Winter Goldeneyes

After seeing a post on NF.birds on Wednesday that chamberlains had goldeneye hanging around and also that there was a female buffel head sticking around i wasn't long heading down Thursday morning.
Even though i didn't get to see the buffel head, i did see some goldeneye and many gulls (not great looks)

I was surprised to see about 15 black headed gulls flying along the shore, they offered some cool photo oops !

So far my bird feeder does not have any action.But I'm sure with in a few weeks it should pick up.I seen a small hawk flying around the Field behind my house chasing little birds so i would assume that, that wont help bird feeder action

Cape Spear & St.Johns

Today i was able to get out birding with Alvan Buckley and his girlfriend, we started the morning by birding cape spear, at first it was a little dull with not much bird activity but the sunrise was quite nice !

Then the brids began to show them selves, we seen a flock of about 76 purple sandpipers which was a first for me ! It was amazing to see how at home they are right next to a raging sea.


They were moving around the shore and eventually landed not to far from us !

Other things we seen off the point were: 9 Dovekie around the rocks (good looks through Alvan's scope) 17 long-tailed ducks flying around in the open water, 2 white winged scooter that had been seen before earlier in the week ( a lifer for me ) and a first winter Bald eagle that soared right over our heads !
Also there were sea duck hunters in a small camo boat just off the point that i don't think helped out our sea watch !

After wards we headed to the town of blackhead and surrounding areas where we seen a huge flock of about 80 American robins and we also herd a pine grosbeak !



We then proceeded to see if we could relocate the sora that Alvan had found the evening before at Kent's pond.With in 20 Min's of our arrival the soara appeared out of the woods and began to feed and drink just meters away !

I had mentioned that i hadn't seen the cape may warbler that had been hanging around gene herzberg's feeder.So we dropped in there and sure enough it was there feeding on the suet (another lifer for me !) as you can see the day was good and just got better !
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To finish up the day we headed to Nevile's pond in paradise so Alvan could see the Eurasian wigeon that i found was hanging around the area now for a few weeks


Now when my bird feeders start to get action i will post the species that i am seeing !

The First Of Winter Birding

So far winter birding has been pretty slow for me with school and work Ive been kept busy.
I did get out today with a good friend and i was surprised  at how frozen everything is.
This cold weather has froze up most ponds meaning ducks are forced into the small bodies of open water, this is great for photography because you can get close to birds that you would normally not be able to go so close to !

Today i was able to go to look for the red bellied woodpecker with no success but i also checked Burton's pond in the MUN campus, which was home to many tuffed ducks ! They offerd great photo opportunities


I cant get enough of these play full little diving ducks, they make a very unique sound and have a strange behaviour. I hope too go back and get some more shots of these little guys !

Also today i went out on a little bird feeder shopping spree i picked up what i hope will do me for quite some time


Now tomorrow morning I'm hoping to go birding with some more experienced birders and i will make sure to post what i see ! Merry Christmas !

Posts to come

This i just a quick post of some recent shots i got, Christmas break will soon be here and i plan on posting quite a bit to make up for posts not done......enjoy :)

Waiting in Anticipation

Ive been birding a few times over the past few weeks but haven't turned up anything different.I actually went one day with out seeing anything ! That day was last weekend when me and a friend birded most of the southern shore checking the "hot spots" but found hardly any common birds.I still did enjoy myself, just being out is a always fun!
Now with report cards going out Thursday and mid terms not far away i would imagine I'm not going to get out till winter.
But; with winter comes some of the best birding ! Quidy vidy will soon become gull and tuffed duck heaven and we should start seeing some cedar waxwings and maybe if we are lucky we will get a rarity or two !
On a more interesting note, i was at Burton's pond in the MUN campus looking for the coots and any other birds that might be hanging around.
I didn't find many birds but what i did find was a little less then appetizing !

Yes that's right RATS the place was crawling with rats.I thought rats were not very active during the day but as you can see i was wrong.They were feeding on food left over by people feeding the ducks.
Before i left i had seen a total of about 20-30 rats.Also the campus its self had a lot of sign that rats were in the buildings, i seen where rats had holes dud going into the buildings and, there were holes chewed in exposed insulation around the campus.

I'm sorry if the blog is dead for awhile.I will try a post when or if i see something worth talking about.
OH ! i forgot to mention i seen my first snow buntings at cape spear 2 weekends ago !

Gull watching in St.Johns Habour

Today i set out I'm hopes of finding an uncommon or rare gull,
I headed down to one of the best places around to watch gulls....where else then the st.johns sewer outlet !
When i arrived the sun was shining in my eyes so that took away any good photo opps, i did stay a while and just scan with my binos but couldn't find anything among the kayotic feeding frenzy !
There was about 20 black headed gulls there of note and then the usual gulls.

After looking at the sewer gulls i headed behind the Harvey building where i was tipped off that there was cormorants hanging out.There wasn't any cormorants but there was an odd looking gull with a leg band that was surprisingly tame ! I got some pretty good shots of him and i am now waiting for an ID confirmation !
Also, i noticed about 30 small birds hanging out around a memorial that's near the Harvey building.I wasn't able to get a shot before they flew away.

November First

     Today after school i was able to pop up to Nevile's pond and get some new pictures and some dog berry's for the birds in winter.
So far the pond is home to about 80 American black ducks and mallards, 1 green wing teal, 1 blue wing teal (not there as of today), 7 ring bills,and now numbers of gulls are starting to gather on the wharfs around the pond !
After gathering my winter supply of dog Berry's for the waxwings i went and got a few pictures of the ducks !

After getting some photos of the ducks i headed up the side of the pond to karwood cabins where i seen a number of gulls hanging out !
I cant see any "rare" species in these photos but maybe you can so please comment if you see anything !

I'm trying my best to find someone to go birding with asap to try and find some of the cooler birds that have been popping up all over the place !
Also this year I'm going to go big with bird feeders ! i have decided if i cant get to the birds then whats a better way then to bring the birds to me ! I will then update the blog almost daily with photos and updates of what I'm seeing at my feeders.

Fall Birding So Far

So far i haven't birded at all this fall. High school has hit me like a ton of bricks and I'm buried in home work ! From E=MC^2 to C2o and everything in between.NF.birds has been booming with sightings and only makes me want to get out more !
I have been checking Nevile's pond but not much action there besides about 10 wigeon,7 scaup and many American blacks and mallards.I thought a few days back i seen a blue wing teal there but couldn't confirm.
If an when i do get out i hope to enjoy and try my best to find some cool birds.I haven't seen any buntings,vireos,chats or anything like that so almost anything along the lines of that would be a real treat !
I'm sure anyone reading this blog from the Avalon knows how nice of a spring we have been having ! Great weather and great birds.....just not for me lol

Some more positive news is that Newfoundland Power has agreed to place 2 utility poles for me to put osprey nesting platforms on !
Anyone who knows a good place that is in need of a pole just e-mail me and ill try my best to get one set up !

Here are a few pictures i got at the pond last weekend

Not a Succes but not bad.

I have been keeping a close eye on Nevile's pond after i found a male hooded merganser and failed to get a shot of him.
There have been a juvenile female common goldeneye and some wigeon hanging around there as well.

This male is not in full plumage but i still love the colours he has been showing off.The female goldeneye was not as tame but i did get some record shots.

 

I plan on placing a nest box here next spring because you never know when a cavity Nester could be around.
I am hoping to get out Saturday at some birds and hopefully get some nice shots to put up here on the blog.

Today i didn't get any real good shots because the wind was almost knocking me off my feet.It got o the point where the wind was so hard i had to wait to look through my binos because the wind would move me so much i couldn't stay still !

I like this shot because you get to take in all the patterns and shades of the male Eurasian wigeon !

Gulls of 2011

I always disliked gulls because they are so numerous and widespread and there reputation as a nuisance.It has only been this year that i have taken a keen interest in them.I think what got me going on gulls was the amazing photos Dave brown has of even the most common gulls.

I have been reading my field guides and doing a little bit of research on some of the gulls i have seen and some of the gulls i hope to see before the year is out.

I have also been checking a on a website that talks about gulls banded on cape sable island and there migration patterns.Its interesting to see how far some of them have gone and i think it would be cool if one was spotted at quidi vidy lake this winter !

I myself have been trying to get some close ups with some common gulls and so far i think I'm doing good.

          So far i have seen :

• Laughing gull
• Black-headed gull
• Mew gull
• Ring-billed gull
• Herring gull
• Great black-backed gull
• Glaucous gull

Before 2011 is out I'm hoping to see:

• Franklin's gull
• Little gull
• Bonaparte's gull
• Yellow-legged gull
• Lesser black-backed
• Iceland gull
• Thayers gull
• Ivory gull
• Sabine's gull
  I know some of them I'm going to have to be pretty lucky to see an others i expect to see.
  Its always good to have a wish list !

In my next post i may talk about a male hooded merganser i recently found or some song birds i plan on hunting down soon !

Gulls

I'm working on a future post about gulls.I going to talk about my new intrest in them and what species i have seen thus far.Also i will talk about what gulls i would like to see before the year comes to an end.

Cold Nights And Cool Mornings

Its that time of year again when the leaves beggin to change and frost apears on the windshield of your car in the morning.Not much longer and you will see the leaves changing.I haven't been doing ANY birding in a while now because Ive been wrapped up in school.I also noticed its getting darker eariler in the day and its always cold in the mornings while waiting for the school bus.
I am hoping to get to bear cove before all the warblers migrate.I am always reading posts of large numbers of warblers there and many rare species.I haven't experienced much warbler action let alone a rare species so seeing bear cove in its prime would be a treat !
I noticed a decrease in people checking up on shorebirds so I'm assuming that in the near future were going to have a rarity.Shorebirds are always great for photos but they usually offer great looks and they never get boring !

The blog may be pretty dull the next couple of weeks unless i get out to bear cove or do some shore birding.

Vortex Crossfire 8x42

The other day i went out and Finlay got my new binos.They are waterproof & fog proof which is something you must have when birding.They also come with Vortex`s VIP warranty which means if i drop them and break them or scratch them or anything Vortex will replace them no questions asked.You can not beat that.

Now I'm off to second pond to see if  i can find the pectoral sandpiper that was spotted there and also 2 blue wing teal ! If i find them that's 2 more birds for the year last ! Stay tuned !

 

Updates

School is now in full swing and Ive already had homework.To say the least I'm dreading going back because everyday someone is posting about all the shore birds or a rare warbler and i know i have to wait until the weekend to even get a chance at seeing it.This weekend i was working 15 hour days out to garnish on the burin peninsula with my dad.One morning i found a lesser yellowlegs on the shore line along with about 200 other little peeps and sandpipers ! It is nice knowing i now have enough money for my new binos but also knowing i have to wait another week to get to use them the way i want is horrible.Anyways enough about my complaints and now the good news.
I'm planing on heading to somewhere like cape freels or somewhere with very good shorebird action next weekend and see if i can get some good shots and add a few birds to my list.

You can now feel the crisp fall air in the morning and at night reminding you fall is not far away.I hope the storms brewing down south brings with it some rare birds.

The blog may be a little slow for the next little while with school,work,birding and who knows what Else I'm not going to be updating everyday.

In my next post i will rant on about my new binos and some of my fall birding expectations

Labour Day Weekend

Labour day weekend i headed to St.Brendan's Island. Anyone who reads my blog knows how i feel about st.Brendan's and its people.
We left town around 2:00 on Friday and headed to Burnside to catch the 5:15 ferry ride.The sun was shining and it was very warm sitting outside on the deck catching up with old friends and enjoying the view.We arrived at St.Brendan's at 6:15 and were greeted with family and friends as we unloaded the boat.
As we drove down the road i looked up at the ospreys nest and watched the young flap there wings and try to fly, while the mother osprey sat in a close tree observing them.Every 10-20 minutes one would take a leap and glide around the nest.It was a very cool sight.

That evening we had a BBQ and went visiting family.The sun set was amazing and my picture doesn't do it justice

The next day i searched every beach on the island looking for shorebirds.The only species i could find was semipalmated plovers.The did come in very different shades and plumages.

I did find 1 least sandpiper alone feeding around a bed of kelp.
That brings me to bird 104 or 105 !

Another thing i enjoyed was how many osprey were always fishing where ever i was ! Every time i would look up i would notice that there was one fishing ! I also noticed that they almost always will get flat fish over any other fish.I guess its easier to grip to.

Im hoping to have my binos in a few weeks time and school starts in a few days.....good bye summer birding

My first...kind of rare bird

Yesterday i checked many little ponds and gully's looking for warblers and shorebirds.At second pond i seen many snipe, a fall blackpoll warbler,a king fisher and a grey checked thrush !

I then checked a few other ponds but tured up nothing.Then while on the drive home i seen a flock of plovers fly over ruby line.My dad and i followed them to a litlle muddy patch of grass next to a house.

The area where they landed could be good place to check if it was a little more wet.I'm talking to a land owner in the Gould's to put a small pond on his proprety about the size of ruby line pond just for shore birds.I think if something like this did happen it could offer some great shorebird finds !

They only stayed for about 5 minutes but it was cool to say i followed plovers to a new birding location !

After all this i thought it was a pretty rewarding day ! Then my dad suggested a little pond he knew about just before mount pearl by the Robert E Memorial highway.When we got there i seen the government had put a duck trap in the middle of the little pond to catch ducks for banding ! There were lots of ducks there.Then a little spotted sandpiper flew to the other side of the pond.I thought its only a spotted sandpiper so not really worth taking a picture of.Good thing i did because when i got home and looked at my pictures it turns out it was a solitary sandpiper !!