Western Tanager (41)

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Details: male, adult, winter plummage, outside normal range

Ottawa - On my third attempt over a three week period I finally had the bird near a feeder. He sure brightens up the landscape.

Date uploaded: Jan 15

Comments (4):
Ahmad Shah: What an amazing find. Well done Brian !
Brian Morin: The colour is so bright at this time of year when there are no breeding plumage Goldfinches. It is also a noticeably larger bird.

Horned Lark / Shorelark (38)

Eremophila alpestris

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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St. Rose - I took advantage of morning sun looking for winter field birds. There were few but I did come across four Horned Larks. This Northern subspecies is with us throughout the winter and will leave in early March.

Date uploaded: Jan 12

Comments (3):
Sue Bishop: Very nice, Brian!
Chris: Indeed! The morning light was perfect.

Long-tailed Duck/Oldsquaw (24)

Clangula hyemalis

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Date taken: Jan 1 2024

Details: male, adult

Hamilton - Long-tailed Ducks are common in the area in winter but I had to capture this bird. It had the longest tail I have seen on this species.

Date uploaded: Jan 6

Comments (6):
Ahmad Shah: Fabulous capture, superb detail.
Brian Morin: Thanks. The light, while dull, gave uniform colour. The lack of wind kept the water like glass.

Wood Thrush (5)

Hylocichla mustelina

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Details: adult, outside normal range

Ottawa - A lingering bird, this Wood Thrush should be in Central America now.

Date uploaded: Dec 20 2023

Comments (4):
Sue Bishop: Amazing find and capture,Brian!
Brian Morin: The bird was in great shape and was coping well with the changing season.

Purple Sandpiper (41)

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Date taken: Dec 14 2023

Details: immature, outside normal range

Cobourg - I checked out another Purple Sandpiper and had good luck with this bird.

Date uploaded: Dec 18 2023

Snow Bunting (26)

Plectrophenax nivalis

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Date taken: Dec 7 2023

St. Andrew's West - It's that time of year. We had a large flock of up to 600 buntings feasting on spilled corn beside a farm. I managed to find a single Horned Lark in their midst.

Date uploaded: Dec 10 2023

Comments (2):
Sue Bishop: Gorgeous,Brian!
Brian Morin: Getting one alone out of a flock was the tough part as I'm sure you know.

Fieldfare (1)

Turdus pilaris

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Date taken: Nov 30 2023

Details: outside normal range

Sturgeon Falls - This bird has been high on my wish list for decades but being a Eurasian species the chances of seeing one here were slim. The last one to appear in Ontario was 42 years ago. After our success we almost added a second bird the next day in far eastern Quebec while watching a wayward Painted Bunting at a feeder. We didn't know that a bird showed up nearby the day before and we were told that it had been seen that morning a few hundred metres away from where we were. We missed it by an hour. It was not seen again unfortunately so we missed seeing two birds in two days in two months in two provinces. What are the odds of that? Both individuals likely came over from Iceland.

Date uploaded: Dec 3 2023

Comments (4):
Sue Bishop: Wow! Fantastic! You got a beautiful photo as well!
Ahmad Shah: Wow ! That is an amazing find, well captured, I have seen this bird in Germany, but I couldn't expect to see it here. Well done.

Rough-legged Hawk (34)

Buteo lagopus

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Embrun- A dark morph, my first of the season.

Date uploaded: Nov 24 2023

Comments (5):
Sue Bishop: Great capture Brian! Impressive!
Brian Morin: What we even better was the light was just right.

Purple Gallinule (15)

Porphyrio martinica

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

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Details: immature, outside normal range

Ingleside - This out of range Florida bird has been around for weeks and with leaves gone it has been easier to find. Last night we had a hard freeze which had the bird not in its usual area. You won't see many shots of this species enjoying a Canadian winter. It is very healthy at this time and can fly no problem. It is feeding on dead fish, a frog (when it was warmer) aquatic vegetation and wild grapes. Those huge feet allow it to move very easily on the ice. Attempts by others to retrieve the bird so it can overwinter in a rehabilitation facility failed today. It is still too healthy and eluded its captors.

Date uploaded: Nov 21 2023

Comments (1):
Chris: Hope he makes it. I remember a Common Moorhen tried to overwinter in Dorval, and was eating popcorn at a movie theatre into December.

Purple Sandpiper (8)

Calidris maritima

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Date taken: Nov 16 2023

Details: juvenile

Erieau - I had tried a number of times this fall to find the species in various areas but failed until this day. Living up to its reputation, the bird was wonderfully cooperative. I did not approach it, the bird was simply very close when I found it, almost stumbling over it in a dark corner of a breakwater. Thankfully it later went into the light.

Date uploaded: Nov 20 2023

Comments (1):
Chris: Still have yet to see this species. You seem to have luck with him!