This area is for general discussion on Birds and Birding.
By ogopogo
#87063
Do you have bad weather birding adventures? Tuesday was a rare one that kept me indoors: a SE storm swirling up from Seattle, 10-15mm rain combined with nasty SE 59 gusting to 92km winds. I've never understood why we plant palm trees in Victoria but they make great flags on the ground; when they are bending right over, it's a day to read a good book. Not even Helly Hansen's could make it a birding day.
Jan 24_2018 (Wed) looked a little better with passing showers, no wind, and some sun breaks forecasted, so off I walked on the Galloping Goose to Colquitz River Park.
The rewards were not all birds, but the gorgeous shots of shimmering silver on the Gorge Waterway looking back on a black & white canvas of the Bay St bridge and City skyline, a brilliant Double Rainbow over Cecelia Ravine as the sun started to break through and the most amazing sun's rays streaking through mist rising off the Colquitz River and bouncing back up at right angles off the sun's reflection in the water.
A flock of 28 Cedar Waxwings, with their erratic flight pattern, landed in a Hawthorn bush right in front of me on the entrance trail into Colquitz and started eating the red berries. I pointed them out to a man passing and he pulled out a medium lens camera and seemed quite happy to get a few good shots before the flock headed off in the direction of Swan Lake.
I didn't find the Owls and the mudflats were too flooded for the sea birds who often venture in, but it was a wonderful adventure with some awe inspiring looks. Have you had those days where you thought, naw, but did it anyways?
By revs
#87067
I find that when i travel i get the worst weather, and when you are travelling you don't have a lot of options, you either go for it or sit in your hotel room bummed out.

Case in Point - Iceland 2015.
Image

We saw some pretty wild weather during our trip around the ring road, some of the fiercest weather was near the end, in particular the south east part of the country (great country by the way).
The winds were howling, we were checking out a park that was very flat, just fields and pock-marked with little fresh water ponds that i understood Red-throated loons liked to spend time on.
Soo windy my wife decided to stay in the vehicle, she wished me luck and i went out and almost got blown off my feet upon exiting. somehow i made it to the first pond and sure enough, i saw a pair of loons, crouching down low i was able to get close enough to get my shots. The wind was whipping up the water into a frenzy though, there was no shelter and the pics i took don't really show how much the water was raging.
I lasted 15 minutes before i had to make a break for cover :lol:

I invested in proper rain gear for my camera years ago and can and will venture out in the rain but the wind is a whole other ballgame sometimes.

Here is a Cedar Waxwing from a few weeks back at B[…]

2024 Bird Challenge: Current Bird List

So sorry for being late in updating the list ... y[…]

Godwit?

At Blackie spit this week we found this shorebird […]

Tufted duck

I returned to report that I researched this questi[…]