The (Grey) Ghost of Christmas Present

Between shopping and wrapping I was able to sneak my camera along for a drive to a few local haunts and had many adventures along the way...starting with an unscheduled detour to find a lost Husky named Isis. 

Apparently she couldn't contain herself when she saw a small herd of 7 deer, and all 8 of them stampeded in front of my car.  Before Isis knew it, the deer were gone and she was far from home - lost and feeling sorry for herself.  After a lengthy (and cold!) search in high grass and trees, covered in dirt and burrs, I spotted Isis lounging in the middle of the manicured trail!  She was sad and scared, but all ended well, and she (and the deer) were none the worse for wear. 

With Isis safely back with her owner, I was able to focus on wildlife, and was so happy to find a male Northern Harrier.  Harriers are right up there on my favourite bird list and are my favourite in flight bird to (try to) shoot.  While the female is gorgeous, they are much more plentiful than the male and there is something thrilling about finding the elusive "Grey Ghost".

Male Norther Harrier - Whitby, Ontario

When hunting, Harriers use their hearing more than other hawks, with the help of their owl-like facial disks, and hunt "on the wing".

One field in particular had so many voles that even I (without my facial disks) could see them scampering around - one just missed running over my foot!

The only nice thing about shooting in bitter cold and wind is that you're almost guarenteed to find a Harrier.  They love the wind and can be seen displaying their aerial acrobatics in between meals.

Red-Tailed Hawks were also plentiful.  This one was quite comfortable in my presence, and perched for several minutes before taking off after something much more interesting than me.

Red-Tailed Hawk, Whitby Ontario

Another bird that seems to be more visible when it is windy is the American Crow.  You can see that his outfit is getting messed up in the wind.

American Crow, Scugog Ontario

My favourite sighting of the weekend was the elusive "Johnny Claus".  He didn't slide down the chimney, choosing instead to hang out on the couch.   I normally don't dress my dogs up, and my photo shoot with Johnny reminded me why! 



Johnny, not too impressed with me but wishing everyone a Happy Holiday all the same!
(Osgrrr respectfully declined my request for a photo shoot)



Snow Day

There were lots and lots of hawks to watch today, most of them seeming to play in the snow rather than hunt.  These two Northern Harrier females were off in the distance and were having so much fun in the heavy snow.  Why do Harriers love intense weather so much?

Northern Harriers playing in the snow - Whitby, Ontario

Rotary Park was pretty quiet except for two squirrels who harassed me the whole time I was there.  I would have needed a macro lens to get a shot of the black one, he was so intent on searching me for peanuts, but this cutie stayed at least far enough away so I could focus.

This one was quite beautiful and looked very cold!

Give me peanuts...or at least a sweater!

Eastern Grey Squirrel - Ajax, Ontario

Rough-legged Hawks, White-Tailed Deer and Wildlife Repellent

When critters hear that my sister Lee is in the area they run, fly, swim, slither, trot and scamper to the nearest exit.  All that bad luck seems to multiply into good luck for me the moment she leaves.

This phenomenon has earned her the nickname "Wildlife Repellent".

I went from seeing next to nothing with her in the morning to meeting a beautiful deer pretty much the moment we parted company.


"You may take my picture...now that Lee is gone"

 A few minutes after that I found three Rough-Legged Hawks hunting in the same field.  Next to Harriers, they are my favourite hawk and I don't get to see them very often, so to find three was a thrill.  Once I realized they weren't skittish, I sat in the middle of the field for an hour taking sh*ts (sorry Ann, couldn't resist).



There was one dark-morphed hawk in the group and he seemed to gravitate toward me, at one time catching lunch about 10 feet away from where I was hunkered down.

The Rough-Legged hawk, like the Golden Eagle, has feathers all the way to his toes and I saw this today when they were hovering in high winds.  Despite their size, their feet are very small, more like pigeon talons!

Rough-Legged Hawk, Dark Morph

I am hoping to get a second chance at these guys because the dark colour of the bird and the angle of the sun made shooting difficult.  Hopefully they will be around tomorrow.
Regardless, it was so exciting to be able to spend time with them today.

Owl Prowl

I often wonder what the neighbours must think, with me creeping out of my house at an ungodly hour, camera in hand and ISO cranked to 3200...

That is typically what happens on days when I can get out and shoot and the effort was well worth it today.  It was such a thrill to encounter this beautiful Barred Owl!

My heart skips a beat when I discover one of these birds.  They are by far the most animated of owls, actually appearing to have facial expressions, and I could watch them for hours.  Especially when they are in hunting mode.  

Goose-Watching Barred Owl

They react to sounds from activity around them, their heads swivelling back and forth, and point their beak up to the sky as geese fly and honk overhead.  They also seem to mutter to themselves!  If you encounter one that is not used to human activity the sighting won't last long, but the majority of Barreds I've seen are just fine with you observing, from a respectable distance of course.

In early 2004, there were several Barreds in Durham, along with Great Grey Owls (my other obession) and I took this video of a resident Barred Owl, who happened to be at the exact spot where I saw the owl today. I named the one in the video "Smooch", because it looks like he kisses the tree at the end.  This clip is a good example of how animated they can be:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jando1111#p/u/4/zmCM8K0OYKc


Their only natural predator is the Great Horned Owl, and I was shocked to once see a Great Horned and a Barred in the same tree!  I'm pretty sure this was an unfortunate accident - the Barred had been startled and happened to land in a tree where a Great Horned was perched.  Fortunately for the Barred, feathers didn't fly.

The other amazing thing is their call - I've only heard it once in the wild and it is incredible!
http://home.centurytel.net/bobowlcalls/recordings2/01%202005-09-20%20p023%20M%2019_4s%2011025%2016b.wav

Northern Cardinal, Male

I wasn't quick enough to get shots of the Blue Jays who were pounding this owl in the head and stomach.  He gave them quite a few clucks.  But amongst all the avian activity, this male and female cardinal seemed to feel quite safe feeding right in front of it.

For some reason I haven't had much luck photographing Cardinals but the lighting was nice later in the morning and this husband and wife were quite patient with me.


Northern Cardinal, Female

Before heading home I stopped by Thicksons Woods, and there was no sign of the Saw Whet but I found another male Cardinal who thought about flying off when I got out of the car.  But the seeds were too tempting so he allowed me to take a few shots of him as he had lunch.

Northern Cardinal, Male, Thicksons Woods, Whitby ON

Oh Deer

Most animals were smarter than I was today, choosing to stay hidden and out of the wind's way.  But it was all worthwhile when I found these three beauties.

White-Tail Deer, Whitby ON