Owl Mobbing and Other Birds

Today. Was. Awesome!!!!!!  I dropped the girls off at the pool in Blenheim and headed to Erieau.  I was debating between stopping at the Lagoons or the Erieau Marsh, but I am sooooooo glad I went to the Marsh!  I got to witness what looked like a Great Horned Owl (not 100% of the ID) get mobbed by lots of Red-winged Blackbirds and Killdeer!  I heard all kinds of racket, looked and saw an owl being chased by a large flock!  I instantly put my bins down and grabbed my camera to capture the action...not the sharpest pictures, but show the scene quite well.

Just after I first heard the racket and saw the owl.  He ducked down below the reeds for a bit.

When he took off...the racket continued and many more birds than pictured were chasing him...

If you look closely, you can see a Red-winged Blackbird right on his tail!



The owl, now perched, got dive-bombed constantly, until he took off.

Just before the owl mobbing, this poor duck (Mallard female...I think), was being chased too!  The bird has his legs out like he was grabbing at the duck!

More harrassment!

The trees were dripping with Cedar Waxwings!  This is a life bird for me...they are probably the most elegant looking bird I have laid eyes on.

Cedar Waxwing

Three on one branch...there were TONNES!

Here are a few other shots I got today that I liked...

Killdeer cruising over the marsh.

Eastern Kingbird

Great Blue Heron

What an exciting day! 

A Walk in the Woods

On Easter Monday, my brother's sister-in-law suggested we go to a wooded area near the Brittania Water Purification Plant (still in Ottawa).  She mentioned that the chickadees there eagerly feed from your hands....that was enough for me!  I was so excited to go!  It was beautiful!  Lots of evidence of woodpeckers and beavers, but none were spotted.  We did see lots of Canada Geese and Mallards and a tonnes of Chickadees who were very happy to take our sunflower seeds :)  None of wildlife was shy....they all came right up to us as soon as they heard us!  We fed everyone! 

American Black Ducks that came up from the water as soon as they heard us coming!  They stayed with us until a jealous Canada Goose chased them off!

American Black Duck

American Black Duck

The jealous Canada Goose who chased of the ducks...he had been chased out of the water, onto the trail by another goose!

Black-capped Chickadee

A Black-capped Chickadee eating out of my hand!!!

Closer...

I love Mallards....probably my favourite duck.

Mallard female

Love this pic!!

Smiling for the camera!

Cutest squirrel EVER!

Isn't he sweet?  Came right up to me!

Life Ducks!

Today was an exciting day all the way around...at least for a bird nerd :)  First off, I got my early birthday/Christmas present today!  My husband bought me a 70-300mm lens for my camera!  The rest of the afternoon was busy at my Dad's...Mike (my husband) fixed his truck and helped my Dad with some of the heavier yard work items.  When we left there, we had about half an hour to scout for birds.  On the way home, I spotted a rather large bird sitting on a power wire on Hwy 22, so I zoomed in on him through the window of the truck and was excited to see it was an American Kestrel.  We then stopped by Lakeview Marina to see if any ducks were in the water, but there weren't any...just lots of people fishing.  I said to my husband that I had seen some ducks that were new to me at Goose Bay, so we headed there.  Well, we didn't that far.  I saw some ducks as we passed St. Rose Park, we we pulled over to check it out.  I was thrilled!!!  There were lots of Buffleheads (life bird!!) and at least a couple of Hooded Mergansers (life bird!!!).  Below are a few pictures from my new lens!

American Kestrel on Hwy 22



Hooded Merganser, St. Rose Park

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, St. Rose Park

Bufflehead, St. Rose Park

A bunch of Buffleheads, St. Rose Park

Scared Buffleheads...a little blurry, but I love that they are running on the water :)