New Colours - Blue and Ruby

Over the last week or so, I was eager to make a few outings with the newness of my lens still keeping me eager to see what it could do.  I made a trip LaSalle first, hoping to see an Eared Grebe which had been reported there.  But it must have travelled on, because it was not there and I saw no more postings about it afterwards.  I walked along the small boardwalk and was treated to a pair Carolina Wrens who were uncharacteristically comfortable with my presence.  Slowly I raised my lens and was greeted with the message "NO CARD".  Aghhh!  I was "forced" to enjoy nature without electronics in between!  How terrible.

The next trip out I headed to Valley Inn Road with reports of a number of interesting birds.  Unfortunately the ponds were rather quiet, at first seeming to only leave a few pairs of Northern Shovelers.  But then I spotted a GreenBlue-winged Teal which made the trip rewarding, adding life bird number 119 to the list.  It was not terribly close so I didn't get really good looks and required some cropped photos for posting.

(Thanks to Dwayne for correcting my mess-up on the bird ID! They don't really even look alike and somehow the name colour got switched in my head.)

male Blue-winged Teal (centre) with Northern Shovelor pair.

male Blue-winged Teal and female Northern Shovelor

A Ring-billed Gull was floating in the water not far from where I was sitting with the hopes that the Green-winged Teal would meander close.  Suddenly, from its floating mode, it started diving which isn't typical for gulls.  A number of times it did it and then finally came up with a catch - a big juicy snail.

Ring-billed Gull with snail catch.

My next outing I headed back to LaSalle, hoping but not really expecting to see the brave pair of Wrens again.  Not in the same location, but I believe I did in fact find them!  The male was singing its heart out as I walked the trail past the boardwalk to the east.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren with Northern Cardinal.

Carolina Wren in full song.

Now for a tale on learning humility.  I've been enjoying the birding/photography hobby for a long 28 months or so now.  In months it sound longer than saying it as just over two years.  A few people walking along the trail were wondering what birds I was enjoying and I gladly pointed out the wrens and White-throated Sparrow all skittering through the leaves in the underbrush at that moment.  I was glad to share my knowledge and be able to point out some of the birds I have learned to some apparently obviously novice but interested walkers.  Good of me really to be so kind! A smaller bird which I had actually noticed earlier in the background to my Wren watching was noticed by one of the ladies and she asked what it was.  I over-confidently stated it was only a female Goldfinch.  No, she was not sure that it was.  I gently, but still a confidently, told her I thought it was.  Again, she said, no, she didn't think so.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I had taken a shot or two of the same bird out in the distance earlier, actually thinking it strange that a Goldfinch was making its way thought the lower portions of the under brush.  A grainy zoom in check on the playback had me thinking though that that is all it was.  I had gone back to watching the wrens again.
 

Rub-crowned Kinglet showing off its bright crown.

 
With the lady, I followed the bird in question as it was now closer to the trail.  A sudden bright flash of bright ruby red made my ID immediately known as completely wrong.  Ruby-crowned Kinglet we voiced together in unison.  I looked over and immediately had to acknowledge my previous identification as quite wrong.  Looking back, I should have known the olive green and less pronounced wing bands were the clues!  Humble pie!!  Turns out the lady's son is an avid birder and she's picked up the knowledge to ID a bird or two from a number of years under his tutelage...  I had to apologize for my rather bold but incorrect identification.  I admitted I didn't mind too much being wrong, as it was a new life bird for me... #120.

 

This little bird is one of the the smallest  North American birds and we are on the southern fringe of its nesting range.  They are extremely active little birds, sharing the characteristic of being constantly in motion with their cousins the Golden-crowned Kinglets.  They are finding insects hiding in corners and edges of buds and bark of the slender branches of trees.  This bird must have been resting for bit of a breather as I was able to get quite a few shots before it moved on again.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

The  White-throated Sparrow I had mentioned earlier was not cooperating at all for a picture.  It was carefully sticking to the densest sections of the brush.  Interestingly, it was constantly singing its "Oh Sweet Canada Canada" call, but very quietly, all along its foraging journey.  I wonder why it was calling so quietly.  I finally got a chance for a few pictures when it too stopped for a brief break.

White-throated Sparrow.

One thing I discovered I had done on this trip was to forget to turn off my SteadyShot on the camera - a feature of the Sony cameras which provides image stabilization in the body.  The new lens has its own optical stabilization which is better than the in body option.  And when the two are on together, they are actually often fighting each other.  Since this is a shared camera for the around the house photos, I'll have to remember to switch that function off and then back on for every outing.

Valley Inn Road

For the first time in many weeks, I headed out for a lunch hour with my camera and binoculars for a quick trip to Valley Inn Road.  I didn't end up seeing anything new, but did get some nice opportunities for pictures.  It was quite heavily overcast, so the lighting wasn't great, forcing me to bump the ISO on the camera up to 400 for most shots... I was actually quite pleased with the results considering.

There were lots of Chickadees and Juncos there.  The Chickadees were literally landing on both me and my camera hoping for a handout. The Juncos though avoided me, scurrying away on the ground into the goldenrod, or winging into the brush with their characteristic flash of white from their outside tail feathers.  I never even got one shot of them.  Some day.

Black-capped Chickadee feeding on Sumac fruit.

Black-capped Chickadee perched on Sumac.

There were three Downy Woodpeckers playing a game of tag in the trees along the pond's edge.  They were hiding on opposite sides of trees and then skittering around the trunks, trying to catch the other off guard - quite amusing to watch and hard to capture in picture!

Downy Woodpeckers playing.

Male Downy Woodpecker

I skirted around a pond to see if I could get a better view of a small group of ducks including Mallards, Northern Shovellers, and a single Hooded Merganser, but I ran out of time.  Along the way, the Chickadees followed me, and I saw a Sparrow which I'm sure if a Song Sparrow, possibly a first winter bird.  I also saw a White-throated Sparrow.  Isn't it odd how you can go forever without seeing a bird, and then once you've found it (last post), you see it again soon after?  Odd.

Black-capped Chickadee

1st Winter Song Sparrow?

White-throated Sparrow

Following me also were the Downy Woodpeckers.  They were surprisingly bold and not at all shy.

Female Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy Woodpecker

There were about three or four female Cardinals eating some sort of berries in the trees.  I'm not used to seeing that many cardinals together.  And often when you see a female, a male is present somewhere - not this time.

Female Northern Cardinal

I stopped in at Woodland Cemetery on may way out, hoping that this would finally be my day to see the Red Morph Screech Owl that lives there.  I've stopped many times and never seen it.  I had met a gentleman on my way out from Valley Inn and he had mentioned he had seen again recently, so I had to give it another try. Nothing again.  However, looking over the inlet of Grindstone Creek to Hamilton Harbour (where the Valley Inn area is) I noticed some Great Black-backed gulls.  They weren't close, but I thought it was still an improvement on an earlier, distant picture from back in December, 2011 - almost exactly a year ago.  Turns out, my previous shot is closer. 

Great Black-backed Gulls (left)

I hope to do some more birding and outings over the next while... that was the longest stretch I've gone in a long while but home, work, and church had been very busy lately.  I have a huge pile of firewood on my driveway that has to get split this Christmas holidays, so not sure what will happen this week.  I am still trying to debate whether to go on the Christmas Bird Count on Boxing Day.  I've been down with a cold this weekend so we'll have to see how that figures into the mix as well.

To end this point, here's wishing you all a very Blessed Christmas.  I hope you're all enjoying some time off with family and friends!  We'll see if I get a reason to post again before the New Year.

On the Way to a Meeting

About two weeks ago, I took my lunch hour very late in the day, adding it to a trip I had to make to City Hall in Burlington for a project meeting.  I first made a quick stop at Valley Inn Road.  There weren't a lot of birds, but the welcome sunshine and balmy temperature made a quick stop there enjoyable.  A new bird (life bird #102) made the stop very worthwhile.

A Golden-crowned Kinglet was meandering its way through the wildflower greenery that bordered a walking path.  It was very comfortable with me being quite close, meaning a number of almost full frame shots.  At that range though, it was hard to stay ahead the little bird and I struggled to get more than just rear end shots.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

More rear views.

Golden-crowned Kinglet foraging through the wildflowers

Golden-crowned Kinglet eating wildflower seeds.

Golden-crowned Kinglet eating a fly.

A few other birds were there as well, my first Hooded Mergansers of the fall mixed in with the usual Mallards and gulls. A Black-capped Chickadee landed close in front of me to pull a few seeds from the goldenrod which were changing from their summer, bright yellow to fall, soft white.

Mallard Duck in flight.

Black-capped Chickadee feeding on Goldenrod seeds.

A lone Double-crested Cormorant was sunning on the shore one of the Valley Inn Road ponds, and with a  closer look, I noticed that sadly, it had a deformed wing.  Unless it's a mild winter, I'm not sure it will survive.

Double-crested Cormorant with deformed wing.

After my meeting, I headed to LaSalle Park in Burlington with the remainder of my "lunch hour" time.  To be clear, regularly my lunch hours often disappear into work hours at the office.  So I'm not advocating shifty use of my work day hours at the expense of my employer!

View from LaSalle Park across Hamilton Harbour looking
at the Industrial shore of Hamilton.

There were lots of Mallard Ducks, and a gather of Swans.  People regularly feed the waterfowl there by the bucket full.

Mallard Duck drake.

Mallard Duck

There is a small tail there which starts from the parking lot and splits to a short boardwalk through the forest or heads along the shore of the harbour.  With the sun out after a number of gloomy days, the birds were active.  A few Downy Woodpeckers were drumming the trees.

Downy Woodpecker

There were also a number of Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting about through the trees.  Their movement is similar to Chickadees, though their foraging calls are a softened, higher pitched peeping call, almost monotone.  They will often hover trying to pick off bugs that are at the end of leaves or that have tried to escape the little birds.  Similar to Chickadees, these birds are constantly moving.  With a straight on view, they have a comical looking face as thy have two dark lines that trail down from their beaks.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

I met another photographer gentleman (Rey, please email me if you read this) there and talked for a while.  During our chat, I first thought I was being distracted by a nuthatch.  But it was well camouflaged to the tree, and was going up, not down as is typical of the former.  It was quite far up in a huge, beautiful, old Oak tree.  The best picture I could capture was the one below.  Upon looking at a zoomed in few on my camera screen, and checking my Sibley's app on my phone, realized it was a Brown Creeper.  I've never even seen or heard of this bird before so it was kind of an exciting moment.  (Life bird #102)  The shot below is heavily cropped with lots of sharpening!

Brown Creeper
(in this picture, actually moving down the
tree rather than its characteristic movement up)

On my wayback, I chased a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos that have moved into the area for the winter. Along with them was one lone White-throated Sparrow which was life bird #103 for me.  Not sure why, but I had never seen one of these before till now.  The light was really getting low and I was badly in need of heading home for the night.

White-throated Sparrow with
Dark-eyed Juncos (male (right) and female (left))

So, I was thankful to be able to combine being outside on a beautiful day with a work errand, and got three new life birds to boot!

Late afternoon sun shining through fall
colours of Oak Trees at LaSalle Park