Downey Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) seen in Grindstone Marsh, Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on 22-Apr-2008. Grindstone Marsh is in Hendrie Valley—a part of the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) which is spread over several hundred acres in the neighbouring cities of Burlington and Hamilton.
This is a male, as evidenced by the red patch at the back of his head.
As beautiful as Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) are, it’s important to remember they have been forcing out another beautiful—though less assertive—specie, the American Black Duck. We are at the point now where many of the ducks identified as American Black Duck in the Burlington, Ontario, Canada area are, in fact, Mallard/American Black Duck hybrids.
One of hundreds of mallards wintering at LaSalle Park, Burlington, Ontario, Canada on 9-Mar-2008.
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) taken at LaSalle Park, Burlington, ON, Canada on 23-May-2007. Interesting, isn’t it, how the time of year and the quality of daylight will give the duck quite a different appearance?
As part of our vacation to experience the spring migration this year, we visited the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary at Kingsville, Ontario. Jack Miner was, of course, a world-famous naturalist and author who established a waterfowl sanctuary in his adopted country.
Here’s a quotation from the Sanctuary’s Web site:
Upon the death of Jack Miner in 1944, Canada had the desire to create a perpetual memorial to honour him for his pioneer work in wildlife conservation. The idea, however, would need to be put on hold pending the conclusion of the Second World War which ended the following year.
Early in 1946, the Miner family was approached by a government representative, Sen. Joseph Bradette, from Ottawa. During discussions with the Miner family, three propositions were suggested:
The entire North West Territory be declared a National Park and renamed ‘The Canadian Jack Miner National Park.’
The erection of an observation tower on the sanctuary grounds.
A local businessman/politician by the name of Arthur Allen had already implemented the designation of Jack Miner Day which was observed locally on the date of Jack Miner’s birth, April 10th. This idea was being considered for adoption on a national scale.
After careful consideration, the Miner family opted for the proposal of a National Wildlife Day to be held each year on Jack Miner’s birthday.
Back in Ottawa, the National Wildlife Day Act was drawn up. The act was presented from the floor of the House of Commons in late 1946, and was about to be passed. The then Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Mackenzie King, put a stop to the passing of the bill - not because he was in disagreement with the Act, but, because he wanted to extend it to encompass the entire week of Jack Miner’s birth. The bill was then renamed the ‘The National Wildlife Week Act’, reworded and tended to by federal lawyers to ensure the primary purpose of the act was that it be recognized as an everlasting memorial to Jack Miner’s conservation efforts. The secondary purpose of the Act was to encourage public interest, via nature study groups, sporting, tourist, education and ecology related organizations in the conservation field.
When this Bill was reintroduced in the House of Commons on April 18th, 1947, it was passed without one dissenting vote! This was the first occasion since Canada’s confederation that a Bill was passed unanimously.
I saw this Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) duck swimming on a pond at the sanctuary—what a beautiful bird.
Tokyo – Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce that the Nikon D3 digital SLR camera has been selected by Japan’s Camera Press Club as CAMERA GRAND PRIX 2008 Camera of the Year.
A committee chose the D3, Nikon’s flagship SLR camera, as the most outstanding among 170 competing cameras introduced to the market between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008.
The D3 is the first Nikon digital SLR camera to use the full 24×36mm image area of traditional 35mm film, a format desired by many photographers in the professional to advanced amateur range. Other factors cited by committee members were the D3’s new functions that perform beyond expectations.
The D3 also won the CAMERA GRAND PRIX 2008 Readers Award that was established for the Camera Grand Prix 25th anniversary. The camera attracted the most Readers Award votes among general users during Photo Image Expo (PIE) 2008 held in Tokyo March 19-22.
Before these latest awards, the previous Nikon honored as Camera of the Year was the Nikon D200 in 2006. The D3 is the sixth Nikon camera overall to win the honor. The D3 has also received the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA)’s prestigious award, "Best D-SLR Professional in Europe 2008"
Distributed since November 2007, the Nikon D3 has earned an excellent reputation primarily among professional and advanced amateur photographers.
These Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) chicks ware seen at Point Pelee National Park, Leamington, Ontario, Canada on 09-May-2008. Just goes to show that if you hang out in the woods, nature will share its treasures with you.
This image is of a Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) taken at Point Pelee National Park, Leamington, Ontario, Canada on 09-May-2008. I had patiently lined up this beauty for several shots from fairly close range when along came a group of fully equipped birders laughing and chatting loudly—of course, they scared the bird away. Just shows that having the equipment and outfits do not make you a good birder, and certainly not a considerate one.
One of our annual rituals is a spring visit to the Leamington, Ontario area to witness the spring migration of warblers. Point Pelee is considered by many to be the top spot for birding at this time of year.
The following image is of a Baltimore Oriole taken at Point Pelee National Park, Leamington, Ontario, Canada on 09-May-2008.
One of my favourite things to do each spring is to visit the Rock Garden at Burlington’s Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) when the tulips are in full bloom.
Hillman Marsh near Leamington, Ontario, Canada is a terrific spring location for viewing shorebirds. I was there last week and took the following shot of a Dunlin. These small birds look very much like sandpipers, but I think this is a Dunlin.
I spent last week at Leamington, Ontario and visited some of the local birding areas — Point Pelee National Park, Hillman Marsh and Kingsville, home of the late conservationist, Jack Miner.
Here’s a Northern Pintail I saw on a pond at Kingsville.
I have spent quite a bit of time at LaSalle Park—especially the marina— this past couple of years. It really is a terrific location for watching and photographing waterfowl.
This past winter, I took this female Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) with a Nikon D300 digital SLR.
For information about the use of this Web site, please read the Terms of Use.
Comments: Opinions expressed in comments are not necessarily mine. Comments are open to all, but are moderated and I will delete racist or offensive material, including use of foul language, hateful words and sexual content.
While I accept anonymous comments, I dislike the practice and seldom respond to them.
External Links: External links are provided for information purposes only. I do not endorse and am not responsible for the content of external sites—use them at your own risk.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
