Wet, Cold & Eventful - 09/25/2010

Headed up north on Friday to get in an extra day of fishing for what would be our last time fishing on the Ausable for the season. The smaller of my two cats (Peanut) went up with us – she wasn’t feeling well and she had an allergic reaction to her vaccination that she got on Thursday. The weather was cold, windy and wet – I can say that I did not get in any fishing as planned but my boyfriend did. For me I spent the weekend (except for when I sat in the truck while he went wading) in my blind watching the birds fly in and out like planes at the airport.

One after another the birds perched themselves on the branches where the feeders were waiting their turns to get seed. Black-capped chickadees flew in three/four at a time chasing this one off and losing a turn. White-breasted Nuthatches were doing the same. Red-breasted Nuthatches were going to the feeder off to the side where no other bird was going except for a few chickadees. The Blue Jays joined in sometimes two – sometimes four at a time looking for the corn that I left on the bench to keep the squirrels away from the feeders.

Other birds that came in to store up were the Downy Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker, A Red-bellied Woodpecker, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker made another appearance and the Pileated Woodpecker soared in from out of no where.

There were other birds in the area as well – some kept to the tree tops and only came down so far. Some also were very much back-lighted and I just couldn’t focus in to tell what they were. On Saturday there were three White-throated Sparrows scurrying around on the ground under the trees – it wasn’t until they hopped up to a branch that I was able to get a shot. On Sunday while the Pileated was on the tree to my left, chickadees, nuthatches, and a few Tufted Titmouse were on the tree in front of me an Hermit Thrush made an appearance to the right of me. So many to choose from, not enough hands or cameras to take advantage of this over-whelming opportunity.

Now I will say that although the squirrels can be entertaining (and believe me there were quite a few) there was one little Yellow-rump Warbler that was interesting to watch. In all the books that I have gone through when looking for birds there are those that will go to feeders and those that won’t. This little Warbler would start at the top of the trees and work its way down til it was within inches of the feeder and then take off. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just waiting for me to turn my back so it could see what the others were getting out of this screened cage with seed. Was it worth the plunge? I know it came close to trying the pancake/peanut butter mixture in the hold of this stump and then changed its mind. Guess I will never know.

That was the end of my weekend - til my next post...

My Little Bird Fest - Sept. 10, 2010

Friday - today is my brother Steven's birthday and my sister Nancy and I decided to take him out for lunch, but before doing that I decided that if I go out about 7 and return around 10 I'll have enough time to get ready and meet everyone. I headed out to Roberts Road (Reaume Rd to Roberts) to see if anything was just sitting in the trees or on the poles. There usually is - the only problem is that the light is in back of them and today wasn't any different. Perched on a power line there is an American Kestrel and on the post a little ways away is a Hawk (too far to tell what kind) - on the other side of the road a row of Starlings.

I traveled down to the end of Roberts Road and park there for about a half hour just watching the birds fly in and out of the fragmites. As I leave the parking lot movement catches my eye and the fun begins. I saw and hopefuly captured a decent photo of the following bird: Pine Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellow-throat, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, a Nothern Flicker that was doing their best to get the attention of another Flicker (and succeeded), Blackpoll Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler and a couple of Baltimore Orioles. (female & immature).

I watched the Flicker for some time pruning herself, acting coy, looking to see if she caught the eye of a male that was close by and I didn't see until he took a couple of leaps towards her. The American Redstart was the last bird I saw on this outing, as quick as he popped his little head out of the branches that's how fast he was gone.

As I started to head home this Red-tail Hawk posed very patiently as I pulled my vehicle off to the side of the rode. After a few shots he took off, as I watched him fly away I noticed that there was another sitting on another pole just behind me.

On Saturday I decided to go down to Roberts Road again but unfortunately not a bird could be found. Do you think with all the shooting that is going on now due to hunting this and/or hunting that the birds go someplace else where it's safer and less noisey?? I did go to LEMP where a Detroit unit of the Audubon was there looking at birds through their binoculars shouting "Black and White Warbler", "Blue-headed Vireo", "Golden Eagle" no Robin. When I caught up with them they were looking up and there perched on a top branch of a tree sat a Hummingbird. After snapping a few shots I decided that it was time to head home. All in all not a bad weekend. Til my next post.

New Camera to Shoot With - August 30, 2010

For a while now I have been thinking about getting a new camera. Not that there was anything wrong with what I had (Rebel XT) but I really thought that it was time to upgrade. I went and purchased a Canon 50D - to go along with my EF 100-400mm f4.5 - 5.6L IS USM lens, along with the battery grip (one heavy piece of equipment - literally). I took the camera out as soon as I got it (without the calibration) and took the first three shots shown in the column to the right of my blog page.

My friend Jerry helped me calibrate my lens to the camera (I didn't even know that needed to be done) on Friday morning (a week later) I took it out that afternoon , Saturday and Sunday. The next three shots in the right column were taken after calibration of the lens.

As with anything new you always want to experiment - and I and I can't wait for the Labor Day weekend so I can do just that. So... Til my next post.

Fourth of July Surprise - 07/22/2010

July is fast coming to an end. My little trek up to St Ignace is next week and I am hoping that the weather is a little more forgiving than it has been. I only have a couple of highlights for this month. The Fourth of July weekend was a stay at home weekend for me. This was the first time in 12 years of going up north that we didn't. But on the 4th I decided to go over to Pte Mouillee and see if there was anyting interesting out there. As I traveled down Campau Road I watched a couple of Yellow Warblers flying through the trees. One stayed on one side of the road the other flew to the other side. After taking the photos mom and baby reunited and I was off down the road.

I sat outside the gate of Pte Moo HQ on Campau Rd because in the past there's always so much activity going on in the foilage out there. With the slight breeze that brushes the tops of the bushes there is the occasional jerking in the bushes. Robins working their way from the ground up. Cardinals playing catch me if you can. An occasional outburst from the Gray Catbirds that are in there - they just don't want you to see them.

As the temperatures started to rise and the sun beating in on the right side of the vehicle movement in the bottom of the thicket caught my attention. Not really being able to see what it was (not even through the lens of my camera) I decided to just focus in on whatever I could grab and snap a couple of shots. Must say when I got home to view my shots of the day I was a little surprised at what I had photographed. A baby Great Horned Owl (seemed to have wakened from a nap). Although I didn't see mom or dad around I'm sure they were keeping a watchful eye on this one.

My next outing was this past Sunday - I went out to Campau Road again but after an hour and a half nothing was happening so I moved my way down to Roberts Rd. Roberts Rd has been good to me - it seems to be the place where I can usually grab my first shot of something. Today I got my first decent photo of an Indigo Bunting. This little guy seemd to be everywhere I traveled down that road (unless he had a lot of friends). As you travel the road there is a trumpet bush that that day seem to attract a Red Admiral, a Red-spotted Purple, a Monarch, a Common Sulfur, a few different Dragonflies (of which I have no idea of their names), and an Oriole hid amongst the orange. If a Hummingbird would have appeared it would have made my day - but no such luck. With the road coming to an end I decided to head on home. Til my next post.

June Highlights - 2010

Things at work got a little strenuous when the girl who takes care of Exports and Imports of samples went out on medical. Her duties were divided between me and another when we were asked to fill in til she got back. This left me exhausted and I found no time and unfortunately no desire to go birding. While visiting a friends house on Grosse Ille a Red-headed Woodpecker landed on the feeder, sadly I did not have my camera on this visit. Another trip out there again that weekend (with camera) was good timing - the woodpecker landed on the feeder again. I took a picture of the bird through the window just in case it disappeared before I got around to the back of the house. Another visit gave me two. This was it for June. Til my next post.

Mother's Day - 05/09/2010

Ah! Mother's Day - the day when mom's all over the world think that today is just about them. Well it is and today I am grabbing my camera and heading out to see what I can find in the birding world. A trip down Roberts Rd is my first stop. Driving down Reaume all I see are (what seems to be hundreds) of Tree and Barn Swallows just swooping in and out catching the mosquitoes that I'm sure are out. The foilage is filling in all the bear spots beautifully and the sounds of birds singing is coming from them. There was a Yellow Warbler blasting out a tune and a couple Gray Catbird's playing chase amongst the tree branches. A Peregrine was flying overhead along with a couple of vultures. It never came down close enough to get a photo - kept going over the hill to the gravel pit. In spite of all the singing the only other bird that made an appearance was an Eastern Kingbird. On that note I decided to go over to Campau Rd and sit outside the gate where all the bushes are - something's bound to appear there.

First a pass through the gate to see if anything is flying around the water. There was a couple of families of geese. There was one couple that had two little ones, and another family had six. There was a mama Kildeer with her one little darling. On the lines above before you pass through the gate again a Tree Swallow with two little ones perch quietly and take in the sun. I parked outside the gate for about an hour to watch and listen and hope that something would land for me to photograph.

The Cardinals never let you down when you want to take a picture. I couldn't believe how red the males still are. The Baltimore Orioles were flying through like they were Robins. USusally when I've spotted one its usually one or two and they're so far up in the tree or hidden by leaves that you just can't focus in. But this one fella landed in the top of the brush and I sat patiently hoping that he would make his way to the top instead of flying off. I must say he was very cooperative.

I managed a shot or two of a Bumble Bee and a Red Admiral. When all was done and with places to go and things to do I decided to head home. But before I left a Yellow Warbler landed in a tree along the road and allowed me to take a few photos of him. A good way to end my outing. Hope all the mom's had a good day. Til my next post!

Better Late Than Never - May 7, 2010

I started this back when it happened but unfortunately other things came up that just didn’t make this possible – so I call this “Better Late Than Never”

April 10, 2010 – Sometimes do you ever come to the conclusion that more happens in your own backyard than out there some where? Today I went out to walk the trails over at Lake Erie Metro Park only to find that it was rather quiet. At home I have the Goldfinches, House Finches, a couple of Downey’s and the other feathered menagerie that hangs out back. But late in the afternoon my son was brought upstairs by the melodious sounds of a Northern Flicker. I watched as it left the tree out back to the light post across the street. Soon it flew to the tree directly across from my driveway – only to be joined by another. With camera shooting away I walked closer and closer to the birds. By the time I had reached the middle of the road they were on the other side of the tree so I followed. Now they were where I started and then flew away as I tried to catch up. Not a bad two-some.

Oakwood Metro Park Bound – April 18, 2010

As you turn onto Huron River Drive from Van Horn you can’t help but notice the beautiful purple foliage on the trees across from the cemetery. It’s around 8:30 and there is not one in the park except for the grounds crew near the Nature Center. As you get the 1 mile mark from the center there’s a little movement on the tree to my right – I make a U-turn to head back towards it and get a photo. Just before I entered the parking lot on my left I notice a bird in the tree – it takes off and I drove slowly to see where it might land and maybe get a couple of photos. Just as I slow down the bird takes flight and there I am driving very slowly to see where it might land. Well it landed on the right hand side – in some tall grasses. I tried to focus in on something so I can take my shot and see what it might be. Not sure about the rest of you but it’s not easy for me to take a shot from the driver side out the passenger side window – and you don’t dare get out of the car because the slightest move urges the bird to take flight. The shot wasn’t clear – but it was clear enough to make out an Eastern Meadowlark.

The trails didn’t really give me anything to shoot until I decided to back track and take one of the middle trails that got you back to a shorter trail. On this part of the trail I found a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Brown Creeper on a distant tree and numerous Hermit Thrushes.

On my drive out I decided to go to the right to see if I could spot any Eastern Bluebirds which I didn’t get to see the last time here – it had appeared then that the houses had been taken over by the Tree Swallows. But not today, perched on the tree on the corner (with distracting branches) a Blue-bird. I tried to get a picture or two but with no luck. One did fly down to the road, unfortunately I was pulled up away from it and if I were to start up my vehicle to back up it would have flown the coop. So I took pictures the best I could. Not clear ones again but none the less I can prove I saw the bird. Not a bad day.

The End of the Month - April 28, 2010

It’s always a good day when you can get a picture of a bird that you have never shot before. What’s as good as that? Getting a bird in your yard that’s never been there before is right up there with a good day. Sometime late Wednesday afternoon while my two cats sat in the window with there eyes on a rabbit, a Hermit Thrush landed in the back yard near the window. Excited I ran to get the camera and try to get a few photos. Of course by the time I got out there it was gone. I stood for a while and scoped out the yard and there it was in the back behind all the foliage that has started to grow in the yard. Patiently I just snapped away hoping that it would come out far enough to get a good shot. Patience does pay off.

This was my month of April – til my next post.