove

I'd almost completely forgotten....  My outing earlier that day had been to take my first run with our new camera.  I had convinced Henry's to drop an already sale price on a Sony a65 to replace our dead a33. After quite a bit of research (online and talking to various Sony and Henry's staff), I'd determined fixing our stuck shutter was likely to be between $400 and $500.  I ended up getting the new camera for barely more than that.  On top of that, the a33's shutter had already died on us once with the camera being replaced for us under warranty.  With it having hinted at a failure earlier and then finally dying, I was nervous about spending that much money on a shutter system with known problems.

For those of you proud Nikon or Canon owners who I'm sure are right now wondering why I still went with a Sony... already owning Sony lenses meant I was not going to start over again with a whole new camera system.  There are things I really like about the Sony cameras, and then other days when I really wish I could get another stop or two of light without the "transparent mirror" in the way.

Image grabbed from Sony's website of the a65

So far from my few outings with the new a65, here are my pros and cons:

Pros
Bigger: Yes, I found the a33 too small.  I don't have huge hands, but when you're gripping a camera for a few hours on an outing, it actually is a pain having a small camera in your hands.
Faster: It can shoot 10 fps with continuous AF but AE locked after the first shot, and 7 with adjusting AE. That's nice and fast!  And when capturing while panning, the lag problem with the display of the last picture is greatly reduced.
24.3MP: Though really it's getting pretty high, if you really get the focus right, you can crop in nice and close on a distant subject.
Additional Focus Mode:  Sony has added one new focus mode which groups all the sensors in a field of three.  That limits it from hunting as much when there is varied  focus items.
Overheating: Or rather, the lack there of!!! In warm weather, the a33 would constantly overheat on me and shut off.  That was extremely annoying!!  I will not miss that.  Almost reason enough to switch just for this!
new OLED viewfinder: Sony has upgraded the digital viewfinder.  In normal lighting, you can hardly tell anymore that it's not optical.  It has almost double the pixels of the a33, and with the OLED compared to LED, it uses less power and presents much cleaner when displaying motion.

Cons
Programmable button: I changed the D-Range button on the a33 to focus mode so I could switch quickly between single point focus and wide (say a noticed a bird in flight and needed to switch quickly).  However, though the a65 does the same, the only button I don't want remove its normal mode from, can't utilize the customized mode in Manual mode.  Why, I do not know!  I usually shoot in fully manual.

Multi Shot Self Timer: This is a general gripe.  I don't know if any of the other SLR brands have this, but I can't for the life of me understand why they don't have a feature to shoot a sequence of multiple pictures on self timer.  Our old Panasonic FZ30 (now that was a great camera in its day!!) had this.

Ok, have any of you other photographers had this idea?
"Camera, ISO 400"
"Camera, Focus, Point"
"Camera, Focus, Burst"
Being able to have the camera obey voice commands to adjust functions without having to shift to another hand hold for another button and change a mode would be great!  Maybe that feature would price the camera completely out of my market I don't know, but you'd think with all the voice control on our phones, that technology has been mastered?


But to wrap it up, a post mother's day thanks to my Mom who is very dear to me.  She's a great mom and now is a great grandmother to our kids!  She throws her heart and soul into everything she does, sometimes so much that it takes a little too much out of her I fear. ;)  I love you Mom and thank God for you and your huge impact on who I am!

Until next time...
Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

To Bancroft and Back

As mentioned in my last post, a couple weeks ago we were up north at the Lodge with friends and family.  Towards the end of the week, I wanted to take a few hours and tour the countryside.  I actually contacted Mike Burrell, an avid birder who also blogs, and, until recently, lived in the area.  I was hoping he might point me to some hot spots for this time of year in the Bancroft area.  He gave me a few suggestions, but they were further west than I hoped to go in the short time I had.  He also pointed out to me (the South-western Ontarian that I am) that up in this area, touring pretty much any back road is likely to result in finding what is moving through the large "wildernessy" expanses of the area.  It turned out to be quite true.

I first headed to Bancroft to do a few errands, and on the way, spotted this small flock of black birds.  I pulled over, and tried to approach but they quickly flushed into the trees and then headed off to a more isolated part of the forest.  It wasn't till looking at the pictures later, that I saw something peculiar.  It was obvious that the birds on the ground were Common Grackles, but looking closer, noticed peculiar tail feather configurations.  No amount of searching on the net gave me even any hints.  I emailed the pictures to my two trusty sources (Dwayne Murphy and the Scholtens father-son team).  I think it ends up that I caught pictures of molting Common Grackles, and not some rare Blackbird of some sort.

Common Grackles -
Some with molting tail feathers producing an interesting feather configuration.

My errands done, I headed up the granite cliffs along a steep lane to Eagle's Nest Park and Lookout.  The view from the lookout was nice, but southwest winds and cloudy skies were not suitable for any raptor migrations.  I did actually see a hawk buzz right over my shoulder and into the woods at one point, and swoop up the path into the forest.  I followed but never found it back.  About the only thing on wing I saw there was a very different dragonfly which was patrolling near the lookout and landed on the railing briefly for a picture.

Dragonfly

After trying to find the illusive raptor, I bumped into a gentleman who was collecting buckets of acorns.  Apparently it was a bumper crop this year and they were bringing them to a tree nursery to be start and become seedlings for planting in parks and wilderness areas.  He pointed me to the trail which circles the park.  I'd been to the lookout a number of times but never walked the trail there.  Many of you who read this  have been up to Eagle's Nest likely skipped over the trail like me.  Next time you should hike it.  It's beautiful.  Here is a link which has a map if the trail.  The trail passes through a cool valley with dense trees and mossy ground, and then climbs back up onto the granite outcrop which Eagle's Nest is known for.  You'll see a large pond which is perched hundred's of feet above the surrounding area, and then walk along the stone ridge overlooking the northern vistas of Eagle's Nest "mountain.

As I headed down the trail, almost right away I walked through a small group of warblers busily chasing and catching insects in the oaks and maples above.  They were Black-throated Green Warblers and ended up being life bird #101.

female Black-throated Green Warbler

male Black-throated Green Warbler

to the perched "Lake" up on Eagle's Nest rock

Beaver's work at perched Brethour Lake

Brethour Lake (taken with my cell phone - thought I'd try the panoramic mode out)

I was not intending to be gone for too long, so I rushed this trail.  I could have stayed and enjoyed much more.  Definitely a spot to return to in the future.

As I headed back to the Lodge, I noticed a few Turkey Vultures circling relatively low, and passing quite close over the road. I stopped, thinking I might get a few nice flight pictures.

soaring Turkey Vulture

Canadian Thistle flower

As I took pictures of the soaring birds, I noticed they seemed to be a few of them and they were really concentrating on one location.  Even though I sheepishly thought I was probably just making the stereotypical  assumption that there must be something dead they were interested in, I crossed the road, and walked to a clearing.  As I rounded the corner, a Turkey Vulture flapped its way out of a tree nearby and laboured up into the sky and circled closer overhead.

One of the MANY Turkey Vultures I flushed out.

Well, that was the first of about 25 that I flushed out as I rounded the corner further and walked deeper into the clearing.  That was after I caught whiffs of the distinct odour of something dead.  My nose lead me in the right direction and the many vultures confirmed I was in the vicinity of what had attracted them.  There was a dead White-tailed Deer which had been dumped down a bank.  I saw a set of tire tracks directly up the bank from the deer and wonder if it was a road kill which had possibly been brought there... It did look like there was a bullet wound right at the kill location above the front legs and behind the neck.  Who knows, but the Turkey Vultures were certainly not going to worry how it got there.

dead White-tailed Deer

Most of the huge birds flapped away and either circled me above, or found more distant perches to wait me out.  Two lingered long enough for me to get very close and get full frame shots!

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture on the top of the bank above the deer.

A Common Raven had also joined the scavengers and though a poor picture, still better then the only other picture I'd gotten earlier in the summer.

Common Raven

Again, I figured I'd better get going, and cut short what could have been a very interesting place to stay and watch from a bit of a distance.  I'm sure they would have gotten used to me and I could have watched an interesting scene.

But, my trip back was not going to be quick.  As I rounded a bend, a young doe and a fawn were at the side of the road.  The doe didn't like my slow approach with the camera out the window, but the fawn stayed long enough for some nice pictures.  

White-tailed Deer fawn

White-tailed Deer fawn showing its namesake.

When it finally headed for the cover of the forest, I noticed there was an older, larger doe there as well.  It was much larger than the other doe, and had a greyish coat than the other's more tan.  It stared me down and I was able to slowly drive closer, crunching along the gravel road before it elegantly bounded into the forest after the other two. 

White-tailed Deer doe.

Well, with the afternoon really getting on, light fading, and the spit of rain starting to hint at more than that coming, I headed for the Lodge once again.  But, I'm afraid I didn't make it with that departure either.  In a small pond beside the road was a Great Blue Heron sharing the water with a number of Mallard ducks.  The males were just getting their colours (or were they molting and getting them back?)

Mallard Ducks just getting their colours.

Great Blue Heron - just landing.

Great Blue Heron

I scrambled over some blue berry clumps and through soggy ground and long grass to get closer (never close enough though!).  The heron seemed less concerned about me than the ducks, but eventually the soggy ground and water stopped me.  I was able to watch and see it catch a frog though.

Great Blue Heron - hunting

Great Blue Heron with frog.

I did eventually make it back to the Lodge.  By that time the rain was spitting harder and I had no choice but to follow the road, looking neither left or right lest I be tempted once more.   A great afternoon out in the "wilderness" of the Bancroft area.  Until next year.  Or, maybe a winter trip?  We'll see!

A Violent Lunch Hour

During lunch on Friday I got away to enjoy the beautiful blue, sunny skies, the perfect temperature, and a nice, dry breeze - the comfortable summer days of June! I headed to Valley Inn Road where I had to pick my path through Canada Geese sunning on the paved trail, only a glance of the one eye not tucked below feathers lazily checking me out.  A Gray Catbird was spilling its convoluted tune as I walked into the wooded portion of the path, and I could hear Baltimore Orioles and Yellow Warblers singing.

In an opening in the trees, two Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies were chasing each other, and then landing on the fringes of the night before's rain puddles.  I'm guessing it is a pair as I doubt two males would be this close together?

A pair of  Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies.

I was curious about why these butterflies were "drinking" off the muddy soil rather than straight from the puddle just beside them.  Seems they may have been "mud puddling".  If they were, then they are drinking from the soil where water is evaporating to drink up moisture which is more enriched with dissolved things like sodium and other nutrients.  They will actually drink large quantities and expel the liquid, quickly processing the water straight though, extracting the nutrients.  The males do this often to increase their chances of fertilizing after mating.

 Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

As I was photographing the butterfly above (which I had followed after landing at a new puddle just a few moments earlier), I noticed movement to my right... a Northern Leopard Frog was resting a part of the puddle.  It was a couple feet away.  I took a picture or two more of the butterfly, and then noticed, another frog .... well, shimmying (best I can think of) towards the butterfly.

the approach...

It didn't take much to figure out what was going to happen next, but one more second would have allowed me to zoom out to capture the "violence" referenced in my post title.  I missed it, except for the off screen action you can guess at in the following picture.

...the censored action
(too bad it wasn't the camera "sensored" action!!)

You can see the clear set of eyelids of the frog,
one of three sets it has.

After I looked up from catching these shots, I realized the puddled area around me was being carefully watched by about another five other jealous leopard frogs who had hoped to have had that juicy meal.

A Northern Leopard Frog with no lunch.

The rest of my walk was a little less eventful, but I did see a pair of Downy Woodpeckers chasing each other through the tree branches.  They were very active and hard to capture in their brief moments of staying still. They must have been quite distracted in their games because they repeatedly came very close to me, but of course not long enough for me to line them up and get a picture at that range.

Downy Woodpecker

Interesting how the camera catches how the leaves filter the light coming through to a shade of green.  Our eyes auto correct, and we don't tend to notice what the camera shows after.

Downy Woodpecker

A song sparrow landed near by, it's plain markings contrasting with its talented melodies.

Song Sparrow

As I was regretfully heading back to the office, a Common Grackle was giving it's squeaky call from a dead tree snag.  I still have not got clear in my head the differences between a Common Grackle and a Brewer's Blackbird, but am convinced upon reviewing the pictures this is the former.  From what I have gathered, the Grackle is slightly larger than a blackbird and has a stouter beak.

Common Grackle

Common Grackle displaying

One last parting shot of these two Red-winged Blackbirds... fluffed up in begging mode, the fledgling appears larger than its mother.

female Red-Winged Blackbird and fledgling

Another lunch well spent!