Monday 20 January 2014

Winter time = Down time

Winter time on the island of Newfoundland is a slow time for photography and birding alike;
But there is always hope that each winter will be a winter the ivory gulls come down from their northern habitats. Last winter was kind of one of those winters with multiple sightings from across the island but most were very short lived such as the one hour wonder at Quidi Vidi lake which of course neither me or brad seen.

This winter however there have been some things to photograph such as the Purple sandpipers and the regular birds like the sea birds at Cape Spear and as of last week the Peregrine falcon has arrived at Quidi Vidi lake for hopefully the remainder of winter. He or She has been feeding on starlings and pigeons at Quidi Vidi lake before so it seems to be quite comfortable with photographers. Along with the Peregrine a drake Wood duck has arrived at the lake too, adding a bit of colour to the dull days we have been having.



This past saturday Brad and i tried our luck at photographing the resident eagles at Quidi Vidi Lake, with no luck. We arrived at the lake shortly after daylight with 40+ pounds of fresh chicken scraps to entice the birds in close. We got in our quick camo blinds and waited....and waited with no luck. There were 3 juvi eagles on the ice at the time but we think the eagles saw us arrive. Meaning they wanted nothing to do with our hand-outs. The gulls and crows enjoyed it all the same. We will try this technique out again in the near future at a different location. Next time we will be ready before daylight to see if that may have been the problem.




Our idea of doing feeder set-up's for small birds went down the drain when we got a massive dumping of snow. since then ive seen not as much as a single junco at my feeders....


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