Several summers ago, I made a brief attempt to approach the study of juvenile Lincoln’s vs. Swamp sparrows and noticed that the lore blocked all apparent avenues to field ID success. I sputtered in interest the following summer, and again wound up turned off/disinterested. Continue reading Separating juvenile Lincoln’s from Swamp in the Field →

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 →

Using eBird’s Explore Data — Bar Charts, I created graphs highlighting each species’ frequency of observations. eBird describes “Frequency” as the percentage of checklists that report a species within a specified date range and region. It is the most common way of displaying the eBird data and provides a good idea of relative occurrence and seasonal timing. Continue reading Bird Nerd’s Guide to Spring Arrivals in Eastern Ontario →

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 →