Catch up on Birding

While i was away from the blog for quite some spell i added a few birds to my life list !
The more and more time i spend at birding and photography the better it is ! Here are some of my favourite shots !

Lee Naraway

This lady pictured below is one of the most inspirational and motivate photographers i have ever met. While on my trip to the arctic i met lee and she shared with me some great tips for photography.
Some of the photos in my last post were taken by her.

Check here for some of my more recent shots !http://www.flickr.com/photos/64076520@N05/

Im Backkkk !!!!

First off i would like to apologise to the few people that used to follow the blog for not posting in ages !
My trip to the arctic was amazing and life changing to say the least ! I got to meet some amazing and very inspirational people on my expedition and i can now say i have memories i will never forget !! 

On my trip i got to see polar bears, walrus, LOTS of northern fulmar and the ice...AMAZING ICE. The same ice that kept us stuck in Iqaluit for 4 extra days and caused the CANADIAN COAST GARD to come a rescue us !! Talk about action packed !


Besides the birds and the mammals i also got to meet some Inuit elders and the knowledge they contain is more then anyone could of taken in, in the short period of time i was with them. However the information i did get was unbelievable ! Everything from native plants to politics ! They were so so kind and welcoming it was striking how much they welcome you into there little tiny community's with open arms (not kidding hugs from strangers)

The photo opps seemed to never end... But i had missed the breeding birds of the arctic by about 3 weeks..Bummer

In total i seen 17 polar bears 5 walrus and literally thousands of mures, fulmars !

The Great North !

I thought I should post and let the few people that read my blog know that I am alive and am home from my amazing expedition up north. Right now I'm very very busy with a math exam and getting ready to go back to school. But ! As soon as I can get a few hours I will share with you how amazing of an experience I had ! Polar bears, walrus, and massive ice burgs are just a few things I seen.

Also on a side note, shorebird season is happening and so far i have already had some amazing photo oportunities !

More to come !! 

And He's Off !

Just doing some very last minute things and then I'm off to the arctic for almost 3 weeks !!!
Expect many long posts about my trip filled with pictures when i return !

Wish me good Luck !

St.Brendan's Island Continued !

Every summer ever since i was born me and my family have travelled to the island to visit family but in recent years it has been a great time for me to go birding and it always beholds interesting birds !

 

This trip was no exception, with in 20 minutes of arriving i found a singing male magnolia warbler ! They are not very common and i sure wasn't expecting to see one here ! I also had a few other species in the alders that cover 40% of the island !

I also visited a sea gull and tern nesting island called shoal's island. It was almost overwhelming to see so many birds on a small Rocky outcrop in the ocean ! I should also mention to anyone that plans to go to a nesting island that it is very very stinky.......

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I'm now VERY busy getting all my gear and other things I'm going to need for my trip like filters for my camera,camera batteries, hiking boots, thermal underwear and even a Newfoundland flag ! Only 9 days now !!!!

St.Brendan's Island Never Seems To Disapoint

This Past weekend i headed to St.Brendan's island to do some visiting and to do some birdwatching ! I seen many species and had a great time. I will post later this week where i will talk about what i seen and a few other things. Until then here are some photos !

Bird Feeder Update & More !

I know i have been extremely slack with the blog over the last 2 months ! Sorry !
I have been extremely busy with work and preparing for my............ TRIP TO THE ARTIC !!!!!
I applied for a scholarship with students on ice and actually got it ! So what i will be doing is flying to Ottawa on the 29th then i will be boarding a massive ice breaker with biologists and scientists and also youth my age with the same interests. There we will leave and go to many places including: northern Labrador,Baffin island, Iqaluit, and either Iceland or Greenland !!!!! Needless to say I'm extatic !!!!!!!


This picture came from here


My bird feeder has finally got some birds coming to it each and every day ! They include: black caped chick a dees, juncos, purple finches, pine siskins, American gold finches and a massive flock of juvi starlings that destroy suet !!!






On a side note i thought i should mention that i have noticed that there is alot of talk about butterfly's around and i noticed there were quite a few at long pond Saturday morning !

Warbler season off to a pretty good start !!

This evening i went out to bidgoods park again. I didn't think i was going to see much because i know birds are most active in the morning, however this evening was the opposite.¨
This birds were responding to my bird calling app on my phone and that offered some great photo oops.
The pictures speak for them selves... oh and i seen my first Wilson's warbler !

Black and white warblers were very interested and attracted to the calls !

I'm waking up at sunrise tomorrow and going back to Nevile's pond, i will post the results tomorrow !

The 24th of may, Long weekend

I haven't been able to get out birding much because of school and work.But when i do get out the birds very numerous !


Last weekend i was out to bidgoods park in Gould's and seen my first barn swallows of the year along with a grackle and some sparrows even 2 osprey !

Nevile's pond has been coming alive with warblers and swallows that are finally back for the year !
With in 2 weeks they will be nesting and that's when the real fun of photographing them starts !





I can now say Newfoundland is in the middle of spring ! I have compiled a little warbler wish list for 2012 !
It consists of:


Wilson's warbler
Common yellow throat
Black throated green
American red start
Just to name a few.....I know most of them are fairly common and i should see 100% i just never seen them last year.

Spring Spring Spring !

Spring is slowly leaking into Newfoundland one little bit at a time, the buds on the trees are almost ready to break open.Birds are singing even though all have not yet returned the woods is still alive with bird song.

I am hoping to get out this weekend and see some kinglets that were reported and also to see if i can get some shots of the newly arrived yellow rumps !

P.S this morning i seen the first swallow at Nevile's pond for the year. I seen the first one on this exact date last year !