Ottawa Bird #249 – American Avocet

Posted on June 23, 2015 by birdquest2004

It always works this way with birds, they always show up when I’m at work.

Sunday night was no exception, I had supper and drove into work only to open my email and see that an American Avocet was being seen at the moment near Pinecrest Creek.   Twelve hour shift went by fairly slow and off I went at 5:51am to see if the bird was still there.  I arrived at the end of Cassels looked out and nada….Avocet was nowhere to be seen.

My car and I had to be at the VW dealer for recall work and my good friend Gord was picking me up to play golf, so off I went.

Fast forward 6 hours (after being awake for 28 hours) I was about to crawl into bed and my phone made that incoming text sound,  it was a  friend texted me that he was leaving but the bird was visible at the moment.

Away I went back to Cassels.  Just as I arrived Bob Cermak was getting out of his car and we both spent a few minutes scanning the area, again the Avocet was not there.  We did notice some people walking on the spit of land near where the bird was supposed to be.

Just then I saw the Avocet flying from right to left in front of us.

Ottawa Bird #249 – American Avocet was in the books.

I didn’t get any close photos of this bird but thanks to Bob Cermak I was able to digiscope this image with my new iPhone.  The Avocet may stick around and giving me a better photo opportunity.

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Below are a few photos I’ve taken of this species around North America.

Adult Breeding

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This photo was from South Carolina…..

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Adult Non-breeding

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Near Douglas, Manitoba while walking along a trail, I must have gotten a little to close to their nest and this adult made sure I knew it.

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This was taken at Antelope Lake in Utah…..

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These past few months have brought many new birds to our area, I can only wonder which one will be #250.

Ciao for now…..

 

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Ottawa Bird #247 – Little Egret and #248 – Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Posted on June 3, 2015 by birdquest2004

Today was special, I saw two new bird species for  Ottawa.

The first one a Little Egret found by Ben DiLabio is the first of this species seen in Ontario.  Little Egrets at common in Europe and England but are also known to breed in the Caribbean.

This is one super bird no matter where you find it in the ABA.

Almost annually one has been found somewhere in eastern North America.

The photo below was of one individual bird Rick Poulin and I found in Saint Catherine, Quebec in 2012.

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The photos below sow the Little Egret found by Ben DiLabio in adult in breeding plumage at the Carp Watershed.  It is Ottawa Bird #247 for the Ottawa area for me.  The distant photos below show the bird actively feeding.

If the bird sticks around it may be possible to get closer but so many people will be coming from all over Ontario to see this bird.  It best viewed from a distance.

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There were at least 30 people viewing the bird when I arrived and a group of us decided to go to the nearby site where a lucky few had been able to see the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. We arrived but the owners weren’t home and no bird in sight. Richard Killeen, Greg and a friend left to search the neighborhood. The rest of us stood on the road hoping to get a glimpse of the bird, if it happened to fly by.  A phone rang and Richard had found the bird a short distance away. We hurried to 119 Delany and there it was feeding on the lawn.  Ottawa Bird #248 Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

A JUICY WORM FOR SUPPER

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The photos below arethe only other photo’s I’ve been able to get in 12 years, one bird out in the open from Costa Rica and one displaying from Florida.

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I wonder what bird will be next?
Ciao for now….

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