Tuesday, April 13, 2010: Osprey Heaven in the Kawarthas

Today I made a jaunt to Ken Reid CA on Sturgeon Lake, and enjoyed a few hours with a lovely newlywed Osprey couple that no doubt have just returned to the area, having settled into their new digs with pretty much only one thing on their mind after chowing down on fish: MATING.

Here are some random shots of the pair, primarily just chilling for a bit, enjoy!

Then it got interesting with the arrival of a third osprey into their territory, their wedded bliss was over, as both the male and female left the nest, and the male eventually drove off the intruder, screaming all the while.

And speaking of intruders, that's how I felt with what happened next, the female returned to the nest, then the male did, but he landed on top of her and stayed there for probably a minute or so.

Here they are afterwards, "Anyone gotta a light?"

Chicks soon to follow?? hmmmmmmmmmmm

April 12, 2010: Beamer, Fisherville, Nanticoke, both Reesor Ponds

Headed off to Beamer in Grimsby for the spring Hawkwatch with Doug and John, returning home 12 hours later, and despite favourable thermals, the raptors were not taking the right flight-path! But we still had a great day, total ended at 51 species, with 6 new ones for the year. Raptor of the Day was the Turkey Vulture, whose numbers prove that they are far from being on any endangered list for the time being:

Here are Doug and John on the Beamer observation platform, I successfully persuaded them to NOT jump due to the poor raptor count:

We continued on to the Fisherville area, but dipped on the resident Short-eared Owls, but were fortunate to score some other beauties, including a few Horned Larks, a Savannah Sparrow, a Wild Turkey (not the liquid kind) and these four Sandhill Cranes flying overhead:

We then made our way south to Lake Erie, for these Bonaparte Gulls:

We knew it was late when we saw the afternoon school buses on the roads, so we made our way back home to the GTA, and diehards that we were, stopped off at both "Reesor Ponds" just before sunset, and were rewarded with our first Caspian Tern of the year, as well as Blue-Winged Teals.

Here are some Ring-Necked Ducks- for my non-avian readers with extremely good eyesight: yeah, I know, the bill is ringed, not the neck, welcome to Birding Hell:

The day ended almost 12 hours later, with the author having to lie to her Better Half as to how long the puppinskies had been left alone all day, she'll know better next time :-)

Sunday, April 11, 2010: Scarborough Specialties with Ann

Robert and I met up with Ann this morning, and enjoyed great success with some beauties. Still struggling w the new camera, as it's soooooooooo easy to stay in The Safe Place and avoid MANUAL settings, but with Ann's patience and great advice that she so willingly shares with us, I'm taking baby-steps out of my Safe Zone.

Highlight was a Screech Owl, who had been harassed by squirrels.

My second BOTD was this male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (he has a red throat that the female lacks), he was going insane drilling holes in this tree, which he will return to later for the sap and any insects the sap will attract. Notice the holes on the tree trunk:

Also took an interesting shot of the frequently-overlooked Crow:

Saturday, April 10, 2010; Rice Lake Round Deux

Robert decided he wanted to see what all the Osprey hoopla was about after hearing how successful last week-end's jaunt up there was with Ann, so on the spur of the moment we headed off in the early-afternoon. Saw numerous Turkey Vultures on the way up, and the further north we got on hwy 28, the more OSPREYS we saw, final tally for the few hours we were there came in at 12. Didn't take too many photos, tho, as the W wind was a deterrent and eventually sporadic showers sent us packing. At the first nest from last w/e was a kettle of Ospreys, no doubt moving back into town from their southern wintering grounds. Here's a sampling.

Friday April 9, 2010; Who said it doesn't snow in APRIL?

Once again, The Boys and I began our day shivering away in blustery west winds at Reesor Pond, with quick views of the visiting Snow Geese. Jean Iron's arrival added yet another opinion on the third Mystery Goose from earlier in the week, and photos have been forwarded to her for final confirmation of its identity, watch this space....

After making the mandatory warm-up stop at the nearest Timmie's, we continued on to Rotary Park, ending up in the "shelter" of Thickson's Woods, where 4 new species were added to my 2010 list. Doug and John continued their denial of the occasional snowflakes that plagued us, but seeing our first round of Marsh Marigolds in bloom warmed us up.

Despite dipping on the reported Yellow-rumped Warbler (who needs it, we already had the over-wintering one in Port Credit- hah!), we succeeded in locating the 1st Pine Warbler of the year.

And here's my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet for the year, what a show-off!

Finally got a photo of one of the several Hermit Thrushes, as well as one of the resident Great Horned Owls, thanks to the mobbing crows- the owl's glaring stare no doubt reflects his feelings about the winds and snow.

Wednesday April 7, 2010- Dash B4 the rain arrived

Doug & I met up w John at Reesor Pond where quite a crowd were engaged in a "is-it-a-Snow-vs-Ross's Goose" discussion . You be the judge.

Here's the 3rd one taking off w the Canada Geese:

From there, we scooted over to Second Marsh for the first Bonaparte & Little Gulls of the year, ending up at Thickson's Woods for the Fox Sparrows & this Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, but the rain won out in the end and we called it a Day.