May 31, 12:30 PM Birding - Kingston
We hiked a trail near the Opinicon road looking for birds. We only saw 3 birds, but one of these was a lifer.
- Yellow-throated Vireo (first for 2012)
- Ovenbird (LIFER)
- Golden-winged Warbler (first for 2012)
May 29, 11:00 am Birding - Kingston
We are back from a birding walk along the K-P Trail. Here is a list of the birds we saw and identified:
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Chestnut-sided Warbler (new for 2012)
- Turkey Vulture
- Song Sparrow
- Field Sparrow (LIFER)
- Eastern Wood-Pewee (LIFER)
- Great Blue Heron
May 27, 5:00 PM Birding - Prince Edward County
We continued birding today, combining it with a little shopping in Picton. We first drove to ? and followed the road a short distance to Lake Ontario. We then drove to ? and did a longer walk to the lakeshore. After a brief stop in Picton we returned to Prince Edward Point and walked to the abandoned lighthouse. During the day we saw the following birds:
- Common Yellowthroat (first for 2012) (lifer for Canada)
- Pileated Woodpecker (first for 2012)
- Chipping Sparrow
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Northern Harrier (first for 2012)
- Song Sparrow
- Cedar Waxwing
- Bobolink
- Yellow Warbler
- Common Loon (first for 2012)
- Redhead
May 26, 4:00 PM Birding - Prince Edward County
We returned to Prince Edward Point and saw the following birds:
- American Pipit (LIFER)
- Red-breasted Merganser (first for 2012)
- Yellow Warbler
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- American Bittern (first for 2012)
- Baltimore Oriole
- Savannah Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Cedar Waxwing (first for 2012)
- Bobolink
- Clay-colored Sparrow (first for 2012)
- Ring-billed Gull
- Song Sparrow
- Magnolia Warbler (first for 2012)
- Purple Martin
- American Redstart
- Great Blue Heron
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Mute Swan
- Great Crested Flycatcher (first for 2012)
- Wild Turkey
Yellow Warbler
Ring-billed Gull
May 25, 11:00 am Birding - Prince Edward County
We began birding at Prince Edward County and immediately began seeing birds. Here is a list of the ones we identified:
- Redstart (first in 2012)
- Yellow Warbler
- Gray Catbird
- Least Flycatcher (first in 2012)
- Baltimore Oriole
- House Wren
- Warbling Vireo
- Eastern Kingbird
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Ring-billed Gull
- American Crow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- American Redstart
- American Goldfinch
- Chipping Sparrow
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Purple Martin (LIFER)
- Cliff Swallow
- Wild Turkey (first in 2012)
- Mourning Dove
- Turkey Vulture (first in 2012)
Here are 2 photos of Yellow Warblers. They are easily the most common and the most photogenic of the birds we are seeing on this trip.
May 24, 4:00 PM Birding - Kingston
In the afternoon we drove to Wilton Creek, west of Kingston. This time we saw the following:
- Savannah Sparrow (first for 2012)
- Bobolink (first for 2012)
- Eastern Kingbird
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Killdeer
- Great Blue Heron (first for 2012)
- Turkey Vulture (first for 2012)
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak (first for 2012)
- Eastern Meadowlark (first for 2012)
Bobolink
Savannah Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Great Blue Heron
May 24, 11:00 AM Birding - Kingston
This morning we went birding at the start of the Rideau Trail. We saw the following birds, in the order first seen:
- Warbling Vireo (first for 2012)
- Baltimore Oriole
- Black-capped Chickadee
- American Robin
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Double-crested Cormorant (first for 2012)
- Song Sparrow (first for 2012)
- Yellow Warbler (first for 2012)
- Mute Swan (first for 2012) (first for Ontario and for Canada)
The Mute Swan was the surprise this morning. We assumed it was either the Trumpeter Swan or the Tundra Swan, but the photo revealed a yellow bill, and hence the 2 swans were both Mute Swans. A check of my data base indicated we had seen this bird once before, in 2006 in the USA (in Illinois).
Warbling Vireo
May 21, 1:50 PM Birding
It has taken me awhile to get caught up with my database and the summary page on this website, but the records are now up-to-date.
May 19, 1:00 PM Birding
We decided to drive out to Picture Butte and see if there were any birds at the reservoir. By the time we arrived the wind had picked up and the water was choppy. There were only a few coots to be seen. On our return drive we took a short detour to Park Lake Provincial Park. As we approached the entrance to the park we saw two large hawks in a nearby tree. I was able to identify them (once we returned home) as Cooper's Hawks. A promising beginning to the morning. We spent 2 hours walking along the lakeshore and in that time we identified 31 different species. Here is a list, in the order that we first saw them:
- Cooper's Hawk [2] (new for 2012)
- European Starling [1]
- House Wren [1]
- House Sparrow [1] (new for 2012)
- Northern Flicker [1]
- Mourning Dove [2] (new for 2012)
- Western Kingbird [12]
- Eastern Kingbird [2]
- Chipping Sparrow [3]
- Baltimore Oriole [3]
- White-crowned Sparrow [1]
- Spotted Sandpiper [1]
- Downy Woodpecker [1] (new for 2012)
- Mallard [2]
- Yellow Warbler [1]
- Tree Swallow [1]
- Bank Swallow [1]
- Bufflehead [3]
- Blue-winged Teal [4] (new for 2012)
- Olive-sided Flycatcher [1] (LIFER)
- Northern Shoveler [2] (new for 2012)
- Franklin's Gull [2]
- American White Pelican [1]
- Veery [2](new for 2012)
- Canvasback [2] (new for 2012)
- American Coot [2]
- American Robin [4]
- Redhead [2]
- Ruddy Duck [1] (new for 2012)
It is always a special treat to have a new LIFER - this time it was the Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Cooper's Hawks
Western Kingbird
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Ruddy Duck
Veery
May 18, 9:00 PM Birding
We went for a walk around Nicholas Sheran Park this evening (6:30 - 7:15 PM). There was no wind and the sun was often shining between the clouds. Here is a list of the birds we identified:
- Canada Goose [1]
- Redhead [11]
- American Coot [8] (new for 2012)
- Red-winged Blackbird [7]
- Mallard [14]
- American Crow [1]
- Yellow-headed Blackbird [12]
- American Robin [6]
- Wilson's Warbler [1] (new for 2012)
- Marsh Wren [1] (new for 2012)
- Yellow Warbler [1]
- California Gull [1] (new for 2012)
- Black-billed Magpie [2]
- Bufflehead [2] (new for 2012)
- White-crowned Sparrow [1]
- Chipping Sparrow [1] (new for 2012)
- European Starling [1]
The California Gull was a surprise. Almost all gulls in this area are Ring-billed Gulls. I noticed this one flying overhead and tried to take a photo of it. When I saw the image on the computer screen it was clearly a California Gull.
May 17, 2:30 PM Birding
While taking my regular coulee walk I saw a "shorebird" in front of me on the trail. This was on the upper level after I had left the coulee and was in an open grassland area. In all the times I have walked this trail, this is the first time I have seen a bird like this. A check of my books indicates that it was an Upland Sandpiper. This is another "lifer" for us.
May 16, 11:30 am Birding
We are back from a 2 hour and 15 minute walk around the Elizabeth Hall Wetlands. In that time we saw 25 different species of bird, making this one of our most successful days in Canada. We saw the following birds, listed in the order we first saw them:
- Belted Kingfisher [1] (new for 2012)
- Mallard [6]
- Red-winged Blackbird [12]
- Northern Flicker [1] (new for 2012)
- American Robin [6]
- Canada Goose [20]
- Spotted Sandpiper [2] (new for 2012)
- Swainson's Hawk [1] (new for 2012)
- Brown-headed Cowbird [2] (new for 2012)
- Black-billed Magpie [1]
- Tree Swallow [3]
- Hairy Woodpecker [1] (new for 2012)
- House Wren [3]
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow [3] (new for 2012)
- Baltimore Oriole [1] (new for 2012)
- Wood Duck [3] (new for 2012) (lifer for Alberta)
- Redhead [6]
- Yellow Warbler [1] (new for 2012)
- Killdeer [1] (new for 2012)
- Violet-green Swallow [1] (new for 2012) (lifer)
- Swainson's Thrush [1] (new for 2012)
- American Goldfinch [1] (new for 2012)
- Eastern Kingbird [2] (new for 2012)
- Northern Waterthrush [2] (new for 2012) (lifer)
- Western Kingbird [1] (new for 2012)
The Violet-green Swallow and the Northern Waterthrush were new lifers for us. I posted a report to eBird. Before this report I had completed 13 reports and identified 27 different Alberta species. My rank in the province was #79. I have now completed 14 reports and have identified 44 different Alberta species (in 2012).
Here are a few photos:
Belted Kingfisher
Spotted Sandpiper
Hairy Woodpecker
Tree Swallow
Baltimore Oriole
Wood Ducks
Swainson's Thrush
Northern Waterthrush
May 15, 1:00 PM Birding
The birding was quite successful at Pavan Park. I saw the following birds:
- Common Merganser (new for 2012)
- Canada Goose
- Tree Swallow (new for 2012)
- Magnolia Warbler (new for 2012)
- Bank Swallow (new for 2012)
- American Robin
- European Starling (new for 2012)
- Common Grackle (new for 2012)
This was my first warbler for 2012.
Then I combined birding with my coulee walk, hoping to see another warbler. No such luck. This time I took binoculars but no camera. I did see the following birds:
- White-crowned Sparrow (new for 2012)
- Canada Goose
- Gray Catbird (new for 2012)
- House Wren (new for 2012)
- American Robin
- Redhead (new for 2012)
- Mallard
- Yellow-headed Blackbird (new for 2012)
- Red-winged Blackbird (new for 2012)
When I returned home I entered both reports into the eBird website. That brings my total number of Alberta species to 27 for this year. Still pretty low, but better than a couple of days ago.
May 14, 4:30 PM Birding
We noticed a flock of about 25 American White Pelicans circling over the coulee. This gave me an opportunity to try my new telephoto lens out. Although I was not using a monopod for stability I was able to get a few pictures that showed that the birds were definitely pelicans even though they were over a kilometre away.
I submitted a report to eBird and added one record to my database. This was only the 14th species that I have identified in Alberta this year - not very impressive.
May 9, 11:30 am Birding
I went over to Henderson Lake to see if there were any birds and to try out my new telephoto lens. The birding was both interesting and disappointing. The disappointment was that there were almost no waterfowl on the lake. The interest was that there was a group of about 100 Franklin's Gulls at the east end of the lake.
The camera worked well, but some of the photos were not as sharp as I was hoping. Actually the photos are quite good, but when I digitally zoom them on the computer I can see the fuzziness. I am really going to have to work at keeping the lens as steady as possible.
I then accessed the eBird web site and entered my report: 100 Franklin's Gulls, 10 Ring-billed Gulls, 6 Mallards, and 1 American Crow. I checked my ranking for Alberta and learned that I am ranked #103 with only 10 species and 8 lists to my credit (all done in January). I added 3 species today - the two gulls and the crow. I want to get back into this routine.
May 2, 6:30 am Birding
Now to do some preliminary thinking about bird watching. Two thoughts come to mind. One is on the spot identification, rather than depending on looking at photos. The other is to consider some form of new lens that gives me better telephoto magnification.
The first likely means carrying binoculars with me, definitely in a harness (which I have). I need the harness since I will also have my camera on a monopod with me. It is relatively easy to rest the camera/monopod on my forearm while bringing up the binoculars to view the bird. Or I can, carefully, lay the camera on the ground before using the binoculars. Identification also means do more preparatory reading so I have a sense of what to expect. I also would like to do more reading about the behavior of various birds.