Snowy Owl (110)

Nyctea scandiaca

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Feb 8 2023

Details: male, adult

Kingston - Wolfe Island - I had 7 owls of a probable 8-10 birds there this winter. Most did not present very well and adult males are notoriously skittish making shots like this a challenge. Their caution is for good reason because females always chase them away and wouldn't hesitate to have one for dinner. This is a very poor year for Snowy Owls, with most remaining in the Arctic. The area had the North American high for Christmas bird counts this year (8 birds). To show the potential, I think the all-time record was 80+ birds some years ago. I had 53 in 2014. When there is a bumper crop of voles in the area coinciding with plenty of owls heading south we can get results like that. This is the third consecutive year with low numbers in all of Southern Canada.

Date uploaded: Feb 9 2023

Comments (2):
Chris: Terrific to see and hear the background. Looks like an old male 😊
BrianMorin: Old indeed. Surprisingly there were three withing a few kilometres. That's a high percentage of birds in the area compared with the ratio I usually see in Eastern Ontario when males represent one in 10 females at best and sometime one in 20.

Wild Turkey (23)

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Sep 11 2021

Details: male, adult

Amherst Island - They are so commonly seen now that I rarely take photos but the back light drew my attention to the colour.

Date uploaded: Sep 19 2021

Sandhill Crane (22)

Grus canadensis

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: adult

Cooper Marsh - Likely one of the birds from the local breeding pair.

Date uploaded: Mar 28

Comments (3):
Sue Bishop: Nice one,Brian!
Brian Morin: It was a three hour wait for three birds to show up and another 45 minutes before they came out into the open but it paid off.

Wood Duck (20)

Aix sponsa

Brian Morin

Date taken: Oct 2 2022

Details: female, adult

Ottawa - Swimming on a canvas of fall colours.

Date uploaded: Oct 6 2022

Comments (6):
Ahmad Shah: Superb capture of this lovely female Wood Duck, with nice reflection in the water. Well done Brian .
BrianMorin: Thanks. I know the focus tends to be on the male and he's great but I enjoy the subtle plumage of the female with her colour highlights. I deliberately tried for shots that best showed the fall colours reflected in the water.

Osprey (19)

Pandion haliaetus

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Details: male, adult

Brockville - Ospreys are pretty run of the mill for us but I won't turn down a good shot when it presents itself. This one had just snagged a small pike.

Date uploaded: Jun 22 2020

Great Blue Heron (18)

Ardea herodias

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Oct 6 2021

Details: adult

Long Sault - The obvious caption here would be 'That's a stretch'.

Date uploaded: Nov 15 2021

Comments (4):
Ahmad Shah: Wonderful capture.
BrianMorin: It's nice when a familiar bird does something different.

Northern Hawk-Owl (18)

Surnia ulula

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Date taken: Mar 3 2024

I don't normally post more than one shot of a recent subject but this one is worth an encore. I checked out the bird again and managed to get better shots than on the first sighting.

Date uploaded: Mar 4

Comments (1):
Chris: Gorgeous - bird and capture :)

Bald Eagle (17)

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Feb 13 2024

Details: adult

While driving a back road I spotted an eagle perched in an old tree. It was not too far from the road so I expected it to fly any second. It didn't. Over the course of the next 10 minutes I had a West Coast experience, where you could actually get close enough to an eagle for a decent shot. I slowly advanced, stopping every 20 feet or so, getting out and leaning over the car roof for cover. I made five stops, each time bewildered by the bird's disinterest in me. It eventually moved but not because of me. I was opposite it on the road so as close as I could be and it continued to look around in perfect light on a great perch against a deep blue winter sky. What an experience, one of a kind. Where I live, eagles are regular but getting close to one is virtually impossible.

Date uploaded: Feb 14

Comments (2):
Ahmad Shah: Fantastic capture.
Brian Morin: I couldn't believe my good fortune. The bird, the light and the sky were perfect. No editing required.

Eastern Bluebird (16)

Sialia sialis

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Jul 5 2023

Details: male, adult

Long Sault - Proclaiming his territory. No sign of chicks yet.

Date uploaded: Jul 7 2023

Comments (5):
Ahmad Shah: Nice colorful bird.
BrianMorin: He was a fine looking specimen. Very hard to approach so I eventually gave up. He won that one.

Cedar Waxwing (15)

Bombycilla cedrorum

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Date taken: Jun 21 2019

Details: adult

Ottawa - Another relatively easy to find summer species but when one lands a few feet away you just have to take the shot. There is almost no vertical crop on this image.

Date uploaded: Jun 23 2019