I'm back, and had a great time. I will tell everyone now that I don't have photos to share. There were a few reasons for this, one being that, unlike in 2010, every single warbler on the tip of Point Pelee insisted on staying half-hidden in thick foliage. This is workable with binoculars--you can focus past the leaves and twigs and still get a decent view. It's not workable with camera.

I know at least a few of you were looking forward to the pictures, and I hope to make it up to you at a later date! For now, if you want to see some of what I saw, surf over to Helen Garcia's blog post. Helen was in my group and is an excellent photographer. She captured a few of the high points of our trip, including a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher at the nest, and a Screech-Owl, which was one of my two lifers (new birds).

My other lifer was Black Tern. Black Terns are fastening birds. In a family of fish eaters, they eat insects, and in a family of open-water dwellers, they dwell in cattail marshes. They're reminiscent of oversized swallows as they hawk for food in mid-air. The funny thing is, while I was in Point Pelee, my husband and his mother, on a lark (so to speak), went to Petrie Island, which is one of the few places in our area where Black Terns breed. So by sheer chance, we all saw our first on the same weekend.

( Pelee triplist )

This is it for Ottawa--next stop, Point Pelee!

All about Yellow Warblers

Palm Warblers are common migrants here, but rare breeders. Their favorite habitat is sphagnum bog, such as Mer Bleue, and that is in fact the only place in Ottawa to find them in summer. Those of you with good memories for birds may recall that I've posted pictures of this species before. This is because Palm Warbler is among the tamest of warblers, and also tends to stay close to ground. These qualities make it easy and fun to photograph.



Ottawa birding is blowing my mind. I've never seen a spring like this. All of a sudden the land is exploding with birds--much the way it's exploding with color! I've seen and/or heard twenty new species between yesterday and today, including eight new warblers.

I also saw my first dragonflies, my first Black Swallowtail, my first ladybugs (eensy weensy ones crawling around on a dandelion), and got my first mosquito bite :-)

( Migration 2012 )

The latest xkcd rocks my world. (I'm not embedding it as it's rather long.)

This Black-Throated Blue Warbler attracted quite the throng of nature photographers when he came down low in the branches at Mud Lake. It's an uncommon bird to see even in migration, and arguably, among the handsomest of warblers. I joined the paparazzi and managed to get one good shot through a small opening in the foliage.

At long last, I've finished backfilling the photo gallery. This took so long mainly because of procrastination! All in all, roughly 40% of my private album made it in. There is now about a page of "new" content for those who are interested.

The final old/new addition is a favorite of mine, a study in contrast of a Black-Capped Chickadee, red osier dogwood, and blue sky.



Meanwhile, spring migration is moving into the "extravaganza" phase. Just as our cold snap is ending and insects are coming back out (Mud Lake was full of perfectly round droplet-studded spider webs this morning, quite beautiful), so too are the dedicated insectivores coming back. Five different types of warblers this morning, plus Warbling Vireos. I even heard an oriole sing.

This is all a good sign since the trip to Point Pelee is now one week away!

( Migration 2012 )

The creeper is one of my favorite birds. A furtive little mite that spirals up tree trunks, digging for food under the bark. I like their curved bills and beady little eyes. Their calls are so soft and high-pitched, and their bodies so well-camouflaged against tree bark, that when you first hear one, you wonder if you're imagining things.

I found this article to be a very informative guide on the ethics of bird call playback. I'm heartened to hear that no research has shown damage to breeding bird populations. My fear, that I might accidentally convince a bird to give up and desert its nesting grounds, appears unfounded. It seems that the worst that can happen is a breeding male can "lose face" with his neighbors and/or mate--and only in the case of aggressive (loud and prolonged) playback, where they will perceive him as the loser and the phantom rival as the winner.

I've always found female Wood Ducks have a gentle, contented look about them. This one looked especially contented as her mate preened her head to toe.

Some very tame Wood Ducks have been hanging out at the north end of Mud Lake, near Cassels Road. Someone must be feeding them--the species is normally quite skittish. Whatever the reason, it's a photographer's dream come true!

I highly recommend viewing at least the first photo at full res, to appreciate the multicolored iridescent sheen of the drake's crest.


1680x1050 wallpaper


1680x1050 wallpaper

Aquatic snail is my best guess. Ducks can swallow them whole, and leave it to their gizzard to break the shell open.



1680x1050 wallpaper

On rare occasions, I see a male Wood Duck with his crest poofed out instead of slicked back. I only ever see it in spring, so it must be intended to impress the ladies.