Evening Grosbeak

Posted by Cindy Boucher

Evening_Grosbeak1_b

Evening Grosbeak

sprucebw

Spruce Budworm:  Moth and Larvae Stage

“Everything we do affects something else.”

This statement stayed with me in a recent conversation about the Evening Grosbeak presence in New Brunswick during the 70 & 80’s.  Let me explain.

During those years people recalled incredible numbers of Evening Grosbeak populations in the woods.    So many in fact, that car accidents were said to have occurred due to the large numbers that gathered on the roads in search of road salt and grit.  The “word” on the street was that these birds had been brought into New Brunswick to help combat the Spruce Budworm epidemic.  Now this caught my attention.  My warped sense of humor envisioned harried truck drivers transporting hundreds of protesting Grosbeaks to the province.  Somehow, this didn’t add up.  So, this prompted some research into the topic.

Evening Grosbeaks mainly eat Spruce Budworms during breeding and nesting season.  It would make sense that this migratory species would make their way east for the insects that were so plentiful during the years of the outbreak.  Since each Grosbeak can eat around 1000 budworms/day I can only surmise that huge flocks could decrease numbers by a fair amount.  While this number sounds large, New Brunswick was dealing with a serious infestation and the wood industry was feeling the effects.   Their solution was to spray and cut the wood in hopes of avoiding catastrophic losses.

After the spray program, numbers declined sharply in the Evening Grosbeak population.  Rumors have it that hundreds of these birds were found dead in these hot zones.  Yes, we know these birds are an irruptive species but the reality is that a serious look on the internet reveals a common truth:  these birds have decreased in population and we don’t really know what happened.   Whether this is a natural occurrence or they became casualties to the spray program it is important to understand why and what can be done to avoid future losses like this one.  Remember my opening remark, “Everything we do affects something else”.  Well, here was a clear case of the birds doing what they do naturally and as a result were decreasing the budworm population when human intervention steps in to save the industry.   Now, this is not to slam anyone, this is about opening up to other solutions to reduce the impact on both species and environment.  Since most of us use paper products of some sort what could be considered to prevent the needless death of so many birds but also keep the industry alive?  There has to be a healthier solution.

After reading pages and pages of information I wonder if another way to approach this issue would be to not plant monoculture forests and plant multi-species plantations instead.  Since the Spruce Budworms become out of control where single species are grown, maybe we could switch to multi -species and let the Evening Grosbeaks and Mother Nature work on the rest thus keeping human intervention at a minimum?  Observations suggest that when varied plantations are created the numbers of Spruce Budworm remain manageable.  Perhaps this would be a direction worth researching further.  Tangent to this, an interesting comment that was made to me today regarding just this topic.  A senior member of the community shared, back in the 80’s, that if they continued to plant one stand of anything they would eventually upset the scales thus creating major problems for industry later as issues would surface.    Would appear he was correct as New Brunswick is forecasting another infestation of Spruce Budworm within 10 years.  Let’s hope there have been better solutions discovered.

I look forward to hearing your comments, opinions and research on this topic.  If any of you have more information I would be very interested in learning more.

 

Posted in Bird Canada | 1 Comment

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

I’ve lived in British Columbia my whole life and last month I finally had the opportunity to visit the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Thanks to my birding partner Ken Kennedy, it was a dream come true. With in minutes of arrival I had Sandhill Cranes (a lifer to boot!), Canada Geese & an assortment of ducks eating out of my hand.

DSCF0022

I was in bird heaven

Before you even enter the sanctuary, there is a small building where you pay a small fee, one look from there and you are hooked. There is no turning back because there are birds everywhere you look. Perma grin set in and continued for the next few hours, so much so that cheeks hurt.

SONY DSC

The Info Centre/Gift Shop sells small bags of bird seed to feed the hungry masses for about a dollar. You hardly need seeds to get up & personal with the birds of Reifel but it certainly helps you get even closer.

DSCF0023

I was so excited to be surrounded by so many birds that I could have spent a small fortune if I sat in one place too long.

The geese were gentle and polite eaters but the Sandhill Cranes were quite aggressive and poked and prodded until I turned my attention to them.

DSCF0025

So happy!

The George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary is on Westham Island, west of the of Ladner, in Delta, B. C., Canada.  It is nearly 300 hectares (850 acres) of managed wetlands, natural marshes and low dykes in the heart of the Fraser River Estuary. For the millions of birds seeking feeding and resting areas during their annual migrations along the Pacific Coast, the Sanctuary is ideally located. It is a place where wildlife and their habitats are protected from harm, and it lies next to miles of flat marshland and the farmland of Westham Island. Over 280 species of birds have now been recorded at the Sanctuary.

SONY DSC

American Wigeon (male and female)

SONY DSC

Sandhill Crane

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted at least 31 species of which 11 were ‘lifers’!

Golden-crowned Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, Mute Swan, , Canada Goose (and goslings)Wood Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler,Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Fox Sparrow, Northern Harrier, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Eurasian-collared, DoveShort-eared, OwlAmerican Crow, Marsh Wren, Black-capped Chickadee, EuropeanStarling, Spotted Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, House Sparrow and lots of gulls and pigeons.

SONY DSC

My birding partner, Ken K.

SONY DSC

American Coot

SONY DSC

Wood Duck ( male)

SONY DSC

Wood Ducks (Female and male)

SONY DSC

Golden-crowned Sparrow (male)

SONY DSC

Northern Pintail (male)

SONY DSC

The marsh lands looking towards the ocean from the viewing tower

SONY DSC

Mallard (male) and one of the many turtles in the ponds and marshes around Reifel.

SONY DSC

Mallard (male)

SONY DSC

Momma Canada Goose and her goslings

 

SONY DSC

Wood Duck (male and female)

http://www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com/

9 am- 4 pm every day including holidays. The Sanctuary is closed in the evenings.

Adults- $5
Children-(2-14 yrs)- $3
Seniors (60 yrs+)- $3

Driving Directions: The Sanctuary is 13 km west of Ladner in the Municipality of Delta. west of the intersection of Highways 10 and 17. From Ladner, follow Ladner Trunk Road (Highway 10) west to 47A Avenue and on to River Road. Follow River Road westward for 3 km and cross the bridge to Westham Island. Follow the main road to where it ends in front of large black gates. The driveway to the left leads to the Sanctuary’s parking lot.

hex1

Posted in Bird Canada | 2 Comments

Sharp-tailed Dancers

Outstanding video from the Alberta Conservation Association!

YouTube Preview Image

The sharp-tailed grouse is a native game bird that makes its home in the prairies, parklands and forest openings of Alberta. For much of the year the sharp-tailed grouse is a quiet, well-camouflaged bird; however, its spring shenanigans are undoubtedly one of the most impressive spectacles in Alberta’s natural history calendar.

Sharp-tailed grouse perform spring courtship displays on communal “dancing grounds”, called leks. Here males compete for breeding opportunities by displaying their “dancing” ability to females.

Leks are found in areas with dry open ground, where dancing activity keeps the vegetation well-trampled. Leks are used over several weeks beginning in late March and are often used for years, even decades. They are an important part of sharp-tailed grouse life, and the loss of suitable lek habitat can be a limiting factor for sharp-tailed grouse in Alberta.

Don’t Cut In On a Dance

Leks are an integral part of the lifecycle of prairie grouse. Active leks should never be approached, as any disturbance to the birds may disrupt breeding activities and result in the abandonment of the lek. The locations of active and historical leks are of great interest to grouse biologists. To report a lek, contact Alberta Conservation Association (ACA).

More about ACA’s work with sharp-tailed grouse

Video by Mike Jokinen, ACA. Text adapted from “Alberta’s Sharp-tailed Grouse” by Liz Saunders.

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Bird Canada, Grasslands Birds | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Canada’s Shorebirds – Part 3, Calidrids and Turnstones

It was inevitable, but my shorebird stint (no pun intended) has come to an end, with this, the penultimate entry to the series. I’m going to break this down into four sections based somewhat on genetics, but also somewhat on the “easy” ones and the “hard” ones. The scare quotes are there because, to some people at least, shorebirds of any kind aside from maybe Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers are entirely a mystery.

I’ll start with the “Non-Peeps”. This includes the Ruddy and Black Turnstone, Red Knot, and Surfbird.

The second group will be the “Peep-like” birds. Typically smallish shorebirds that, to anyone not a birder, and even to some birders who simply aren’t as familiar with shorebirds, all look so similar as to be impossible to distinguish. This includes Sanderling, Pectoral, Sharp-tailed, Purple, Rock, and Stilt Sandpiper, and the Dunlin.

The third group will be the well-defined “Peep” complex. Even more difficult to tell apart from their relatives, there are many photo-guides, tip sheets, and various other quick reference forms to tell these all apart from each other. They include the Semipalmated, Western, Least, White-rumped, and Baird’s Sandpiper.

“Non-Peeps”

Starting with the Turnstones, I have been lucky enough to see both the Black and the Ruddy. By far my favorite to photograph was the Ruddy, though that may have had as much to do with where I saw them as their striking plumage.

Ruddy Turnstones have been recorded all across Canada, in every single province and territory. Their visits to the interior are typically during migration, and spend their summers up along the Arctic Ocean and winter down in Central and South America. They even find their way occasionally to the eastern coast of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and all throughout western Europe. Clearly they are a popular shorebird due entirely to their beauty!

Ruddy Turnstones - Mexico, 2013

Ruddy Turnstones – Mexico, 2013

Ruddy Turnstones - Mexico, 2013

Ruddy Turnstones – Mexico, 2013

Their cousins, the Black Turnstones, are nowhere near as attractive. In order to see these guys you’ll have to hit the West Coast. Ranging from the Pacific coast of Mexico, all the way up to Alaska, their Canada records are found in British Columbia and Yukon Territory.

Black Turnstone - Iona Jetty, Vancouver, BC, September 2012

Black Turnstone – Iona Jetty, Vancouver, BC, September 2012

 

Along with the Black Turnstone in having a range limited to the Pacific Coast is the Surfbird. Sadly, this is one of the few species here I have no photos of this time around, but I’m sure on my next visit out west I’ll make a special effort to tick these birds off my list!

Sadly, one of the other few that I have yet to see, or photograph, is the Red Knot. This is another quite colorful bird that has been recorded in almost every single province and territory, with the only exception being the Yukon Territory. Red Knots are of special concern in North America as they were once hunted for food in huge numbers, and now due to the heavy decline in one of their main food sources during migration, horseshoe crab eggs along the east coast.

The next subcategory is the “Peep-like” shorebirds.

The smallest of these is the Sanderling. A diminuitive, relatively pale and plain little shorebird, it is quite fun to watch it run back and forth as the tide goes out, picking whatever morsels of food are being left behind on the beach. While I have seen these birds in Canada, it doesn’t match anywhere near the quality and distance one can see these birds at on the coast of Mexico. Sanderlings can be found all over Canada, North, Central and South America, and even into Europe and Asia.

Sanderling - Mexico, 2013

Sanderling – Mexico, 2013

Sanderling - Weed Lake, 2012

Sanderling – Weed Lake, AB, 2012

Pectoral Sandpipers are much like a blown-up version of a Least Sandpiper. Easily twice the size of a peep, they have yellow legs, a slightly drooping bill, and heavily streaked neck and chest, contrasting heavily with a pure white belly. These birds are also found all over Canada and the USA, and occasionally in Asia and Europe.

Pectoral and Least Sandpipers - Weed Lake, Alberta, September 2012

Pectoral Sandpipers – Weed Lake, Alberta, September 2012

Pectoral Sandpipers - Weed Lake, AB, September 2012

Pectoral Sandpipers – Weed Lake, AB, September 2012

 

In the last month, we had an incredibly rare visitor here in Calgary. A breeding plumage Purple Sandpiper was found at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by local photographer Eddy Matoud. This is the first record of this species in Alberta, and so I headed out to take some photos of it, specifically with this post in mind! Purple Sandpipers typically are found along the east coast of Canada and the USA, but summer and breed in the high Arctic, making this discovery incredibly unusual!

Purple Sandpiper - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, 2013

Purple Sandpiper – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, 2013

Alternately, the Rock Sandpiper is found on the west coast, and breeds in Alaska and the islands in the Bering Strait. This is another species that I have very little experience with, and still have yet to see one, let alone photograph one.

Stilt Sandpipers are again similar to the others in this group, but stand apart due to their extremely long legs, long, downward curved bill, and greenish-yellow legs. Again, much larger than the peeps, with significantly different proportions than the other shorebirds listed thus far.

Stilt Sandpiper - Pakowki Lake, 2012

Stilt Sandpiper – Pakowki Lake, 2012

The last of the “Peep-like” shorebirds is the Dunlin. A more uniformly colored, smaller, and shorter legged Stilt Sandpiper, if you please, as it has a proportionately long bill, and is found all across Canada and the USA, but primarily along the coasts.

Dunlin - Weed Lake, 2012

Dunlin – Weed Lake, 2012

Dunlins in the foreground, Black-bellied Plovers in the background - Comox, BC, 2012

Dunlins in the foreground, Black-bellied Plovers in the background – Comox, BC, 2012

Lastly, the Peeps. These are the bane of birders both new and old.  I’ll start with a few tips to help narrow down the identification. If you’re away from the West Coast of Canada, chances are you’re not looking at a Western Sandpiper.

Western Sandpiper - Iona Jetty, Vancouver, BC, 2012

Western Sandpiper – Iona Jetty, Vancouver, BC, 2012

Western Sandpiper - Comox, BC, 2011

Western Sandpiper – Comox, BC, 2011

The leg color can be another good indicator, and if the bird has yellow legs, and appears smaller than all the other shorebirds around, then you’re looking at a Least Sandpiper.

Least Sandpiper - Slack Slough, AB, May 2012

Least Sandpiper – Slack Slough, AB, May 2012

Least Sandpiper - Mexico, January 2013

Least Sandpiper – Mexico, January 2013

From here on, it gets a bit simpler, as there are only three options from here. If the birds wingtips do not extend beyond the tail, then you’re looking at a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Elk Island National Park, August 2012

Semipalmated Sandpiper – Elk Island National Park, August 2012

So now you’re stuck between a Baird’s Sandpiper or a White-rumped Sandpiper. Both of these birds have long wings, but the White-rumped Sandpiper has a distinct, well, white rump, visible while the bird is in flight. If the white rump is visible, you’re looking at a White-rumped Sandpiper. If not, then you’re looking at a Baird’s.

Baird's Sandpiper - Glenmore Trail & Highway 24 Slough, May 2013

Baird’s Sandpiper – Glenmore Trail & Highway 24 Slough, May 2013

Thanks for reading, and yes, finally, this quick study of the Shorebirds of Canada is at a close. See you again next month for my next installment!

Posted in Bird Canada, Bird Identification, Shorebirds | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Using Common Senses

Today I had to travel from Pembroke to Brockville, a 3 hour trip along two lane highways, that wind through quaint little towns like Pakenham, Almonte, Carleton Place, Franktown, Smith Falls, and my personal favourite, Newbliss.

It was a beautiful drive, cloudy, a little cool, but perfect for taking a few pictures enroute, while stopping to enjoy the scenery of eastern Ontario. I thought I’d use the opportunity to do a little birding along the way,  which is always a good thing! What I didn’t anticipate was how fully engaged my senses would be today. Every single one of them sparking as I stopped, looked, listened, smelled, tasted and touched Spring rolling out across the land. As I drove into Pakenham, the first thing I saw was this gorgeous wall of hanging baskets. It was at this point that I threw the schedule out the window (figuratively speaking) and decided that this would be my own personal rural ramble.

flower shop

apple blossom2

Beside the baskets was one of the most beautiful apple trees I’ve seen in a long time. Standing under its boughs I closed my eyes and just breathed.These are the moments  I savour, and then remember  in the dead of winter.

pakenham

 Pakenham’s Five Span Bridge is a local landmark, a beautiful, lasting tribute to the building skills of the masons who forged it long ago. It’s a favourite picnic spot and today it was filled with dipping  and diving swallows enjoying a shore lunch. This Common Grackle sat quietly for several minutes, perhaps as mesmerized by the running water as I was.

grackle2

 

 

The village of Franktown proudly proclaims itself as The Lilac Capital of Canada, and as I was already in ramble mode, I decided that it was finally time (after 30 years of driving past this sign)  to stop and find out why. A short little turn to the east off the road, and I suddenly discovered Lilac Lane -and no option but to get out and take a stroll. The dirt road wound through a grove of lilacs of all shape, colour, and size. The scent lingered in the still air, surrounding me in a soft veil of sweetness.

lilac2

The sounds were beautiful as well, with brilliant Yellow Warblers flitting from branch to branch, engaged in a dance for the ages.

Common Yellow Warbler2

Common Yellow Warbler3

The colours of spring demand attention, creating vibrant landscapes of green and gold, beckoning to birds in flight, luring them to land and build a new home here.

green and yellow

Or here…

flowering crab

A trip that normally takes about 2 1/2 hours, stretched well beyond into an afternoon of idyllic appreciation for Nature truly bursting with beauty on this lovely day.

And once I arrived in Brockville, the brilliant blues of the  Saint Lawrence created entirely different versions of bounty, beauty and bliss.

cormorants

bird island

This was a day for smiling…and apparently, this Mallard agreed.

mallard drake

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Bird Canada, Migration, Nature Photography | 3 Comments

Stanley Park Ecology Society and Birds…

Lost Lagoon fountain | Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC | April 2013

Lost Lagoon fountain | Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC | April 2013

As promised in my two previous blogs for Bird Canada, here is the second instalment on Vancouver’s Stanley Park. This time around, I will focus mostly on the history and activities of the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES), especially with respect to bird conservation and research programs.

To begin, a bit of history: The society’s original name was the Stanley Park Zoological Society and was established as a registered charity in 1988. When the park’s zoo closed in 1995, the society changed its name, but continued to run a variety of educational, conservation and outreach programs.

In June 1997, SPES concluded a Joint Operating Agreement with the Vancouver Park Board, becoming “the primary provider of land-based education interpretive services in the park.” (Source)

As indicated on SPES’s “Our Mission and Vision” webpage, “Stanley Park is a model representing harmony between nature and people, inspiring and empowering communities to make choices that sustain healthy ecosystems.” For its part, SPES “promotes awareness of and respect for the natural world and plays a leadership role in the stewardship of Stanley Park through collaborative initiatives in education, research and conservation.”

SPES funds its activities through grants, memberships, program revenues and service fees. It also relies on a significant number of committed volunteers, as well as passionate staff and dedicated board members, not to mention the support of local businesses and foundations.

Bald Eagle | Westham Island, Delta, BC | March 2013

Bald Eagle | Westham Island, Delta, BC | March 2013

As mentioned earlier, SPES runs several research and conservation programs in and outside of the park. Aside from its popular “Co-Existing with Coyotes” program, the society also runs several programs counting and studying birds, including a long-term study of the park’s large Great Blue Heron colony and a recent report on Vancouver’s Bald Eagle nests.

Great Blue Heron | Stanley Park | December 2011

Great Blue Heron | Stanley Park | December 2011

For my part, I have been particularly involved in various bird monitoring programs run by SPES. Some general information on birding in the park, including an informative video by SPES’s Conservation Officer and “Chief Birder” (I just invented the second title!) Robyn Worcester, may be found here. Birding activities run by SPES include their monthly bird counts (you may read about the March 2013 count on my personal blog), which have been held regularly since 2006, not to mention the yearly Winter Waterfowl Blitz (held in November) and Breeding Bird Survey (in the spring).

I will end my blog by stating quite simply that Stanley Park is one of the great places to do birding in North America, in large part because of SPES’s excellent research and monitoring programs, not to mention their tireless work to educate the public about the natural world.

Posted in Animals, Bird Canada, Bird Conservation Canada, Birdwatching Events, Citizen Science, Conservation, Nature Photography, Raptors, Shorebirds, Waterfowl | Tagged | 1 Comment

What To Do With An Old Lawn Chair

Yes, I had every intention of throwing out this old weather beaten, shredding lawn chair cushion. Early May wasn’t exactly warm enough to sit on the deck, so the chair was waiting for the spring yard work urge to strike. Apparently procrastination can pay off, as these American Robins now have a cushy, cotton filled nest in my yard. He/she/they spent about three days working on this chair, tugging with all their might to get the threads loose.

aIMG_2136 aIMG_2135 aIMG_2140 aIMG_2143 aIMG_2161 aIMG_2171 aIMG_2172 aIMG_2179 aIMG_2182 aIMG_2195

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Bird Canada | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Owls of Alberta – a photo essay

The 'death stare'

The Great Gray Owl ‘death stare’

I was in two minds as to what subject I should post this month, but owls always seem to be popular so I’ll go with that. I also thought I’d focus on some of the less common species, at least in Alberta, that I’ve seen this year: the Great Gray, the Short-eared and the Northern Pygmy Owl.Short-eared Owl - portrait Northern Pygmy Owl

In my experience, owls’ behaviour varies between species and again between individual owls. Some will take flight as soon as they see you, while others seem to completely ignore you – you never know what type of owl you will come across!  Great Gray Owl Great Gray Owl Great Gray Owl

At the end of the day, I’m grateful just to see one & absolutely rapt if I get to photograph one. This last comment is particularly true of the Short-eared owl where I made no less than 6 long trips earlier this year & only on the final trip did I finally see one – a great feeling.Short-eared Owl Short-eared Owl

I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I enjoyed taking them. Cheers, Tim.Northern Pygmy Owl

NPO - what are you looking at?

NPO – what are you looking at?

 

Posted in Bird Canada | 1 Comment

Consulting the eBird Oracle: Where are our Migrant Warblers Now?

241839331109_0_ALB_bc


American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla; Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, AB)

It is early May – where are our migrant Warblers on their journeys? (Hint: check out the maps below!) The majority of our breeding Warblers are lurking just south of the belt (the Canada/US belt, not the Bible Belt) and ready to explode across, given the right conditions. According to the eBird Oracle, unless you live in southern Ontario, the best is yet to come this migration season! Currently, regional birding listservs are revealing a couple of new species each day, but these might be just the leading edge of the profusion of biomass on its way to Canada. Canadians: prepare to have your soundscapes enriched and your insect-populations managed pro bono.

In my last post, I looked at monthly patterns of movement from downloaded eBird data. However, there is approximately a three-month lag time in the availability of eBird’s downloadable data, so real-time migration maps cannot be made directly from the database. However, regular visits to the eBird web map application can expose near-real-time regional movement patterns…

The maps presented here were created for all Warblers with breeding ranges extending into Canada. For each species, winter (January-February 2013) and current (1 April to 8 May, 2013) eBird observations are provided to give a glimpse of how much movement Warblers have undertaken so far this season and how near each species is to Canadian soil. eBird observation data are represented by purple blocks, with the darkest purple blocks indicating areas of the highest density of reports. NatureServe species distribution polygons are overlaid for reference (credit below; orange = breeding range, blue = nonbreeding range, black = year-round range; rare occurrence points not included). Observations located between breeding and nonbreeding ranges are areas being used during migration. (see more detailed methods at the end of the post).

Take a close look at the patterns: how close is each species to your region? Do these patterns match what you are seeing, and hearing, on the ground? Do the locations of the nonbreeding and overwintering grounds surprise you? Do you think the eBird data reliably delineates the species ranges?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Click the pause button and use the arrows to advance the maps at your own pace. Individual maps in the gallery above can be enlarged by clicking thumbnails below and choosing “view full size”.

There are several considerations required before deciding whether these data represent true species distributions (e.g., timing of submission of reports, species misidentification, gaps in eBirder coverage, species detectability, location of migratory pathways relative to eBirder density, eBirder behaviour), but at broad scales these maps can give fascinating insight into the pathways used and timing exhibited by our migrants.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled in the days to come and enjoy the migration season!

(overview of methods:  For each species, screengrabs for each time frame were captured using the free Firefox add-in FireShot, georeferenced in ArcGIS to a boundary file from the North American Atlas (free from Geogratis), NatureServe species distributions (Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Robert Ridgely, James Zook, The Nature Conservancy ― Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International ― Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, World Wildlife Fund ―US, and Environment Canada ― WILDSPACE.) were overlaid and symbolized and maps were exported; contact: jameslchurchill@gmail.com).

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Bird Canada, Canadian Birds, Citizen Science, Migration, Songbirds, Wood Warblers | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What is Digiscoping?

Posted by Charlotte Wasylik, aka Prairie Birder

Now that Spring is underway through most of Canada, there are more birds to see, especially with the help of our cameras and scopes. If you have a camera — or even an iPhone — and a scope, one fun offshoot is digiscoping.

Digiscoping is using a spotting scope or binoculars with a camera (point-and-shoot or dslr), even an iPhone, to take close-up photos. It’s comparable to taking photos with an expensive telephoto lens, and if you practice a lot you can get quite good at digiscoping. (I am still practicing!)

An American Robin I digiscoped this past week, with my point-and-shoot from a distance of 25 yards or so,

IMG_2087

I started digiscoping last year after I bought my Swarovski scope, and I was just hand-holding my point-and-shoot camera to my scope; the photos were decent, but it was very difficult to get the camera centered with the scope. You can buy adapters for your camera and scope, but after spending so much money on my scope (three years’ worth of 4H steer cheques and money from my egg route), I didn’t have anything left for an adapter. So several months ago, in March, I made a DIY digiscoping adapter which was very simple, cheap, and fun to make. It’s helped me to improve the quality of my photos, and lately I’ve just been digiscoping instead of using just the camera.

There are many digiscoping groups and websites where you can learn more. Some links I’ve found very helpful: Sharon Stiteler’s Birdchick blog, the Facebook digiscoping group, the Yahoo Digiscoping Birds group, and The Digiscoper blog.

I wrote a post on my DIY adapter, where you can find all the items and you’ll need to make your own adapter.

Here’s my video on how to make the adapter,

A pair of Cinnamon Teals (the photo is a little out of focus, but they were swimming away quite quickly) from a distance of about 100 yards,

IMG_2098

That dark area around the edges of the photo above, especially in the lower left corner, is vignetting. When taking photos with this adapter you get vignetting, which is a black ring around the photo. You can get rid of this by cropping after the fact, or zooming in with the camera to reduce the amount of vignetting.

Savannah Sparrow, from a distance of about five yards,

IMG_2108

Tips that have helped me with my digiscoping: practice taking photos of subjects that stay still for long periods of time — swallows, preening waterfowl, and birds at feeders make great subjects for this; have the sun at your back for the best lighting; take lots of photos, because for every good one you will have 20 bad ones; and practice, practice, practice!

White-crowned Sparrow, taken through a bedroom window,

IMG_2131

I’m hoping to digiscope most of the bird species I see the rest of this year, and improve my skills.

I’d love to know what kind of equipment other birders use for digiscoping, and what your favorite subjects to photograph are. Please use the comment section for this if you’d like.

All the photos in this post were digiscoped!

 

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Bird Canada, Bird Identification, Grasslands Birds, Nature Photography, Songbirds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments