Oop! Erased Mays Post

To view the pictures though you can go to Pat Gamburd's Photo Gallery @ pBase.com

Photos from April Outings

The month of April started out by travelling to Magee Marsh with Jerry Jourdan.  Since I've never been there we ventured out together on Saturday - April 14th.  Weather was a little on the over-casted side with some rain now and then but gave us time to walk through and grab some photos.  Jerry was able to grab a lot more photos than I but I did manage to get a Yellow-rumped Warbler and saw shorebirds that I hadn't really seen before. At least now I know where it is and hope to venture out again.

The rest of the month I spent most of my time near Pte Mouillee on Haggerman Road where if you drive slow enough and just watch the ground it moves.  Sit still enough and you see Horned Larks, Savannah Sparrows (everywhere), and Kildeer.  My hope when I travel this road is to get a Bobolink (because I've never seen one except in a book).  I didn't get one this outing.

From Haggerman Road I drove over to Roberts Road where there seems to always be an abundance of sound and movement.  Except today (4/21) the only picture I can get is a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher jumping here and there and everywhere.  From Roberts Road I went over to Lake Erie Metro Park to see what I could find there.  My real hope is to possibly see the Great Horned Owl but since my last post that was the only time I saw it.

My walked through nature trail at LEMP gave me Tree Swallows, Song Sparrow, and Cedar Waxwings. There were Wood Ducks in the back channel of the trail, Yellow-rumped Warblers were moving around in the twisted branches of a tree, not really close enough to get a good shot, and what I think to be a House Wren is also moving through the branches.


Click here are the photos that I managed to capture on my outings.  
Til my next post.

Great Horned Owl at LEMP - January 7, 2012

Last Sunday decided to go out to Lake Erie Metro Park to see if I could find the Long-eared Owls and the Saw Whet Owl that had been reported. Unfortunately the Saw Whets had left a couple of days ago and the Long-eared were gone or really hiding well. I ran into Rodney Laura on the trail who had mentioned that something big had just flown down from a tree over the canal but never saw anything fly up. A few moments later another photographer said there was a Great-horned Owl on the right side just past the big tree after the boardwalk. Sure enough there he was sitting on a limb maybe 200 feet off the trail (might be 100 - I'm a very poor judge of distance). This is probably the closest I've ever been to the adult. He was also very cooperative.

Til my next post...

Cape May Warbler - 11/19/2011

I have tried to post this picture on Cornell Ornithology's wall but I am having difficulties so I've decided to take another approach. Found this little beauty at Pte Moiullee in Rockwood on Saturday 11/19. My friend Jerry Jourdan made an inquiry with another birder Allen Chartier and he said that this Cape May Warbler is a very late bird for this area. There was one in Berrien County last Christmas, the only one reported in the entire state. Thanx guys for the help and info. Til my next post.

From Birds to Beasts - October 8, 2011

Since October began the only day I went out to bird was October 1st, the weather was windy and slightly cold and the only bird I could get a shot of was this White-crowned Sparrow.

On Saturday the 8th my son and his girlfriend and I went up to Browns City to visit Summer Winds Wild Life Sanctuary. The sanctuary is non-profit and a USDA licensed facility that provides a place for these animals to live out their lives in a safe place. The people here all donate their time to keeping these animals fed, provide medical help and sheltering.

The reasons they come to the sanctuary are because they were unfortunate to fall into the hands of people who thought they would make good pets or because of circumstances beyond their control.

Passion (pictured here) was originally in a travelling show that didn't work out for her. She didn't like being moved from cage to cage or to be shown. Another tiger Pandora, was given up because she didn't turn out to be the white tiger they were hoping for. There are monkeys, alligators, a white tiger, grizzly bears and black bears. They have ducks, a white turkey, painted turtles, a skunk, donkeys, and cats who's development came from cross breeding a houshold cat with a leopard or tiger.

It was an educational day - they don't know what to expect when they get one of these animals. A tiger recently had a cub (it wasn't outside - too soon) so I would consider going back out next year to see it. There is a fee for the tour which goes towards taking care of the animals.

Next weekend - back to birding. Til my next post.

End of a Season - September 30, 2011

Well today is September 30th and the end of a season. The weather for the month of September was a little on the iffy side but still a good month for photos. The weather gave me the opportunity test my speedlite and see some warblers passing through. I've seen the changing colors of the Indigo Bunting and found out just how good my patience were when a Ruby-throat Hummingbird darted in and out.

A good percentage (98%) of the photos I took this month were all taken out by Pte Mouillee on Roberts Rd. A handful were taken at Lake Erie Metro Park. On one of my outings I was asked by a gentleman just how many different species have I photographed this year and I had to tell him I had never given that any thought. My goal was just to get that one picture that I hadn't gotten before. So I sat down and decided to count the birds that I photographed this month and came up with 31 different species not counting the raptors that were at the Hawk-fest.

Here is my list: American Redstart, American Goldfinch, Bald Eagle, Baltimore Oriole, Black & white Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Cedar Waxwings, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellow-throats, Connecticut Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Great-crested Flycatcher, Egret, Indigo Bunting, Lincoln Sparrow, Magnolia Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Water-thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Palm Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ruby-throat Hummingbird, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Warbling Vireo, and Wood Ducks.

At the Hawk-fest in Lake Erie Metro Park I took photos of: an Auger Buzzard (Africa's version of our Red-tail Hawk), Barbary Falcon (found in the Canary Islands and lower Middle East), Eurasian Eagle Owl (found in Europe and Asia - smaller than a Golden Eagle and larger than a Snowy Owl), Pharaoh Eagle Owl (found in Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, etc) and our Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel and Red-tail Hawk.

Other photos taken this month were of a Cabbage White, Monarch, Buckeye, Saddleback Dragonfly, Bull frog, a smaller frog (haven't got a clue as to what kind), a snake, Morning Glories and Pokeweed. There were also some scenery photos taken as well.

And now on to October - til my next post.

A Quiet Weekend - August 12, 2011

I spent this weekend at my brother's house - joining in with my sister-in-law in a yard sale. The first day (Friday) was very quiet so I sat out on the deck and decided to just watch the local visitors to their enormous flower bed. Good thing I brought my camera or I really wouldn't have anything to do. They get a lot of House Sparrows and an occasional American Goldfinch. In this huge grape vine that has spread out and onto the branches of the tree in their backyard lives two Cardinals. There was a Northern Flicker (heard and seen) but he just wouldn't co-operate to get a photo. When the birds disappeared I decided to photograph a bee that's been going through the Rose of Sharon like it's a fast food diner.

After a while I moved myself to the inside of the house where my brother is the owner of two dogs, Crash and Shadow and two cats. Malarkey came from the Wyandotte Animal Shelter about 4 years ago and the newest addition to their family is Dumpster. Dumpster was found by two kids who went to take the trash out to the dumpster and they heard him crying. Their mom was allergic so the next day she was telling my my sister-in-law about this and well she went and pick it up and brought this less than 5 week old kitten home. After a visit to the vet, eye drops for his eyes, some medicine and a safe spot to sleep this little guy is doing just fine.

Til my next post.