may two-four part i (49-53)

On Saturday morning I met up with another nature enthusiast/photographer and we hit Bill Mason (3rd time's a charm for me I guess). It was a pretty quiet morning, and I thought we'd see more given the hour we were there at (first time I ever birded before 10 I think!). Anyways, we got pretty lucky and saw a few very sneaky birds!

#49: Virginia Rail; May 22, 2010; Bill Mason Centre
I was totally not expecting to see this one, although I knew they were there. We didn't spot it for forever, but once it got comfortable with us, it stayed around for quite a bit, while still staying super skittish. (I think he's looking right at me in this shot) Cool!

#50: Sora; May 22, 2010; Bill Mason Centre
OH hey, did you happen to notice I'm HALFWAY?!?! Well before the halfway point of the year...booyah!!
This one we could hear but we couldn't seem to find anywhere...finally I saw him scuttle across the boardwalk right in front of us! He didn't stay long.....long enough to quickly get a grainy, blurry shot though!

All morning we had been hearing this "ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh" sound, kind of like a ghost, and couldn't seem to find it anywhere because it seemed like it was moving. Finally we realized it was flying around above our heads. I thought it was a snipe but did some more research...turns out it was male snipes courting mates. Anyways...never got a shot of that one, because they weren't in the place I had seen them before. Does this mean I have to go back AGAIN?

#51: American Goldfinch; May 22, 2010; Bill Mason Centre
If you read my last post, you will know that I've been trying to get a decent shot of a goldfinch for ages. Still not the best, but not too bad. The female and the male were hanging out...I did get a few shots of them together as well. Pretty birds...they look almost tropical since they are so bright!

#52: Swamp Sparrow; May 22, 2010; Bill Mason
Yet another in a seemingly endless list of different kinds of sparrows. I think this is maybe 7th type of sparrow I've spotted....and there are more I've yet to see.

#53: Osprey; May 22, 2010; Riddell Road

Woot! I had been to the osprey nest twice, three times on Thomas A. Dolan with no success. I was tipped off as to the location of another nest and they were there. I think maybe I got a bit too close as one left the nest and started making that osprey sound and another started circling over my head....not making any sound or anything, but definitely watching me closely. We got out of there and left them alone...but awesome birds. My dad had one that lived close to his place and we would watch it fish over the bay. It would hover for a bit and then...wham! dive straight down feet first and come up with a fish. Wicked cool. I actually saw another osprey nest by accident the same day driving to Kingston on CR 10---I stopped to look at something else and I didn't realize I parked my car right underneath an osprey nest. When I came back they seemed a little peeved! Those ones weren't on a nesting platform like the ones on Riddell...they had actually made one on a giant tree, which was cool. And, yesterday I saw ANOTHER osprey on AI. It had made a nest in a light post in the schoolyard. So I saw 5 osprey on the weekend. All or nothing!

Well, I've got lots more to post...I had a wicked past few days.