~ The Visual Adventure ~

Winter Continues...

2012-02-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

Pileated Woodpecker

Gray Partridge

Saturday 11 Feb:

The morningstarted crisp, clear and cold. Nevertheless, we had great finds east of Ottawawith 2 Snowy Owls, Bald Eagle, Great Black-Back and Herring Gull flying over andabout 1000 Snow Bunting in flight at St. Rose. Red Crossbill, Horned Lark, Northern Shrikeand Dark-eyed Junco were other gems this morning. One of the highlights of theday was the rare Varied Thrush that has overwintered near Limoges. And, at theend of the excursion, a big surprise, I spotted 16 Gray Partridge at the cornerof Russel & Rockdale. What a fantastic day!

American Crow

AmericanGoldfinch

American Robin

American TreeSparrow

Bald Eagle

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Common Raven

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Gray Partridge

GreatBlack-backed Gull

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

Horned Lark

Mourning Dove

Northern Shrike

Red Crossbill

Red-breastedNuthatch

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

Rough-legged Hawk

Snow Bunting

Snowy Owl

Varied Thrush

White-breastedNuthatch

Photo Courtesy Joshua McCullough

Sunday 12 Feb:

This morning wasthe coldest in a long time. We went on a quest for raptors in the west end. Ourluck was not as great as the day before. For raptors we encountered Merlin,Red-tailed & Sharp-shinned Hawk. But, the most awesome drama the whole daywas a Coopers Hawk suddenly stooping down after a Rock Pigeon! Now that was awesometo see on a cold day!

American Crow

American Robin

American TreeSparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

Common Raven

Coopers Hawk

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Hairy Woodpecker

House Sparrow

Mallard

Merlin

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

PileatedWoodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

Sharp-shinnedHawk

Snow Bunting

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Pileated Woodpecker at work

Tony Beck

Tuesday 14 Feb:

We were verysurprised to arrive to the Jack Pine Trail and not be greeted by Chickadees. Itseemed the entire forest was sleeping. We decided to try our luck over at theStony Swamp Trail, and suddenly we had Chickadees everywhere asking for food. Throughoutthe area we could see the work of very busy Pileated Woodpeckers. The bark was chiselledoff many trees, and there were holes everywhere.

Along the trail, severalRobins and Tree Sparrows were drinking from an open creek.

It was a slow andquiet day, but very educational.

American Crow

American Robin

American TreeSparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

Brown Creeper

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Hairy Woodpecker

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Red-breastedNuthatch

Rock Pigeon

White-breastedNuthatch

Red Crossbill, Photo courtesy Bill Bowman

Pine Siskin

Thursday 16 Feb:

What an amazingday with stunning numbers of Raptors!

And not onlyraptors, we also had the pleasure of seeing some finches.

We had 3 PurpleFinch, including a singing adult male along Eardley Road, and several smallflocks of Pine Siskin throughout our travels on the Quebec side. It must havebeen around 40 in total.

And, we had thetotal of 25 Red Crossbills spread out in several small flocks, including whatappeared to be a few bonded pairs.

For raptors wehad the fantastic number of 7 Red-tailed Hawks, 6 Bald Eagles including 1sub-adult, and 1 Golden Eagle (age unknown) with a beautifulgolden nape.

What a day in theescarpments!

American Crow

American Robin

Bald Eagle

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Golden Eagle

Golden-crownedKinglet

Hairy Woodpecker

House Sparrow

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

PileatedWoodpecker

Pine Siskin

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill

Red-breastedNuthatch

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Saturday 18 Feb:

A most beautifulday with sunshine started at Fletcher Wildlife Garden. We had great looks at abonded Cooper’s pair doing aerial display.

As not muchhappened at Fletchers, we went exploring instead, and got Bohemian Waxwing, CanadaGoose, Horned Lark and Pine Siskin to mention a few.

The Photo dayended with 24 species.

American BlackDuck

American Crow

AmericanGoldfinch

American Robin

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

CanadaGoose

Common Goldeneye

Common Raven

Coopers Hawk

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Horned Lark

House Finch

House Sparrow

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

PileatedWoodpecker

Pine Siskin

Rock Pigeon

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Jack Pine Trail

Snow Shoe Hare

Red Squirrel

Northern Mockingbird, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough

Sunday 19 Feb:

A cheerful crewstarted this morning at Jack Pine Trail. It was very quiet but we had interactionswith a White Tailed Deer, a white Snow Shoe Hare and all kinds of squirrels.The Red-breasted Nuthatch seemed to be the most hungry hand feeder, but alsoChickadees, Brown Creeper and Blue Jays showed interest in our presence.

We decided thatthe forest was too quiet so we ventured out in the open to see what we couldcatch.

We got HouseFinch, Horned Lark, Bohemian Waxwing, Pileated Woodpecker and Red-tailed Hawkto mention a few. We ended the day with a short search for the Northern Mockingbird,which was one of the participant’s life bird number 200!

American Crow

American Robin

American TreeSparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

Brown Creeper

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Hairy Woodpecker

Horned Lark

House Finch

House Sparrow

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

NorthernMockingbird

Northern Shrike

PileatedWoodpecker

Red-breastedNuthatch

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

White-breastedNuthatch

Busy at Hilda Road Feeder

Ice fishing on the Ottawa River

All excursions organized by:

Always An Adventure

First of Winter Birding 2012..

2012-01-12T00:58:00.000-05:00

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tuesday January3rd: Kerwin Road & Spruce Forest Birds

New year,new birdies and new WINTER program!

Not toomany birds on this extremely cold winter morning. Nevertheless, AmericanRobins, Northern Shrike, Horned Lark, Snow Buntings and Red-tailed Hawk arehighly-welcomed birds on a cold day like today.

AmericanCrow

AmericanRobin

AmericanTree Sparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

CommonRaven

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

HairyWoodpecker

Horned Lark

Mallard

MourningDove

NorthernShrike

Red-tailedHawk

Rock Pigeon

SnowBunting

White-breastedNuthatch

Common Goldeneye, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

Thursday January5th: Winter Water Birds - Ottawa Centre & West

It’s stillcold in Ottawa but with less wind than our last excursion. Today, our maintarget was to find water birds. We had several species while searching openwater along the Rideau River. The highlights were the overwintering AmericanCoot at Billings Bridge, a full-adult Bald Eagle flying over the Hunt Clubbridge, and the overwintering Song Sparrow along the shores near the RideauTennis Club.

AmericanBlack Duck

AmericanCoot

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

Bald Eagle

Black-cappedChickadee

CommonGoldeneye

CommonMerganser

CommonRaven

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

GreatBlack-backed Gull

HerringGull

House Finch

House Sparrow

Mallard

MourningDove

Red-tailedHawk

Rock Pigeon

SongSparrow

Juvenile Snowy Owl

Saturday January7th: Hawks, Snowy Owls & Open Country Birds - Ottawa East

We had avery successful day searching open fields east of Ottawa. We encountered a fewflocks of Snow Buntings, each between 200 to 500 birds. Each flock includedsprinklings of Lapland Longspurs - from 2 to 5 individuals in each flock. Mostimpressive was a large flock of 100+ Lapland Longspurs with only 6 SnowBuntings included. Also along Concession 21, there was a female Red-wingedBlackbird and 8 Horned Larks. We had 2 Snowy Owls this morning - one near FrankKenny Road, south of Orleans, and the second was photographed along Concession20, east of Casselman.

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

CommonRaven

Dark-eyedJunco

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

GreatBlack-backed Gull

HerringGull

Horned Lark

LaplandLongspur

Merlin

MourningDove

NorthernCardinal

Red-tailedHawk

Red-wingedBlackbird

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

Snow Bunting

Snowy Owl

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Participants at Parc Omega, Photo courtesy Brenda McCrea

Arctic Fox

Caribou, Photo courtesy Joshua McCullough

Sunday January 8th:Photo Day Parc Omega

Photo daysare dedicated to photography, and we had a fantastic day at Parc Omega nearMontebello, Quebec. Check out our Facebook Gallery here: Photo Days @ Parc Omega

Birding highlightof the day happened on the way home after the excursion. We took a detourdowntown to check the Coats Building for Peregrine Falcons. Just as Tonythought, there it was!

AmericanCrow

AmericanRobin

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

CommonGoldeneye

CommonRaven

Dark-eyedJunco

EuropeanStarling

HairyWoodpecker

PeregrineFalcon

PileatedWoodpecker

Red-tailedHawk

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

SnowBunting

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Black-capped Chickadee

Tuesday January10th: Sarsaparilla Trail & Other Trails - Ottawa West

Today wasthe last day of birding for a month while Tony is in the Antarctica.

We went forthe overwintering Northern Mockingbird and we got it flying across the road at Grandviewnear Hastings.
To our pleasure and great excitement, Tony spotted 3 Gray Partridge tucked awaydeep inside a large brush pile on the north side of Barnsdale Road. Whilestudying the Partridge, a Northern Shrike flew in and landed on the pile wherethe Partridges’ were hiding. It was a great day with 26 species of birds.

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

AmericanRobin

AmericanTree Sparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

CedarWaxwing

CommonRaven

EuropeanStarling

GrayPartridge

HairyWoodpecker

HerringGull

House Finch

House Sparrow

Mallard

MourningDove

NorthernCardinal

NorthernMockingbird

NorthernShrike

Red-tailedHawk

Red-wingedBlackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

SnowBunting

White-breastedNuthatch

We’ll be back in February! Stay tuned!

Timber Wolf

Arctic Wolf

Timber Wolf, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

All excursions organized by: Always An Adventure

Thank You, 2011, for all the awesome birdies!

2011-12-31T14:00:00.000-05:00

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Shrike

Snow Geese

Iceland Gull, Photo Courtesy Helena G.

Saturday Dec. 17:

Always An Adventure’s WINTER Program started today eastof Ottawa looking for raptors and open country birds. 2-300 Snow Geese, perhapsthe last of the season, were seen close to the village of St. Isidore. Red-tailedand Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Shrike and Harrier were spotted severalplaces.

At Casselman we had 5 species of gulls; Glaucous, GreatBlack-backed, Herring, Iceland and Ring-billed Gull.

Day list:

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Tree Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Canada Goose

Common Merganser

European Starling

Glaucous Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Horned Lark

Iceland Gull

Northern Harrier

Northern Shrike

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-legged Hawk

Snow Bunting

Snow Goose

Carolina Wren

Cedar Waxwing

Downy Woodpecker, Photo Courtesy Bill Bowman

Monday Dec. 19:

We met at Carling Avenue for today’s excursion -Twitcher’s Delight.

Sheltered by the trees around Britannia ConservationArea and Mud Lake, we explored the area for rarities such as Northern Flickerand Carolina Wren. The Wren was a life birds for a couple in the group, meincluded. Another great surprise today was a small flock of about 16 CedarWaxwings.

Day-list:

American Black Duck

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Canada Goose

Carolina Wren

Cedar Waxwing

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Common Raven

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Great Black-backed Gull

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

Hooded Merganser

House Finch

Lesser Scaup

Long-tailed Duck

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Purple Finch

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Rough-legged Hawk

White-breasted Nuthatch

Lesser Scaup, Photo Courtesy Roger Cobbledick

White-breasted Nuthatch, Photo Courtesy Deanna Wright

American Robin, Photo Courtesy Tony Beck

Thursday Dec. 22:

We met along Cassles Road, at Britannia ConservationArea and Mud Lake. We managed to relocate the overwintering Northern Flickerand Carolina Wren.

Moving over to Dick Bell Park we could see two SnowyOwls on the other side of Lac Deschennes through the scope. We also had 2White-winged Scoters and a Lesser Scaup.

Later we went to Shirley’s Bay area where we had BaldEagle, Rough-legged Hawk and Common Loon.

Day-list:

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Bald Eagle

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Brown Creeper

Canada Goose

Carolina Wren

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

House Finch

Iceland Gull

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Rough-legged Hawk

Snowy Owl

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-winged Scoter

Red-tailed Hawk, Photo Courtesy Helena G.

Snowy Owl, Photo Courtesy Bill Bowman

Britannia Conservation Area

Britannia Conservation Area, Winter Wonderland

Merlin

Black-capped Chickadee, Photo Courtesy Tony Beck

Black-capped Chickadee

Thursday Dec. 29:

Today was the very last excursion of the year.

We ended the excellent birding year at the west end ofOttawa, looking for raptors and open country birds.

Most birds were hiding from the extreme cold, butnevertheless we had Cedar Waxwing, dozens of American Robins and Black-cappedChickadee, mostly feeding on frozen berries. We also had Snowy Owl and Merlin.At Hilda Road feeder, the 3 male Red-winged Blackbirds were still present.

Day-list:

American Black Duck

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Cedar Waxwing

Common Goldeneye

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

House Finch

House Sparrow

Merlin

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Rock Pigeon

Snowy Owl

White-breasted Nuthatch

American Robin

Red-tailed Hawk

According to Tony, 2011 was one of the best years forbirding in the Ottawa area.

We had many fantastic birds, and also lots of greatphoto-opportunities.

Thank you everyone for joining us in 2011. See you allin 2012!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Last of Fall Birding...

2011-12-07T17:25:00.001-05:00

Male Red Crossbill

Winter morning at Petrie Beach

Giroux Ponds

Tuesday Nov. 22:

The morningat Petrie Island, was sunny, calm and cool. Shallow waters around the area werefrozen. It was totally quiet with only a few birds.

Nevertheless,this day became a memorable one for me.

At MiltonRoad we had 25 Sandhill Cranes. In the area of Casselman dump we had 2 juvenileIceland Gulls among hundreds of Herring Gulls, with a 150 Snow Geese flyingoverhead.

Red-tailedHawks were a common sight throughout the day!

Severalraptors were around including Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, plus manyRough-legged Hawks, both light & dark morphs included. At St. Isidor we hadour first of 2 Snowy Owls for the day! It was a spectacular sight! And at theGiroux ponds we had around 8000 Canada Geese, which just continued to come inwhen we were leaving. And finally at Frank Kenny Road, Tony spotted the secondfemale Snowy Owl far into a field. And that one made # 241 on my Ottawa list!What a day!

American Black Duck
AmericanCrow
AmericanGoldfinch
Bald Eagle
Black-cappedChickadee
Blue Jay
CacklingGoose
CanadaGoose
CommonMerganser
CoopersHawk
EuropeanStarling
GreatBlack-backed Gull
Great BlueHeron
Green-wingedTeal
HerringGull
HoodedMerganser
House Finch
IcelandGull
Mallard
NorthernHarrier
Red-breastedMerganser
Red-tailedHawk
Ring-billedGull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-leggedHawk
SandhillCrane
SnowBunting
Snow Goose
Snowy Owl
White-breastedNuthatch

Jack Pine Trail

Feeding my Chickadee

White Tailed Deer

Red-tailed Hawk, Photo courtesy Bill Bowman

Thursday Nov. 24:

We woke upto a snow covered Ottawa. It was damp and mild with a gray overcast sky.

We met atJack Pine Trail were we hiked our usual loop. Chickadees were abundant butamongst them, at the first boardwalk, a lingering Song Sparrow was seen.

The urgefor a Snowy Owl made us hit the road. We first stopped at Burnside Pit where wehad Snow Geese and Canada Geese included a hybrid. Surprisingly, we also hadRuddy Ducks and a Great Blue Heron. Behind the dump we spotted many Greater and3 Lesser Backed Gulls.

Searchingaround the Richmond area, we had our gorgeous Snowy Owl. The 3rd this week!

Red-tailedand Rough-legged Hawks were seen everywhere along our route. To our delight, wesaw a beautiful adult Peregrine Falcon at Eagleson Road and Hwy. 417.

Checking outShirley Bay boat launch, we had many species of water fowl. And to our absolutepleasure, the Bald Eagle pair bonding a few weeks ago, was still there,guarding their nest.

Leaving thearea we had two Northern Shrikes, an adult and a juvenile.

It was agreat day birding!

AmericanCrow
AmericanGoldfinch
AmericanRobin
AmericanTree Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Black-cappedChickadee
Blue Jay
BrownCreeper
Bufflehead
CacklingGoose
CanadaGoose
CommonGoldeneye
Common Loon
CommonMerganser
CommonRaven
Dark-eyedJunco
DownyWoodpecker
EuropeanStarling
GreatBlack-backed Gull
Great BlueHeron
HairyWoodpecker
HerringGull
HoodedMerganser
LesserBlack-backed Gull
LesserScaup
Mallard
MourningDove
NorthernShrike
PeregrineFalcon
Red-breastedNuthatch
Red-tailedHawk
Red-wingedBlackbird
Ring-billedGull
Ring-neckedDuck
Rock Pigeon
Rough-leggedHawk
Ruddy Duck
SnowBunting
Snow Goose
Snowy Owl
SongSparrow
White-breastedNuthatch

Plaque at the Visitor Centre.

Algonquin Park

Gray Jay

Content participants

Black-backed Woodpecker

Photographing the Black-backed Woodpecker

Scenery, Photo courtesy Paul Levesque

Pine Marten, Photo courtesy Mary Sarumi

Red Crossbills, Photo courtesy Jaliya Rasaputra

Gray Jay, Photo courtesy Roger Cobbledick

Photographing Spruce Grouse in a tree

Spruce Grouse

Spruce Grouse, Photo courtesy Paul Levesque

Scenery at Algonquin Park

Ruffed Grouse, Photo courtesy Roger Cobbledick

Roger photographing the Ruffed Grouse

Dream Catcher Motel

Sunday morning leaving

Sat/Sun. Nov. 26-27 –Algonquin weekend excursion:
We had anexcellent weekend birding the Hwy. 60 corridor of Algonquin Park.

Saturday’s highlights were the following:

3 maleSpruce Grouse - 1 along Arowhon Road,and two along the Railway Bed, east of Arowhon.

1 maleBlack-backed Woodpecker along the Railway Bed, east of Arowhon.

3 BorealChickadees in a flock of several Black-capped Chickadees near the chain overthe Railway Bed, east of Arowhon. 1 Northern Shrike in the swamp at Wolf HowlPond. 12 Red Crossbills along Hwy 60, at KM 41. We witnessed a very interestingbehavior as the Crossbills are attracted to decaying wood that might be asource of ash and calcium. They seek minerals from various sources thatprobably assist in the digestion of conifer seeds (see picture series under).

And, 5 GrayJays were highly visible along the Railway Bed, east of Arowhon, plus 2 morealong Opeongo Lake Road and 1 at the East Gate.

Several finches kept flying high overheadthroughout the day. Most were Common Redpoll, including a flock of about 40.Others include several individual White-winged Crossbills, and two Pine Siskin.

A Pine Martin at the Visitor's Centre BirdFeeder was a bonus.

Highlightson Sunday included:

2 Ruffed Grouse, one at the Visitor's CentreBird Feeder and another along Opeongo Lake Road.

1 BorealChickadee along the Spruce Bog Boardwalk. 1 Northern Shrike along Opeongo LakeRoad.

Gray Jayswere encountered along the Spruce Bog Boardwalk and the Logging Museum Trail.

6 River Otter in the pond of the LoggingMuseum Trail was another bonus.

Totalweekend list of 31 species:

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

AmericanKestrel

Black-backedWoodpecker

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

BorealChickadee

CanadaGoose

Common Loon

CommonMerganser

CommonRaven

CommonRedpoll

Dark-eyedJunco

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

Golden-crownedKinglet

Gray Jay

HairyWoodpecker

HoodedMerganser

HouseSparrow

NorthernShrike

PileatedWoodpecker

Pine Siskin

RedCrossbill

Red-breastedMerganser

Red-tailedHawk

Ring-billedGull

Rock Pigeon

RuffedGrouse

SprouseGrouse

White-winged Crossbill

Red Crossbills

Red Crossbill, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

The lastweek’s birding has given us great treasures like Cedar & Bohemian Waxwings,Bald & Golden Eagle, Ruddy Duck, over 60.000 Snow Geese, American Kestrel,46 Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Common Redpoll,Northern Harrier and my latest life bird: Canvasback, to mention a few. A listfor each day is posted under.

STAY TUNEDFOR THE WINTER PROGRAM!!

60.000 Snow Geese in Ontario, Dec. 4th 2011 - filmed with a P300 by me

Snow Geese, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

Field of Snow Geese, Photo courtesy Josh McCullough

Photo courtesy Josh McCullough

Photo courtesy Helena G.

Tuesday Nov. 29:
AmericanBlack Duck

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

Bald Eagle

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

CacklingGoose

CanadaGoose

CommonMerganser

EuropeanStarling

Great BlueHeron

HairyWoodpecker

HerringGull

Mallard

Red-tailedHawk

Ring-billedGull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

SandhillCrane

Wild Turkey

Thursday Dec. 1:

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

AmericanRobin

AmericanTree Sparrow

AmericanKestrel

Bald Eagle

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

BohemianWaxwing

CanadaGoose

CedarWaxwing

CommonRaven

CommonRedpoll

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

GoldenEagle

HairyWoodpecker

HoodedMerganser

HouseSparrow

MourningDove

NorthernCardinal

NorthernShrike

PileatedWoodpecker

Red-breastedNuthatch

Red-tailedHawk

Ring-billedGull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

SnowBunting

Wild Turkey

Saturday Dec. 3:

AmericanBlack Duck

AmericanCrow

AmericanRobin

AmericanTree Sparrow

Bald Eagle

BlackScoter

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bufflehead

CacklingGoose

CanadaGoose

CommonGoldeneye

Common Loon

CommonMerganser

CommonRaven

DownyWoodpecker

EuropeanStarling

GreatBlack-backed Gull

Great BlueHeron

HerringGull

HoodedMerganser

House Finch

HouseSparrow

LesserScaup

Mallard

MourningDove

NorthernShrike

PeregrineFalcon

Red-breastedMerganser

Red-tailedHawk

Ring-billedGull

Ring-neckedDuck

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

Ruddy Duck

SnowBunting

Snow Goose

White-breastedNuthatch

White-wingedScoter

Sunday Dec. 4th:

AmericanBlack Duck

AmericanCrow

AmericanGoldfinch

AmericanRobin

AmericanTree Sparrow

Black-cappedChickadee

Blue Jay

Bufflehead

CacklingGoose

CanadaGoose

Canvasback

CommonGoldeneye

Common Loon

CommonMerganser

CommonRaven

EuropeanStarling

Gadwall

GloucousGull

Golden-crownedKinglet

GreatBlack-backed Gull

Great BlueHeron

Green-wingedTeal

HairyWoodpecker

HerringGull

HoodedMerganser

Horned Lark

IcelandGull

LesserBlack-backed Gull

LesserScaup

Mallard

MourningDove

NorthernHarrier

NorthernShrike

PurpleFinch

Red-breastedMerganser

Red-tailedHawk

Red-wingedBlackbird

Ring-billedGull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-leggedHawk

SandhillCrane

SnowBunting

Snow Goose

White-breastedNuthatch

Wild Turkey

Wood Duck

All Excursions organized by ~ Always An Adventure

Fall lingers on...

2011-11-21T20:09:00.001-05:00

European Starling

Tony Beck demonstrating his techniques

Tuesday Nov. 15:

Continuing with our series of “photo days”, we met atFletcher Wildlife Garden, part of Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm. We spentthe entire morning in the garden area including the paths through theArboretum, and besides Dow’s Lake. A perfect day - there was plenty of greatweather, and endless photo opportunities. Everyone finished the session withgood results. Check out some of the images here: Facebook Gallery. Although our agenda was to capture photos and learningphotography, we tallied a day-list of 32 species of birds:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Common Redpoll
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Great Black-backed Gull
Hairy Woodpecker
Hooded Merganser
House Finch
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Cardinal
Peregrine Falcon
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Song Sparrow
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow

Richmond Lagoons

American Crow

Thursday Nov. 17:

We began our morning at the Coliseum Theater Parking Lot, east of Bayshore. From here we went directly for nearby coniferous woodlands in search of northern birds. Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks were very common throughout the whole morning. Interestingly, we found 2 late Eastern Blue Birds at the Berry Side Road. At Richmond Lagoons we had two juvenile Brant and a Cackling Goose amongst many Canada and Snow Geese.

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Brant
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Black-backed Gull
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Shrike
Purple Finch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rough-legged Hawk
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow

Dawn at Petrie Island

Sunrise at Petrie Beach

Snow Geese

Saturday 19^th Nov:

As autumn lingers on, we begin experiencingever-changing weather conditions.

We started our excursion at Petrie Island with mildand comfortable temperatures.

Our goal this morning - find big flocks of Snow Geeseand Sandhill Cranes. By the end of the morning, we found around 14,000 SnowGeese and about 60 Sandhill Cranes.

Other highlights were Northern Harrier, Rough-leggedHawks and Red-tailed Hawks in good numbers. We still expect more northern birdsto arrive in the weeks ahead.

American Black Duck
American Crow
Blue Jay
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
European Starling
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
House Sparrow
Mallard
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-legged Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Snow Bunting
Snow Goose
Wood Duck

Two young Snow Geese among Canada Geese

Dick Bell Park

Sunday 20^th Nov:

Our group started at Andrew Haydon Park this morning,hiking along the shoreline of the Ottawa River from Ottawa Beach to Dick BellPark. Here we found 2 young Snow Geese, White-winged Scoter and severalindividual Cackling Geese amongst the Canada’s. Unfortunately, heavy rainforced us into an early coffee break. Abandoning the Fletcher Wildlife Gardensfor open country, we headed south into the open fields near the village ofRichmond.

Burnside Pit produced a big flock of Snow Geeseincluding 3 Blue Morphs. Other highlights today were Great Blue Heron,Bufflehead, Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup.

American Crow
American Goldfinch
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bufflehead
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
European Starling
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Green-winged Teal
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Cardinal
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Snow Goose
White-winged Scoter
Wild Turkey

Until next time...

Join us on Facebook!

All excursions organized by Nina Stavlund & Tony Beck

Fun coming from the North...

2011-11-16T19:09:00.001-05:00

Male Black-backed Woodpecker, Photo Courtesy of Tony Beck

Winter plumage Horned Grebe

Full day excursion Tues. Nov. 8 to Lake Dore and Algonquin Park:
Although the lake was reasonable productive withplenty of grebes, Common Loon and Bonaparte’s Gulls, diversity was relativelylow. Birds became a bit more interesting as we got closer to Algonquin Park. Wehad an excellent afternoon birding along the Barron Canyon Road.

Gray Jays were greeting us almost everywhere we stopped in the park. Also inthe park were 5 Black-backed Woodpeckers. They were a lifer bird for many inthe group.

Starting with 2 Common Redpolls just outside the park,we saw several more small flocks in the park, totaling about 120 birds. We hadonly one White-winged Crossbill flying overhead and along Hwy 26 southeast ofthe park, we saw a juvenile Northern Goshawk.

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Black-backed Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown Creeper
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Common Redpoll
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Gray Jay
Great Blue Heron
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Horned Lark
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Northern Goshawk
Northern Harrier
Northern Shrike
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-necked Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-legged Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Snowbunting
White-winged Crossbill
Wild Turkey

Black-backed Woodpecker

Thursday Nov. 10^th:
Our beautiful morning started at Andrew Haydon Park.Thousands of Geese were flying overhead. After checking out the park moreclosely, we went over to Shirley’s Bay and out on the dyke. While scanning thewetlands, an adult Bald Eagle flushed a huge flock of Canada Geese. It was aspectacular sight! After Shirley’s Bay, we went back to Andrew Haydon but witha Parasailor on the waters, there were no birds. Instead we ended the excursionat Britannia and Mud Lake.

American Black Duck

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

American Wigeon

Bald Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Black Scoter

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Brant

Bufflehead

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Greater Scaup

Green-winged Teal

Herring Gull

Hooded Merganser

Horned Grebe

House Sparrow

Lesser Scaup

Mallard

Northern Cardinal

Northern Shoveler

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-necked Grebe

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-necked Duck

Rock Pigeon

Ruffed Grouse

Snow Bunting

Song Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-winged Scoter

Wood Duck

Red-tailed Hawk

Saturday Nov. 12:
Today we hoped to find something unusual, and indeedwe did.
Cackling Geese are not unusual this time of year. But,we had 11 of them at Britannia Beach including a tight flock of 10. Going toShirley’s Bay we witnessed something quite extraordinary. On a huge nest,visible high in the bare trees, two adult Bald Eagles, appeared to be bonding.It was fantastic to see!
Also, inside the forest at Shirley’s Bay we had a RuffedGrouse.

We ended the excursion studying the gulls aroundBunside Pit. We found 3 Lesser-backed and a first winter Iceland Gull amongsthundreds of Ring-billed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls.

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Tree Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Black Scoter
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Bufflehead
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Great Black-backed Gull
Greater Scaup
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
House Sparrow
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Snow Bunting
Snow Goose
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
White-winged Scoter
Wild Turkey

Gray Jay

Sunday Nov. 13, Amherst:

We started before dawn in the direction of Kingston andthe world famous Amherst Island.

The weather did not act up as badly as predicted andthe group was quite pleased with the mild temperature.

We were greeted by a beautiful male Red-belliedWoodpecker at the entrance of the Owl Woods.

The only cooperative owl we found was a Long-eared Owl hiding away deep in the needles of the Jack Pine. Fortunately it remained still for everyone tosee. It was a lifer for several in the group.

The fields around the island revealed many diurnalraptors, like Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, and all color morphs ofRough-legged Hawk. Good number of Tundra Swan was accumulating on thenorth-east side of the island.

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
American Kestrel
Black Scoter
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown Creeper
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Gadwall
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Herring Gull
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
Long-eared Owl
Long-tailed Duck
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Harrier
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-legged Hawk
Snow Bunting
Tundra Swan
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey

The group studying the very cooperative Long-eared Owl.

Excursions organized by Nina Stavlund & Tony Beck as Always An Adventure

~ HAPPY BIRDING ! ~

Recent Local & Overnight Excursions...

2011-11-10T19:13:00.001-05:00

Snow Bunting @ Presqu'ile Provisional Park

Casselman Lagoons

Baird's Sandpiper

Josh McCullough

White-rumped Sandpiper, Photo Courtesy of Josh McCullough

Saturday 29^th Oct:

We met at Petrie Island this morning under clear skieswith a nippy wind.

From here we went driving through nearby fields,including by Giroux Ponds where we had a single Horned Lark. Passing by MiltonRoad, we had 21 Sandhill Cranes. At Casselman, we had White-rumped and Baird’sSandpiper. Lastly to Embun, we had a couple of Snow Geese.

American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Pipit
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Baird's Sandpiper
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Dunlin
European Starling
Gadwall
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Horned Lark
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Merlin
Northern Harrier
Northern Shoveler
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pileated Woodpecker
Purple Finch
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-legged Hawk
Ruddy Duck
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Snow Goose
Turkey Vulture
White-rumped Sandpiper
White-winged Scoter
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck

Black Duck, Photo Courtesy of Ron Allen

Brant, Photo Courtesy of Ron Allen

Scenery along the Dechenes Shoreline - Quebec

European Starling

Sunday 30^th Oct:

It was a pleasant overcast day with mild temperatures.

We started at Andrew Haydon Park where we had a smallflock of Cackling Geese. We scouted around for the Razorbill that was seen in thearea, finally watching it fly west over Deschenes Rapids.

Other highlights this day were Long-tailed Duck, White-wingedScoter and Pine Siskin.

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Black Scoter
Brown Creeper
Bufflehead
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Horned Grebe
House Finch
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Mallard
Northern Cardinal
Pine Siskin
Razorbill
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Grebe
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Snow Goose
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-winged Scoter
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo Courtesy of Josh McCullough

Tuesday 1^st Nov:
An enthusiastic group took off along the GatineauEscarpments today. We had a most wonderful birding day with several raptor highlightsincluding Golden Eagle, Northern Harrier, Northern Shrike, Red-tailed & Rough-leggedHawk. We also watched a Coopers Hawk chasing a flock of Eastern Blue Birds.

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Bald Eagle

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Brown Creeper

Canada Goose

Common Raven

Coopers Hawk

Eastern Bluebird

European Starling

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden Eagle

Great Blue Heron

Hairy Woodpecker

Hooded Merganser

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Northern Harrier

Northern Shrike

Pileated Woodpecker

Purple Finch

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-legged Hawk

Song Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Wild Turkey

Petrie Island Sunrise, Photo Courtesy of Josh McCullough

Fall, Photo Courtesy of Tony Beck

Red Squirrel, Photo Courtesy of Jariya Rasaputra

Thursday 3^rd Nov:

Petrie Island was quiet with nice weather and an increasingwind during the morning.

Sandhill Cranes were seen dancing from Smith Road. Itwas really spectacular to see and a first-timer for me.

American Black Duck

American Crow

American Pipit

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Brown Creeper

Canada Goose

Common Merganser

Common Raven

Dark-eyed Junco

Double-crested Cormorant

European Starling

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Great Blue Heron

Green-winged Teal

Hairy Woodpecker

Hooded Merganser

House Finch

House Sparrow

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Northern Harrier

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shrike

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Rough-legged Hawk

Sandhill Crane

Snow Bunting

White-breasted Nuthatch

Wood Duck

White-winged Scoter, Photo Courtesy of Tony Beck

Sunrise @ Presqu'ile Provisional Park

Presqu'ile Provisional Park

Prince Edward County

Prince Edward Point Light House

Barred Owl inside Presqu'ile Provisional Park

Overnight Excursion to Prince Edward County and Presqu’ile Provisional Park 5-6Nov:

What a fantastic weekend!! Not only did we have awesomeweather, but the birding was fabulous as well. The highlights this weekend wereall 3 species of Swans seen together, Nina getting Eurasian Wigeon for life, aBlack-legged Kittiwake flying over Owen Point, a single American Golden Plover,Peregrine Falcon, Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Barred Owl to mention a few…

65 species tallied on Saturday and 66 on Sunday. Totaltrip list of 91 species:

American Black Duck

American Coot

American Crow

American Golden Plover

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

American Wigeon

American Kestrel

Barred Owl

Belted Kingfisher

Black Scoter

Black-bellied Plover

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-legged Kittiwake

Blue Jay

Bonaparte's Gull

Brown Creeper

Bufflehead

Canada Goose

Cedar Waxwing

Common Goldeneye

Common Grackle

Common Loon

Common Raven

Dark-eyed Junco

Double-crested Cormorant

Downy Woodpecker

Dunlin

Eastern Bluebird

Eurasian Wigeon

European Starling

Fox Sparrow

Gadwall

Golden Eagle

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Greater Scaup

Green-winged Teal

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

Hooded Merganser

Horned Grebe

Horned Lark

House Finch

House Sparrow

Lesser Scaup

Long-tailed Duck

Mallard

Merlin

Mourning Dove

Mute Swan

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Harrier

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shrike

Peregrine Falcon

Pied-billed Grebe

Pileated Woodpecker

Pine Siskin

Red Head (Duck)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-necked Duck

Rock Pigeon

Rough-legged Hawk

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruffed Grouse

Rusty Blackbird

Sanderling

Semipalmated Plover

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Snowbunting

Trumpeter Swan

Tundra Swan

Turkey Vulture

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-rumped Sandpiper

White-throated Sparrow

White-winged Scoter

Wild Turkey

Wood Duck

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Fall, Photo Courtesy of Tony Beck

All Excursions Organized by Nina Stavlund & Tony Beck
Find us on Facebook: Always An Adventure

Photo & Birding Tour to Costa Rica ~ 2012

2011-11-02T18:18:00.000-04:00

COSTA RICA MARCH 2012

Green Violetear Hummingbird

Turquoise-browed Motmot

The tiny country of Costa Rica offers all the diversity of a neotropical paradise, all in a modern, healthy, safe and comfortable setting. Experience the lush beauty of mountain forests, open country, colourful gardens and coastal habitats. This itinerary is designed to provide the best photo opportunities of the country's most beautiful creatures, especially birds. From the Resplendent Quetzal in the highlands, the Green Thorntail Hummingbird of the Caribbean Slope, to the Scarlet Macaw on the Pacific coast, we hope to observe 300 species of birds (or more) by the end of the trip. Although we visit some of the most productive areas for birds, we'll also enjoy great food, spectacular scenery, and friendly people.

Emerald Toucanet

ITINERARY:
March 06:Arrive, picked up at airport and transfer to Hotel Bougainvillea for 1 Night
March 07:Transfer via Paraiso Quetzal to Savegre Mountain Lodge for 2 Nights

March 08:Full day in Savegre - 2nd Night there

March 09:Early AM at Savegre, transfer via Paramo to La Quinta for 3 Nights

March 10:Full day at La Selva OTS , 2nd Night at La Quinta

March 11: AMat Old Butterfly Garden, afternoon at local lodge, 3rd Night at La Quinta

March 12: AMvisit to La Paz Waterfall Garden, transfer to Arenal Observatory Lodge for 2Nights

March 13:Full day at and near lodge, 2nd Night at Arenal Observatory Lodge

March 14: Arenal Hanging Bridges in AM, transfer after lunch to Hacienda Solimar for 1Night

March 15: AMat Solimar, transfer after lunch to Villa Lapas for 3 Nights

March 16:Full day in Carara National Park, 2nd Night at Villa Lapas

March 17: AMBoat ride on Rio Tarcoles, afternoon locally, 3rd Night at Villa Lapas

March 18: AMlocally near Villa Lapas, transfer to Las Orquideas Inn for final Night

March 19:Transfer to San Jose Airport in time for Int'l departure

Arenal Volcano

GUIDINGINCLUDED IN THE PRICE:

Herman Venegas as your local Bird guide throughout thetrip.

Tony Beck as your Bird and Photography Guide.

Nina Stavlund as yourPhotography Guide

TRANSPORTINCLUDED IN THE PRICE:

Toyota Coaster with driver entire trip. Also includesairport transfers in and out and fuel

ENTRANCEFEES AND ACTIVITIES INCLUDED IN THE PRICE:

Mar 07:Entrance fee and lunch Paraiso Quetzal

Mar 08:Truck ride to trail head while at Savegre

Mar 10:Entrance fee for full day at La Selva OTS

Mar 11: OldButterfly Garden

Mar 11:Entrance fee Selva Verde Lodge or El Gavilan Lodge

Mar 12:Entrance fee and lunch La Paz Waterfall Garden

Mar 14:Entrance fee Arenal Hanging Bridges

Mar 16:Entrance fee Carara NP

Mar 17:Boat ride on Rio Tarcoles

Resplendent Quetzal

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl

MEAL PLAN:

All meals are included in the price from Breakfast March 07 thru Breakfast March 19

ITEMS NOTINCLUDED IN THE PRICE:

Air Fareto/from San Jose, Costa Rica

Meals onMarch 6, and after breakfast on March 19

Tips toguide(s), chauffeur, hotel staff

alcoholicbeverages, or additional refreshments (soda)

Laundry (orother extra hotel services)

LongDistance Phone Calls

AirportExit Tax of $26 USD when departing Costa Rica

Anythingnot specifically mentioned as included in above itinerary

Make sureyou have a valid passport before traveling to Costa Rica

Ifpossible, try to pack light.

We shouldexpect all types of weather including rain, cold and bright sun. Prepareaccordingly

Essentialequipment will be binoculars, and photography equipment

Bring yourcameras and a good selection of lenses

You'll wanteverything from wide angle to telephoto (200mm minimum)

A macro(close focus lens) can also be useful

Ifpossible, bring a spare camera, extra batteries and LOTS of memory cards

Additionalsupport is good (tripod, monopod or gunstock)

You might also want an external flash for low light or fill

Silver Throated-Tanager

Electricaloutlets are 120V (same as in North America).

Click Herefor More Information: AC requirements in Costa Rica

At leasttwo of your guides will have telescopes

We expectto be doing some hiking on most days, and in a variety of terrain. Typically,the hiking will be relatively easy. However, it includes some hillside trailsand steep inclines. We will always stay on trails or open areas. And, the pacewill always be reasonably slow. Make sure you have good, comfortable hikingshoes. We might encounter some areas with mud or shallow water.

Although wewill be spending a lot of time around bird feeding stations at our lodges, somedays will be very long - getting up early (optional morning hikes beforebreakfast), out all day, with occasional owling at night (optional). Expectsome long bus rides between accommodations.

Insects arerarely a problem. However, it's a good idea to bring insect repellent withdeet. This can be especially effective against chiggers and mosquitoes.

Costa Ricais modern, extremely healthy and safe, especially for a tropical "thirdworld" country. It is among the safest destinations for travelers in theworld. Medical and personal safety issues are very rare in Costa Rica. However,if you feel you need to take medical precautions, visit the following site formore information. Click Here: Common Sense Travel

Click Herefor the Canadian Government's Travel Report for Costa Rica: CDN Costa Rica Travel Advisory

Click Hereto get an idea of what we'll photograph on this tour:

Costa Rica 2008

Costa Rica 2007

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

Violet Sabrewing

Dusty Glass Frog

Yellow-headed Caracara

Price per person based on double occupancy:

$3998 USF
Maximum 8participants
SINGLESUPPLEMENT: $395 USD

Dynamic times with a lot of birds!

2011-10-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

Bald Eagle -Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Photo courtesy of Tony Beck

Snow & Canada Geese at Casselman Lagoons Sep. 27 - 2011

Merlin - Falco columbarius

Tuesday Sep. 27:

We started our excursion at Petrie Island where wespent about 30 minutes together with a beautiful and cooperative Merlin! AtCasselman Lagoons we had about 14.000 Canada Geese (see movie) included 11 SnowGeese. On the way there we passed Milton Road where we had 31 Sandhill Cranes.

Day list:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Pipit
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-winged teal
Canada Goose
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Common Raven
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Pintail
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Digiscope Image with Coolpix P300 through Nikon Fieldscope ED82 and 50X wide DS eyepiece
Merlin - Falco columbarius, Photo courtesy of Tony Beck

Geese

Thursday Sep. 29:

This day started with heavy mist which vanished as soon as the sun came out.
Andrew Haydon Park and Ottawa Beach revealed an American Golden Plover.
We went to Richmond Lagoons where we had a Long-billed Dowitcher amongst Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer and Pectoral Sandpipers.
At the Moodie Drive Quarry Pond we had 5 Cackling Geese, 2 Snow Geese and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Of course it was Canada Geese in the thousands as well.

Day list:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Golden Plover
American Pipit
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue Jay
Blue-winged teal
Brown Creeper
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Greater Yellowlegs
Green-winged Teal
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Horned Lark
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Osprey
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruddy Duck
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-throated Sparrow
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

High Falls, Photo courtesy of Josh McCullough

Saturday Oct. 1:

Although the weather was unfavorable for humans we still tallied a list of 53 species.
We started at Petrie Island, and birded the surrounding area. We also went to High Falls where we had Rusty Blackbird. Highlights of the day were American Golden Plover, Bay-breasted Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Siskin, Sandhill Crane, Snow Goose and White-crowned Sparrow.
Day list:

American Black Duck

American Crow

American Golden Plover

American Robin

American Wigeon

Bay-breasted Warbler

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Brown Creeper

Canada Goose

Cedar Waxwing

Common Merganser

Common Raven

Double-crested Cormorant

Downy Woodpecker

Dunlin

Eastern Phoebe

European Starling

Great Blue Heron

Greater Yellowlegs

Green-winged Teal

Hairy Woodpecker

Herring Gull

Hooded Merganser

Horned Lark

House Sparrow

Killdeer

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mallard

Merlin

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Pintail

Palm Warbler

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pine Siskin

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Rusty Blackbird

Sandhill Crane

Semipalmated Plover

Snow Goose

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Turkey Vulture

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Wood Duck

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Thistle

Josh bonding with a Black-capped Chickadee @ Jack Pine Trail

Eastern Gray Squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis

Tuesday Oct. 4:

Today we had this season’s photo day at Jack Pine Trail.

Weather was better than predicted and the mist clearedup as the morning progressed.

Most of the leaves have changed color or were about todo so. Fall was all around us.

So were the birdies. To our great surprise we had Blackburnian,Black-throated Green, Magnolia and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Other highlights of the day, besides pictures, wereBlue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Merlin, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Winter Wren.

Day list:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Wigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blue Jay
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-winged teal
Brown Creeper
Canada Goose
Common Raven
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Gadwall
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Blue Heron
Greater Yellowlegs
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Magnolia Warbler
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruddy Duck
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Winter Wren
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Bald Eagle -Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus, Photo courtesy of Tony Beck

Saturday Oct. 8:

A big day dedicated to the Photo Enthusiasts at Always An Adventure.

We started early and headed for Parc Omega in Montebello, Quebec.We arrived a few minutes after they opened the park, and went straight for the Timber Wolfs and Black Bears. From there on we went two times around the park, with a break at noon to attend the raptor show organized by Canadian Raptor Conservancy. We had the fantastic pleasure to be only centimeters away from a Great Horned Owl, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Turkey Vulture and a 4 year sub-adult Bald Eagle. An entire new gallery will be dedicated to this day on our Facebook Page. Stay tuned!

Day list:

American Bittern
American Black Duck
American Crow
American Robin
American Wigeon
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown Creeper
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Gadwall
Great Blue Heron
Hairy Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Harrier
Pied-billed Grebe
Pine Siskin
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Song Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Digiscope Image with Coolpix P300 through Nikon Fieldscope ED82 and 50X wide DS eyepiece.
Hudsonian Godwit - Limosa haemastica, Photo courtesy of Tony Beck

Tony Beck digiscoping with Coolpix P300 and Nikon Fieldscope ED82

Sunday Oct 9:

We had a beautiful and bird-filled autumn day in Ottawa's west end today.

We started at Ottawa Beach where we came close to 5 Hudsonian Godwits (we had a total of 33 between Constance Bay and Ottawa Beach by the end of the day).
We then moved over to Shirley’s Bay where we had a nice flock of White-rumped Sandpipers, 6 Great Egrets and a flock of 11 Hudsonian Godwits. Another flock of 5 Hudsonians came in later.
We then went to the Moodie Drive Quarry Pond where we had a single Ross’s Goose. Going there we had a Cackling Goose flying over.
We ended the excursion at Constance Bay, where we had a Long-billed Dowitcher and 2 Nelson’s Sparrows and one more Hudsonian Godwit. What a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend!
Day list:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Pipit
American Robin
American Wigeon
Black-bellied Plover
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Brown Creeper
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Common Raven
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Dunlin
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Greater Scaup
Greater Yellowlegs
Green-winged Teal
Hermit Thrush
Herring Gull
House Finch
Hudsonian Godwit
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Mallard
Nelson's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Northern Harrier
Northern Pintail
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Ross's Goose
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruddy Duck
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-rumped Sandpiper
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Tony Beck bonding with a Canada Goose

Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus

Eastern Gray Squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis

Tuesday Oct. 11:

We had an extremely rewarding morning birding areas east of Ottawa.

It started with a single Nelson's Sparrow amongst Song, Swamp and Lincoln’s Sparrows at the south end of the causeway of Petrie Island.
At the Giroux ponds we had 3 Ross's Geese - one juvenile and two adults, with a flock of 150 Snow Geese. Also present at the pond were 8 Hudsonian Godwits, 11 Pectoral Sandpiper, 11 White-rumped Sandpipers, 60 Killdeer and one Red-necked Grebe. At Milton Road we had yet another 33 Snow Geese amongst a flock of lazy and resting Canada Geese. While we were studying the Snow Geese, 2 Sandhill Cranes flew in.
Day list:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Pipit
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Brown Creeper
Canada Goose
Common Raven
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Blue Heron
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Horned Lark
House Finch
Hudsonian Godwit
Killdeer
Lincoln's Sparrow
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Nelson's Sparrow
Northern Shoveler
Pectoral Sandpiper
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch
Red-necked Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Ross's Goose
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Sandhill Crane
Snow Goose
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-rumped Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow-rumped Warbler

There will now be a short break in the local fall program.
We will continue the adventures on Saturday October 29.
See you then!!

All excursions organized by Always An Adventure
Find us on Facebook

Welcome Fall !

2011-09-28T20:40:00.001-04:00

Canada Goose

Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus

First cycle Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis

Saturday Sep.24:
Autumn hasofficially arrived! Always An Adventure’s Fall Program started today and we arelooking forward to a colorful and exciting season.

We startedat Petrie Island, to witness the transition between the first and second waveof fall migration.

We had 4species of warblers which were Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped Warblerand Northern Parula. Kinglets were everywhere and we had both species,Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned.

AfterPetrie Island we went to the Giroux Pond where we had Geese galore! Among the10.000 Canada Geese were one Leucistic, one hybrid Canada/Snow Goose and 28Greater Snow Geese.

We alsocovered the surrounding open country where we had American Kestrel, NorthernHarrier, Red-tailed and Coopers Hawk. Near Navan we observed 8 Sandhill Cranes.

By lunch wehad a total of 48 species, which was a great start to the local fall birdingprogram.

AmericanBlack Duck
AmericanCrow
AmericanGolden Plover
AmericanRobin
American Kestrel
Bay-breastedWarbler
BeltedKingfisher
Black-cappedChickadee
BlackpollWarbler
Blue Jay
Brown-headedCowbird
CanadaGoose
CommonMoorhen
CommonRaven
CoopersHawk
DownyWoodpecker
EuropeanStarling
Golden-crownedKinglet
Great BlueHeron
Green-wingedTeal
HairyWoodpecker
HerringGull
HouseSparrow
Killdeer
Mallard
MourningDove
NorthernFlicker
NorthernHarrier
NorthernParula
NorthernPintail
Osprey
Red-tailedHawk
Red-wingedBlackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
SandhillCrane
SavannahSparrow
SemipalmatedPlover
Snow Goose
SongSparrow
SpottedSandpiper
TurkeyVulture
WarblingVireo
White-breastedNuthatch
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow-belliedSapsucker
Yellow-rumpedWarbler

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus

Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis

Sunday Sep. 25 -2011

We startedour second excursion at Andrew Haydon Park. It was foggy with very littlevisibility, but that does not stop Always An Adventure. Lucky for us the weatheronly got better and better as the morning progressed.

We scannedOttawa beach where we found a variety of the regular gulls and water fowl. Wethen moved over to Shirley’s Bay where we saw an American Golden Plover,Black-crowned Night Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, several Great Blue Herons, 16Great Egrets and 3 Bald Eagles including 2 adults and one juvenile.

We also had6 species of warblers, Black & White, Black-throated Green , Magnolia, Palm,Yellow-rumped and Northern Parula.

With a daylist of 56 species, we were very content.

AmericanBlack Duck
AmericanCrow
AmericanGolden Plover
AmericanGoldfinch
AmericanRobin
AmericanWigeon
Bald Eagle
BeltedKingfisher
Black &White Warbler
Black-cappedChickadee
Black-crownedNight Heron
Black-throatedGreen Warbler
Blue Jay
Blue-wingedteal
BrownCreeper
CommonMerganser
CommonMoorhen
CommonRaven
Double-crestedCormorant
DownyWoodpecker
EasternPhoebe
EuropeanStarling
Golden-crownedKinglet
GreatBlack-backed Gull
Great BlueHeron
Great Egret
GreaterYellowlegs
Green-wingedTeal
GreyCatbird
HairyWoodpecker
HerringGull
HouseSparrow
Killdeer
LesserScaup
MagnoliaWarbler
Mallard
NorthernCardinal
NorthernFlicker
NorthernHarrier
NorthernParula
NorthernPintail
PalmWarbler
Pied-billedGrebe
Red-tailedHawk
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-neckedDuck
Rock Pigeon
SongSparrow
SpottedSandpiper
Swainson'sThrush
White-breastedNuthatch
White-crownedSparrow
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow-belliedSapsucker
Yellow-rumpedWarbler

The Three Sombreros..

Andrew Haydon Park, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

All Excursions organized by Always An Adventure ~

Visit us on Facebook: Always An Adventure ~

Rare Birds, Life Birds & beginning Fall Migration!

2011-07-27T13:43:00.001-04:00

Common Loon - Gavia immer

Black-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus erythropthalmus

Tony Beck

Common Loon - Gavia immer

Tuesday July 19 – Full day excursion
The Summer Program’s first of two full-day excursions was a nice and relaxed day of birding in the Outaouais Region.

The first stop near Quyon, Quebec, revealed a splendid view of a juvenile Northern Harrier, preening on top of a hay bail. Another highlight of the day was a Black-billed Cuckoo nicely perched in a tree. It provided great excitement for the group.

At Lawless Lake, a family of 3 Common Loons were very accommodating. Tony’s simple Loon call imitations brought them into photographic range.

In addition we had beautiful views of Blue-headed Vireo and Magnolia Warbler.

Our day list reached 68 species.

Day list:

Alder Flycatcher
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
American Kestrel
Barn Swallow
Black & White Warbler
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-headed Vireo
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Magnolia Warbler
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Ovenbird
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Western Meadowlark - My life bird #300!

Viceroy on Queen Anne's Lace

Virginia Ctenucha - ctenucha virginica

Thursday July 21
At Andrew Haydon Park, our meeting spot, we had 2 Caspian Terns, a Great Blue Heron and 5 Great Egrets including one leg-banded individual.

With great excitement we went straight for the area where a Western Meadowlark was being seen. Sure thing, immediately upon arrival, it was there perched high on a utility pole. It later came down lower giving us a great show.

We had the pleasure meeting Ray Holland, the discoverer of this rare bird. The Western Meadowlark was my #300 life bird!

Another highlight of the day was Red-headed Woodpecker.

Day list:

Alder Flycatcher
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Kestrel
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-crowned Night Heron
Brown Thrasher
Canada Goose
Caspian Tern
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Great Eagret
Great-crested Flycatcher
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Purple Martin
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
Upland Sandpiper
Western Meadowlark
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

Photography class learning the 'Sunny 16' rule

Red Squirrel in a Eastern Bluebird House

12-Spotted Skimmer - Libellula pulchella

Mallard

Saturday July 23 - Photography day Mer Bleue

The summer season’s second photography day was carried out in the Mer Bleue area.

The heat was intense already from early morning, but the photographers were eager to learn the Sunny 16 rule, among other subjects. Some hints and tips about composition were also well received.

Although it was a photography day, we encountered 50 species of birds. One participant got the Lincoln’s Sparrow at Mer Bleue Boardwalk as a lifer.

Day list :

Alder Flycatcher
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Kestrel
Barn Swallow
Black & White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Broad-winged Hawk
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
European Starling
Great-crested Flycatcher
Green Heron
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
House Finch
House Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Harrier
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Savannah Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Song Sparrow
Sora
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Virginia Rail
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris, Photo courtesy Tony Beck

Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus

Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps

Sunday July 24

We met at Petrie Island where we had quick views of Sora and Marsh Wren among many other species.

We visited Ottawa’s Eastern Lagoons and had several shorebirds - the beginnings of fall migration. Highlights were Spotted, Least, Semipalmated & Solitary Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Pied-billed Grebe and Northern Shoveler.

It was a good day in the heat and we encountered 56 species.

Day list:

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
Bobolink
Brown-headed Cowbird
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
House Finch
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Marsh Wren
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Shoveler
Osprey
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Ruddy Duck
Savannah Sparrow
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

This is the last birding excursion entry I will be doing for a while.
Day lists will still be made on every excursion. These lists can be forwarded upon request to:
tonysalwaysanadventure@gmail.com

All excursions organized by Tony Beck ~ Always An Adventure

HAPPY SUMMER TO ALL ! :o)

Birding in the Summer Heat and loving it!

2011-07-18T21:20:00.001-04:00

Northern Waterthrush - Parkesia noveboracensis, Photo credit Tony Beck

Photography Excursion at Jack Pine Trail, Ottawa, ON.

Red Squirrel, Photo credit Jariya Rasaputra

Mallard ducklings, Photo credit Ben Ivany

Tuesday July 12

Today was the summer program’s first of three Photography days.

We spent the whole morning at Jack Pine Trail.

We had a most cooperative Mallard with 2 ducklings posing for us. Interestingly, we greeted the same Swamp Sparrow on the same perch as our previous excursion to the same location.

We photographed everything we saw and surprisingly we had several warblers such as Black & White, Pine and Black-throated Green Warblers.

Day list:

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Black & White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blue Jay
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Hairy Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Osprey
Ovenbird
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Ruddy Duck
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Female Mallard, Photo credit Ben Ivany

Swamp Sparrow, Photo credit Jariya Rasaputra

Tony Beck

Turkey Vulture, Photo credit Bob Watt

Thursday July 14

Our group of dedicated birders and photographers are enjoying the great outdoors, even through these dog days of summer.

A long hike into the Nortel Wetlands, yielded several species including the elusive Sora. For many of the participants, including me, it was a lifer.

At the end of this excellent day we had a list of 54 species.

Day list:

American Bittern
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black-capped Chickadee
Bobolink
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Green Heron
Grey Catbird
House Finch
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rough-winged Swallow
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

Great-crested Flycatcher, Photo credit Bill Bowman

Great Egret, Photo credit Joshua McCullough

Virginia Rail, Photo credit Joshua McCullough

Saturday July 16:

A small group of Birders and Photographers met at Andrew Haydon Park where we had Bonaparte’s Gull and Common Tern at the beach.

The weather was extremely hot with no wind, but that did not stop the Virginia Rails from coming out onto the board walk at the Bill Mason Centre. They were literally everywhere, and so were Wilson’s Snipe.

A nice surprise was a great view of a Northern Waterthrush (intro picture by Tony Beck).

At the Carp Ridge we had one of our target birds - Eastern Towhee.

Day list:

Alder Flycatcher
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
American Kestrel
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Black & White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Great Eagret
Great-crested Flycatcher
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hooded Merganser
House Sparrow
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Waterthrush
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Savannah Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wilson's Snipe
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Spotted Sandpiper, Photo credit Joshua McCullough

Lesser Yellowlegs, Photo credit Tony Beck

Spotted Sandpiper, Photo credit Joshua McCullough

Green Heron

Sunday July 17

It was a cloudy morning with a nice breeze, which made the birding quite pleasant.

We started at Petrie Island where we had all kinds of birds, including Sora, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Osprey and Black Tern.

Although the various lagoons we visited didn’t produce the diversity we were hoping for, we managed to locate the Eared Grebe at Embrun, still hanging out with its Ruddy Duck buddies.

In addition we had 5 types of Swallows; Bank, Barn, Rough-winged, Tree and Cliff.

Other shorebirds we encountered this day were Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Least, Solitary & Spotted Sandpipers.

Day list:

American Bittern
American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black Tern
Black-capped Chickadee
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Eared Grebe
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Gadwall
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Hooded Merganser
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rough-winged Swallow
Ruddy Duck
Savannah Sparrow
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Warbling Vireo
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

Queen Anne's Lace

Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii

Constance Creek , Ottawa, ON

Thank you to all the members and participants of "Always An Adventure", for sharing their pictures and letting me use them in my Blog.

All excursions organized by ~ Tony Beck, Always An Adventure

Summer Birding with rarities...!

2011-07-12T20:32:00.000-04:00

Juvenile Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica

Green Heron - Butorides virescens, Photo credit by Roger Cobbledick

Tuesday July 5

It was a most beautiful summer morning. We started the excursion at Petrie Island where there were many birds. One of the highlights was the continuous calls from a Sora Rail. I was really hoping to see it, because it would have been a lifer for me. But, unfortunately the bird would not come into view.

A little later we went looking for the famous rarity, the Eared Grebe, that is staying at the various Eastern lagoons in the Ottawa area these days. It had moved from Embrun over to Casselman.

Other lagoon highlights were Common Loon, Common Moorhen, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Duck, and Solitary & Spotted Sandpiper.

Day list:

American Bittern
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Wigeon
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue-winged teal
Brown-headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Moorhen
Common Yellowthroat
Coopers Hawk
Eared Grebe
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
House Finch
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Least Flycatcher
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Northern Shoveler
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Ruddy Duck
Savannah Sparrow
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sora Rail
Spotted Sandpiper
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

White-faced Ibis - Plegadis chihi

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura

Thursday July 7

From our meeting spot at Andrew Haydon Park we immediately left for Carp where a rare White-faced Ibis had been spotted 2 days earlier. The bird was there in all it’s glory when we arrived. This is the first record of this species for Ottawa, and a lifer for many local birders, me included. After a while we went for more uncommon local species such as Red-headed Woodpecker, Sedge Wren and Eastern Towhee. We also had a great view of a tree full of Turkey Vultures with at least 10 individuals. We also counted 9 American Kestrels on our drive around the countryside.

Day list:

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
American Kestrel
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chimney Swift
Chipping Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Grey Catbird
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rough-winged Swallow
Savannah Sparrow
Sedge Wren
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-faced Ibis
White-throated Sparrow
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura

Bull Thistle

Sedge Wren - Cistothorus platensis

Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina, Photo credit Danielle Labonte

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus

Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes

Saturday July 9

Changes in weather gave us a sunny but cool morning with wind from the north.

We started at Petrie Island and were a little bit surprised over the lack of activity compared to just a few days ago. But still, we had several birds such as American Bittern, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher and Common Moorhen.

We are beginning to experience clear changes in the dynamics of bird activity. Young are in the process of leaving the nest, so for many birds the breeding season is over. Nevertheless, we had many great birds such as Coopers Hawk being bombarded by Purple Martins, a Northern Harrier being mobbed by Red-winged Blackbirds, and Red-tailed Hawk chased by European Starlings.

We also visited the St-Isidore Lagoon where we had Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper and Virginia Rail. We also went to Alfred Bog, where we were greeted by an American Woodcock laying quietly on the ground only a few meters from the board walk. We were entertained by a curious Lincoln’s Sparrow while photographing the orchids.

Day list:

American Bittern
American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Wigeon
American Woodcock
American Kestrel
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-winged teal
Bobolink
Brown Thrasher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Common Yellowthroat
Coopers Hawk
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lincoln's Sparrow
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red Head
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rough-winged Swallow
Ruddy Duck
Savannah Sparrow
Semipalmated Plover
Song Sparrow
Sora Rail
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Vesper Sparrow
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Echinacea

Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo

Sunday July 10

Yet another beautiful and very hot summer morning...

We headed for the Carp Ridge where we found Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Oriole with fledglings, White-throated Sparrow and Chestnut-sided Warbler. On our drive we had an unique encounter with a juvenile Wild Turkey. Tony spotted the bird in the ditch next to the road and we stopped to investigate. The bird did not budge! After a little while it came out from the tall grass and started posing for us – a great joy for the photographers among us.

Two other highlights were Eastern Bluebird, Indigo Bunting and Eastern Meadowlark.

Day list:

American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
American Kestrel
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Brown Thrasher
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Green Heron
Grey Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hooded Merganser
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Ovenbird
Pine Warbler
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruffed Grouse
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Yellow Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, Photo credit Tony Beck

And, Summer continues... :o)

All excursions organized by Tony Beck ~ Always An Adventure

Summer has begun!

2011-07-06T11:24:00.002-04:00

Killdeer nest at Embrun Lagoons

The owner of the eggs: Killdeer

Wilson's Snipe, Photo credit Bill Bowman

Tuesday June 28

The summer program started out with brisk winds, and mild drizzle. Nevertheless, we found several interesting birds.

Local nesting birds were fairly vocal throughout the morning. The Burnt Lands near Almonte were particularly active. One of the highlights was having a Grasshopper Sparrow pose for the photographers. Other birds present were Upland Sandpipers, Indigo Bunting, Field Sparrow and House Wren. Nearby grassy fields also yielded several species including Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark and Wilson’s Snipe.

Daylist:

American Bittern
Alder Flycatcher
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
American Kestrel
Barn Swallow
Black & White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-crowned Night Heron
Blue Jay
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Great-crested Flycatcher
Hairy Woodpecker
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Savanna Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Upland Sandpiper
Veery
Warbling Vireo
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler

Rose Pagonia, Photo credit Tony Beck

Grass Pink, Photo credit Tony Beck

Thursday June 30

At the end of June, we’re still experiencing dynamic bird activity.

At Petrie Island we had Virginia Rail, Green Heron, American Bittern and Black Tern.

A long drive to the Alfred Lagoons paid off with many good birds such as American Coot, Red Head, Northern Shoveler and Gadwall. The nearby Alfred Bog Board Walk was blooming with several magnificent Orchids, such as Grass Pink and Rose Pagonia. A quick stop at the Cassleman Lagoons produced our first fall migrates - Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpiper.

Daylist:

American Bittern
Alder Flycatcher
American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Wigeon
American Kestrel
Baltimore Oriole
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black Tern
Blue Jay
Blue-winged teal
Bobolink
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
European Starling
Gadwall
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
House Sparrow
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern Shoveler
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Red Head
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rough-winged Swallow
Ruddy Duck
Savanna Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck

Milkweed flowers

Widow Skimmer

Indigo Bunting

Saturday July 2

This was a perfect summer day with lots of activity on all levels. We took our time through Larose Forest, where we got Evening Grosbeak, Broad-winged Hawk and another accommodating Indigo Bunting.

Our next stop was the Embrun Lagoons where we saw a most beautiful breeding plumage Eared Grebe - a very rare bird for the Ottawa District. This was a life bird for me.

Daylist:

American Bittern
American Coot
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Belted Kingfisher
Black & White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bobolink
Broad-winged Hawk
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Moorhen
Common Raven
Common Yellowthroat
Downy Woodpecker
Eared Grebe
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
European Starling
Evening Grosbeak
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Grey Catbird
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Magnolia Warbler
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Ovenbird
Pied-billed Grebe
Purple Finch
Purple Martin
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruddy Duck
Savanna Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
White-throated Sparrow
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Widow Skimmer

Cedar Waxwing Courtship - Male feeding female with wild strawberries

Sunday July 3

The excitement started with a sighting of a Bonaparte’s Gull at our meeting spot - Ottawa beach.

In the Shirley’s Bay area, the excitement continued with sightings of Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. As the day progressed it became very hot.

A quick stop at Constance Creek produced another lifer for me – Least Bittern.

Our next stop was south-west of the city, near Munster. Here we found Black-billed Cuckoo.

What a great start on the summer program!

Daylist:

American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Redstart
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black & White Warbler
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-crowned Night Heron
Blue Jay
Bonaparte's Gull
Brown Thrasher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Canada Goose
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Raven
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Gadwall
Grasshopper Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Gray Catbird
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Killdeer
Least Bittern
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Ruddy Duck
Savanna Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Veery
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Least Bittern

Eastern Cottontail

Tony Beck

All excursions organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure