Back in the Kayak on Friday, August 5th

Early in the morning, this little guy greeted me off the dock. I have since seen him a few times at dawn, and this past week-end my dog Mia sniffed something under the dock, so perhaps the Otters spend time eating their meals on the concrete rubble that was once our original dock: 

Perfect conditions allowed me to venture out on the lake again with my camera gear in the kayak for the second time this season, over six weeks later. It was a week day which meant less boat traffic, the lake was smooth as glass, and the lighting was perfect, so off I went after smuggling my camera gear into the kayak without Robert knowing, shhhhhh for a quiet paddle.

The next few hours were outstanding, as there's never any guarantee of birds in this hobby, but my first Common Loon of the day was found ten minutes into my paddle:

I continued on to where the Loon family had been seen last time in the kayak and was disappointed to see only one of the parents (what a spoiled brat am I, should I not have been pleased to see even one???). There was no sign of the mother or chick, so you take what you get, right? 

The next half hour was spent positioning myself with the sun behind me, the kayak pointed forward so I could properly steady my camera, and the Loon directly in front of me, while always keeping a safe distance from him, even though at times he'd dive under and then come up alongside my boat to check me out. It was great fun, my silent back-paddling skills have also since improved, as the kayak would gradually turn around. Oh, and of course there's the small detail that the Loon swims and dabbles all over the place!

So here goes with what I saw, as he primped and preened...

...then checked me out, did he think I was just another large red bird sitting out on the lake with him?

...calling out at me, even though he was the one who swam into me!

...doing a wing stretch:

...then back to more preening:

...then swimming up close to me again as the sound of my camera shutter drew him in:

...then it was time for that amusing foot stretch they like to do:

Suddenly I heard a plaintive call of another Loon from across the lake, dare I venture across to see if it's the mother with the chick? You betcha, so off I went, as perhaps a fishing boat that I saw off in the distance had prompted her to call out...

I paddled across the lake and this is what greeted me, I was blown away by how much the Loon chick had grown in six weeks:

 

Here's what it looked like the last time I'd seen it from my kayak, sticking pretty close to mom, unable to dive...

...but look at it now, as mom brings in breakfast for it:

Mom puts on a show when the chick would disappear and dive under water:

 

 

 

The chick's eye is redder now, with distinctive markings now visible on its feathers, if you double-click on this photo to see more detail:

 

Suddenly the father that I'd spent time with earlier flew in to join up with the family, here's how he was greeted, I was hard-pressed to not tip the kayak over with excitement!

After minimal reaction from mom, dad checked me out again, as I strived to keep my distance from all three of them, while keeping the sun behind me, and my camera dry:

 

 

The chick honed up its diving skills, and at times I sensed that mom was a tad frustrated when she was unable to determine in advance where the chick would re-appear:

They eventually set off together, and I decided it was also time for me to leave them to their morning routine, having already taken about eight hundred photos:

 

 

I safely paddled back to the cottage after another thrilling few hours on the seas with the Loons, knowing full well that it may have been my last time for the season with them on the water, as fall migration is now well under way.

Could my day get any better?

...and the same sunset a short while later:

 

The Calm Before The Storm

Ten days ago at the cottage I was totally crying the blues about how quiet it had been on the birding front, but since then I've been begging for mercy. I am now so cynical about my latest avian adventures that the call of a loon right off the dock now makes me groan, I kid you not. 

But let's rewind to Thursday, August 4th, when even the Osprey in our area were MIA, as the babies continue to fledge and expand their territories, and the parents enjoy some freedom from the nests once again.  

 

A single young Hooded Merganser was swimming near the beach:

One of the few Ospreys that I saw that day, this one's an adult:

It was so slow that my camera lens was drawn to Mallards:

 

This one preened itself in the sunshine:

 

Cedar Waxwings continue to be seen everywhere:

 

And yes, it's arrived: warbler hell! Well, not quite, these two were readily identified, first a Butter Butt, aka a Yellow-rumped Warbler:

This first fall female Black-and-white Warbler was a good find, what a pretty young bird!

My slow day ended with this off the dock:

Little did I know that I should have been savouring the slow pace, as the next several days would mean a few thousand photos to sift through... 

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

I was so focused on my Pelee trip report that I've neglected some other miscellaneous days out in the field, going back to early July when by chance I discovered a Red-tailed Hawk nest in the Scugog area, thanks to two very noisy babies (I always drive with both windows down and the air-conditioning totally off so I can hear better):

The younger one of  the two is quite perturbed that its older sibling is already out of the nest:

The older one looks back up at its sibling still in the nest:

I made a few return trips over the next few weeks with no luck as they were both out of the nest and expanding their territory, until this past week-end when the older one was seen in a tree:

If you stay in your car, you'll see more beauties like this, the older one:

The next day I finally found the younger one, its head is still out of proportion to its body:

...enjoying the early morning sunshine over a stream:

I hope to see them again over the next few weeks before they disappear!

Last week found John and I battling poison ivy in the Ganaraska Forest to add an Acadian Flycatcher to our year list, even if we never did get a visual on him. On our way home we stopped off at Sobey's pond, and one of the shorebirds we saw was this young Spotted Sandpiper (ssssh,John. Still hating shorebirds, but not as much as GULLS)...

...and a lifer dragonfly for me, a stunning Calico Pennant:

Another trip to the cottage a few days later confirmed that Fall Warbler Hell has already begun, as this first year male Mourning Warbler presented himself to me (thanks to Doug, Skip, and Master John for their input on this sucker):

On the week-end near the Long Sault Conservation Area, baby sparrows were plentiful as they soaked up the rain, here's a young Chipping Sparrow (I did much better on identifying these all on my own than that warbler and sandpiper, arghhhh)...

...and one of a pair of young Grasshopper Sparrows  that I saw:

The Osprey babies near the cottage are now everywhere too, one of my favorite nests has two babies that have yet to fledge. The two babies can be seen here, sitting lower in the nest:

...still young enough to be fed:

Only a few days later, one of the babies can be seen in the nest while a parent looks on:

While just a few kilometres away, the babies have fledged, one of them was practising flight manoeuvres when I arrived:

Eventually it landed on a hydro wire right next to me, where I spent the next hour just watching it sit and preen and balance itself in the winds off the lake:

So you all know where I'm going to be over the next few weeks, right? Living on any back roads enjoying these babies as they learn how to fly and explore their exciting new world as they venture out of the nest, I wonder what's going through their minds??