Birds of Ontario :) 1

Ive always been interested in birds,  even when I was young I tried to take photos of them ...  I rediscovered this passion last December when I was trying to capture a hawk on film , or I guess memory stick now lol .   Ive been collecting photos of them since then , and someday hope to photograph all 300 odd species in Ontario ,  So far I'm only at 10% lol,  not too bad for winter time... but summers coming and Ill be out hiking and biking looking for subjects !

My first spring sighting of a Robin :))  

Love this shot of a morning dove on one of my feeders.  

:))  Red Winged Black Bird ... must have been in a fight or is stressed , notice the lack of feathers on his head . 

Caught the morning dove in action .. Cooing away  :)) 

I have several blue jays that also frequent my yard :) 

Found this young hawk , pretty sure its a red tailed hawk.  

There is also a pair of Cardinals :))  Love the plume on the female .  

Hahaha they are so skittish ,  this one flew up in the tree and kept poking his head up to check on me :) 

The second Robin I found was posing for me :) 

So what did you think ?  Do you like birds ?
Happy Earth Day !!  I'm going outside to play :)

An Evening Drive

Im constantly pulling over to the side of the rode, and jumping out to take a shot or two . Time is usually short , so thats about all I get .  So when I actually have extra time , I try to make the most of it and put on my boots , and get right in there for a good bunch of shots.

Signs, signs .. everywhere!!  Drives me mad! 

Empty Milk Week 

Was a nice bright blue sunny day !!  

Even a robin posed for a picture. 

An old beaver pond, Id been wanting to stop at for a while. 

Knarly Frozen Roots 

Reminded me of a sun dial :) 

Ahh green!!  Come on spring!!  

  Id been wanting to stop at this old beaver pond for a while, was well worth the 10 minute hike to get to it.   All shots are untouched , save for a crop or two .   Editing suggestions are welcomed, as are all comments :) Enjoy your day !  Happy Shooting .

Spring and Sunsets

Spring has sprung !! ( I hope )  Finally!  Here in Southern Ontario :)  Things are starting to sprout , and the days are getting warmer and longer. I've started down a new career path , and have been promoted to the Bird Manager ( Fancy Funny Title still to be determined !! lol )  at a local organic farm .   So I will have a whole new flock of subjects to shoot very soon !!  This is going to be a GREAT year :))

My new charges :))  Happy Chickens

Is spring really here now ?? :) 

Last years sunflower heads, trying an experiment to see if I can make a sunflower patch without actually doing anything lol.  

What a great sunset I was treated to 

It just kept getting better and better 

With very interesting clouds

Last one :) Enjoy your day !  

  

Have a great day everyone :) Please let me know which ones you liked , and why :) All are untouched , except for a couple of crops, what you see is what I shot ! :)  Enjoy .

Out for a Stroll

We don't get that many sunny , and reasonably warm winter days, so when we do I go hiking with the dogs...  on the REALLY nice days I go for a stroll to the local grocery store :)  Always used to forget my camera lol !  Not this time :)

Just getting started .. this path leads to a bicycle path.. not that I ever walk on it :) lol 

I love finding these... Naturally Framed Sun Shot 

A couple of doves, all tucked in from the cold

Love frozen streams :) 

It always amazes me that the stream doesn't freeze solid.. even in -30C 

Everything was frozen solid except this patch, weird :) 

Welcome to Canada in February lol 

Random shot of a rotten tree

Heading home..  this is a feeder stream for the creek .

Almost home ..  and found a neat old Chevy truck. 

I hope you have enjoyed tagging along for my stroll :) Please follow the comment link to leave any feedback, critiques or just let me know which one you liked the best :) Happy Shooting !

Barns & Snow Day

Wow ,  I can't believe its been 3 weeks since Ive posted on here...  The good news is , everything is reorganized and good to go on my end.   Ive finally recovered from the hard drive crash , and then the computer switchover :))  Everything is nicely backed up between 2 hard drives, and a copy of all my favourites onto a third one!  Its time to play catch up , Ive got the next 5 posts already selected .. just need to type them up :)

Brrr this was one of the coldest days this year -40C in the wind 

Same day ... deceptively sunny .  

I pass this nice old barn all the time :)  

Id been waiting patiently for a blue sky to take this shot :))  

Love these old barns , great character. 

I think I like them unpainted better ?  

Last one for today :)) 

Ill be taking the same route during spring and summer this year ,  will be interesting to see  the differences a season or two makes.   Have a great day !! Happy Shooting :))

A good day hiking

The other afternoon , I headed out with a fully charged camera and my dogs for a hike on my usual path ... the weather had been co-operating and I was hoping for a good day shooting , and some exercise.  I got some amazing shots , and got a TON of exercise when I got back to my truck to leave...  It had sunk into the heavy wet snow ,  2 hours of digging later I had to call a friend to give me a quick tow , as night had set in and I couldn't see anything .  lol Its all good , the pictures were worth it.

My boy Ramsey, he just loves to jump thru the snow banks,  its almost always away from me though.  

My other dog Monkey tried the same thing and didn't make it up !! lol  

Ramsey, posing for me .   

The sun co-operated , giving me an amazing sunset.  

I had to walk thru thigh deep snow drifts to get here lol

Amazing colours ! 

and crazy clouds.  

All that aperture/shutter practice is starting to pay off!!  

Its time to go home...

Well not really ,  it was almost another 3 hours after this one before I walked in the door , exhausted .   Shoveling heavy wet snow is insane.   At one point I managed to get myself moving ( I do own a 4x4 with knobby tires ) I went backward about 8 feet and thought i hit a tree.... but it was just the snow packing up behind me into a solid mass.  It was then I called my friend.
Have a great day , I hope you have enjoyed these pictures.
Rich