54946 members

Member Login

Remember me on this device

MENU

54946 members

Advertisement

Discussions

Home
Discussions
Brandon Chatter
On the brighter side some birds are back!

On the brighter side some birds are back!

J27
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 84

J27
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 84

Kestrel
4/13/2020 at 4:51 PM

We had a Kestrel in our yard the other day that had actually taken down a robin. I don't think there is a whole lot of size difference, although the robin was probably drunk from all the fermented berries it had eaten, so easy prey maybe.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Bald eagle
4/14/2020 at 1:28 PM

A little better shot of the bald eagle yesterday afternoon soaring over downtown. Hope he or one of his friends is back one more time, I'd like one more crack with the right lens!

On the smaller side, this guy has taken quite the active interest this week in what's left of last year's grapes on the vine...
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Bird
4/14/2020 at 6:19 PM

Perched in a tree down the back lane... Merlin I think as per plane watcher’s wish?

Edited by Adam, 2020-04-14 18:22:19
Pasquale
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 389

Pasquale
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 389

Robins
4/14/2020 at 7:29 PM

Galore in my front yard, I feel bad for them tho in this miserable weather. Lol
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Merlin
4/15/2020 at 1:43 PM

Friend is back this afternoon...soaring high over about a 6-8 block radius, coming down to perch on top of a tree like this, rinse, repeat.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

eagles
4/19/2020 at 9:38 AM

A story about the rise of the population of bald eagles.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bald-eagles-manitoba-1.5537052

"If it seems like you've noticed more bald eagles flying around in Manitoba lately, you're not alone, says one expert — there really are more eagles in our skies right now.

This is the time of year when eagles usually make their way back north, but the local population of the birds has also swelled over the last number of years, according to Jim Duncan, former director of Manitoba's Wildlife and Fisheries department.

"We're starting to see more eagles than we have in the past, and they're also starting to reoccupy some areas where they used to breed before the population declined," said Duncan."
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Eagles
4/19/2020 at 10:56 AM

Abbysmum said "A story about the rise of the population of bald eagles.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bald-eagles-manitoba-1.5537052

"If it seems like you've noticed more bald eagles flying around in Manitoba lately, you're not alone, says one expert — there really are more eagles in our skies right now.

This is the time of year when eagles usually make their way back north, but the local population of the birds has also swelled over the last number of years, according to Jim Duncan, former director of Manitoba's Wildlife and Fisheries department.

"We're starting to see more eagles than we have in the past, and they're also starting to reoccupy some areas where they used to breed before the population declined," said Duncan." "
Cool...was told we supposedly had at least one around here all winter. Wouldn’t think that big of a nest would be hard to spot! If still around and anyone has any intel that they’d rather not publicly post, I’d love a tip off through PM or the contact form.. promise to keep location a secret!
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

.
4/19/2020 at 4:16 PM

Wood ticks are out too...does that fall into this thread....”on the brighter side?”
plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

Merlins and eagles
4/19/2020 at 5:53 PM

You captured some very, very nice pictures of Merlin. I especially like the second one posted Tue at 6:19. The one with the “what are YOU looking at” attitude.

Very nice. I’m a bit jealous. Well. Very jealous.

You work with a full frame camera and a set of profession lenses that you can very legitimately deduct as a business expense. It’s a necessary part of your work.

I’m currently retired and playing with an Olympus E-M1MarkII with a 40-150 1:2.8 PRO lens. Semi-Pro. Not too shabby, but I don’t have the reach you do. I’ll have to work harder :-) And reach isn’t everything.

It’s nice to see you enjoying some ornithological photography. It’s fun. It’s challenging, whatever camera. Enjoy. It can be addicting especially if you have a good camera.

The Merlin: This year is the first year I’ve knowingly encountered them. I understand that they are not common, but not rare. Seems like there are quite a few of them around this year, known as an ‘irruption’.

The Bald Eagle: They have been around forever, or at least for the last 30 years. Sometimes more in some years than others. The only reason that they are noticed more today is that more is that more people are looking up.* They love to hang around road kill and dead fish. I think it’s ironic that US picked for a national bird one that lives off of dead fish and carrion. But it is a handsome bird.

I will have to look through my admittedly disorganized archives for my picture of a (large) golden eagle taken about 2000 off Patricia Ave. with my old UZI

* I hosted a meeting of professional people, most from Winnipeg, about this time of year in 2004 at the restaurant at Wheat City Curling Club. As we were meeting, first a CP train went by, which disturbed five deer that then wandered onto the golf course below our window. Just as the deer wandered away out of sight one of my Winnipeg colleagues said “Look at that, there’s two eagles”. My Winnipeg guests were impressed.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Thx
4/19/2020 at 8:51 PM

Thanks! Still working on my timing, lot to learn having not normally paid a lot of attention to the skies. Suspect a few years of experience needed under the belt to start reliably getting shots with a little more drama in them like your Merlin shot... not to mention knowing what the heck I'm taking a picture of while i'm looking at it :)

My Merlin was perfectly comfortable with me standing about 30 feet almost directly underneath for a good 30 seconds. Still those pics are a crop of less than half of the frame!

Another I'd love a second crack at... was experimenting with my lighting tonight on a simple little robin in a tree. Looked up and a pair of these big suckers were sailing right over. Bird app says Great Blue Heron... I dont know enough to dare disagree with it
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

I
4/19/2020 at 9:51 PM

Would say that is a black crowned night heron. Not rare but certainly uncommon....much less likely to be seen than a blue heron. You can also sometimes hear their call at night. They don’t like being noticed.
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

And
4/19/2020 at 9:57 PM

I was just outdoors and heard the first frogs of this spring..... the Boreal Chorus frogs are awake!
Grace1956
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 661

Grace1956
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 661

hawk
4/20/2020 at 10:48 AM

Looking up from my morning coffee, spotted this fella. He’s looking for breakfast.
plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

Ogden Nash has suggested
4/20/2020 at 4:11 PM

The grackle's voice is less than mellow,
His heart is black, his eye is yellow,
He bullies more attractive birds
With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,
And if a human should interfere,
Attacks that human in the rear,
I cannot help but deem the grackle
an ornithological debacle.

He's back ...
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Birds
4/20/2020 at 9:17 PM

Great finds Grace and PW!

A group of Turkey Vultures (kettle?) around tonight. Came across a ton perched on a tower in town... not what a lot of folks would see as the sexiest bird but impressive to see nonetheless!
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Discovery
4/21/2020 at 9:53 AM

Little help on this one plying its trade high over the Disc Centre... app thinks Osprey?
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

Yep osprey
4/21/2020 at 12:49 PM

Nice pic. Not around here much except during migration. Eats almost exclusively fish. ....and back to the vultures (“Buzzard” if you are an American”, )...apparently a “kettle” refers to a group in flight, a “committee” when there is a group roosting in trees or on the ground and a “wake” when there is a group of them feeding. Who knew?!?
JoBeth

Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1310

JoBeth
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1310

Vultures
4/21/2020 at 1:20 PM

Think this must be the ones my husband and I saw near 26th and Victoria the other night. Pretty cool to see so many together.
Great pics Adam.
plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

Nice captures!
4/21/2020 at 1:26 PM

You ARE doing well! Certainly you're justifying your investment in good camera equipment as a business expense. Just another hard day at the office :-)

Osprey - I've never seen one around Brandon, only in the Whiteshell and in Northern Manitoba and I've never gotten a picture of one. So good on you.

Turkey Vulture - I have a few good pics taken years ago around Rock Lake but none as good as yours. Actually I've never seen any as good as a couple of those. And I've never seen quite that many vultures all at once. It's said that turkey vultures can smell dead meat from 20 miles away.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

turkey
4/21/2020 at 1:33 PM

We had a turkey in our back yard here in Riverheights. We're west of Fotheringham - we've seen them around but never so close!

Are they aggressive? They're darn big!
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

Turkeys
4/21/2020 at 3:30 PM

Abbysmum said "We had a turkey in our back yard here in Riverheights. We're west of Fotheringham - we've seen them around but never so close!

Are they aggressive? They're darn big! "
You generally would see in your yard or out and about are not the same as vultures or buzzards. What you normally see on the ground is a wild turkey much like the bronze domestic turkey you would have see on farms 50+ years ago. They eat grass and seeds and such and, although they can fly, they rarely do...only to roost at night or to escape something they can’t outrun. These are vultures that spend their days soaring overhead looking for dead animals. That is predominantly their diet. It’s unlikely that you would see these on the ground in an urban area.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Thx
4/21/2020 at 4:21 PM

Thanks all, learning lots and having fun doing it. Last night was a bit of a gold mine for this stuff... Was taking pics of the Osprey and a few of the usuals at the Discovery Centre (ducks, seagulls)... looked a little different direction and bald eagle passes over. It kept going toward Queen E/Rec Centre area where there was eventually a visible flock of a ton of something circling that looked similar size to the eagle. Figured I’d go for a drive and that’s where the turkey vultures ended up being (behind Rec centre). Saw at least one more turkey vulture around Corral today... from what I’ve seen we arent far from the limits of their range, maybe they’re around for the summer, or more typical to see a stopover for a few days??

Added another from this afternoon while we were waiting for a Corral Centre pickup... no award winning shot but hopefully enough to ID...bird app's best guess is red tailed hawk?
plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

vultures
4/21/2020 at 4:40 PM

If they weren't so ugly they'd almost be cute.

Well, maybe not. But they photo well when on top of a telecommunications tower.
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

.
4/21/2020 at 9:47 PM

Adam said "
Thanks all, learning lots and having fun doing it. Last night was a bit of a gold mine for this stuff... Was taking pics of the Osprey and a few of the usuals at the Discovery Centre (ducks, seagulls)... looked a little different direction and bald eagle passes over. It kept going toward Queen E/Rec Centre area where there was eventually a visible flock of a ton of something circling that looked similar size to the eagle. Figured I’d go for a drive and that’s where the turkey vultures ended up being (behind Rec centre). Saw at least one more turkey vulture around Corral today... from what I’ve seen we arent far from the limits of their range, maybe they’re around for the summer, or more typical to see a stopover for a few days??

Added another from this afternoon while we were waiting for a Corral Centre pickup... no award winning shot but hopefully enough to ID...bird app's best guess is red tailed hawk?
"
Vultures are generally across the prairies all summer. Rurally they are quite common...don’t hear of them in urban areas much. Your hawk is probably a red tailed. They come in a very large variation of light -dark plumage. That one would be what’s commonly called a “light morph”. Hawks are sometimes tough to identify if you just see them from one angle (top or bottom, sitting vs flying, etc.)
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

Grace
4/21/2020 at 9:49 PM

Grace1956 said "Looking up from my morning coffee, spotted this fella. He’s looking for breakfast. "
Did you identify the species of hawk? I am thinking maybe a Cooper’s hawk?
Grace1956
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 661

Grace1956
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 661

hawk
4/22/2020 at 10:14 AM

It could be. Adam could you put this one on the photo page and see what people think.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Hawk
4/22/2020 at 11:36 AM

App figures your hawk is either Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk or Peregrine Falcon.

These two just passed overhead this AM. App is thinking Tundra Swan?
plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

plane watcher
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 209

HAGD, if you are still there
4/22/2020 at 3:22 PM

Curiously, when Dad passed away in the mid 80's he personally left me nothing but advice and a bag of old used nail holes. (Mom did better and so subsequently did I and my siblings). Some of Dad's advice was that you never know what something will end up being good for.

I'd been hoping that he'd leave me some serious horseradish but I didn't have my hopes up. Dad caught his horseradish in the wild. Golfing in the 70's he'd whack a ball into the woods, tell me to wait right there and he'd come back with a clump of the root.

So HAGD, I will trade that bag of old used nail holes that I've been holding on to for sentimental reasons. Contact me.

Edited by plane watcher, 2020-04-22 15:26:10
nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

nicemoustache
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 167

My
4/22/2020 at 7:26 PM

Adam said "App figures your hawk is either Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk or Peregrine Falcon.

These two just passed overhead this AM. App is thinking Tundra Swan? "
Guess would be more likely the Trumpeter Swan ...not sure if the Tundra migrates through here. It would be very hard to tell unless they stood side-by-side. The Trumpeter is a bit larger and has very slightly different facial markings, not something you would see in flight. What a gorgeous bird!
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Swans
4/22/2020 at 8:09 PM

nicemoustache said "Guess would be more likely the Trumpeter Swan ...not sure if the Tundra migrates through here. It would be very hard to tell unless they stood side-by-side. The Trumpeter is a bit larger and has very slightly different facial markings, not something you would see in flight. What a gorgeous bird! "
They were a fair size, noticeably bigger than the geese just ahead of them!

I put together a buzz post now that some of these pics I've shot have added up... i:ncluded a few more that i hadn't had a chance to post yet (the Kestrel I came across just today). Open to any corrections!
https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=771

RELATED BUZZ

In pics: A trio of hawks at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds

RECREATION

PICTURES

Add a related photo

THIS DISCUSSION

THIS DISCUSSION

Share

Report

RELATED BUZZ

In pics: A trio of hawks at the Riverbank Discovery Centre grounds

RECREATION

PICTURES

Add a related photo

ALERTS

Don't miss a new post to this thread! Get e-mail or text message alerts on new posts.

Active Topics

Related Topics

Upcoming Events

Posted by ,
Close