Great Grey Owl (54)

Strix nebulosa

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Details: immature

Eastern Ontario - I'm not fond of taking pictures of birds on wires but this rare winter visitor changed my mind. It was hunting in mid-morning which means it was hungry. This photo is cropped and I'm shooting at 800mm so I'm not nearly as close as it looks.

Date uploaded: Feb 14

Views: 5

Comments (1):
Chris: An absolute stunner! Congrats!

King Eider (66)

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Jan 1 2026

Details: male, adult

Toronto - It was a cold New Year's Day in Toronto, a 4.5 km walk to the end of this park in Lake Ontario overlooking Toronto Harbour and the CN Tower. One or two females or juvenile male King Eiders overwinter somewhere along the shore of western Lake Ontario but seeing an adult male is rare. I have been after an adult male within a reasonable distance since I began birding. It was not as close as I'd hoped but it still worked out and was worth the 9 km round trip.

Date uploaded: Feb 11

Views: 8

Comments (2):
Chris: Wow! What a treat, and congrats given the background you described!
Brian Morin: It was a treat for sure. The weather forecast said low winds but they blew at 30 kph+ making photography, even on a monopod, very challenging.

Great Grey Owl (54)

Strix nebulosa

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: female, immature

Judged to be a female by large size and age by tail features, notably pointed rather than worn, rounded ends.

Date uploaded: Jan 9

Views: 8

Comments (5):
Ahmad Shah: Fantastic find, well capture.
Brian Morin: This made my day. We had been hoping to find one this winter.

Short-eared Owl (23)

Asio flammeus

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: adult

St. Isidore - perched atop a solar panel in a solar panel farm.

Date uploaded: Jan 8

Views: 4

Comments (2):
Sue Bishop: Great find and capture,Brian!
Chris: Love it!

Mandarin Duck (5)

Aix galericulata

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

Details: male, adult, captive

Iroquois - A native of Russia and China, this species is feral in many countries including several US states. It occasionally shows up in Canada including one that wintered in Montreal last year. This duck is further upriver and could be the same one. It is very tolerant of the cold as long as it has open water.

Date uploaded: Jan 6

Views: 6

Comments (4):
Ahmad Shah: Excellent find.
Brian Morin: My only prior experience with this species was in a wildlife park. This was way better.

Purple Sandpiper (10)

Calidris maritima

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: winter plummage

Presqu'ile Provincial Park - an annual but rare late fall visitor.

Date uploaded: Dec 18 2025

Views: 9

Comments (3):
Ahmad Shah: Excellent capture for a late fall visitor.
Brian Morin: I was fighting strong winds and waves lapping at the ice along the Lake Ontario shore, as was the bird. The great thing about the experience is while I remained stationary, the bird moved about, wandering as close as 7 feet from me.

Rufous Hummingbird (66)

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Nov 20 2025

Details: female, juvenile, outside normal range

Stoney Creek - Unfortunately I don't get the chance to submit hummingbird shots very often and so far that has been limited to the Ruby-throated, until now. This West Coast visitor was a pleasant surprise.

Date uploaded: Nov 21 2025

Views: 1

Comments (5):
Sue Bishop: Great you were able to catch it!
Ahmad Shah: Superb find, well captured.

Snowy Owl (217)

Nyctea scandiaca

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: female, adult

Ste.-Rose-de-Prescott - My first of the winter, taken in the dying minutes of sunset. I'm shooting from my car.

Date uploaded: Nov 18 2025

Views: 5

Comments (3):
Sue Bishop: Beautiful shot, Brian. An early winter, you are on a roll!
Brian Morin: Hopefully the highlights continue.

Red-bellied Woodpecker (36)

Melanerpes carolinus

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Details: male, adult

Long Sault - One of my favourite woodpeckers.

Date uploaded: Nov 13 2025

Views: 5

Comments (3):
Ahmad Shah: Superb capture. nice sharp focus.
Brian Morin: Thankfully the bird was not too far and did not move too quickly so I was able to keep my settings lower.

Gray Kingbird (1)

Tyrannus dominicensis

Brian Morin

Canada (Ontario)

  📍 Map

Date taken: Oct 28 2025

Details: juvenile, outside normal range

St. Clair National Wildlife Area - A rare bird in Canada and a new species for me. It spent most of its time on wires so a brief trip to a natural setting was what I had hoped for. At that location it was also much lower. Oddly enough, there is also one of these Florida natives in Quebec.

Date uploaded: Oct 29 2025

Views: 8

Comments (2):
Sue Bishop: great find and capture, Brian!
Brian Morin: The best part was I got some great close shots in a natural setting rather than on a power line at 50 metres, which was where I had it the first day.