Longspur (possible Smith's) -updated Nov. 16

This may be the first of this species I've seen this year, certainly the only bird I've seen this close. I'm always happy when I can find a lone bird since whenever there's a flock of several, the first to take flight will generally take the rest of the flock with it. This one sat still long enough to get a few, although similar pictures. October 11, West Head NS.
Update  It was brought to my attention that this bird is likely a Smith's Longspur which would mean it's quite a rarity for this area. It's not a species that I've seen in the past but the description seems to fit. I wasn't that comfortable in the beginning calling it a Lapland Longspur since it lacked the strong facial markings that I'm familiar with from other sightings of that species and the reddish wing coverts seem to be lacking. What initially drew my attention to this bird was the large amount of white visible on the outside of the tail when it flew to the location where this shot was taken. That would be another reason to suspect this bird was a Smith's. I'll be paying closer attention on future Longspur sightings.  Thanks to those who helped ID this bird.

Plover and Shadows

I happened on a small flock of Semipalmated Plovers feeding on bugs on a rocky beach one day in early October. It seemed like they didn't want to share the particular rock they were standing on and it was rare to see two birds sharing the same space. I guess maybe there weren't enough bugs to go around. October 11, West Head, NS.

Teal and other Fall Colours

I just like the colours reflected in the water on this shot. No other reason - well there are birds in the shot too - Green-winged Teal in this case.  Looks like we'll be losing the last of the colourful Fall foliage during the wind and rain of the next couple of days. October 8, East Jordan NS.

Drakes - Wood Ducks

There is a local pond where you can generally find Wood Ducks during late Summer and into early Autumn. This year was no exception. During the first part of the season they are molting from eclipse plumage into breeding plumage. Usually by early Autumn most are in full breeding plumage.

Of the nine or ten birds that frequented the pond I only found one female, there was one juvenile male and another drake that was still in partial eclipse plumage. Unlucky for me since that was the one bird I actually got closest to. I'll post those shots later. These are from October 8.

Hunter - Juvenile Northern Harrier

Yes, more Harrier shots. I do like photographing these birds, I'm still trying to get decent shots of the adult birds but again I'll have to settle for a juvenile. These were all shot on September 24 over a time span of a few minutes as it hunted nearby. Matthews lake, NS.

Merlin - Adult and Juvenile

The first bird was photographed on September 25 at Matthew's Lake and is, I believe, an adult male with its slate gray back. The second bird was photographed on October 8 in East Jordan and is likely a juvenile given its colouring and how close it let me approach before flying.

Northern Harrier - From Perch to Perch

 I was almost ready to give up waiting for something interesting to show up. I had been looking for raptors of some sort since I knew there were a few species in the area in which I was taking photos. Luckily enough I had two birds fly in a once.  One, a Merlin, landed in a tree about six feet over my head while this bird landed in a tree in which I could actually focus on to get a few shots.

The Harrier seemed to be having a hard time finding a perch that suited it and eventually flew to another small tree about an equal distance away. I managed to take a few shots as it flew from one tree to the next and then a few more as it finally left. All I ever saw was the belly of the Merlin but was able to get a few photos on another day at the same location. September 17,  Little Harbour NS.