15351 uploads
Oct 2 2015
An uncommon visitor to our shores
Sep 11 2020
Jan 1 1970
An uncommon vagrant to our shores but thought I had better include something familiar to your American viewers
Sep 11 2020
Jan 1 1970
These birds are usually in non breeding Plumage in Southern Africa
Sep 11 2020
Jan 1 1970
Common by name and a common summer visitor to Southern Africa
Sep 11 2020
Sep 1 2020
immature
1000 Islands - This is a poor quality record shot of a wayward visitor to Ontario and New York. The remnants of Hurricane Laura were expected to bring the odd southern bird along for the ride. While the storm passed well below Canada, some birds would have been pushed along by the perimeter winds and continued north, stopping when they reached the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. This young Brown Pelican, an occasional visitor to Canada, spent about a week in the area, moving back and forth between the US and Canada.

Now for the photo. The pelican could really only be viewed with a scope, which I had, and even that was pushing it. I thought I'd at least try for a record shot for the fun of it. I lay the camera/500mm lens across the car roof (more stable than even my heavy tripod) and used a remote to minimize shake. I had to shift to manual focus because the lens couldn't pick up the distant subject. This is about a 50% crop so at least you can see the bird with its hefty bill and compare it to the smaller cormorants. When I returned home, I checked the distance using satellite view online with the distance measure. The bird was 3.4 km out but still identifiable. That was a record, record shot. :) Other birds that showed up along the lower Great Lakes included Laughing Gulls, Brown Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird.
Sep 8 2020
Aug 21 2020
adult
Richmond - This one had a punk look. The erected head feathers were flattened soon after.
Sep 6 2020
Aug 21 2020
immature
Richmond
Sep 6 2020
Jan 1 1970
An uncommon vagrant to our shores
Sep 4 2020
Jan 1 1970
a common resident- found on beaches all round Southern Africa
Sep 4 2020
Jan 1 1970
A common resident found all over Southern Africa
Sep 4 2020