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.