Fall Update

Hi all! Sorry for such a long while without posted. I was attending the Young Ornithologist Workshop at Long Point earlier for the first half of august, and after that I was on a road trip to Nebraska for a few days to see the solar eclipse, which was spectacular.

I have lots to post about, including my trips to Europe, Churchill, Long point, and the fall birds I've seen recently.

I've also been volunteering at the Delta Marsh Bird Observatory at Oak Hammock Marsh, helping out with bird banding. It has been a lot of fun, and we've caught some interesting birds.

American Redstart

I've been doing a lot of birding, both around my house and out for fall warblers, which I hope to make one or two posts about as well. So stay tuned, there's lots of posts to come. :)

American Redstart

Birding At the Winnipeg Beaches

I'm very sorry for my inactivity recently but finally here is a post. About a month  ago we went birding with Christian Artuso about an hour north of Winnipeg along the beaches of Lake Winnipeg. We started north at Victoria Beach and slowly worked our way south from there.

We walked along the stony shore, armed with two cameras, a spotting scope and binoculars.

There were a fair number of Lapland Longspurs and we got some fantastic views of them.

Lapland Longspur

And of course... gulls. There wasn't anything particularly exciting in the gull department, Ring-billed, Herring, and Bonaparte's mostly, along with some Caspian, Common and Forster's Terns.

Ring-billed Gull

Lapland Longspur

It was a little bit odd to see a Savannah Sparrow out along the shore.

Savannah Sparrow

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Lapland Longspur

There was also a good number of American Pipits, though they were more skittish than the Longpurs, so photos were harder.

We also found this beautiful Pectoral Sandpiper, foraging among the pebbles.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspur

And our fabulous guide and friend, Christian! 

Christian Artuso

The changing colours of fall made for some very pretty landscapes. Here are quite a few non-bird photos, if you don't mind.

Among the rocky shore here there was a flock of American Pipits.

William (left) and Christian (right)

Far out on a group of rocks in the water we saw a Bald Eagle, and we eventually meandered far enough to be in photo distance.

Immature Bald Eagle

Matthew with the camera

Stony shore

Christian (left) and William (right) using the spotting scope

That's me! (Josiah)

William and Christian

This was quite an interesting tree, it had basically grown into a rock.

Me on the trail

From left to right: Matthew, Josiah, William, Christian

Well, that's all folks! I might still post a few photos from the trip, but there aren't many more bird pictures. All in all it was very fun and successful, and a huge thank you to Christian for taking us!