Tuesday 31 December 2013

2013 Year in Review - part 2

The month of May was a busy one for me, as it is for all birders in Ontario. I began my first full-time job as a biologist for a consulting firm, and given the time of year I was in the field pretty much non stop from the middle of the month until early July. Additionally I moved to a new area, and I tried to find time to go birding as well whenever time and daylight allowed. Some highlights from spring migration...

Beaver - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Northern Goshawk - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

White-eyed Vireo - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Blue-winged Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Scarlet Tanager - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Black-and-white Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Common Grackle - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Willet - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Willet brigade - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Bonaparte's Gull - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Yellow Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Ontario

Purple Martins - Blenheim, Ontario

My work surveys brought me to places including Timmins, Wawa, Sudbury, North Bay, Niagara, and various locations in the GTA/Hamilton area. One highlight was finding Algoma District's third Marbled Godwit and first Arctic Tern within a minute of each other at the Wawa lagoons. But of course, enjoying the breeding birds, herps, and insects of northern Ontario was certainly a highlight of the year.

Mink Frog - Sudbury, Ontario

European Skipper - Sudbury, ON

Chestnut-sided Warbler - Wawa, Ontario

Midland Painted Turtle - Mattawa, ON

Living in a new part of the province meant that I explored it as well as I could in between work excursions. While I would never endorse living where I do (its a really terrible location if you are a birder), there are a few interesting places nearby. Happy Valley, a forest containing species such as Hooded Warbler, Jefferson Salamander, Acadian Flycatcher, and Barred Owl is only a few kms from my place, and a myriad of other breeding birds can be found in the area.

Virginia Rail - Carden Alvar, Ontario

Eastern Bluebird - Carden Alvar, Ontario

Prairie Warbler - Carden Alvar, Ontario

Mourning Warbler - Minesing Swamp, Ontario

Red Knot - Schomberg, Ontario

Tawny-edged Skipper (I think) - Toronto, Ontario

Warbling Vireo - Newmarket, ON

Meadowhawk sp. - Newmarket, Ontario

Most weekends were spent traveling to other parts of Ontario on herping and birding trips - in fact, since I moved to the Aurora area I have only spent one weekend "at home"! Here are a few highlights from these trips. As you can tell, I tried to focus more on herps and insects this summer since I was kind of overloaded on birds. I guess two full months of doing breeding bird surveys daily will do that to you!

Eastern Foxsnake - Norfolk County, Ontario

Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County, Ontario

Giant Swallowtail - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario

Dickcissel - Hillman Marsh, Ontario

Common Map Turtle - Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario

Snapping Turtle - Hillman Marsh CA, Ontario

Hackberry Emperor - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario

Great Black-backed Gull - Leamington, Ontario

Part three will cover the last five months of the year.

10 comments:

Alan Wormington said...

I think your Tawny-edged Skipper is a very worn European Skipper.

Backcountry Balkwills said...

Loved reading your blog this year Josh! Have a Happy New Year :D

Anonymous said...

Likewise, Marianne! Hope to see you in the field soon.

Anonymous said...

Could very well be.

Fran V. said...

I love the pictures of the scarlet tanager, the purple martins and the warbling vireo. It's been another amazing year!

dwaynejava said...

Josh, great writeup and amazing photos! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Your blog has great appeal to us because the photos and information are superb on a wide diversity of natural history topics. We also like that you make regular postings and look forward to 2014. Jean and Ron.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jean and Ron. Jean, your website is fantastic and excellent photography on top of that!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dwayne, see you in the field in the new year!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Mom ;)