I'm going to James Bay!

I have some amazing news to announce, in July  I along with a few other lucky individuals will be heading to one of the most amazing places in Canada. From July 13 - August 15 I will be stationed at a remote camp right in the bottom of James bay. James bay is known for the emence numbers of shorebirds that pass through the aera each year at the beginning of their fall migration. From reading others comments and blogs who have been there before. I can expect anything from a yellow rail to a stilt sandpiper! In terms of birding and photography this is AMAZING.  

I have already begun a wish list of species I hope to see but I am keeping my expectations down to a minimal as far a diversity goes and up on numbers. I expect to see literally thousands of shorebirds during the month or so i will be there. 

It seems that I will be doing a fair amount of hiking and walking with hevy packs and almost always wearing rubber boots.

On top of this the misquotes there are apparently in clouds and constantly thirsty for human blood. To anyone else this seems like something they wouldn't enjoy for a weekend let alone 4 weeks! But for me this is a dream come true. When I was in the arctic before I said to myself that I would return. James bay may not be true arctic but it is right inbetwen Canada's boreal forest and arctic tundra so I can't complain. Stay tuned for more information about my trip over the next month or so!

Finally.. Spring Arrives

Winter this year seems to be never ending, friday was our first real nice sunny day with temperatures just slightly above zero. People were out jogging in shorts and tee shirts! The ducks and other birds at Quidi Vidi seemed to be enjoying this sunny day as well. It was my first time shooting in 2014 with out my snow pants and a winters hat on. Below are a few images from Friday evening at the lake.

Drake Northern Pintale

Drake Wood Duck

Only a few days ago i was watching cormorants struggling to survive here in Paradise, this was the first time I've seen cormorants this far inland. Almost all were juvenile.

Cormorants looking lost next to a frozen river last week

 Cormorant next to the Health sciences centre. Another bird that decided to move inland

Monday i head to St.Brendan's Island to search for some possible ivory gulls and any sea birds that are amongst the sea ice. Also i will be dropping off more nest boxes to Terra Nova National Park for anyone who is willing to place one. All the snow must surely be delaying the small owls from nesting and giving us a little more time to place boxes. I am now counting down the days until Brad & I are down on the southern shore photographing everything from Caribou to Horned Larks in just a few weeks!

The excitement of spring!

St.Brendans Island 

Old Timers

This past weekend my friend Justin & I headed out to check some nest boxes i had set out 5 years ago and have only checked twice since. The boxes show signs of wear and one of them which was placed near a small pond was shot by a shotgun, its unfortunate that people sometimes do not understand; are less then helpful and destructive.
Anyhow one box seemed to have the remains of a Northern Flicker nest and some yellow feathers from its underwing.

(This nest box located just outside st. johns for Goldeneye had some major damage from ignorant people shooting it with shotguns......)

                                             

                                                    (A Boreal Owl box that once housed Northern Flickers)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Its only weeks now till Brad and i make our annual trip to Cape St.Mary's to photograph a ton of sea birds, larks, and maybe caribou! With the winter storm we are experiencing today it does not feel much like spring. Hopefully next week we will have more to discuss.

Awaiting the warm days of spring

                  (American Black Duck nest)

A few tips

The clock is ticking to get nest boxes built and placed. Me and my dad have been building everytime we get a chance and distributing boxes as much as possible. Friday is the day that one of hopefully two shipments of boxes arrive on the west coast of Newfoundland. It is so exciting to get some boxes out on that side of the island because there seems to be more Boreal & Northen saw-whet owls on that side of the island since the red backed vole made its way there.

Below is a short video about the kits you will be receiving and a photo of what boxes we built today! Notice a few tree swallow boxes, they too will be arriving in just 2 months and the race is on once again to get more boxes out for cavity nesting birds in Newfoundland.

If you have not recivied an e-mail from me over the last few days I advise you to e-mail me again to remind me you what a box and where you are located so I have enough built.

  

                                           

                                                  

Wont be much longer till they are here

Common Merganser Nest Box Outing

This morning Brad & I headed to pouch cove to see if we could get some good looks at three Harlequin ducks that have been hanging out in the bay the last couple of days. The picture speaks for itself, the birds were a lot further then we had hoped they would be. It was great anyhow to see such a beautiful duck that we rarely set eyes on.

On our way to see the harlequins we spotted a flock of robins and starlings feeding on the dogberries. Mixed in with them were American Goldfinch and a few cedar waxwings. All the birds seemed hungry as they plucked the small frozen berries off the tree.

Later in the afternoon i decided to go and place a Common Merganser nest box at Topisal beach. The mergansers have been hanging out there for sometime now and i am hoping if they are in need of a nest site in spring they will remember the box.

                                        

The view from the box

Out of the Box

Click here to see a post about the work we are doing written by Ducks Unlimited Canada

Time to place some boxes!

Winter still has a firm grip on Newfoundland with temps dropping near -30c with the wind chill over the course of the week. This long cold winter must be hard on our featherd friends and each time Brad and I go out to do some photography the pickings are getting smaller. Quidi Vidi lake  seems to be an exception with the gorgeous Peregrine Falcon that has taken up residence also a drake Wood duck and Common mergansers at the lake have been offering excellent photo ops.

The owls we build nesting boxes for such as the Boreal Owl & Northern Saw-Whet owl are extremely nocturnal birds that go so unnoticed in our boreal forests. If you look online very little is known about these birds compared to other species and on the island of Newfoundland little to nothing is known. Our nest box project is the largest on the island and each weekend is growing with more boxes and tips on where to place them.

We would like to thank the people who have came forward over the last few days to take action and help out the owls.  It has come in all different forms. From helping building boxes, donating supplies or helping place boxes. If your looking to donate lumber we use 10 inch knotty pine. We use 1 1/2" black drywall scews to build the boxes. The reason we use theses specific screws is they do not rust and seem to be the most cost efficient. 

This weekend we begin placing boxes. We are always looking for volunteers who are willing to lug an extension ladder through the woods, place a few boxes and learn a thing or two. Even just helping us transport the boxes to a location is a big help. This year will be the year we have boxes spanning from the East to the West of the island!