Uploads from Peter Simpson, tagged f4

American Redstart (female)

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:37:40 -0700

I could not believe it when the bird darted low along some branches; I could believe it even less when it arrived with a small piece of paper to resume work on a nest.

Black-crowned Night-heron

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:37:41 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

The bird paced the log for about fifteen minutes, stretching its neck out to watch activity below the surface, readying itself to strike. This was a great way to spend an hour this afternoon. The bird was very close, but could not see me as I was hidden in bushes along the shoreline.

Black-crowned Night-heron

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:37:42 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

Finally caught the fish. Patience pays off for birds as it does for birders.

Great Horned Owlet

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:31:25 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

They have left the nest, and are moving, parents alongside, up and out of the woods. They are still fed (and protected from Crows, a constant threat) by parents. They are learning to perch and move up the trees. This one is recovering after a Crow fly-over.

Great Crested Flycatcher

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:31:23 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

Paul taught me to hear this bird in the woods, and I was very happy to hear it out in the open early Saturday. I was happier still when it emerged from the canopy and dropped down for me.

American Redstart

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:31:21 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

I tracked this bird along the shoreline of the Ottawa River for ten minutes, begging it to come out into the open, and preferably low down. It obliged by leaping down, but only for an instant. This was as good as it got.

Common Yellowthroat

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:31:24 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

There are few calls I learned as quickly as this bird's, and I was pretty excited to hear it, and somewhat low, this morning at Bruce Pit. I heard at least six more singing at Stony Swamp, but never got this close. I approached it three times, navigating through reeds and other swamp detritus. The bird was not bothered by my presence.

Scarlet Tanager

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:31:26 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

Early Saturday morning I met a woman at Britannia who had seen a female, and thought she heard the male. We looked for a bit, but I moved on. A chance arose to come back in the afternoon, and while watching a couple of photographers shooting Yellow-rumped Warblers, I saw some red out of the corner of my eye, and moved swiftly over. The bird was up in a tree, but because of the ridge at Britannia, was not very high above me. I watched it and took photographs for about twenty minutes. Paul and Jodie and Jack and I saw these birds on Pelee, but this is a first (the male at least) for me in Ottawa. It is such a stunning bird.

Common Terns

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:01:15 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

I am guessing at the identification here. These birds were battling over Mud Lake at six in the morning Saturday, and I was off chasing warblers. They flew over the old orchard area and I was able to get this shot as they fought in the sky. The bill is the clue I am riding on: reddish but thin, not like the thick bill of the Caspians. The shrieking from them was something else.

Yellow Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:01:19 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

The sound of this bird's call filled the air this weekend at Britannia. Competition for territory and hunting for food likely increased the volume, but this is a call I know now as well as I will ever know any bird's call.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:01:20 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

I followed this bird into the woods at Stony Swamp, and only when it raised its crest did I realize we were near its nest. I took a couple of photographs and backed off.

Gray Catbird

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:01:17 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

There were several of these scattered around Britannia, shrieking. I chased a few, trying to get something well-framed and well-lit. Nothing worked. Then I was following a warbler into dense bush, lost it, and turned around. This bird was a couple of feet from my face, as stunned as I was, and I could not get far enough back to frame it properly. But it was a funny birding moment, an early morning event to be sure.

Chipping Sparrow

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:05 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

In a morning of swamp birding, this bird jumped out of the bushes just as I was passing, heading back to my car. I love these birds - there are at least two pairs that visit my feeders - so I was glad I learned that one turns off the camera as one gets in the car, and not before.

Black-and-white Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:01 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

Sometimes, very early in the morning, a bird pops up - between you and the rising sun. All day people were complaining about the lack of variety in the warblers, and here was a beautiful bird singing loud and just about impossible to capture. I tried Paul's trick - open things up and let in as much light as possible - and that was good enough to get the identification (I could not see this much with the sun behind it) and wish it had been on the other side of the clearing.

Canada Geese (goslings)

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:02 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

A person really cannot refuse to take this photograph, especially with the surface of the water picking up the leaves' green.

Swamp Sparrow

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:04 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

These birds nest very low in the swamp, and pop up periodically looking for more nesting materials. It was just luck that I happened to be standing still waiting for something like this to happen. All I needed was the sun.

Song Sparrow

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:00 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

This bird lives in a shrub on my neighbour's lawn, and it gets up on top of the shrub and signs most of the day. This was really an exercise in trying to capture the bird with a decent background (e.g. not a house). I am happy with it.

Red-winger Blackbird (female)

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:04 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

One of my favourite birds, this one was provoking two males in the early morning in the swamp at Bruce Pit. A little more sun might have really made this, but there was enough light to pick up the colours in the birds plumage.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:57:00 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

There were six or so of these birds out this morning along the road to the bog. At one point there were three or four on one hydro pole, screeching at each other. Paul reminded me that the musical and rhythmic drumming they have as their call is easily distinguished from the steady staccato of the Hairy Woodpecker. This was as good a shot as I could get, at an angle that distorts the bird; when I tried to get up on a nearby fence, it very reasonably flew away.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

nobody@flickr.com (Peter Simpson) — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:57:03 -0700

Peter Simpson posted a photo:

Walking through the woods at Mer Bleu after chasing a Northern Waterthrush and an Ovenbird, Paul had just noted the enveloping silence of the woods when he paused and picked up the distinctive buzzing call of this bird. Not so much a worthy photograph as a memento of the second wave of warblers of this early migration season.