BIRDQUEST2004

Some years there are rare birds that show up, all around North America.  This year they settled on British Columbia.

First in Comox, BC, which is on Vancouver island, a Citrine Wagtail (Code 5) was found by David and Adele Rutledge.

Second in the month of December, 2 Bramblings (Code 3) were reported, one in Victoria and a second in Vancouver.

I could have probably resisted had there only been one but knowing there was a Wagtail and a Brambling….I had to go.   I called my good friend and fellow avid birder, Dave Shutz, to see if he was up for a birding trip.  He was was up for it and asked me if I’d heard about the Bluetail that had been reported.   Nope!

Doing some quick research online, I found the ABA Birding News article about the Bluetail.  On January, 13th a Red-flanked Bluetail (Code 4) was discovered in New Westminster, BC.    Now all I could do was wait out the 9 days and hope for the best.  Well as luck would have it, the Wagtail wasn’t seen again after the 13th of December.

As soon as I got off the airplane, we went in search of the Brambling, we waited for 2 hours but it never showed.  Thing were looking a bit grim,  off we went in search of the Bluetail.  It did not disappoint, very easy to find, getting a photo was another matter.

This bird was hanging out in Queens Park, it was rainy, overcast and under the trees there was almost no light.   I tried various settings but the bird would not sit still for long and most photos were blurry. I boosted the ISO of my camera up to 6400, knowing full well the images would be grainy but it was the only way I could get a resonably sharp image of this bird.  The bird seemed to fly in a circular pattern and all we had to do was wait.

A few minutes went by and the Red-flanked Bluetail was in the books. Species photo #632 for my files.

The photos are not the best but this is the first time a Bluetail has been seen in Canada and may never be seen again in my lifetime.

The first photo is the first I took in the rain and fog, the second is my best.

Ciao for now…Thanks Dave

I’d read that a few good birds, were coming to the feeders at the Visitors Centre, in Algonquin Park.  Of particular interest was a male White-winged Crossbill.  I have a  few images of this species but most are at severe camera angles and far away.  I knew my chances were good for improving on this specie’s photo.

It didn’t hurt that Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls were also being reported in the area.

Off we went in -24C weather, thank god, there was no wind.

The Owls were very scarce, none had been seen in 2 days but the Visitor Centre feeders didn’t disappoint,  birds were constantly coming in:  Blue Jays, Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks and of course the lone Crossbill.   My best photo of this bird to date.

At the junction of Opeongo Road and Cameron Lake Road, there was a leucistic Chickadee, who put on a great show.

We did manage to see a Great Gray on the way home, just west of Golden Lake at 5:30pm, well past available light for taking a decent photo.  I did take a few images at ISO 12800 and no flash.  Not bad results, gotta love the D3s.

p.s. — the date that shows in my images is the date I first saw the species, not the day I took the photo, We listers are like that.

Ciao for now……