Pheasants finally (201509) Finally found pheasants in the yard.

While I have been seeing pheasants around the neighbourhood, I had been hoping to find them visiting in the yard. Well over the past week I have been able to spend some time with my new neighbours in my own yard! The other morning I spied this young rooster across the street from the house. Thank god for the 600mm.

The next morning Deb and I watch as one walked across the front yard. I tried to get into position for a shot, but he was too quick and got away from me. Then on the following morning I was out in the yard and was able to grab a couple of images of this fellow.

I had spotted him in the back yard and tried to stay in front of him so I could get some more images. I went around the shed and got him again. I am amazed at how easily these large birds are able to "disappear" in the grass.

Here he is down in the ditch grabbing a drink in front of the house.

He "allowed" me to get fairly close. He crossed the bottom of the driveway.

Here he is walking up the hill on the east side of the house, carefree as could be!

A couple of days later I was out back with a visitor from Colorado. I had lent him my big lens to see if we could get a little action on his road trip. We were happy to see 5 pheasants come to visit, 3 roosters and 2 hens. Hopefully he has something that he will be proud of. After he left, I was fortunate enough to have them return. I love the "purple" that is showing on this fellows back.

Here are the two ladies resting comfortably and keeping an eye on what the "boys" were up to.

This is the oldest of the juveniles that were in the group. His colouring is significantly more developed.

Here you can see his green "head" coming in, and you can see his little "horns" are developing nicely.

I will wrap this post up here with the warning that you should be seeing more images of these beautiful birds in future posts. Oh, yeah and by the way this week, put some wild in your life!
Turbo

Sandhill Cranes, Mallard, Kestrel, Porcupine (20150503-04) Crossing the country with Len

Well we diced to pull up stakes and leave Alberta. The reasons are all personal and there are many of them, so we are off to Nova Scotia. Our first two days on the road we were all about "production", eating up pavement is what I call it. So there was no time to stop and shoot wildlife when we found it, and we did find it. Some were species that Len had never seen before like the Pronghorn antelope and American White Pelican. He had neverseen a Least Weasel before either, and I am pretty certain we spotted one in the prre-dawn dark of Day 2. Day three we were taking a little different approach as we were well within striking distance of our targetted Sudbury Ontario. Before we made that decision Len was able to find this Rock "face" while we traveling along at 100kph. It amazes me that he was able to "spot" the face, grab his camera and "get the shot" all while zooming right along!!!

I had just spotted two Sandhill Cranes on the side of the road and stated that "if we didn't have the trailer on, I would swing around and grab those birds!". That is when we decided that we had time to stop for the shots. We found a spot to swing around and parked in an area where we would again be able to get the rig spun around when we were ready to get back on the road. I should note here that in Northern Ontario a lot of the Trans-Canada Highway is only two lanes and a great deal of the road is twisty and turny. We walked along the road searching for the birds with no luck. Then Len suggested that I walk back and get the truck as we had covered quite a distance. I agreed and spun around to head back to the truck. After about 10 steps I spotted the birds on the opposite side of the road. They had let us walk right by them! I swung around and had to yell at Len due to the wind. I did manage to grab a couple of images as they flew off.

A second as they disappeared around the trees.

Here is a shot of Len walking back to the truck, checking out his results!

Here is a shot that Len captured of both me and the birds:

It was welcome break in three straight days of driving:) They were a real treat. That was our only real stop of that day. We made Sudbury in the early evening and spent the night with a few beverages and catching up with family and friends. We had planned to spend a full day with Bill to get rested up. So on the fourth we took a little side trip to see if we could find the flock of Sandhills that had taken up residence for the past couple of years in the area. On the way over we found this nice Mallard drake in a ditch.

We also found an American Kestrel. This bird was very skittish, so the shots are looong distance.

We did find the "residents" we were looking for. They too were a long way off, but it was what we came to see.

Then, on the way home we found this little Porcupine, working hard to get bigger:)

It was nice to finally be able to put some "wild" into our lives!  More delayed posts coming, I hope you enjoy.
Turbo

Pileated's, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green Warbler.(20150820) More backyard birding!

Well it all started with a really close "laugh from Woody the woodpecker", so I knew there was Pileated close by. I saw it fly off a short time later with no images. I was out on the backdeck (observation platform)speaking with my brother Len when it re-appeared. We hung up and I went looking for some "evidence".

Then I discovered that there were actually two.

I followed them around for a bit, but the light was pretty brutal. So I only have a limited number of "keepers" from the encounter. Here is a shot of the female (looking very skinny in my opinion) doing a little "wing work".

Normally these two birds would not have instigated a "post", but then the canopy kind of came to life and I spent the next hour or so shooting much smaller birds. Like this Blackburnian, just about to land on the branch in front of him. There were two of them chasing each other through the boughs.

Other "guests" included Black-throated Green warblers. 

And, what would be a brand new bird for the blog, and the yard, a Northern Parula. 

Here is another image (much improved over my first two) of the Blackburnian. I am anxious to see these little fella's in the spring when their colours will be even more vibrant. 

Here is a shot that I have never taken before. There are four warblers in the top of this one tree. I believe that there are two BTGW's on the left, then A Blackburnian the the far right bird is a Northern Parula! 

Next up the Red-eyed Vireo put in an appearance.

So, what started with the laugh of Woody turned into a productive 90 minutes on the deck. So, whether it is; on a drive, sitting in a blind, or just sitting in your backyard, be certain to put some "wild" in your life as soon as you can!

Turbo

Magnolia, Blackburnian, Green-throated, Yellow- Warblers all (20150816) A walk with Sharon and some yard birds.

The Bride's sister came to visit, and it was a rainy deary day. Before her arrival I was able to "catch" two "new to the Blog" and "new to the yard" birds. I was watching a small yellow bird "chasing" the humming birds in the tree tops, so I grabbed my camera and headed out into the rain. This first bird is a Magnolia Warbler, a bird I was unable to capture this spring.

This second bird was a real "find" as I thought I wa still shooting the Magnolia. While reviewing the images I found that I had actually finally captured a Blackburnian. Sorry for the poor quality, it is definitely an evidence shot.

On Sunday, Sharon and I did a little trek around the neighbourhood and found this little Black-throated Green Warbler. we were in some pretty dense forest.

We also managed to find this little/young White-breasted Nuthatch. The shorter bill to me indicates a juvenile bird.

We also had a wood thrush, but I couldn't grab any successful images. We did however find this small toad.

We also managed to find several bull frogs in a small pond. These amphibians had me thinking of Kerri, she would have loved to spend some time at the pond.

We finished the walk up with this little red-legged grasshopper, that posed on the road for us.

Before Sharon left on Monday I was able to get two more yard shots. This first one is another Black-throated Green Warbler.

Yet another "new yard bird" this week was this little Yellow Warbler.

So I am learning the birds in the area, and really looking forward to seeing more of the fall migrants as they appear. Of course a favourite yard bird is the Hummber. I include a shot here as I am doing some experiementation with my 18-105mm lens.

Put some "wild" in your life this week, it will do you a world of good!
Turbo

Brown Creeper, Hares, Bees (20150810) A little time in the yard.

Well, it was a lovely day here today so I thought I would just spend a little time in the yard again just to see who would appear. I have always had a soft spot for Chipmunks, so I am pleased to have a couple in the yard.

Then I spotted a Brown Creeper, for the second time, in the yard. I find these birds very tough to shoot. They are always moving and never seem to be in the light.

Another "creeper" of sorts, here is one of at least three Red Squirrels in the immediate area.

Another new "yard" critter that we have been seeing, but I haven't been able to capture has been the Varying Hare.

The suet feeder has been very active with all our woodpeckers. Here is a shot of a youngster Hairy. His red markings are slowly making thier way to the back of his head where they belong.

Of course the Hummers are still warring, but occassionaly two of the ladies get along well enough to share a feeder.

Our surprize flowers are now in bloom, and both the Hummers and bumble bees love the tiny flowers. I was fortunate to grab two bees together in a single shot.

Later in the evening I looked out and spotted a second "Bunny" for the day. This time I made an effort to get some shots and it was quite accommodating.

I finished up the evening with this White-breated Nuthatch. It took about three weeks before I spied one around the feeders.

That will do for this post, so I will sign off here. Be certain to put a little "wild" in your life this week!
Turbo
Oh, I meant to include this shot of a pheasant that I spotted in the neighbourhood. None in my yard yet, but they will come :)

Bald Eagles, Juvenile Junco (20150807) A fishing trip in the neighbourhood.

Ever since we have moved in I have been itching to get fishing in the lake that you can see from our road. Thursday night was a Stewardship meeting held by the landowner of the gated road with access to the lake. I attended, made my purchase of Key and maps and donation to the NCC. So Friday morning Len brought the boat around so we could do a little liquid exploring this time. We were enjoying sun and catching a few fish when we spotted this fine figure of a feathered friend.

We were ready for his departure as we trolled on by. This bird is only about one year away from being fully mature.

Len commented, "this is great, almost all of my eagle shots are in the winter!".

Next up was trio of nice Black Duck hens. This isn't a first for them on the blog, I shot them in Toronto last winter.

As we made out way around the lake a second time I was able to grab a quick image of this Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco. I was pretty happy with the results from a motorized moving boat.

Our final good opportunity for the day was this mature Bald Eagle on the far end of the lake. We had observed it "fishing" and it had moved off with our approach. It must have been a favourite haunt as I captured this about 15-20 minutes later as it returned to the same tree.

All in all a very successful day. We learned a  lot about the lake, and grabbed a few images to boot. We are both looking forward to seeing what the fall brings as far as colours go. It should be a super spot to shoot on a calm day with the foilage in full autumn colour. Till next time, be certain to put a little "wild" in your life!
Turbo