Time for an update.

Saturday 5th November 2016

Remember, remember the 5th of November. Well, no fireworks here but I did want to share a couple of my more recent sightings including a 'lifer' in the form of a 'yellow or eastern' Palm Warbler. The western subspecies is the usual one in our area and, along with Yellow-rumped Warbler, is one of the last species to migrate through. However, to have any Palm Warbler on the late date of 4th November is notable, even more so with it being the one I needed! And here it is, hanging out in my garden.

Eastern Palm Warbler - Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, ON

Also here the same day was a Pine Siskin - also a first for the garden. That being said, we've only been here a little over a year so 'new birds' come along all the time. Hopefully though, it does look as if we're beginning to have a movement of winter finches into the area. Fingers crossed on that one.

Pine Siskin - Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, ON

Other birds recently seen here include a pair of House Finches, the male looking quite spectacular in his red regalia - not as vivid as a Northern Cardinal mind you, but that species hasn't yet found my feeders. In the background you can see a Dark-eyed Junco. Seem to be plenty of those this year.

Male House Finch - Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, ON

Another species showing a reddish hue is the spectacular Fox Sparrow. I was fortunate to have one show up for a couple of days about a week ago. Despite being one of the larger sparrows, they are more often found in dense undergrowth, so to have one right out in the open was certainly quite special - it was also another new one for the garden list.

Fox Sparrow - Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, ON

Of course, there's plenty more I could share but I'm going to wrap up with an example of one of my favourite groups - the Catharus thrushes. Like the Fox Sparrow, they can often be quite hard to tie down, but with patience and a bit of luck good views can be obtained. This Hermit Thrush went all the way and came right up to the window to have a bathe - very nice!

Hermit Thrush - Button Bay Road, Wolfe Island, ON

Here's a link to some more thrush pictures I posted on the Murphys Point Facebook page. However, it looks like you'll have to copy the link into your browser...
https://www.facebook.com/ranger.mike.murphy/photos/pcb.631802246994524/631794046995344/?type=3

'til next time.
Mark.

May Madness

It has certainly been a pretty good Spring here in Canada, nothing too outrageous on the rarity front but lots of goodies and unusual sightings none-the-less. With a long weekend excursion to Rondeau/Pelee in early May with James Barber and a couple of bonus birds more locally, I picked up an impressive 7 lifers in May alone with several more as additions to my Canada (and Ontario) list.

Yellow-throated Vireo - The Tip, Point Pelee, ON

Of course it's not all about the rare birds - though they do add a little spice to the day. For me it's about learning the subtleties of a new song, unusual plumage or just plain and simple good views of a more common bird, such as this Yellow-throated Vireo at Point Pelee. Likewise, being able to study Forster's Terns at Rondeau was certainly a pleasure, as was watching the 70+ Black Terns hawking for insects over the local sewage lagoons.

Fortunately, I was able to get photos of some of these lifers too, beginning with these Henslow's Sparrows seen at Point Pelee. To see just one is good these days but to have a second is a real bonus - with portraits of both to boot...

Henslow's Sparrow - Bird 1 at the 'Serengeti Tree', Point Pelee, ON

Henslow's Sparrow - Better views of Bird 2 at the Tip, Point Pelee, ON

On the same day, we also had great looks at my second lifer, Hooded Warbler, though my pictures of that bird are not quite so good...

Hooded Warbler - The Tip, Point Pelee, ON

The real rarity of that particular trip though was Smith's Longspur. These birds were in a muddy field just north of Hillman Marsh and with some concentrated effort we both got some reasonable looks. James even snapped a couple of record shots - you should take a look at some of his work at http://jamesbarber.smugmug.com/Nature. Try his Rare Birds gallery for the Longspur, as well as my 4th lifer of that trip, Yellow-throated Warbler. We also added Willet, Marbled Godwit and Lesser Black-backed Gull at Hillman Marsh but the only half-recognisable shot is this one...

Marbled Godwit - Hillman Marsh, Leamington, ON

These next few pictures are of some of the other birds encountered on that particular trip. Again nothing special - some day I'll buy a proper camera and have to lug that around too!

Black-throated Green Warbler (male) - Rondeau Provincial Park, ON

Forster's Tern - Rondeau Provincial Park, ON

Hermit Thrush - Rondeau Provincial Park, ON

American Woodcock peenting - Rondeau Provincial Park, ON

Eared (Black-necked) Grebe - Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, ON

Wood Thrush - Rondeau Provincial Park, ON

Of course there was much more seen on this trip, with Acadian Flycatcher being perhaps the biggest miss. May also brought another 3 lifers but I should probably save them for next time. I also got shots of two more species of Catharus thrushes, so perhaps a comparison is on the cards too - just missing that elusive Bicknell's...

Till next time,
Mark.

Lemoine Point Conservation Area

Saturday 12th and Monday 14th October 2013

Well, Autumn is in full swing and here in Kingston, the leaves have already turned. In fact, many of the trees are actually now looking fairly bare. The weather though has been great with lots of bright sunny days and above average temperatures. Many of the summer residents have now left, replaced by numerous winter wildfowl. Migration is also coming to an end, though a few species are still coming through and taking advantage of the good weather before continuing further south.

Lemoine Point Conservation Area is located just west of Kingston's airport and is a great spot for seeing the wildlife within just minutes of the city centre. Bordering Lake Ontario, it includes 136 hectares of mixed forest and grassland and can be quite a migrant trap in the Spring and Autumn as well as hosting a wide range of breeding species during the summer. Personally, I tend to visit Marshlands Conservation Area more than Lemoine Point because it is closer to home, is far-less visited and is definitively my 'home patch', but over the last couple of days, Lemoine Point has held a variety of interesting species and colours.


Autumn Woods - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, ON

To get the ball rolling, I saw yet another addition to my life list on Saturday. To make it even better, it was an owl - namely an Eastern Screech-Owl. Some species, owls included, are always just that bit more exciting to see so I was very pleased with this one. Its presence was given away by a host of chickadees, juncos, cardinals and sparrows mobbing the poor thing as it was trying to rest. It was certainly well-hidden and this photo is as good as it gets.



Eastern Screech-Owl - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, ON

Lemoine Point is visited by many people, all there to enjoy the nature. However, they all seem to do it in different ways - cycling, jogging, dog-walking, and so-on. This means the wildlife is quite habituated, with birds like chickadees accustomed to feeding from the hand. Nuthatches and even woodpeckers will do so too and I know of at least one Northern Cardinal that does likewise. White-tailed Deer are the largest mammal present at the site and, they too, will actually approach people to see what's on offer. Add to this the squirrels and chipmunks and it is pretty hard to leave Lemoine Point without having an encounter with nature.



Eastern Chipmunk - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, ON

Other birds that often have birders excited are the thrushes. Here in Canada, the commonest thrush is the American Robin, though it doesn't tend to hang around for long during the winter months. The American Robin is in the same genus as many of the 'typical' European species and is about the same size as the European Blackbird. However, it is the much smaller Catharus species that have had me excited over the last month or so. The first to come through is the Grey-cheeked Thrush, followed by Swainson's Thrush and then Hermit Thrush. Of course there is overlap (for example I saw two late Swainson's today) but it generally holds true. I've been fortunate enough to see good numbers of all three of these shy species this year but have only managed to get photos of Hermit Thrush and, bizarrely, a single leucistic Swainson's Thrush (see my Flickr account). The following shot, as all pictures on today's blog, was taken this weekend at Lemoine Point.



Hermit Thrush - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, CA

Red-winged Blackbirds and lesser numbers of Common Grackle are flocking at the moment (often with the resident European Starling) in preparation for their onward southerly journey. It is also possible to see the much less common Rusty Blackbird at this time of year and this morning I had a single female high in a tree looking for its buddies. Most striking is its white eye, a classic indicator of this species.



Rusty Blackbird (female) - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, CA

Finally, here is a Yellow-rumped Warbler of the eastern 'Myrtle' form. This is really the only warbler still to be seen in any numbers yet, for some reason, I just can't seem to get a decent shot...



Yellow-rumped Warbler - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston, CA

Till next time...

Mark.