Rough-legged hawks

After posting that northern migrants are coming, I thought I should head out and see for myself.  Of course, I made my way down to Melbourne, the hawk capital of southwestern Middlesex County.  There were several Red-tailed Hawks in the area.  This one was quite obliging.

I also saw a couple of American Kestrels and some American Pipits.

American Pipit

But what really made my day was spotting a couple of Rough-legged Hawks.  They were the first ones I have seen this fall.  I got this picture.  Not the best shot, but I am happy with it.

 

Northern migrants are arriving

By now, you are probably seeing Dark-eyed Juncos coming to your feeder.  Small to medium sized flocks can be found easily through-out the countryside.  And this week, there have been reports of the first Rough-legged Hawks of the season beginning to arrive.  I haven’t seen any yet, but it is time to start looking.

Ever consider traveling to New Mexico???

I know this might sound a little like an advertisement, but I love to promote travel to interesting and birdy areas.  One such area is Silver City, New Mexico.  Click on this link to read up on what you can find to do in this scenic, western town.

A Walk Around Clark Wright Conservation Area Today After Lunch

What can be better than a warm, sunny, October afternoon???  Very little.  The leaves are approaching maximum colour.  Birds are migrating thru the woods.

It was the perfect day for a slow, leisurely walk on the trails around the area.  The trees and bushes were full of BLUE JAYS, GOLDEN-CROWNED and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS.  One or more RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS were flitting about and calling.  I spotted a DOWNY WOODPECKER and a flock of BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES.  WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were working their way low down in the  bushes.  Whenever, I saw a bird, I just stopped and watched until in disappeared.

There were a few butterflies about, too.

Mushrooms were very evident around the pine plantation.

Erin Carroll and a couple of her colleagues were collecting fish from the pond and stream.  They had a catfish and were searching for trout.  Trout are indicators of a cold water system.

Don’t let this beautiful fall weather pass you by without getting out and enjoying and a walk or ride in the country.

 

Birding Festivals

A few days ago, I wrote a post about my trip to California to attend the Monterey Bay Birding Festival.  This morning, I thought I would google “birding festivals” to see what I could find, with the idea of looking for a birding festival to attend next year.  What I found was an overwhelming number of festivals.  Hard to decide where to go.  There are so many to choose from.

Here is a list of some of the festivals:

ABA Birding Rally in San Diego – Oct. 12-16/13

ABA Birding Rally in Plymouth, Mass. – Jan 31 to Feb. 3, 2014

ABA Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas – April 22-26, 2014

Festival of the Cranes, New Mexico – November 19-24, 2013

Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival – Sept. 25-29, 2013

Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival – Nov. 6-10, 2013

Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival – Nov. 16/17, 2013

Huron Fringe Birding Festival (MacGregor Point Provincial Park) – toward the end of May 2014

Tofino Shorebird Festival – Vancouver Island – in  May 2014

Central Valley Birding Symposium, Stockton California – Nov. 21-24, 2013

Tucson Bird and Wildlife Festival – in August 2014

Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival, Sierra Vista, Arizona – in May 2014 and again in July 2014

Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival, in central Arizona – April 24-27, 2014

Winter Wings Festival, Oregon – Feb. 13-16, 2014

Everglades Birding Festival – Jan. 16-20, 2014

Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival – Jan. 22-27, 2014

To find out more about any of these festivals, just use your google search tool.  Attending a festival is a great way to travel and see interesting localities.  You don’t have to be an “experienced” birder to enjoy a festival.  New and inexperienced birders are always welcomed.   Now is a good time to begin thinking about vacation and travel plans for 2014.  Perhaps a birding festival is in your future.

 

Strathroy Conservation Area

This morning the sky looked threatening and I figured it was about to rain.  But along towards 11 AM, things cleared up and I decided to head over to the Conservation Area.  Nice day for a stroll.  There were pockets of birds scattered around the woods.  I came across a flock of 6 or 7 Yellow-rumped Warblers, a couple of Red-breasted Nut\hatches, a Blue-headed Vireo, several Hairy Woodpeckers and quite a few Blue Jays.  I also encountered a Red-bellied Snake quickly leaving the trail and disappearing into the leaves and ground cover.  I also found a neat little feather.  Not sure what kind specie of bird left it behind.  But feathers of any kind are nice to find and I can’t resist picking them up and bringing them home.

Birding Festivals – A great way to travel

I have attended three Birding Festivals over the past two years.  My first was the Lower Rio Grande Birding Festival, headquartered in Harlingen, Texas, in the fall of 2011.  In February of this year, I attended an American Birding Association Bird Rally in Albuquere, New Mexico.  And in September of this year I attended the Monterey Bay Birding Festival headquartered in Watsonville/Santa Cruz, California.

Allow me to explain a little about attending a birding festival.  A festival is generally about 4 days long.  On each day, you meet with a trip leader.  The trips usually begin around 7 AM and finish around 3 PM.  There are about 15 people in each group.  Sometimes a van or bus is provided and sometimes you form a caravan using your own vehicle.

I usually book eight (8) days for travel, attendance at the festival and some time left over to soak up a little of the ambience of the area.  For example, for the trip to California in September, I flew to California on a Wednesday and returned the following Wednesday.  The festival itself started on Thursday and finished on Sunday; the festivals and rallys I have attended have been 4 days long.  Since I arrived on Wednesday, it gave me part of a day to get settled and survey the lay of the land.  After the festival was over,  I allowed two days to further explore the area.

Return air fare to a festival can run somewhere between $500 to $700.  The room we rented in Watsonville (Best Western) cost $1020.00.  We rented a car for our stay there at a cost of $272.00 (this included liability insurance and unlimited mileage).  We spent about $100 in gasoline.  Breakfast is supplied by the hotel.  We usually stay at a Best Western.  And since our daily festival trips departed very early in the morning (before the continental breakfast was available), the hotel would supply us with a doggie bag of breakfast eats.  We usually would buy some fruit and sandwich at a local deli the night before to take on each daily trip.  The daily trips are usually over by 4 PM, leaving plenty of time to dine out for supper.

Attendance at the festival is not free, but the ones I have gone to have not been overly expensive.  For example, the Monterey Bay Birding Festival daily trips were in the range of $15-$25.  There were two trips that did cost more — the pelagic trip out into the Bay was $150 and the trip down to Big Sur to see the California Condors, was $134.  There are a wide variety of daily trips available during the festival and by registering early you can pretty well have whatever trip you want.

Evenings are free time.  And if you give yourself a couple of extra days stay after the festival is over, you can explore the area and take in sights and sounds and tastes of a non-birding nature.

So here are the costs of my most recent trip:

• Room  —  $1020
• Flight  —  $650
• Car rental  —  $272
• Festival Costs  —  $375
• Food and souvenirs  —  That is up to you

Reasonable cost for an eight-day stay in California.

Perhaps there is a Birding Festival in your future.