Little bit of this, little bit of that

I haven't got out a whole lot in the last few days but I'm hoping to do a fair bit of birding this weekend. I have been picking up birds, slow and steady, as they arrive in Guelph. The other day I went for an afternoon stroll around Guelph Lake. The day was mild and sunny with a brisk wind, but with very little birdlife was around, I was happy to spot a pair of Eastern Bluebirds in the campground. For some reason I rarely encounter this species. According to Ebird I have 29 total sightings of this species since I saw my first bluebirds in June, 2007. Only 5 of those sightings are in Wellington County. On the other hand, I have 38 independent sightings of Lesser Black-backed Gull. Figure that one out. Also, I have seen more Summer Tanagers and just as many Eurasian Wigeons as Upland Sandpipers in Ontario, but I digress.

Eastern Bluebird - Guelph Lake CA

The birds were few and far between but I did get a Great Blue Heron fly over and there were a few Redhead and Lesser Scaup way out on the lake. Both these species are considered rare in the county but I've seen them just about every single time I look for ducks! Mountsburg and Puslinch usually have a few of each species.

New for my "photographed big year" were Cedar Waxwing, White-breasted Nuthatch, etc. Snapped a couple photos of a chickadee, just 'cause.

Black-capped Chickadee - Guelph Lake

Driving around the lake I was happy to see that one of the Osprey were back on a nest! This was year bird 164.

Osprey - Guelph Lake

The other day I got a text from David Bell saying something like "I'm pretty sure a Purple Martin flew by, heading your way....". Dave lives just down the street (about 1/2 a km), so I stood vigil for a few minutes and had 2 Purple Martins fly by! Later on Dave had 6 of them nearby! Nice to see them back in town. That was year bird 165.

Great day along the bay

Today, Laura had plans to meet up with some friends in Hamilton for the day. I was more than willing to drive her down, spend the full day birding around the lakeshore, then picking her up and driving back home.

I met up with the one and only Barb Charlton this morning to look for rare Passerines at Bayfront Park in Hamilton. Barb was "stuck" on 320 species for the year in Ontario, and with no new rarities around for her to try for, we decided our best bet to find something interesting was to check out the Waterfront Trail. If you can recall a number of really rare December birds had shown up in recent weeks including Black-throated Green, Black-throated Gray, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned Warblers; a Blue-headed Vireo, and multiple Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers (check out Brandon's photos of some of the goodies here: http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2011/12/black-throated-gray-warb.html).

Barb and I didn't have much success though we briefly heard a gnatcatcher. A few Mockingbirds kept a close eye on us, however.

"Mocker" mocking us

She left to do some Christmas shopping and I would have been wise to follow her lead and get started on mine. Instead, I headed back down the waterfront trail, determined to find some of these birds. I made it all the way to Princess Point before turning back. There was not much to show for it except for this extremely RARE morph of a Double-crested Cormorant. The only field mark to distinguish it from a normal "cormie" is that it only has one wing.

Double-crested Cormorant, one-winged variant

Eventually I saw some of the birds as the Black-throated Gray put in an encore performance. I ran into Ross Wood here, and he was pleased to add this bird to his Ontario list.

Black-throated Gray Warbler - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Heading back to my car, I found not one, but two gnatcatchers! The second was crawling around near my feet, gleaning insects. This photo is about 90% full frame, and I was shooting with a 300 mm lens. Gives you an idea how close I was!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Around this time, I had an interesting conversation:

Random passerby: "Hello."
Me: "Hello." (just being friendly, ya know)
R.P.: "Are you with a school group or anything? There's all these young guys walking around and taking pictures."
Me: "Nope, not with a school group. Just looking for birds!"
R.P: "You're a birdwatcher? I thought all birdwatchers were old and wore floppy hats!"
Me: "Actually the demographics are changing- you'd be surprised how many of us young guys and gals there are."

It's a conversation I have all the time! Lets break that stereotype (except for the Tilly hats -they're pretty awesome).

Just then, Tim King posted a nearby Snow Goose to the listserv, so I hustled over and watched it for a while. Nice bird!

Snow Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

And a CANG, cause no one gives them any love.

Canada Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

With a few hours to spare I headed over to Bronte Provincial Park for no particular reason. I walked around for a few hours, enjoying the crisp air and seeing a few birds (Pileated Woodpecker, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird,etc). Twas a great day in the field, but I think now I better get started on whittling down that Christmas list!

Eastern Bluebird - Bronte Creek Provincial Park