Well, Summer Vacation is over. Tomorrow I will be back to school, and time for birding will become scarce. Although I am a bit sad, I am looking forward to the trips planned later this September! On the weekend of the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, Nature London is sponsoring me to go up to Orillia for Ontario Nature's Biodiversity Youth Summit. Then, a week later, I will be up in Algonquin Park for a weekend of birding. It should be fun!
This past summer has been quite awesome. With my family, we've travelled over 5000 km (3000 just for the great Violet-green Swallow dip). We've birded four of the five Great Lakes. In the last 2 months I observed an incredible 195 bird species (for comparison I saw 159 in my first
year of birding), plus an astounding number of other organisms. I decided to compile a collection of photos from this past summer, highlighting all the great things I was able to see.
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| Compton Tortoiseshell |
Butterflies, Birds, and Mosquitoes
French River Photos
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| Ruffed Grouse |
Superior Shots
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| Magnolia Warbler |
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| Clay-colored Sparrow |
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| Red Fox |
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| Common Goldeneye |
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| American White Pelican |
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| Common Loon |
Gitche Gumee: Exploring the North
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| Ring-necked Duck |
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| River Otter |
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| Gray Jay |
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| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher |
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| Common Raven |
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| Moose |
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
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| White-winged Crossbill |
OFO Young Birder's Weekend in Algonquin
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| C-17 (not a bird, but it was fun to ride!) |
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| Semi-palmated Plover |
Northumberland Birding
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| Lesser Yellowlegs |
West Perth Shorebirds
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| Wood Stork (!!!) |
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| Red-necked Phalarope |
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| Wilson's Phalarope |
Arctic, Plains, and the Everglades
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| Eared Grebe |
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| Red-necked Phalaropes |
Evening Eared
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| Common Gallinule |
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| Green Herons |
Long Point Adventure
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| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
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| American Bittern |
Twitch to Mitchell
Well, there you have it. Two epic months spent observing nature in Ontario.
Just another 10 months before I get to do it all over again!
It will be time for the Christmas Bird Count before we know it....
You had a pretty good summer even though you missed a couple of big rarities.
ReplyDeleteI will be in Algonquin September 24-27 so will scout things out!
Thanks Blake...find me a House Sparrow will ya :-)
DeleteEven though it's now been a few years, I still remember those days of packing as much into summer as possible before school started.
ReplyDeleteNice collection of photos! You definitely saw some great stuff.
Thanks Jonathan. I think my family is a bit glad that I'll have something other than birding to think about!
DeleteIt looks like it was a great summer, despite the dip for the bird which shall not be named. I hope you can get out and about a fair bit this fall, even with the limitations imposed by school!
ReplyDeleteI have a few places in mind...now come the tricky part, convinving my parents to drive me!
DeleteCongratulations, Quinten.....you covered a lot of ground and saw a nice array of what Ontario has to offer. Hope the upcoming fall and winter continue to be successful for you and your family, even if it is mostly on weekends.
ReplyDeleteThanks Allen. Now that most of my birding is now on weekends, at least I'll have the motivation to get through my last period on Fridays!
DeleteYou had a great summer, Quinten! You saw a great variety of birds, animals, and bugs plus some rarities and you took great photos too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan. I am certainly happy with what I saw!
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