Red-breasted Nuthatches

 

Fall Blue Jays

 

White-rumped Sandpipers

 White-rumped Sandpipers are park of a group of smaller sandpipers collectively called peep - presumably because of their calls, usually a single uttered squeak of some variety. This species tends to arrive a little later than others in this group and leaves later as well. These shots were taken October 25.

White-breasted Nuthatches

 A few shots of White-breasted Nuthatches from this Autumn. I believe there were just two here, a male and a female. The male is the one with the solid black cap. The female has a dark gray cap merging with black at the back.

Thanksgiving Pipits 2020

 It seems that Pipits are now the holiday bird instead of turkey or maybe as well as, since I had my share of both this year. For the past couple years when I've gone out to photograph birds on Thanksgiving, pipits are the birds that I find. For the birds the meal they were having were the bugs they were finding in the seaweed on the beach as seen in a couple of these photos.

Juvenile Herons

 This bird was one of four juvenile Great Blue Herons in the pond at the time of the photo. This was the last of the four to venture into the pond after circling the area earlier. It was also the one that landed closest and why his picture gets posted and the others didn't. 

Since I'm posting heron images, here's one of a juvenile Little Blue that was hanging out in the Hemeon's Head area in September. I was never able to get close enough for a great shot so this is the best I could do. September 5.

Blue-winged Teal - October 1

 

Hawks, Larks, Muskrats - Brier Island - Fall 2020

 Since 2020 has been a year unlike any other,  we didn't make it to Brier Island this Spring for the first time in many years. When we did finally make it in late September we were not disappointed. While the number of bird species may have been down, just the experience of getting there and having lots of photo opportunities made it all worthwhile, at least from my perspective. Some of the highlights were the number of hawks on the island, mostly Sharpies, but others as well.

Here is a sample of the Sharp-shinned hawk photos from the trip.

Other hawk species included Red-tailed, Merlin, Kestrels, Harriers and this juvenile Broad-wing.

Besides hawks there were a few Horned Larks on the beach.

There was also a family of muskrats putting on a show in the pond at pond cove. They were going up toward the beach and grabbing what I guess were purple asters and then dragging them into the pond to feed. 

Other notables included flocks of pipits, several warbler species, some whale sightings and this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that wanted to return continually to the lone apple tree at our campsite despite our presence. It appears the tree has been frequented in the past by sapsuckers as well if the number of holes bored in the tree are any indication. Some were bleeding sap while others had healed. 

Well that's all I have to share for now. Until next year...

Lesser Yellowlegs

From the same location as the previous post, just a day later. The next time I was able to get to that spot conditions had changed considerably.  Although we were still in a drought at the time, what I imagined was that the storm surge from Hurricane Teddy had flooded into the pond making it not a favourable location for shorebirds who prefer the shallow water.

 

Golden Plover in Golden Light

These were taken late in the day when the sun was setting on a day I hadn't had much luck previously. There weren't many birds in the area other than a lone Black-bellied Plover which was intent on keeping its distance. This bird appeared from nowhere and landed in the best possible location to get these shots. It was only later when reviewing my photos that I realised it was a Golden Plover, the first I had seen this year. September 19, Matthew's Lake area.

 

Palm Warbler - September 19

 

Semipalmated Plovers - Shots from August and September

 

Semipalmated Sandpiper - September 5

 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

 Quite possibly my favourite sandpiper, I'm always happy to find and photograph this species. There have been many years when I have failed to even find one.  September 5, Hemeon's Head. 

Sanderlings

 A couple images taken on two separate days at Black Rock Beach. One of our more common and regular shorebirds.

Red-necked Phalarope - Fall Plumage

On August 27 there was a small flock of Phalaropes feeding in the same area as the much larger group earlier in the year. The birds are not as colourful at this time of the year as they moult into Winter plumage. This particular bird was still showing a hint of red on the neck while others were much greyer.  

Least Sandpiper, Dowitcher in the Fog

 

Black and White Warbler - July 27

 

Piping Plover - Adult and Fledglings

 The Plovers arrived late this year to the area I spend the majority of my time doing bird photography. In some recent years they haven't attempted to nest on this beach. I only witnessed the adult on one occasion and then later in the season I was lucky enough to photograph the two surviving fledglings as they were mixed in with several other shorebirds I was photographing at the time. They approached me and not the other way round which is how I prefer to get photos. Just pick a spot and hope the birds come to you.