Christmas Bird Count 2015 (Ottawa) & Return back to BC

Hello from BC!  I returned back to BC early yesterday morning for the holiday break.  Before Tuesday, I participated in the Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Bird Count on Sunday with mostly the same group of people as last year.  As you may already know, it has been a warm December in Ontario and the weather is completely different from the previous year.  Compared to last year, our section did not record as many species, although the region as a whole has received a record number of individuals, with more than two-thirds of the total count (about 25,000 individual birds) being American Crows and Canada Geese (read the news report here).  Unfortunately, I stupidly forgot to put my freshly-charged battery into my camera and was not able to take any photos of the birds we saw.  In the end, I only snapped two photos with my phone.

The starting point of our bird count early in the morning.

Update from Inuvik, NWT

Hi all, I am currently in Inuvik, NWT.  I left Ontario on the 15th and then left BC on the 22nd.  Nothing much was done while in BC - mostly just relaxing and enjoying family time with my parents.  My trip up north started on the 23rd from Edmonton to Inuvik, via Yellowknife and Norman Wells.  Here in Inuvik, we were suppose to fly out to Ivvavik National Park on the morning of 26th.  However, once we were in the air and near Sheep Creek, we found that it was covered by thick clouds and snow, and so we had to turn back to Inuvik.  We tried again on the 27th, but due to pilot unavailability (in the morning) and poor weather again (in the afternoon), we were grounded for one more day.

Today is the 28th and I really really hope that we can take off today and get my field season started.

Here are some photos that I took for the past few days.  No time for description for the photos, but they are pretty self explanatory.

Close-up bees, Bittern, and Eagle Pair

A good day to go out and test my new 'lens'.

Not cloudy at all.

Bird-watching in Terra Nova with mother

I drove my mother to the library this afternoon. Afterwards, we went to Terra Nova to watch the birds.

I first saw the female, but only this male was photograph-able. The head shape makes it look like a Lesser Scaup, but I can't be certain. [Edit: It's a Ring-necked Duck, thanks to Frank for the identification.]

Flower-watching at Terra Nova Sharing Farm

Today, my drove my mother to city centre to get a haircut and buy groceries. In the afternoon, I drove my parents to Terra Nova Sharing Farm and then to Save-On-Foods.

It was a relatively quiet day today at Terra Nova.

Saw a pair of Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, Wigeons and Mallards.

Bald Eagle drama

The predicted bad weather seemed to be delayed by an afternoon. Well, it hailed for a few minutes in the afternoon but later it stopped and gave me the chance to enjoy outside before being couped indoors for a week or so. Argh!

Still pretty gray and cloudy.

I did not see much wildlife until I passed the golf course and saw this juvenile Bald Eagle. It may be a fourth year bird according to this article (PDF).

And this young bird has a prey - I think a bird, but it was hard to see what kind) under its talons!

Calm after the windstorm & Bike ride to the dyke

Last night's windstorm caused quite a damage throughout the coast, including right outside our apartment where a tree was blown down. Thank goodness it fell on the side without any buildings.

I will miss this big old tree in front of our yard.

The strong wind blew away all the clouds and it was a beautiful afternoon - excellent time for a bike ride.

Along the ditch, the Mallards were swimming and preening and enjoying the nice weather.

Quickest way to dry the feathers.

Continuing with the bike ride, I spotted this Song Sparrow, who situated itself in a thorny position.

Excellent defense - it didn't even bother to fly away as I inch closer for a better focus through all the branches knowing it is safe.

In the Terra Nova Share Farm, I spotted several hawks and harriers and they were all quickly chased by crows dominating the area.

Unknown Accipiter

Then being chased further away from me.

In Terra Nova Slough, I observed my first pair of Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) of the year!

Using my TCON-lens, I was able to get some closer pictures (than ever before)!

Female


Male. Love its glossy green head and that out-of-this-world bill!

According to All About Birds, "Northern Shoveler pairs are monogamous, and remain together longer than pairs of other dabbling duck species." Cool fact!

Photographed this Great Blue Heron and its reflection as I biked home.

The Actual Sunset.


Transforming the sunset photo into a Polaroid - using the free Poladroid (Polaroid Image Maker). I like it - very vintage-like!
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Lucky day - Osprey sighting!

It was a great day today. Beautiful weather and saw two first birds of the year. Hope it continues throughout the weekend.

Another day with (almost) cloudless blue sky.

I couldn't find the Great Horned Owl yesterday. But it was back to its usual spot again today! Hoot!

Wing stretching.

Giving me the annoyed cold stare. Okay, one more shot, then I'm leaving.

Back to sleeping.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula). They can be identified by their "large" eyes, yellowish hues on wings and tails, and a single wing-bar.

I got lucky when I spotted this Black-capped Chickadee picking this caterpillar off the branch and was fortunate enough to snap a shot of it. The bird then pecked the caterpillar into almost a ball of mush before eating it.

Near the slough, a group of Yellowlegs (Tringa spp.) were observed. I think distinguishing two different species by their relative size is one of the difficult things to identify them. What if there is only one species present (in the field)? Then how do we know who's the Greater and who's the Lesser? Anyways, I think they are Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) because of the straighter and pointy-looking bills. First of the year!

Dare I say it? It feels almost like summertime the last couple of days.

I saw five pairs of Northern Shovelers feeding on the riverbanks (and one pair in the slough).

Turns out that the bird that I missed photographing yesterday was not a Peregrine Falcon by an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Today I got lucky and it was there again! A few crows gave (weak) chases, so it flew over the field a couple of times, including once hovering in the air and diving it the ditch catching fish. It came up empty. I didn't get a good photograph of it because I was too excited seeing this bird (clearly) for the first time ever! What a day!

An old friend greeted me as I headed back home just as I was thinking not having seen a heron this last couple of days. Same with the Snow Geese. I guess all of them are on Wrangel Island now.
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