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 Lot of Tails

So yes, except for one of the items in this post, they all have a common element - a tail.

A few weeks ago we were able to take a week off and head up to the Lodge for a week, first with some good friends of ours and then family joined us for the rest of the week.  Being up at the Lodge during the fall is completely different than during the summer.  The bugs are gone and we can actually hike in the trails in the bush, the colours are already started compared to home which is a couple hours south, and the crisper temperature mean the woodstove is on to warm the place up.  Evenings are inside with games and talks in the great room.

Our good friends Adam and Kerri have boys almost the same ages as ours, so we hiked all but one of the trails in the "back forty".  Coming back from the trails, the boys brought back tales for the moms (Ok, corny and a stretch!)

Crazy gang of hikers!  Adam and his boys with mine.

Some bright fungi on a log.

More fungi on a tree stump.

But, on our way back from one hike, we must have just scared off something eating a Garter Snake it had caught.  The kill must just have happened because even though it was half eaten, when touched, the tail would still constrict and grip your finger.  I really wonder what we scared off.  Too bad we didn't see it.  The boys were quite fascinated by it though.  (There is tail #2)

Half-eaten Garter Snake.

Throughout the week, I was also glad to get a number of  opportunities to get some nice pictures both around the grounds and on an outing to Bancroft one day.

In a canoe ride fishing on the lake with two of my boys, we were surprised by a big splash and soon spotted a beaver. We were close enough to shore to go back and get the camera in the fading afternoon light and followed him around to get quite close.

Beaver.

 A bad picture of the "splash and dive". (but tail #3!)

By the lodge, I got a couple other pictures of interest... One of a daring Red Squirrel which chewed into Holly's plastic container to get at some homemade Sweet-Marie bars, got it open and managed to get a way with a huge square.  Later, it was found licking off the spoon from one of our Apple Crisp desserts.

Red Squirrel finishing off our Apple Crisp.
(tail #4)

I saw only one butterfly the whole time up there, but it was one I hadn't seen before.

Morning Cloak Butterfly

Morning Cloak Butterfly -
missing its characteristic blue spots though.

This post is going to have to end here as I should be off to bed, it's getting long, and I obviously ran out of tails!

I'll post the rest of the pictures from this trip soon where I did my day trip out towards Bancroft.  The trip ended up going way longer than the couple hours I had planned as I kept bumping into more creatures...but I'm getting ahead of myself. :) And I won't torment you with more corny themes like "tails".

Morning Light on Coote's Paradise

Today was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try and accomplish two things... finish this post, and then share some thoughts on thanksgiving itself. :)

A couple weeks ago I left home for work early and headed to Coote's Paradise for one more morning shoot.  The early light of morning is great for picture taking - it's colour is warmer and if the sun is at your back, it illuminates what your photographing directly in stead of with hot, bright spots on top of your subject..

Many of the shore birds were already on their way, making their trip south, but the outlet bay of Chedoke Creek was full of white birds: about 14 Great Egrets, many juvenile Caspian Terns, and lots of gulls.

Coote's Paradise full of white birds.

Further to the right.

My first tendency to take pictures was to go to the east side of the water, with the sun at my back and light on the birds.  But I thought I'd try the back-lit view first.  My dear wife loves this setup for people pictures, and is very successful at using it well too.  I took the picture below, and never realized till editing it later, that the Great Egret was standing on an old barrel of some sort.  A sad mix of natural beauty and someone else's very poor judgement and carelessness!

back-lit Great Egret 

A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron was a short distance away to my left, blending into the surroundings with its first year colours.

juvenile Black-Crowned
Night-Heron

Once I moved to the east side, my pictures were front lit, a little closer, and free of any debris.

Brilliantly lit Great Egret

With the group of egrets jostling about for the prime spot, it was funny to watch them... I think it was the "quarter on the ground" syndrome.  You know, when you were young and your buddy would find a quarter on the ground?  What did you do right away?  Come over and look in the same area, hoping to find "the other one" before they did.  Well, the egrets were doing the same.  One would catch something and the neighbouring egrets would hurry over for a look-see, hoping to cash in on the great spot surely evidenced by the recent catch.  That would usually result in a few short lived, noisy chases like the picture below.

Great Egrets jostling for hunting space.

As I walked along the mud flats that even now are still there and even larger, I was accompanied by one of the few remaining Lesser Yellowlegs.  It was a little braver than the ones I had photographed before, so I got some closer shots.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

"Aagh! I swallowed a bug!"

A wary eye to the sky...

...possibly checking out this juvenile Caspian Tern - note the
patchy, smoky black cap.

Lesser Yellowlegs with some sort of catch.

On my way back over the baily bridge that crosses the Chedoke Creek, I spotted another juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron. Again, its first year plumage helps it to blend in well, compared to the much more obvious what and black feathers it will wear next year.

juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron
on the bank of Chedoke Creek

It flew under the bridge and landed on the
other side into much better lighting!

juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron

juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Well, Thanksgiving Day has passed (for us Canadians at least).  On the way to my parents today, Holly pointed out how blessed we are where we live, to be able to enjoy this holiday when almost every year at this time, God has just painted the countryside with the perfect combination of bright colours, the cooler air is crisp, and extra big clouds fill the extra blue sky.  And on top of that, we live in a privileged country, with more comforts and wealth than we know.  At my family's gathering this afternoon, someone noted that many of us today spent the day in a spirit of thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a good thing, but who too?  That person pointed out that, if all this blessing we enjoy is not from someone specific, than why all the thanksgiving?  Aren't the recent harvest, another year of provision and protection cause for thanksgiving to someone?  Isn't thanksgiving by nature directed to someone personal, and not just to chance?  Can all around us that we see, enjoy, live and experience really just have happened? Or is all the beauty, intricacy, and provision all crying out, pointing us to Someone who longs to have us personally say, "Thanks!"?

For most of us, with bellies full of turkey, roofs over our heads, and work to go back to tomorrow, we're also challenged with the fact that "too whom much is given, much will be required."

I bet you came here expecting only bird pictures and not a "sermon"!  :)  Was my post introduction fair warning?  I love wildlife and the creatures we get to enjoy seeing, but hopefully you can also tell that I have a God who I get excited about, both in what He has created, but also who has done great things for me.  He has given me so many reasons to be truly thankful, not the least of which is to rescue me and save me!  That is my greatest reason for thanksgiving, especially at Thanksgiving.  We all have a need much greater than just our daily sustenance to be thankful for... We all mess up daily and we really can't even say "thanks" properly to Him because we repeatedly made choices and live lives that break His perfect standard repeatedly - sometimes in big ways, some times in small ways.  Since He's an honest judge and He can't just bend the rules or look the other way, all the mess-ups/sins make us guilty on the scales of justice.  But as well as being just, He's being gracious and He's provided a way through Jesus to cover our debt!  My debt and your debt too if you'll accept the gift.  If you're ever curious or interested in knowing more about this fix, I'd be more than glad to discuss it more with you in any way you like.

As I keep saying, I'm behind on posts and have at least two more coming when I get more time to edit and type up a post - you might think leaving the sermons out will make that more likely! :)  One upcoming post is my recent week at the Lodge (with a life bird no less), and some pictures from today at my parents house.

But for now, I hope you enjoyed a great weekend, and now have the bonus of a short week!

Take care,

Brian

The Big "100"

As mentioned in my last post, I spent a few mornings at the mud flats of Coote's Paradise off the east side of Princess Point created by the lack of rainfall from the very dry summer and fall.  I waited for the golden glow of the early sun's rays to come over the tree tops.  With the slow advance of the edge of light, mud and water and shore birds became light enough for photographing.

Well, I hit the 100 mark on my birding life list!  Though not anywhere close to the huge count of Josh Vandermeulen who is currently doing an Ontario big year (At the time of this post, his blog reports he sits at 331, and we are all hoping he can surpass the record of 338.) I'm still pretty pleased with my 100th bird on my list.  At first I had not planned to do the list thing, but somehow it just happens as you start to tally what you have seen so far.  I'll introduce bird 98, 99, and 100 in order, all shore birds.

The first shore bird was from a group of Lesser Yellow Legs, wading in the soft mud hunting for small creatures living there.  These birds breed in Northern Canada and have pretty much finished their migrating pass through our area on their way south, mostly to South America.

Lesser Yellowlegs arriving.

Lesser Yellowlegs wing stretch.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs and turtle.

The next shore bird I found were a group of Least Sandpipers wading along the eastern shore just off the recreation trail which links with Bay Front Park.  They are the smallest of the Sandpipers (often called Peeps).

Trio of Least Sandpipers

My 100th life bird happened by accident really.  I was taking pictures of the Least Sandpipers and saw this bird up closer and snapped some shots thinking it was a more brave bird of that group.  But when editing, I noticed the markings seemed different.  To tell you the truth, I didn't even know what the Least Sandpipers were till after receiving some help from some other birding/blogging friends Caleb and Dwayne - thanks!  I have to admit that for the most part, many of the shorebirds all looking very similar and hard to clearly distinguish.  I'm sure if saw them more often and was routinely IDing them, that would change, but that is not likely to happen. For now anyways, the key to IDng the Least Sandpipers is their yellow legs.

Life Bird #100 - Semipalmated Sandpiper

A song sparrow was also foraging, resting the drier mud portions for bugs and other food.  Some Mallard ducks were preening across the water.

Song Sparrow

Female Mallard Ducks preening.

A Great Blue Heron seemed to be waking from what may have been its roost for the night.  I think they usually will roost in trees, but this may have been a safe spot for the night.  It was definitely going through a thorough stretch routine of each leg, wing, neck... That neck of theirs is quite something.  All herons have very long necks, and they seem to have a couple of hinge points allowing them collapse quite compactly.  I search on the net quite a bit and didn't find anything specific about it.  Notable is that herons do this, but cranes and geese fly with their necks fully extended.

Great Blue Heron waking up.

Great Blue Heron wing stretch.

Great Blue Heron neck stretch.

On the way back to the car, heading back to work, I had to try and capture these sights... the dew was heavy on the huge number of spider's webs all over the golden rod and other brush.

Morning dew on a spider web.

Spider

On the way home that night, I saw quite a few birds and stopped making me quite late for supper.  Some how, at the moment it seem perfectly logical that a stop is justified and that it will only take a couple minutes.  I don't often have the camera in the car on the ready, so this time I didn't resist.

I stopped first at a bridge on Hwy 5 which crosses Spencer Creek where I very regularly see a Great Blue Heron  in the shallow waters.  I thought I'd try and sneak up on him.  I didn't work and I only got some blurry fleeing flight shots.  What I hadn't noticed was a Green Heron right on the shore, just in front of me, close to the bridge.  I was just about to leave and I must have finally scared it and it flew up into a tree a little ways off.  I have had similar things happen often, and I have to remember to look around more carefully after having seen one bird - often there are others.

Green Heron.

On my detoured route home, I drove past, turned around and shot this Red-tailed Hawk from my window before it grew too wary of me and flew off.  Further on my drive I repeated for a much larger Red-tail which was likely a female, being larger than the males.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

I've noticed this set of woodpecker holes on a dead tree I pass every day to and from work.  I've seen a woodpecker right at the hole once during the summer, but as mentioned earlier, I rarely have the camera with me and am often on my way to work or just about home.

Woodpecker nest?

This time I stopped and noticed a dead Elm close by where there were a number of Red-bellied Woodpeckers flitting about from branch to branch along with a number of other birds.  There are 6 birds in the picture below, and at least four different birds.  If someone is really good at silhouette, they can fill me in on what they think the other birds are.

Can you find the 6 birds in this photo?  One is a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Below is some help... I've received a few comments already on this one. :)

1. ???
2. Blue Jay
3. Mourning Dove
4. ???
5. ???
6. Red-bellied Woodpecker

Just down the road is Fairchild's Creek and again I almost snuck up on a Great Blue Heron.  A Belted Kingfisher chided me as well and stayed long enough for a distant photo.

Belted Kingfisher

I seem to have days where I get to see lots of birds all one after the other, and then other days when I see next to nothing.  Well, I'm still behind on posts, so there are more to come for the blog anyway.  One more blog post on the Princess Point area of Coote's Paradise to come, and then a post on a trip up to the Lodge again.  Fall is coming with the crisp air, full bodied clouds and blue skies, amazing colour display of the turning leaves.  Fall...my favourite season.