Worm-eating Warbler in Burlington (14 - 21 May, 2023)

My brother Bruce and I headed to Point Pelee this May with a few "target" birds in mind, the most important to me being Worm-eating Warbler (WEWA). They're not easy birds to find and see! During spring migration, only a few overshoot the northern boundaries of their traditional breeding range--its northern limits are southern Ohio but reach as close to Canada as northern Pennsylvania and mid-New York State. And even when they do arrive in southern Canada, they're challenging to notice. They're often skulkers who like to hang out in low, dense undergrowth, although they will sing from perches in low trees. On top of that, their song is close enough to a Chipping Sparrow that a birder might not notice it.

This spring, there weren't many reports of Worm-eating Warblers at Pt. Pelee. We did chase one that was reported on the same morning that we also chased a Le Conte's Sparrow and a Kirtland's Warbler. We dipped on all three! As if to rub it in a little, the next day David Flook heard and saw a Worm-eating Warbler in City View Park in Burlington, just a 15-minute drive from my home but over 3 hours from our cottage close to Pt Pelee. We were booked in an AirBnb near Pelee for another four nights and it seemed a bit excessive to drive home for the bird and then drive right back to Pelee, so I hoped it would stay in Burlington until we came back. Thankfully, it did!

Upon arriving back in Hamilton on May 17th, we took a quick pit-stop at home and then, without even unpacking the car, drove directly to the WEWA's reported location. Bruce and I first saw the Worm-eater at around 2:45 pm on May 17. Luckily, it was showing in a hawthorn tree right at the moment when we arrived and I managed to get a few partly obscured photos.

The best photo from our first visit.

We had a few short but decent looks at it before it flew away. It then sang a couple of times, but it didn't come back into our sights, so we went home partly satisfied that we'd seen it. But not satisfied enough! We went back the next morning.

When we arrived on May 18th around 8:30 am, it was singing and it didn't stop singing for the entire 90 minutes we were there! Hopefully, its song is now engrained deep enough in my brain that I won't confuse it for a Chipping Sparrow should I ever hear it again. Like many spring migrant songbirds, this WEWA was establishing territory and trying to attract a mate by singing at various locations within a small area as it foraged in the low trees. It repeated a more-or-less circular pattern a few times during our stay, stopping to sing and forage in one spot for 5 or 10 minutes before moving to the next one and so on. Thankfully, one of its stops was in a fully blooming hawthorn tree at eye-level and fairly close to the path where we stood.

Sight lines into that hawthorn tree were not particularly good. There were lots of tree trunks, branches and leaves obscuring a clear view into the hawthorn, but occasionally the bird would come into view for slightly prolonged views, if still a little obscured by branches and flowers.

A typically obscured view. Finding sight lines was a challenge!

In the last minutes of our stay, however, it popped out into full view and sang multiple times, creating ideal conditions for photographs.

This was one of those experiences with a special bird that will remain etched in my memory. It was made all the better by sharing it with my brother Bruce -- another in a growing collection of cool bird moments with the guy who's taught me everything I know about birding!

Wader Wonders: One late summer morning in a puddle ...

Late last summer, a large puddle in an accessible area of a construction site on Pier 8 in Hamilton became a stop-over for migrating sandpipers. You just never know where you'll find puddles supporting migrating shorebirds! Thanks to Alvan Buckley for discovering this unlikely spot for some wader watching.

After spending an hour one late afternoon photographing a Baird's Sandpiper that Alvan had found in the pond, I decided to come back early the next morning to set up for closer photos in better light. I arrived just before sunrise, although the sky was already starting to turn red and orange. I could see it was going to be a very colourful sunrise, making for interesting light and reflections on the pond's still surface. A red sky in the morning might be a sailor's warning, but for photographing wading birds, it's ecstasy!

As I scanned for the Baird's in the low light, I could see there was a bunch of little peeps moving along the pond edges and venturing out into the water. Unfortunately, the Baird's was gone, but there was a mixed dozen of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers along with a Spotted Sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a half dozen or so Killdeer. Disappointed that the Baird's had left over night, I decided to make the most of the situation and photograph the birds that were present in this incredible morning light.

The photos here were all taken during a 90-minute period, starting just after sunrise on August 25, 2021. The colour tones created by the light changed dramatically during this time, making for a vibrant variety of light. 

I hope you're using a desktop, laptop, or tablet rather than your phone. These photos look much better large. Also, Blogger softens images placed inline with the text, so if you click the photos, you'll get a much sharper version.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Let's start with some feeding Semipalmated Sandpipers (SESA).

Semipalmated Sandpipers feeding together.

A lone Semipalmated Sandpiper contemplating its next move.

A SESA checks me out.

Rings

SESA Portrait

Spotted Sandpiper

This Spotted Sandpiper (SPSA) landed very close to me, but over to my right side. I was sitting on my cool stool, so I had to slowly and quietly rotate my tripod head and adjust the tripod legs to get these photos. It was clearly aware of me, as the photos illustrate, but moving slowly and quietly seemed to keep it at ease.

A Spotted Sandpiper checking me out.

This Spotted Sandpiper didn't seem too worried about me.

By now, this SPSA decided I made it uncomfortable.

Lesser Yellowlegs

This Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE) was the first bird I photographed that morning, when the sun was just starting to rise and the orange sky was reflecting beautifully in the water. At times, the bird came so close I couldn't focus on it.

The morning light was spectacular when this Lesser Yellowlegs started feeding.

LEYE prepping for the photo shoot.

This feather is out of place!

Splish splash ...

Lesser Yellowlegs

Sometimes, even when your target bird isn't there, all the conditions are just right for taking multiple good shots of other, more commonly seen birds. This was one of those days!

Until next time, happy birding!

Mis-naming Long-tailed Ducks: If we want to be scientific, let's be scientific

It is well past time for the term "Oldsquaw" to be made obsolete as a reference to Long-tailed Ducks. The term is demeaning and insulting and represents the perspective of "white supremacy" where it's okay to use racist terminology in naming species. It's not surprising that those who defend its use, or defend those who use it, are normally those who aren't referenced by the term. It's an example of naming the other out of disrespect for the other and as an act of power over the other. Folks who are unable to see this, or who refuse to see it, are typically stupid white fucks (SWFs) who benefit from their sheltered positions of privilege. They might be justifiably insulted by my calling them SWFs, but I do so not because I want to engage in a battle of name-calling; on the contrary, I do so in a feeble attempt to raise their awareness of what it might feel like to be named something demeaning.

In the year 2000, the American Ornithological Society, the North American group responsible for naming bird species, officially rejected "Oldsquaw" in favour of "Long-tailed Duck." Twenty-two years later, and some birders still insist on using the deprecated name. I even heard of one seasoned birder in my local area saying that it was a term of endearment! I'm not sure what universe that birder lives in, but it's not the same universe everyone else occupies, and it's certainly not a universe based on respect and inclusion. Of course, maybe that birder thinks being called a SWF is a term of endearment too. Just to be clear, it is not intended that way.

I've tried to imagine why the term persists for some birders. In my albeit limited experience, it's mainly older, seasoned birders who continue to misname Long-tailed Ducks. For some, it could be just the force of habit. In this day and age, when we're being asked to review our day-to-day naming terminology out of respect for others, it's okay to make mistakes so long as one owns up to it and tries to correct themselves.

But I think that some folks use the term purposely to preserve something they feel is being threatened in local birding communities. That something, I believe, is their reputation as authorities or centres of knowledge within local birding communities. We would never say it's okay for respected authorities of other knowledge communities to use racist terminology (can you imagine Noam Chomsky using racist epithets in his critique of neoliberal capitalism?), so why should we think it's okay for anyone to use racist terminology in birding knowledge communities? It seems to me that those who wish to protect racist terminology are trying to protect themselves from the change that comes when others contribute to shaping knowledge communities.

The strangely funny thing is that the folks who defend the misnaming of Long-tailed Ducks are the often the same people who insist on accuracy in identifying species. Identification, they rightly argue, should be based upon scientific principles of objective and accurate observation. Yet, what is scientifically objective and accurate about a racist name for a bird? Long-tailed Duck is far more accurate in its use of a unique identifying feature. The rebuttal here could be that the unique sound of a group of Long-tailed Ducks sounds like a group of elder indigenous women. That's simply ludicrous! And it's also just not scientifically accurate. Only a SWF could argue otherwise.

Cranky for the Owls: Ontario’s Annual Owl Shit-Show

I’m cranky! Southern Ontario’s annual Owl shit-show is in full swing once again. Birding groups on Facebook are being loaded up with owl photographs and the "likes," "loves," and "wows" are flowing like a spring river bursting its banks.

The problem isn’t that owls are being photographed. Who doesn’t like to see and photograph owls? If I saw an owl while I was out birding, I’d try to photograph it. I might even go see one that was reported to me, so long as there wasn’t a constant crowd of folks making life stressful for the bird. The problem is that some owls are being constantly pestered and photographed. They’re being harassed by the continuous close presence of people photographing them and by some folks resorting to questionable tactics to get a photo better than the last one they saw on Facebook only two minutes ago.

Some individual owls barely get a moment's rest from the presence of humans. Imagine trying to sleep at night with a constant stream of people coming into your bedroom to have a close look at you! I can’t imagine that being very restful or healthy. Yet, that’s exactly what happens to some owls.

And it gets worse than that. Some bird photographers resort to cheap tricks. If they aren’t baiting owls with store-bought mice to photograph the bird hunting and feeding, they’re knocking on the trees or using squeaky toys to get sleeping owls to open their eyes. Get an owl eating or with its big, beautiful eyes wide open and the flow of Facebook likes will explode into the mighty fountain of Coleridge’s Kubla Khan!

Photographs of stressed owls are becoming so common and normalized that new or casual birders might think that happy, healthy owls just look that way. Yes, owl eyes are amazing, but the next time you see a photograph of an owl perched with its eyes wide-open and looking directly at the camera, ask yourself, "How did the photographer get the owl to open its eyes and look at the camera?" It’s not always the case that these photographs are taken unethically. Sometimes, you accidentally wake an owl before you’ve even noticed it in the tree, and some owls are more likely to be awake and hunting during brighter times of the day (Snowy Owls, Northern Hawk Owls, etc.). But if a photographer is frequently posting shots of owls perched with their eyes-wide-open, then the chances are high that unethical means have been employed to get the shots, at least some of the time.

I think it’s the responsibility of an owl photographer to explain when and how their owl photographs were taken: How far away were you? How long did you stay? Did you remain quiet while you were with the owl? Were there other people there? How many times have you gone to see this owl?

I also think that Facebook group admins need to pay closer attention to these photographs and the individual owls that are being over-visited and over-photographed. Posting the exact location should not be permitted, but posting the general location (i.e. Durham region) and whether the owl is drawing the attention of crowds should be required. Facebook group admins should ban photographs of over-visited owls.

Personally, I’d go even further and ban photos of specific owl species with their eyes wide open, such Northern Saw-whet Owls and Long-eared Owls. That’s not their normal, relaxed daytime posture. Sure, there’s a chance that the photo was taken without the photographer “encouraging” this posture, but with so many photos of alert owls clogging the FB birding groups, chances are slim-to-none that they all were taken ethically. Frankly, I’d be embarrassed to post shots of a stressed owl without explaining the circumstances since it’s so obvious to many birders that the posture was probably encouraged by the photographer.

Maybe it’s time to start calling out bird photographers who frequently post photos of stressed owls. Maybe it’s time to get cranky for the owls!

Happy birding! 

Aperture is Important!

Aperture is an important camera setting to consider when photographing anything, and it's especially important when photographing subjects that are close to you or brought close by a telephoto lens with a long focal length. Aperture sets the depth of field, or that band of space that is in focus between the camera and the point furthest from the camera. Aperture is measured in f-stops with lower numbers creating a shallow depth of field and high numbers creating a deeper depth of field. For example, an aperture setting of f/5.6 will produce a narrower depth of field than an aperture setting of f/8.

The aperture of a lens is the hole through which light travels before landing on the sensor. The wider the aperture, the more light will hit the sensor, meaning that aperture can have a significant impact on the shutter speed required for a well-exposed photograph. A narrow aperture (high f-stop number) will require a longer exposure time or a higher ISO setting to compensate.

This is important to remember when you're photographing subjects that are close to you or brought close by a telephoto lens with a long focal length. It's important, that is, if you want the entire subject to be in sharp focus or if you wish to have some of the subject in soft focus. If you look closely at photographs of wildlife like birds or insects, sometimes you'll notice that parts of the subject are in focus and other parts are slightly out of focus. What you're seeing is the depth of field, but you're also seeing some indication of how close a photographer was to their subject, either physically or telephotographically. Obviously, the focal length of the lens comes into play, so that a lens with a very long focal length allows a photographer to stay further away from their subject while maintaining a close shot.

Most of the time, you're probably going to want your entire subject in sharp focus, so paying attention to the aperture setting is important to making sure you have enough depth of field. Recently, I was out photographing birds when a dragonfly landed on some leaves close by. I started to photograph the insect, starting with an aperture of f/5.6 and then increasing it to f/8 to increase the depth of field. The dragonfly flew away before I could try some snaps at even higher aperture values, like f/11 and f/14, but it turns out that f/8 was pretty much the perfect aperture for getting the full body of the dragonfly in focus.

Here are some examples of the dragonfly taken at f/5.6 and f/8 to illustrate the impact of aperture on depth of field for subjects that are close. The depth of field for a close subject is really shallow at f/5.6! This dragonfly was probably 15ft -17ft away and I was shooting with a Canon R5 body and a 600mm f/4 + 1.4x extender (840mm).

Dragonfly at f/5.6 vs f/8

In the two photos below, the focal point is on or very close to the thorax (where the wings attach). In the photo shot at f/5.6, the focus on the abdomen is quite soft, especially where its colour turns from light brown to dark orange. In the photo shot at f/8, the entire abdomen is in sharp focus because the depth of field is deeper.

Dragonfly with aperture at f/5.6

Dragonfly with aperture at f/8

The difference in sharpness on the abdomen might appear subtle in these images, but when viewed on a large screen or printed, the difference is quite noticeable, especially as you progress down the abdomen to the tip.

Here are two close crops that illustrate the difference clearly.

Dragonfly Closeup at f/5.6

Dragonfly Closeup at f/8

When I changed the aperture from f/5.6 to f/8, I also increased the ISO from ISO 800 to ISO 1000 to compensate for the loss of light and slower shutter produced by the narrower aperture setting. The higher ISO probably had a minor impact on detail since higher ISO values introduce noise, although it's almost negligible in these photos.

Until next time ...

Spring 2021 Migration, Post #1: May 10 - 16

Migration was pretty slow for most of the week, but things started picking up towards the end of the week, with Saturday being probably the best day. But, even though migration still feels a bit slow, there were some great birds to be seen.

Wednesday, May 12
On Wednesday, Paul and I headed to Martin's Road in Ancaster where we knew we'd see Blue-winged Warblers and many Eastern Towhee, but we also went to see what else was around. Hooded Warblers are known to nest here, and we saw two and probably three last year singing up a storm. There was no evidence of the Hoodeds, but we did discover a second Blue-Winged Warbler singing. We also had a Broad-winged Hawk circling above. This could also be a resident.

One of the first things you notice when you walk into the woods at Martins Road is the extraordinary number of Eastern Towhees singing and calling. Sometimes, they come out to pose:

Eastern Towhee

This is also a good place for nesting American Redstarts:

American Redstart

Thursday, May 13
On Thursday, Paul and I went to check for a Cerulean Warbler that has been reported the day before at Joe Sam's in Waterdown. It would be a cool record to see two Ceruleans in one spring in the Hamilton Study Area. Joe Sam's is a nice spot, with Grindstone Creek gentle flowing through mature deciduous forest. Our plan was to walk up and down the creek edge until we either found the Cerulean or got too tired, whichever came first. It was on our second cycle that I heard a Cerulean sing! I looked up, and there it was, relatively low in a very small tree. We has some stunning looks at this bird, especially when the sun hit it. What an amazing blue they are!

Cerulean Warbler: My second this spring in the HSA

Friday, May 14
It felt like migration was really underway on Friday, when we went to one of our favourite spring birding spots in Grimsby. In addition to an army of Baltimore Orioles constantly competing for attention, we saw/heard 13 species of warbler, but also four species of thrush, three species of flycatcher, and a few other odds and ends. Th biggest surprise was seeing an Evening Grosbeak (f) at 50 Point Conservation Area. I didn't get a lot of photos of warblers, but the bigger migrants were showing well.

Wood Thrush

Great Crested Flycatcher: It's nice to hear them yelling in the forests again 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Solitary Sandpiper

Rusty Blackbird: A bit of a surprise to see this bird

Saturday, May 15
The overnight radar from BirdCast looked pretty good for Saturday morning, so we decided to hit Paletta Mansion, which is a well-known migrant trap along the north shore of Lake Ontario. It was fairly good, although not exactly dripping with warblers. We had 12 species of warbler, including two Canada Warblers. Northern Parula were numerous. Someone thought they had a male Cerulean Warbler, so Paul and I felt compelled to look even though we hadn't heard it sing. The birder probably saw and heard a Northern Parula way up high in a Willow.

Northern Parula

Northern Parula: Kind of in-your-face

Black-throated Blue Warbler: Females are just as interesting as males.

But the bird of the day was definitely a Red-headed Woodpecker I found in the Hamilton Cemetery.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Sunday, May 16
Migration seemed to pause on Sunday. We didn't see a lot at Woodland Cemetery, although there was a beautiful Canada Warbler. Hopefully, tonight will bring a flood of new warblers into the area tomorrow morning. The SW winds overnight are promising!

Canada Warbler

Spring 2021 Migration, Post #1: May 01 - 09

May 1 - May 9 was a cool week for cool birds ... cool in both senses of the word. Migration is still slow, running mainly in trickles rather than flows, and there hasn't been a single fallout day yet. I'm looking forward to those coming over the next couple of weeks. Yet, as tepid as migration has been, there have been some very cool birds that have dropped by Hamilton for a visit during the first 9 days of May: Clay-coloured Sparrow, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Cerulean Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, and Brewster's Warbler. I dipped on the Golden-winged Warblers. It's hard to complain about that, even if the number of the usual suspects is low.

So let's start with May 1st:
The bird of the moment was a Cerulean Warbler that showed up at Dundurn Castle on April 28th. I haven't see many Cerulean Warblers, and often I need to take a long drive to find one. Well, this one was in my neighbourhood! The views were relatively good given that some trees had only small buds on them. The dark cloudy days made photography less than ideal, but the sun came out on its last day, when it also spent time much lower in the trees.

Cerulean Warbler:

Cerulean Warbler: With some green still showing, I figure this must be a first-year bird.

Cerulean Warbler on a sunny day!

Cerulean Warbler

May 2nd and 3rd were fairly slow, but we did find our FOY Swainson's Thrush at LaSalle Park and, when I got home, I found a White-Crowned Sparrow in my back yard. Over the following days, the number of WCSP grew to four and they hung around for over a week (there are still at least two eating nyjer seed in my back yard as I type this.)

Swainson's Thrush at LaSalle Park in Burlington

One of four White-crowned Sparrows in my back yard all of May, so far.

Clay-Coloured Sparrow and Yellow-throated Warbler:

May 04 was a good day. It started with a nearly tame Clay-coloured Sparrow in the entrance gardens to Bayfront Park. I was birding with Alvan Buckley, who heard it first. Finding it amongst the House Sparrows was easy-peasy, as they say.

A fine looking Clay-coloured Sparrow!

Clay-coloured Sparrow at Bayfront Park

Later that day, Joanne Redwood went looking for the Clay-coloured Sparrow. She didn't find it, but what she did find certainly made up for it: a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER!!! The bird stayed high in the trees, and sometimes disappeared for a while, so snaps were tough. Record shots are sometimes good enough!

Yellow-throated Warbler: A life bird for me!

As if the Cerulean and Yellow-throated warblers weren't enough, the very next day a White-eyed Vireo was found at 40 Mile Creek. Getting one White-eyed Vireo in a year is good. I don't have a lot of good snaps of them, so off I drove to have a look at this one. A group of us were looking for about an our before someone found it. It then took about another 45 minutes for it to come down low enough and close enough for nice photos. By this time, most people had left, so it was just me and the WEVI.

White-eyed Vireo at 40 Mile Creek on May 05

One of my favourite warblers to see every spring and summer is the Blue-winged Warbler. We're fortunate to have breeding BWWAs in the Hamilton area, and finding them is relatively easy. After dipping on a Golden-winged Warbler in Ancaster, my pals and I went to another location to see what was around, including Blue-winged Warblers. As soon as we arrived, we heard a Prairie Warbler sing twice. I got my bins on it long enough to ID it visually, but then it flew and we were unable to relocate it. While this was a bummer, we were soon distracted by a Blue-winged Warbler, which moved around the trees, occasionally singing and sometimes foraging down low. I immediately noticed that it had yellow rather than white wing bars, a trait of a BWWA I saw in the same place last year.

I managed to get some very close photos of this beautiful bird. Note the yellow and gold wing bars. Speculation is that this is a Brewster's backcross, meaning that a Blue-winged and a Brewster's mated and ended up with this. A Brewster's is a hybrid between a Blue-winged and a Golden-winged warbler.

Blue-winged Warbler showing yellow-gold wing bars.

Blue-winged Warbler. 

Blue-winged Warbler feeding.

This is a second BWWA in the same area. It was also singing a lot. Note its white wing bars.

So, as if things couldn't get better, the very next day, on May 09, I was birding at Woodland Cemetery, feeling a bit down because of a lack of new migrant birds. I was photographing a Black-and-White Warbler when I heard the song of a Golden-winged Warbler. Goodbye Black-and-White, hello Golden-winged!!!

I found the Golden-winged in some beautiful flowering trees and began to photograph it whenever it came out in the open, which wasn't often. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed this bird did not have a black throat or a very well defined black eye mask. It was BREWSTER'S WARBLER rather than a Golden-winged Warbler. 

Brewster's Warbler: Note the lack of a black throat and the weak eye mask.

A hungry Brewster's Warbler

Fresh caterpillar for the Brewster's Warbler

The Black-and-White Warbler I was photographing when I heard the buzzy song of a GWWA.

When I got home to have a look at the Brewster's snaps, I saw a report that there was a Yellow-throated Vireo just metres from my house ... so off I went. A great bird to end the first week of May migration mania!

Yellow-throated Vireo

That's it for the first 9 days of May. Hopefully  I will have lots to report over the next week so, and hopefully I'll have the energy to report it!!

Happy birding!