Going Down the Road

For the next couple of weeks the birds here are brought to you by the astounding province of Newfoundland & Labrador. (but no Labrador this time around) First stop – Brigus South. And in the distance we could see hundreds and hundreds of birds moving across the waters and perching on the islands but were unable to identify many. Next stop – Witless Bay to see the nesting colonies and get to know some of these characters a little more closely!

Atlantic Puffins

There was also a large colony of Common Murre and Razorbacks could be seen too if you look closely.

And along the lower ledges of the rock you can see the Kittiwakes sheltering their young.

Canada Day

July moved in with a wild and windy day that cleared up and was absolutely beautiful by afternoon. Here are some shots of a female Wood Duck and her three youngsters. The photos aren’t too clear as they are very, very camera shy! They are experts at staying just out of view most of the time.

We also heard about an Osprey nest at the St. Marys Baseball Hall of Fame and went on over to check it out. It seemed like a pretty solid location for the nest but I wonder how the birds react to the ball games.

Barn Swallow

 

Little Bird, Big Song

Hanging around the edge of the woods at Wildwood, I heard a lovely lilting song from the maples overhead. I could hear some rustling but couldn’t quite get my eyes on the bird making the song. And I could hear at least two of them calling back and forth to each other. I gave up trying to locate the bird in the thick leaves of the maple and decided to try to find the other bird in the other trees. I started to notice a very small bird flitting back and forth from one tree to another and swooping down to the ground as well. As I tried to focus my lens on the tree, I heard the sound of the elusive bird, practically at the end of my nose, sitting on a nearby sailboat on a trailer. Well, I was quite surprised to see how tiny the House Wren was considering it’s robust song!

House Wren

Tree Swallow
Female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

St. Marys Flats

 

After a very hot an windless sail at Wildwood one day we headed over to St. Marys to enjoy the banks of the Thames with other people lounging around under the trees to get out of the heat. I noticed a Northern Flicker fly down into the nearby grass and was able to get in for some fairly close shots with the cover of tree trunks. I was able to get some video as well but it has to be edited because it’s a little jumpy because I didn’t want to change position and scare off the bird. It was having quite a time rooting around in the grass with it’s long beak.

A Little More June

While we haven’t been getting away too much this summer there have been lots of interesting birds to see close to home. Lots of varieties of sparrows and warblers and orioles in addition to a lot of Eastern Kingbirds on the wires and on roadside posts everywhere it seems. However we have noted a much smaller number of hawks compared to last year. We did spot this pair of Red-tailed Hawks being chased by a couple of smaller birds recently though.