Quidi Vidi Lake Eagles & Gulls

I headed down to quidi vidi lake this morning to look for the grebe and cormorant that had been spotted there a few days ago.I didn't see the grebe or the cormorant but i did get to see a lesser black-back gull and 2 eagles !
There was about 1500 gulls on the lake which isn't much compared to other days but it was still a fair number.After looking at the gulls and ducks for about 30 Min's i was heading back to the car to go when 2 birders showed up and asked me if i was taking pictures of the lesser black back gull standing right in front of me lol i didn't see it the whole time i was there ! This tells me how much of a noobie i am to gulls.
There was also a fair number of banded gulls ?

Right when i was about to leave the eagles began to show up at the lake and bye bye gulls.
It was amazing to see how fast they can descend from the sky and how quick the gulls pick up on the presence of an eagle.....then again with 3000 eye balls scanning for eagles someones gonna see him

I recently went and started to pay off some new camera gear ! I have decided to purchase the Canon 5D and the Canon 24-105mm lens.Its a pretty big bill for me to pay off, but I'm sure that it will be well worth the wait as i learned with my Canon 300mm F4.

OH and i got my 1.4 extender a few weeks ago ! That combined with my 300mm brings me to 420mm !!



Happy Birding !

Winter Bird Feeding & A Lifer !

So a couple Weeks ago i started putting up bird feeders in hopes of attracting birds so i still have action even though i cant get out birding.Yesterday was my all time high of 6 juncos which is low by any means, but for me its a start !

I notice that the birds are not as active on days when its sunny and not windy but they go crazy when its stormy out.I'm assuming they try to fatten up in harsh weather just in case they loose their food supply.
I'm hoping now when the snow comes and birds are more reliant on bird feeders and other things that i will have more action.

So far I'm pleased with the few juncos I'm getting :)

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Sunday i headed down to the little pond next to the heath science and along with some American black ducks,mallards, and some wigeon was a little female buffel head !
This small skittish diving duck was a first for me and i was surprised at how small it is. Its like a diving teal !

It didn't offer the best looks and tyred to keeps its distance but i was still pleased that i got to add this bird to my life list !


Here's a photo i got of a black duck at the pond that i thought was unique and from a different angle !

Birding 2011 Wrap Up

Another year is here and gone, it has been a pretty good year for me as far as seeing birds goes but there were a lot of birds that i wish i had seen that i never, like the avocet,king bird,fork tailed flycatcher and  Rufus humming bird just to name a few.
Over the year of 2011 i seen 127 species of birds which is not bad , but i was hoping to get 150. I guess there is always this year !

One family of birds was my favourite to photograph and watch this year, and that family was none other then the shore birds ! They were always active and busy feeding and most times were quite comfortable around humans.They gave me some of my best shots this year !

One problem that i had this year was being able to get out to see birds.
I guess where I'm new to the birding community people don't feel as though they know me enough to take me with them or they just have a routine of going with there birding Buddy's.

Some things that i hope to do this year is focus more on the spring warblers, i have already stared  to plan a trip to the codroy Vally this spring to photograph some of these bright little birds !

I only seen 4 species of warbler this year which is a pretty low number considering how many i could of seen.Next spring i plan on picking up about 8-9 species of warbler.

One thing i liked about warblers was that they are very interested in the pishing sound and also how they sing.There courtship calls are very unique and interesting.

There were a few birding moments in 2011 that i will never forget and may never see again in my life.
The sheerwater spectacular that happened in outter cove .
It was something that birders across north America can only dream of. Thousands of sheerwaters literally only feet from you in a feeding frenzy with many of then over shooting there landing and even landing on the beach next to you !

It was truly amazing to see these sea birds so close to land and even on land !! They were very playful and very hungry, they would skip across the top of the water before landing which looked pretty odd ?

Happy New-Year ! Be Safe

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 :)