Foiled by GWFG x 4

Oh, hey there.

Well, I really wish I had some greater white-fronted geese to report. But I don't. Not that I didn't try. I tried plenty. But these geese are against me. Nemesis bird? One of many it seems.

Anyways, saw another hooded merganser pair while looking for the GWFGs. It was getting dark but I managed to this blurry shot from the window of the moving vehicle in fading light. 

I do have a few other things to share. First of all, I'm trying to organize my files and remembered a few shots I took on AI at end of February.
Saw a bunch of mallards hanging out on the ice at the ferry dock. Liked the way I caught this mallard with his wings spread out:

I remember seeing these two in a skirmish along Front Road. I should try harder with hawks because I just realized in retrospect that, while it's not a very good shot, it's diagnostic of a northern harrier. The rump was clearly white, and in a few other pics, you can really see the circle around the eyes. It's a facial disk similar to those of owls, which helps them to hear better as they rely on their hearing, as well as their sight to hunt. Oh hey, #125!

Can't quite tell if that's a crow or a raven with it...but it does look bigger than the harrier so maybe a raven?
#125: Northern Harrier; Amherst Island, Ontario; February 27, 2011

My friend Kardi came to visit on the weekend and we went to Sarsaparilla to feed the chickadees.  I thought this would be a fun activity for her boys, but I underestimated the patience/ability to stand still of 3 year olds. Anyways, this bird wasn't shy at all. The birds are so tame there that not only will the chickadees eat out of your hand, but so too will RB nuthatches, WB nuthatches and, go figure, the deer.

the problem with birds …. (IDs 12-13)

is that they can fly and I cannot. So just as I crawl into the middle of a bunch of bushes to get closer to a Blue Jay, it flies to the other side of the creek. They also like to crawl all the way to the top of trees, far away from the reach of my zoom. This makes my life very difficult!

Well, I did warn you that I’m a beginner. Remember I said I heard an owl the other day? Yeah…the reason I didn’t find it is because, as I learned today, mourning doves make calls that sound pretty much exactly like owls. OK, so this is definitely an educational experience!

And indeed it is. This morning a new bird showed up in the backyard. It was mostly black, and looks all black from a distance, but up close, its head is a brilliant and quite an impressive blue. And, I never actually knew what these birds were. It took me quite a while trying to find it in my 512-page bird book (since my neighbours all hate this bird, I looked under all the headings of “annoying” birds…crows, starlings, etc.) until finally I found him…the Common Grackle. For me, I was not so annoyed: one more ID down!

ID#12: Common Grackle; March 17, 2010; my backyard (Kanata)

So it seems like the park became infested with Common Grackles overnight. It’s bizarre how quickly the bird scene changes.

Today was teleworking day which means I got to watch birds all day from my living room, and roam out in the park at lunch. A great day for my count. I figure with the time I have left this year, I need to average one ID every 3 days. And I had 2 new IDs today (okay, very common birds, so what?). Ya!

ID#13: Mallard duck; March 17, 2010; Cattail Creek Park, Kanata

I saw a few other new birds today (lots of pretty yellow ones!), but no pictures good enough to ID them for sure. I’ll be out again tomorrow to find them!

P.S. Thank god for rain boots.