Moving forward, please email me your inquiries and identification quiuires. I receive birding notes, identification requests and inquiries by texts and also Facebook messages (to my personal, Jon Ruddy account; not my business one) and I find it confusing trying to keep track of things. Please help in keeping everything funnelled into my eontbird@gmail.com inbox. Continue reading How to reach me for identification help & general inquiries →

Below is a sample of the variation in spotted thrush contact and alarm calls commonly heard during both spring and fall migration. Continue reading Alarm & Contact Calls of the “Spotted” Thrushes →

Hi, Eastern Ontario birders!

I am happy to announce that I will be running a Tutorial Series in 2020. The series would be taking place from January to April, and from August to November. See below for more of the preliminary details 🙂 Continue reading Tutorial Series with Eastern Ontario Birding →

Quite a lightly-marked (also possibly springtime-faded) juvenile goshawk, one of which somewhat superficially resembles a Cooper’s Hawk in body plumage. GISS-based assessment is perhaps the best approach for this tricky individual. Continue reading Juvenile Northern Goshawk ID note/study photo →

Lazuli Bunting details (PDF)

Believe it or not, but we are only 4-5 weeks away from the usual arrival time of our first springtime migrants here in eastern Ontario! The passage of a warm air mass in late-February usually coincides with the arrival of blackbirds, such as Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Continue reading Spring Migration in Eastern Ontario →

It appears as though the adult grey morph first seen in Ottawa, Ontario by Tony Beck and Nina Stavlund in early December, and once again seen on Christmas day, continues. A birder sent this image into the OFNC sightings line and it was forwarded over to (lucky) me. Continue reading Ottawa: Gyrfalcon →

Northern Shrikes are now in eastern Ontario in good numbers. While birding in Prince Edward County the other day, I saw three Northern Shrikes. Keep an eye out for them in open scrubby habitats, perched at the tip of trees along field edges, and perched near feeder set-ups. Continue reading Northern Shrikes wintering in Eastern Ontario →

Earlier today (30 November 2018) I was very surprised to find this leucistic female-type Long-tailed Duck at Sandbanks Provincial Park. I was viewing the raft of Long-tails from County Road 12, approx 150 m E of Hyatt Ln. Continue reading Leucistic Long-tailed Duck at Sandbanks Park →

Since the fall of 2015, I have visited the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre, near Pembroke, ON, and studied gulls. In total, I have paid the site ten visits during the fall/early-winter birding season. Continue reading Gulls at the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre →