Fishin' Magician

As much shooting luck as I had yesterday, the opposite was true today.  All creatures, furred and feathered, took off when they saw me.  I did see a beautiful coyote in the distance but he too disappeared before I could get close enough to take a photo.

Fishin' Magician!

There was one high point though.  This gull, who I had been watching for a while, seemed to be taking it easy.  I looked away and he must have done some hocus pocus because he produced this huge fish!   Not a great shot because he was off in the distance, but it was fun watching him try to rangle the poor fish in.



Black-Capped Chickadee

Also a few other critters like this cute chickadee (one tried to land on my lens!)

but the lighting was terrible today.

Dogs Gone Wild

Osgrrr and Johnny had a blast playing in the leaves today!

We spend a fortune on toys for Osgrrr and he loves them, but I've never seen him have more fun than he did today with this stick.  Both are 11 years old...I wish I had that much energy!


OSGRRR - They don't make a stick big enough that I can't carry!





Sweet Johnny



Johnny spent the afternoon getting cuddles and looking dignified.

There's no such thing as too much fun!

An unexpected surprise

I seem to have the most success shooting in the worst conditions.  Today was another really windy day, and 5 hours later my hands are still frozen!

But it was worth it, and I didn't need to leave Durham to find these three amazing critters!

Red-Tailed Hawk who didn't clean up after his meal

I was surprised by this Red-Tailed Hawk.  Despite the bare tree, he was well camouflaged and birders were driving right past him.  He allowed me to shoot for quite some time from the car, and eventually flew off when another birder drove up to try his luck.

Next, I saw this cutie.  There weren't many small birds out in this wind but I guess when you can cling onto a tree trunk you must be pretty stable.  I've seen many Rose-Breasted Nuthatches but haven't photographed one so it was quite exciting.  It was not the best light unfortunately.



 But the grand finale was this beautiful Northern Sawwhet Owl.  I had only seen two in the wild until now, and this one was extra special because I didn't know he was there.  I was watching some chickadees and he caught my eye. 

Although this looks like a night/flash shot, it was taken in the afternoon.  The owl was perched in evergreens completely bathed in sunlight, and the lightness of the bird and the shadows in the cedars made exposure really tricky.

He was so cute I wished I could scoop him up and put him in my pocket. 

  

Northern Saw Whet Owl  "Now I see You....."



"Now I Don't"

  Thanks to these three, and a gorgeous Northern Harrier, it was a great day!

Windy Weekend

Red-Tailed Hawk

There’s nothing that challenges a stabilizer like a really windy day and on most shots today I lost the battle against mother nature. At least I was able to salvage a few.



While looking for the beautiful buck that so far has eluded my lens (except for a few blurry rump shots), I was surprised to find this hawk hunting in a Durham field where I don’t often find raptors. He was perched on top of a dead tree trunk and let me share his field with him.

Red-Tailed Hawk in hunting mode

Either I was extra-stealthy or I wasn’t important enough to distract him from his mission! 



I spent quite a while with this hawk, who didn't seem to have much luck in the hunting department.



Noelville, Ontario

There is nothing furry or feathered in this photo but I couldn't resist taking shots of the beautiful scenery in Noelville Ontario. The four+ hour drive north of Toronto was well worth it.



One of many beautiful scenes in Noelville, Ontario