TWO DAYS OF BIRD PHOTOS: RAPTOR CENTRE, BLUFFER'S PARK & OUTSIDE HOME

   Yesterday, Sharon and I, along with her daughter Mich and boyfriend, Yosi visited Bluffer's Park in Toronto.  The park is located on the shore of Lake Ontario by the Scarborough Bluffs.  I took the following photographs at the park:

• Trumpeter Swan
• Ring-billed Gull
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Common Grackle
• Mourning Dove
• Tree Swallow
• Redwinged Blackbird
• Herring Gull
• Mallard
• Canada Goose

    One of the interesting sightings at the park was a Trumpeter Swan with wing tags. The tags were yellow with black characters: R12.  I reported this sighting to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory.

   Another interesting sighting was the Red-tailed Hawk on the cliffs of Scarborouh Bluffs.

   Today we visited the Kortright Centre for Conservation in Woodbridge,  ON. Located at Kortright is the Canadian Peregrine Foundation's Raptor Centre.  At the centre I photographed the following raptors:

• Bald Eagle
• Great Horned Owl
• European Horned Owl
• Peregrine Falcon
• Harris Hawk
• Gyrfalcon

   These birds are in captivity, because for various reasons they could not be released into the wild.  Each of their stories is told on the Canadian Peregrine Foundation's web site:

           www.peregrine-foundation.ca

After returning home I managed photograph a few more birds:

• House Finch - Two different variants
• American Robin

OUTSIDE HOUSE IN THORNHILL, ON

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - MALE HOUSE FINCH
REDDISH IS NORMAL COLOR, YELLOW
BIRD ON RIGHT IS YELLOW VARIANT

REAR VIEW OF AMERICAN ROBIN

RAPTOR CENTRE AT KORTRIGHT CENTRE

FOR CONSERVATION IN WOODBRIDGE, ON

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - MALE BALD EAGLE
SOLO

FEMALE GREAT HORNED OWL
ALEX

MALE EUROPEAN HORNED OWL
BUBO



ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - MALE PEREGRINE
FALCON
OSCAR



ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - HARRIS HAWK
MAX



MALE PEREGRINE FALCON

FEMALE GYRFALCON
REMINGTON

BLUFFER'S PARK, TORONTO, ON

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - TRUMPETER SWANS
ONE OF THE SWANS WAS TAGGED
WITH A WING MARKER

RING-BILLED GULL

RED-TAILED HAWK
NOTE REDDISH TAIL

MALE COMMON GRACKLE

MOURNING DOVE

MOST LIKELY A TREE SWALLOW,
BUT DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY
FROM THE DISTANCE

MALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

 CO

HERRING GULL IN BREEDING PLUMAGE

MALE MALLARDS

CANADA GOOSE


VIEWS FROM BLUFFER'S PARK

BIRD PHOTOS FROM MY ARCHIVES: WOODPECKERS

So far since becoming an active birder I have managed to photograph four species of woodpeckers:

• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker

Here are their photos.

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER
NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN
TOP PHOTO IS FEMALE, HAS RED NAPE;
BOTTOM PHOTO IS MALE, HEAD & NAPE
ARE RED; BOTH HAVE REDDISH BELLI

ABOVE 4 PHOTOS - NORTHERN FLICKER
LESLIE ST. SPIT, TORONTO
THERE ARE TWO FORMS-YELLOW SHAFTED
ABOVE HAS RED CRESCENT ON NAPE, RED
SHAFTED DOES NOT

 DOWNY WOODPECKER
WILKET CREEK PARK, TORONTO
THIS IS A MALE-MALE HAS A SQUARE
RED SPOT ON NAPE, FEMALE DOES NOT

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
EAST NAPLES, FL
ENTIRE HEAD IS RED ON MALE AND 
BROWN ON FEMALE

BIRD PHOTOS OF THE DAY: TORONTO ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB FIELD TRIP TO HUMBER PARK EAST

   This morning Sharon and I went on a field trip with the Toronto Ornithological Club to Humber Park East in Toronto.  This park juts out into Lake Ontario and is a great birding hotspot.  Here are photos from the trip.

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - MALE NORTHERN
CARDINAL - MALE IS ALL RED EXCEPT
FOR BLACK FACE (BILL IS RED)

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - FLOCKS OF DOUBLE-
CRESTED CORMORANTS FLYING BY

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS -  MALE BROWN-HEADED
COWBIRD - IRIDESCENT GLOSSY
BLACK BODY WITH BROWN HEAD

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - RED-NECKED GREBE
IN BREEDING PLUMAGE
NOTE REDDISH NECK & WHITE CHEEKS

MALLARDS: TOP IS MALE, LOWER
IS FEMALE

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS - MUTE SWAN
ORANGE BILL WITH BLACK KNOB
AT BASE

MALE GADWALL

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - MOURNING DOVE

AMERICAN ROBIN IN NEST

AMERICAN ROBIN

MALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

FEMALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD



MALE TREE SWALLOW
WHITE BELOW, METALLIC BLUE ABOVE

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - WHITE-THROATED
SPARROW - SEE WHITE THROAT &
EYEBROW & YELLOW NEAR BASE
OF BILL

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS - MALE LONG-TAILED
DUCK - NOTE LONG TAIL (FEMALE DOES
NOT HAVE LONG TAIL)



RING-BILLED GULL
SEE BLACK RING NEAR END OF BILL

                                 

RING-BILLED GULL IN FLIGHT

BIRD PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE & RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

   This morning as we took our dog out of the house to walk I managed to get a photo of a Black-capped Chickadee.  It was flitting from tree to tree.  We then drove to High Park in Toronto where I took photos of a male and female Red-winged Blackbird.

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
HAS BLACK CAP, BLACK BIB
& WHITE CHEEKS

FEMALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
BROWNISH WITH DARK STRIPS 
UNDERNEATH; REDDISH THROAT;
SHARP POINTED BEAK

MALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE IS
RED/YELLOW ON WING WHEN
 PERCHED;  SOMETIMES YOU CAN
ONLY SEE YELLOW