Cedar Waxwings vs Bohemian Waxwings

Waxwings are some of my favourite birds to photograph! I find them to be quite photogenic, approachable and entertaining to watch, especially when they're in large flocks of over 50 individuals! There are two species of waxwings in North America.  The most common species to observe in Ontario is the Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), but in the winter, it is not uncommon to come across the Cedar Waxwing's' relative, the Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus).Without knowing what to look for or observe, it can be easy to misidentify a waxwing, so I want to illustrate the differences between the two species for you.

To start off, the distribution of the two species are quite different.  For instance, by looking at the following Range Maps, you can see that during summer months, it would be uncommon to find Bohemian Waxwings in Ontario.    However, there is clear overlap in wintering months, and Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings will often be found in the same area.  During the winter it is not uncommon to see both species in the same flock! However, if you were to see a waxwing in the summer, its very likely its a Cedar Waxwing.

Cedar Waxwing:

1) Cedar Waxwings are Smaller (But they're similar in size)

2) They have Yellow Bellies
3) They're call is higher pitched than Bohemians

Bohemian Waxwing
1) Rufous (reddish) under tail and face
2) Large than Cedar Waxwings (But similar in size)
3) Have white wing edges  (Hard to see in some of the following pics), but noticeably different than Cedar Waxwings

Gulls... Gulls... Gulls....

I lot of people dislike Seagulls, and I used to be one of them!  However, the past couple of years, they've really grown on me, and now I view them as really pretty birds!

Gulls can be quite difficult to identify, as a lot of them look quite similar.  If you don't know what you're looking for, it would be quite easy to mistakenly think a lot of gulls as the same species.  However, with closer looks, you can see that there are some physiological and size differences among different species. By no means am I an expert, and there are lots of gull photos that I can't identify... but I'm pretty confident with these identifications! :)  Iceland Gulls and Glaucous gulls are really interesting to me, because they breed in the Arctic!!!

Today I'll just share some of my shots of that I took earlier this winter at Kempenfelt Bay, Barrie, Ontario.

First Winter Iceland Gull.

First Winter Ring-Billed Gull.

This is a First Winter Iceland gull (Left)watching a First Winter Glaucous gull (right) about to dive.

First Winter Glaucous Gull

First Winter Glaucous Gull

First Winter Glaucous Gull

First Winter Iceland Gull

First Winter Glaucous Gull

Adult Glaucous Gull in back, surrounded by Herring Gulls.

First Winter Glaucous Gull Front, Possible 2nd Winter Iceland Gull Back (Right).

Adult Glaucous Gull

Adult Herring Gull (3rd winter?)

Adult Glaucous Gull

Crazy Cape Breton Moose!

Last Summer in June, I was fortunate to help conduct some mountain bird and breeding bird surveys in Cape Breton Highlands National Park! This was my first trip to Cape Breton, and it definitely won't be my last!  I've always heard that Cape Breton has a lot of moose, but experiencing it first hand was something else!  Interestingly, Nova Scotia has two different sub-species of Moose.  The mainland moose (Alces alces americana) which is indigenous, and the Cape Breton Moose (Alces alces andersonii) which was introduced from Alberta.  The mainland moose is endangered, while there is concern that there is too many moose in Cape Breton! Interestingly, Ontario naturally has both of these subspecies too!  Alces alces andersonii is found in the NW, and Alces alces americana is found in the NE!  

Anyways, here are a few of the shots I took of my encounters of the Alces alces andersonii in Cape Breton!

 Bull in velvet, and just starting to develop his antlers

Cow grazing on the side of a road...

Young Bull - Most likely just over a year old

Cow and a Calf (And a Moose crossing sign just above the Cow's Back)

This shot always gets me. There are three moose, and a moose crossing sign.... Do you see them all?  

Owls are a Hoot! Barred Owl [Part I]

 As the summer gets closer, my excitement for Country Island will continue to grow.... Not all of my blogs will be about Country Island, but I'll tie this one into it.  On Country Island, avian predators are prohibited because they predate on the chicks on the island.  With permits, we are allowed to use pyrotechnics and perform other non-lethal methods of predator control to get them to leave the island.

An infrequent avian predator to the island is the Barred Owl.  I've been lucky enough to have some really cool experiences with a Barred Owl this year at the University of Guelph Arboretum. This guy has been quite famous this winter, partly because it was at a very accessible site, partly because they're not often seen in the Arboretum, and partly because owls are just really cool animals!  I've seen him since November, and he has given me a lot of great photo opportunities!!!  Here are just a few of the looks I've got!

My next blog on Barred Owls will show a series of shots of this guy eating a Meadow Vole!!  Stay tuned
: )

Gonna give this Blogging thing a try...

Hey!

If you're reading this, you probably know me, or are just interested in my wildlife photography or wildlife experiences.... About three years ago, I started to get into Wildlife Photography with a simple 12x zoom point and shoot camera! My interest has been rapidly growing ever since, and I now shoot a Canon T2i with a 250 mm lens.

I'm creating this blog primarily to update friends and family on my adventures this summer on Country Island... But who knows!! This may turn into a fun little hobby that I continue to take part in for a few years!! Here are some photos from Country Island when I worked there two years ago, and when I just started to get into bird photography!

Awwwwww, Look!   A bird is hatching! This is an Arctic Tern chick, and I only know that because of the yellow marker you can see in the top left!! Arctic and Common Tern chicks look identical when they hatch, We know that this is a Arctic Tern nest because we would have previously observed this chick's parents at the nest in days prior.  

This is a Common Tern (COTE).  One of the three tern species that nest by Country Island.  The are by far the most aggressive Tern speices on the island, and will often hit you in the back of the head with their beaks!

. This is an Arctic Tern (ARTE), and is one of the three tern species that nests on Country Island, NS. ARTEs are famous for their crazy long migration from the Antarctic to the Arctic.  This journey is 19 000 km EACH WAY, and cool fact of the day is that this bird sees more daylight in a year than any other creature on the planet!

This is a Willet!  They can be one annoying bird, but still cool none the less... There are a few of these guys on the Island! 

This will be my home for three weeks. The tent on the left is the sleeping tent, and the one on the right is the kitchen tent. For those that don't know, there is no running water or electricity on the island, as we are five km from mainland. We bring our own clean water for drinking and dishes, we collect rain water for showers, and we have a solar panel to charge our electronics

I got tons more photos to share, but I can't give away all the interesting pictures in my first blog! I'll be sure to update later!

Brennan