...what you're going to see or not see when it comes to birds, and today was one of those "not see" kind of days. But Ann's good company made up for the lack of birds, as we arrived at Ravenshoe Road looking for owls. My theory is that I jinxed the day by posting some cutesy remark on Facebook this morning before heading out, some sort of drivel about "hoping to see owls" and sadly, it came back to bite me in the end.
My first highlight of the day was witnessing Ann drive in reverse for several miles along the embankments. I eventually was able to loosen my death grip on the door handle to raise up my binos to see my second highlight of the day, these Snow Buntings on the snow duh!:
Ann and I complained about the bitterly cold north winds that ripped through the open windows of the car, but then I remembered that for these pretty birds from the Arctic, this was their version of Florida!
We drove around the area, including Holland Marsh and other secret side roads that I'll never be able to find myself again, scanning the snow-covered landscapes for hawks, owls, and, quite frankly, anything that moved.
Other than the occasional American Crow, Mourning and Rock Doves, and a Red-tailed Hawk, we saw nothing. Unless you count the Great Horned Owl on a rooftop- did I mention that it was plastic?
Out of frustration desperation a yearning desire to explore more of this beautiful province, we stopped off at the Kortright Centre for Conservation in Woodbridge is it time for me to consider a membership?? This was my second time there in as many days
I was able to show Ann around the area as we continued our search for anything with feathers, staying true to ourselves by not counting the two stuffed owls (as in dead "stuffed" versus toy "stuffed", that is) on display at the Visitors Centre. The bird scarcity trend remained intact, especially if we were reduced to taking photos of an American Tree Sparrow...
...a female Downy Woodpecker...
...and a male House Finch:
On a positive note, though, just when we feared we had totally dipped on the Bohemian Waxwings, a small flock of both Cedar and Bohemians flew into a tree high above us. The viewing conditions were certainly not ideal, but I was happy that Ann was finally able to see them, as I had enjoyed them so much myself on Monday.
Ann contemplates the most efficient way to climb up those trees for that perfect shot of the Bohemian Waxwings...
...but instead is content not really with the view she had of them from below:
"So that's all she wrote" for our day together- almost.
As I proof-read this post, I admit to finding it mind-boggling how much I'm able to stretch a day of seeing virtually nothing to this!
5 comments:
I think those wonderful snow buntings are the highlight for me. They look like china birds - absolutely exquisite. So not a wasted day for your followers anyway.
Thanks so much, Alison, they really ARE quite precious, aren't they? Hoping to see larger flocks of them through the winter for some flight shots, too...
LOL! You're a riot. And I don't doubt for a minute the backwards driving, and Ann contemplating a climb up those spindly trees!
To quote my dear cottage friend Peter Crawford, (who sadly passed away this year), as author of the local Rose Street Rag he was always "striving for the truth but not letting facts get in the way of the story."
The reverse driving part WAS the Truth, Chris, the tree-climbing part not so much, though (I don't think, anyway!).
You both are terrible. My driving forward got me in the ditch. My backwards driving was a breeze. Watching janice remind me to stay in the middle of road only made me go faster lol. Trees climbing no way but janice i could tell them about the dump snd fence!!!!!!!!!
Post a Comment