Whimbrel and Peregrine - The Chase and the Outcome

 On a recent trip to photograph shorebirds I happened to find a lone Whimbrel. I tend to focus (no pun intended) on the more challenging subjects when I'm out and Whimbrels certainly fit that category. The numbers tend to drop as Summer progresses so it's not uncommon to see one or two birds rather than the larger flocks from earlier in the season. 

I had just got into position to try and take some photos from a distance when the bird took flight. It was preceded by all the smaller shorebirds behind me flying over me and headed in the opposite direction.

What followed was unexpected both by me and the shorebirds although I expect they were more aware that there was a Peregrine Falcon in the area than I was.

The last I saw of the Whimbrel it was still being pursued by the falcon until I lost sight of both birds well out over the ocean.

 I'm unsure about the fate of the Whimbrel except that I assume it escaped since less than a half hour later the Peregrine flew back up the beach empty handed (taloned?).

The Whimbrel may have been lucky it was a juvenile Peregrine since had it been an adult the outcome may have been different.

Brier Island - Fall 2022 - Raptors, Warblers and Shorebirds

I was excited to get back to Brier Island in the Fall, we hadn't done a September trip since 2020. While not technically Fall, it was the 16th - 18th of the month, as far as the birds were  concerned it was definitely Fall migration time. When we were there on a previous trip there were numerous hawks on the island so I was looking forward to photographing hawks in flight. I wasn't disappointed.

I arrived a few hours ahead of Mark, there were only two of us on this trip, and my first thought was to go to the Western Light to see what was there. What caught my attention immediately were the dozen or so American Kestrels hunting in the open areas near the lighthouse. Kestrels are one of my favourite birds with their reddish brown and blue markings and their habit of hovering while they search for prey on the ground. They seemed to be hunting mostly grasshoppers  which they would sometimes tear apart and eat on the wing.

Oftentimes they would sit on the wires to rest or in the trees near the sides of the road. They are not very approachable so most of those shots were taken from the car window. There were enough birds in the area that occasionally one would fly close enough for a flight shot if I was on foot.

So that was how the first part of day went. Eventually I met up with Mark and after setting up camp we took a late day trip to Pond Cove to look for shorebirds but without success.  The tide wasn't right and because of the lateness of the day we didn't have much time to explore. We did see a Merlin on the way silhouetted in the late day sun.

The next morning we started off with finding and trying to identify some of the Fall warblers on the island. Mark had met up with Judy who had arrived from Ontario to hopefully get some helpful birding advice and a tour of some of the birding spots on the island. We saw several species and were able to identify the majority. While it wasn't the best light for warbler photography - I did take some record shots of Cape May, Bay-breasted and Blackpoll warblers and a Northern Waterthrush as well as more than one Nashville Warbler which I will post here.

While Mark and Judy and her husband Ron went to the Western light I lagged behind and checked out a couple spots on the way. I saw a Broad-winged hawk fly over and a few more warblers.  When I got to the lighthouse the Kestrels were still in the area as well as several Northern Harriers, some Sharp-shinned hawks and Merlins. Pretty much right away I noticed one bird that stood out from the rest hanging on the wind blowing in from the ocean .

This is the part of the story that I'm a little embarrassed to tell but I guess it needs telling and should serve as a lesson in not always relying on assumptions.  In the weeks leading up to the Brier Island trip there were several reports of Mississippi Kites in south-west Nova Scotia.  There was a report of one in Yarmouth a couple days earlier and since I was headed that way I went to see if it was still around. I didn't find it.  It is a bird I have never seen although there was a bird several years earlier reported on Brier around the same time we were there. The week previous to this years trip there was a Kite on Brier seen by several people.

So when I saw this bird behaving differently than anything I had witnessed before I naturally assumed it was the Kite. Wrong.  But I didn't become aware of that fact until much later when reviewing the pictures I had taken after getting back home and uploading them to my computer.  Here is just one of those images.

I tell people that I am a bird photographer first and a birder second which might be a bit unfortunate considering the name I chose for my blog. I often get so wrapped up in taking photos that I often don't take the time to identify what I'm photographing. I am fairly knowledgeable when it comes to identifying  local birdlife so it's not usually an issue but when other birders are involved it could be especially if it's something rare. I did tell several people it was a kite and most didn't question my ID although when Mark saw the bird I think he had some reservations. I'm the only one who had the benefit of several dozen images. I'll get back to that bird later.

One bird I am pretty familiar with is the Northern Harrier having monitored a nesting site this past Summer. I think most of the birds that we saw on this trip were juveniles with their reddish breast feathers. In all plumages and sexes the most notable feature is their white rump - evident here. 

As mentioned earlier there were a few Sharp-shinned Hawks around and possibly several Merlin.

On the third day on the island which was to be our last, the day dawned cloudy with the threat of rain. With the tide being low and more favourable for finding shorebirds we all headed back to Pond Cove. We were not disappointed. One of the first birds we found were a pair of Buff-breasted Sandpipers - one of my favourites. 

Judy mentioned that she and Mark thought at least one was a juvenile and I concurred. In fact I believe they were both juveniles given how clean their back feather edges were, the adults would look more worn at this time of year and I don't believe an adult would allow me as close of an approach as I was able to get. 

Other shorebirds present were Sanderlings, Semi-palmated Plovers, a Least and Semi-palmated Sandpiper. 

Other birds of note on the trip were Black-legged Kittiwake, adult and juvenile and an Eastern Kingbird.

Bald Eagle gets honourable mention here since the theme is mostly raptors although they are almost always present and I was told they nest on the island. 

Getting back to the "mystery" bird once I got home and could see images displayed on a bigger screen I realized I had something different - something other than a kite- but what was it?  It was obviously a dark morph of some kind and after pouring over my bird guides and then pulling up some images from the internet, the only thing I could conclude was that it was a dark morph Swainson's Hawk. I had seen Swainson's hawks 30 years ago in Alberta but didn't know how likely a sighting here in NS would be given it's normal range  After having it confirmed by serious birders ( thanks Alix), it turns out it's about the 15th recorded sighting in this province. Here are a few more images.

It spent most of it's time when I was observing it hanging in the air like a kite - but maybe not like a Kite - and occasionally dropping to the ground after prey. Which if the Kestrels are any indication was mostly grasshoppers. I have learned that that is fairly typical behaviour for this species.

So that was Brier Island -Fall 2022 - good (and challenging) birds, good company and for the most part good weather. And we saw whales. 

Little Blue Heron - In the fog

 It seemed like every time I found this bird the fog would be there as well despite what the weather was like when I left home and for most of the drive to the area. Fog is not always a bad thing if you can get close to your subject, it does provide some good separation between the bird and the background as long as you can still see the bird in enough detail.

Juvenile Northern Harrier

 This bird is one of the offspring of the pair of Northern Harriers from recent previous posts. It is sitting in the same tree that it's mother would occupy while she watched for possible threats.  I wish I could say the plants in the foreground are fireweed which is a native species. Although I'm no expert I believe it is purple loosestrife which is invasive and while pretty,  can cause problems in wetlands by choking out native species and reducing biodiversity.

Spotted Sandpiper - Close up

 A late nesting by Spotted Sandpipers allowed me to get close to this bird as some young ones were seen nearby. I only became aware of that fact when the bird continued to fly in front of me as I walked along the trail. 

Little Blue Heron - Juvenile

 This bird was an unexpected surprise on this day both in finding it and then having it alight in a tree behind me when I was hoping it would land in front of me and start feeding. That would have to wait for another day. The juveniles of this species are white and can easily be confused with egrets of a similar size.

One Day at the Lake - Shorebirds

 The first and only day so far this Summer at Matthews Lake photographing shorebirds. I generally don't go to the lake proper these days because of the distances involved but tend to spend more time around the general area. Semipalmated Plover, Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstone in these shots. July 31.