30 Days of Perception: 1-10

Day 1 - Light

Noticing how the light also creates shadows and the beauty of it all.

Day 2 - Hear

The rustling of the leaves

I like to hear the reassuring homely sound of the tick-tock of my clock 

and when it chimes on the hour.

Day 3 - Smell

The sweet aroma of a candle to which I have added some Rose Geranium essential oil.

The wonderful smell of home-baking.

Day 4 - Touch

The petals of the Edelweiss flower are extremely soft to the touch,

as soft as velvet or cotton wool.

The tiny seed buds are firm, but when they open up, like the one on the right,

they are as soft and as fluffy as dandelion seeds.

Day 5 - Taste

The taste of a fine wine savoured slowly.

The taste of salt on my lips at the seaside.

Day 6 - Movement

A boat moving through the churning water as it moves forward

and the flying flag in the wind.

Water is a fine example of something that is often in movement

like these soft waves at sunset.

Day 7 - Intuition

Walking in my neighbourhood without a fixed destination,

just meandering intuitively where my legs carry me.

This single seedpod comes into my line of vision.

This single leaf wedged in a wooden fence which draws my attention to texture

and simplicity.

Day 8 - Emotions

It was raining and when it rains, I connect to nature very closely and with emotion.

Day 9 - Colour

For me, colour is one of the most important and well-loved element in photography.

I love to capture it. 

It makes me happy and fills me with positive energy.

In my home and in my life, colour is extremely important.

It plays a huge part in my well-being.

This pink Poinsettia plant 

Is a perfect happy colour for me!

Day 10 - Slow down

When I slow down, my breathing becomes calmer, I become aware. I visualize myself as a floating leaf in calm waters without wanting to be anything else at all.

***

I'm following an online course with Kim Manley Ort

30 Days of Perception

Each day during the month of November, we get a new prompt.

I like these prompts which are so closely connected to our senses and make me

slow down and become more aware of all that is around me.

Wilson's Snipe

Secretive Marsh Bird

Wilson's Snipe

The Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) is a secretive marsh and shorebird.  It is a common New Brunswick bird that is not often seen.  It is a member of the Scolopacidae family which it shares with sandpipers, phalaropes and their allies.  They share the same problem as the rest of the family, loss of habitat.  A few years ago this species was lumped with the European Common Snipe but has recently been returned to its own species.

Wilson's Snipe are generally seen singly in wet, grassy or muddy habitats.  Their bill appears exceptionally long and one wonders how they can manoeuvre it in their deep probes into the mud. They are a stocky bird with a long dark-tipped bill and greenish gray legs.  What is striking is how striped they are.  There are bold stripes on their head and back.  Their breast is brown with fine white streaks.  The belly is white.  The flanks show heavy bars.  They are 26 cm (10.3 in) long.  Their flight is startling as they explode in front of you and fly straight upwards.  Their toes do not extend beyond the tail in flight.  

Wilson's Snipe

We have another species of marsh bird here which one might mistake for the Wilson's Snipe, the American Woodcock.  This species is slightly larger (28 cm/11 in) and appears more heavy bodied.  The head on the woodcock shows cross-barring verses the heavy longitudinal stripes of the snipe.  The woodcock has no bars on its flanks.

The snipe commonly makes a winnowing sound.  This makes easy identification since it is much more difficult to actually see the bird.  The sound is made with its wings in its courtship display.  Snipe probe in the soil for insects, earthworms, crustaceans and mollusks.  They often sink their entire bill into the soil sometimes up to their foreheads.  They swallow prey without withdrawing their bill.  Their bill is very sensitive so they can detect prey by feel.  They can feed on both land and in water but usually stay close to cover.  Their nest is a ground scrape lined with grass where they lay four olive-brown eggs.  

Wilson's Snipe

The word 'snipe' was first used in the 14th century and is derived from the Old Norse word, 'snipa'.  The Old Saxon word was 'sneppa' and the Middle Dutch word was 'snippe'.  In the 1770s the word began to be used as a verb, 'to snipe', in British India.  Since the snipe is a challenging game bird for hunters, 'to snipe' became associated with sharpshooting around 1824.  

The shooting of snipe carries on today.  The Wilson's Snipe and the American Woodcock are the only shorebirds which still can be legally hunted in New Brunswick.  They are often hunted with bird dogs.  In New Brunswick the season is from September 15 to November 30.  The bag limit is 10 and the possession limit is 20.  These numbers vary slightly for woodcock.  

I have never eaten snipe but I can't imagine there would be much on that small bird to eat.  I think they are much better off left in their proper place in the ecosystem.

Bird photography talk: Worthington, Ohio, Wednesday evening

A Franklin's gull's reflection melts into a puddle of quicksilver. Deer Creek Reservoir, Pickaway County, Ohio, October 21, 2017. Canon 5D IV and 800mm lens, f/8, ISO 400, 1/1250, +0.3 exposure compensation.

I'm giving a program this Wednesday evening for the fabled Westbridge Camera Club, which has been around in its current form since 1969. The meeting is at the Griswold Center at 777 High Street, in Worthington, Ohio. The meeting begins at 7 pm. All are welcome and the admission is free.

This will be a general talk on bird photography, touching on the basic mechanics of camera control and general failsafe settings. But I also want to delve into finding subjects and learning more about them, tricks for discreetly getting into position for good shots, using photography to further conservation, and more. The program will, of course, be heavily spiced with bird imagery.

Hope to see you there!

Hudsonian godwit, juvenile, Lucas County, Ohio, October 18, 2017. Canon 7D II and 800mm lens, f/6.3, ISO 320, 1/1250, +0.7 exposure compensation.

Nature: October brings sightings of 2 rare birds - gray kingbird and northern wheatear - to Ohio

A gray kingbird recently sighted in Clark County/Jim McCormac 

Columbus Dispatch

November 4, 2018

NATURE
Jim McCormac

October was a notable month for Ohio birders. Nothing exhilarates the binocular-toting set like a major rarity. Last month brought not one, but two mega-rare birds.

On Oct. 17, Jeff Peters — fairly new to birding — was chasing a flock of sparrows through rough brush in a Clark County park. A quick learner, Peters already has advanced to identifying the little brown birds. He was looking for either Nelson’s or Le Conte’s sparrow in the flock, both of which are unusual here and most likely in late fall.

Peter’s sparrow chase brought him into proximity to a bird he didn’t recognize. Quickly suspecting it to be a flycatcher — any species but eastern phoebe would be notable in mid-October — he took some photos. The sparrows were quickly forgotten as Peters realized he had found something very unusual.

Peters had documented Ohio’s first record of a gray kingbird, and the birding communication networks lit up like a forest fire. Within an hour, other birders arrived and during the next week hundreds more visited. Oct. 24 marked the bird’s last day, but by then nearly everyone who wanted to view the chunky thick-billed flycatcher had done so.

Gray kingbirds nest throughout the Caribbean and northern South America, and are rare but regular nesters in the southeastern states from Mississippi to South Carolina. Only in south Florida, the Keys especially, do they become common. It’s possible that Hurricane Michael pushed the bird northward.

The gray kingbird sighting overlapped with another major rarity. A Richland County homeowner glanced out her kitchen window and spotted an unfamiliar thrushlike bird standing on a nearby woodpile. The family was called in, books were consulted, and they realized a northern wheatear was gracing their farm.

The wheatear was found Oct. 22 and remained for a few days. The homeowners — who wish to remain anonymous — kept a visitor’s log, and probably several hundred birders signed in. Their generosity in allowing access to the farm was much appreciated.

The first Ohio record of northern wheatear dates to January 1988. I was fortunate enough to see that bird, which frequented the frigid environs of Lake Erie in Ottawa County. In the intervening years, four others have been found, including this most recent sighting.

Northern wheatears are bluebird-sized songbirds that breed in far northerly climes around the globe. In North America, there are two distinct populations. One occurs in northwestern Canada and Alaska; the other in northeastern Canada, Greenland and Iceland.

Upon departing their boreal nesting grounds, wheatears embark on one of the most stupefying migrations of any North American songbird. The eastern population — presumably where the Ohio vagrants originate — fly east, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The 23-gram birds eventually make their way to western Africa where they winter.

It’s only speculation that wayward wheatears originate from the closest breeding population. For all we know, it’s the Alaskan/western Canada birds that turn up here. Those birds normally head west through Asia and the Middle East, also ending up in Africa. But these powerful flyers, if disoriented, could probably end up in Ohio.

The gray kingbird brings Ohio’s official bird checklist to 434 species. As one or two new species are added each year, the list will keep growing.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

A northern wheatear recently observed in Richland County/Jim McCormac

It's All About the Leaves

The flames of red Maple adorn the autumn sky.

The first three weeks of October were wonderful.

The temperatures moderate, the sunshine abundant and the leaves, well, out of this world!

The Beech Trees showed us their burnished leaves

and offered their Beech nuts to the earth below.

Golden tones rejoiced all my senses

The late afternoon sunshine illuminated this leaf on a picnic table in the park in my neighbourhood.

American Oak capturing the sunlight.

Blowing in the wind and ready to fall and create carpets of leaves.

This house, so prettily decorated with leaves and green shutters.

Late afternoon golden sunlight creating poetic shadows on walls.

Shady spots glowing with a feel of deep red velvet.

Red berries glisten, tempting the birds.

As we approached November, the much-needed rains came.

The atmosphere changed and some grey skies came to remind us that autumn was getting serious.

Blue skies and sunshine were more rare, but still we could glimpse the light

when we took the time to go on walks.

Catching the luminosity of the moment.

Although the overhanging leaves and seed pods are still green,

I think this is my favourite photo taken very recently.

It makes me think of an opening to a mysterious pathway that I would like to discover.

I shall use it as my header photo for the month of November!

Ohio Caverns: "America's Most Colorful Caverns"

Recently, I had a rare opportunity to descend into the depths of the remarkable Ohio Caverns with only two other people, one of which was an exceptionally knowledgeable guide named Karen. She works for the Ohio Caverns operation, and they kindly permitted me access to make photos for an upcoming piece that I'm writing about the caverns.

I'll post that article here after it comes out, but for now will share some subterranean highlights, each briefly captioned. This cavern is easily the most spectacular in Ohio, filled as it is with scores of beautiful geological features. The rocks, in many areas, are painted in exceptionally brightly hues, hence the tag of "America's Most Colorful Caverns". I'd highly encourage a visit; Ohio Caverns is open every day of the year excepting Christmas and Thanksgiving, and is located in Logan County, not far from Bellefontaine. It's an easy enough place to access and traverse, and tours last about an hour. Try for Karen as your guide if you make it. Complete details on Ohio Caverns RIGHT HERE.

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES: I don't have much in the way of cave photography experience, but tried my best and learned a lot in the course of this excursion. All images were made from a tripod, with very long exposures. I only made a total of eleven images, but each was a bit of a production and took some time. All were shot with the Canon 5D IV and nearly all with the Canon 16-35mm f/4 or Canon 14mm f/2.8 lenses. For the "Old Town Pump" shot I used the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. All but the latter image are HDR (High Dynamic Range) composites derived from five bracketed shots, mostly made at about one-stop intervals. General settings were ISO 100 or 200 and f/16. I see now at least some of my mistakes and look forward to honing skills with other future subterranean shoots.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I was fortunate in that circumstances allowed for tripod photography and the time to work out various shots. Tripods are not allowed on regular tours, as they're too cumbersome and time would not permit for lengthy shoots. That said, non-tripod mounted cameras are allowed and pretty good images can be captured with such. Artfully placed subtle LED lighting provides adequate light to work with.

Parts of Ohio Caverns are awash with stunning stalagmites and stalactites. Here, a huge stalagmite arises from the cavern floor, and scores of stalactites hang from the ceiling.

In some areas, the walls are stippled with curious rust formations, as seen in the upper left corner of this image, the result of exceptional iron concentrations. A quintet of sturdy stalagmites is in the foreground, and an oddly-shaped stalactite hangs in front of the rust formations.

An underground pool is a prominent feature in one spot, and can be viewed from either end. The rocks are especially colorful in this locale.

In places, stalactites and stalagmites join and fuse; such structures are called columns or pillars. The part of the cavern seen here is rich in "soda straws" - small thin hollow stalactites.

Occasionally soda straws become clogged and the water which forms them is forced out the sides, creating strange formations known as helactites. This is the most famous of Ohio Caverns' numerous helactites, the "Old Town Pump".

A jaw-dropping stalactite if there ever was one, the famed "Crystal King". Located at the end of a short spur passage, the King hangs like a work of art. Which it is, and a priceless one at that. It's estimated that this amazing stalactite began to form around 200,000 years ago, about the time that Homo sapiens diverged from common ancestors. The Crystal King measures about five feet in length, and is estimated to weigh around 400 pounds.

Again, for complete details about Ohio Caverns, visit HERE.

Bullock's Oriole

Rare Oriole Visits New Brunswick

Bullock's Oriole [Marbeth Wilson Photo]

For the last week in October there has been a rare oriole visiting a bird-friendly home near Centreville, NB.  There it is eating suet and oranges and managing to keep healthy in spite of the rain and cold weather.

What is a Bullock's Oriole?  The Bullock's Oriole is the western cousin to the Baltimore Oriole.  It normally inhabits the western part of North America from southern British Columbia and southern Alberta south to southern California and northern Mexico and east to the mid-western US.  It spends its winters in southern Mexico and sometimes southern California.  It prefers open woodlands, shade trees, parks, and riparian zones.  So what is it doing here?  Well, this individual is undoubtedly a victim of the severe storms recently hitting the US.  It is amazing that a small bird can survive travelling so far off course!

Bullock's Oriole

If you look up Bullock's Oriole in a bird book, it shows a very brilliant orange and black bird.  This present individual is in its winter plumage.  It is either a female or juvenile male so it looks very different from the brilliant orange and black of the male in breeding plumage.  The adult male in breeding plumage looks much like our male Baltimore Oriole, brilliant orange and black.  The Bullock's Oriole does show more white, however on the wing bars and the orange placed in different areas from the Baltimore.  The female is much more subdued with yellow-orange on the head and tail, gray on the back and much lesser white wing bars.  

It is in winter that they are difficult to tell apart.  A dull immature Baltimore is similar to a female Bullock's.  But these Baltimores tend to have more yellow on the underparts which blends  into the gray belly.  In the Bullock's the transition from the yellow to the grayish white belly is more abrupt.  The backs (mantles) are different, too.  In the Baltimore the mantle feathers have dark centres and those of the Bullock's are mostly unmarked gray.  The rump of the Baltimore shows yellow but that of the Bullock's is gray.  Looking at the under tail coverts also helps.  They are yellow in the Baltimore but more often gray but sometimes yellow in the Bullock's.  A more subtle difference is the wing bars.  They are distinct and separate in the Baltimore but seem connected by white edges on the greater coverts in the Bullock's.  None of the aforementioned features are absolute but one must look at all the identifying features to make a true identification.  No wonder we birders often seek expert opinions when faced with such an individual.  (Thanks to Stuart Tingley and others).  

Bullock's Oriole

Notice in the top photo how the wing bars are connected by white-edged feathers from the coverts.  And, in the photo immediately above, notice the mostly gray mantle feathers.  The middle photo and the photo below show the abrupt transition from the throat feathers to the grayish white belly feathers and the grayish yellow under tail coverts.  This individual does not have solid gray under tail coverts.  

Bullock's Oriole

A good description of winter-plumage Bullock's and Baltimore Orioles can be found in National Graphic, Complete Birds of North America, 2006, pp. 624-625.  

Bullock's Oriole is rarely seen in New Brunswick.  According to Birds of New Brunswick:  An Annotated List up until publication in 2004 there had been only 2 accepted sightings, one at Bathurst from Nov. 2001 which stayed at a feeder area until Feb. 2002, and one at Saint John in 2003.  Since then I have also seen one at Hampton in Dec. 2011.  So they are rare, they usually come in late fall or winter and they usually remain at feeder areas for a few weeks.  I think we can assume that they die of our severe winter weather.  They are very unlikely to turn around and fly south to warmer areas.  Given that they arrived here due to severe weather or a disturbance in their navigation systems, they are very unlikely able to return to their normal range or even warmer geographical areas.

 

Bullock's Oriole

Shown above is the Bullock's Oriole which arrived at a feeder in Bathurst 2001-2002.  Notice it also shows winter plumage.  We can see the gray under tail converts and the grayish white belly clearly.  The yellow throat does not show a sharp transition to the breast feathers but the white wing bars are tied together with white edges to the coverts.  Unfortunately we cannot clearly see the rump and back of this bird.

At one time the Baltimore Oriole and the Bullock's Oriole were lumped together as one species, the Northern Oriole.  That was because in the central area of the continent where their ranges overlap, some individuals interbred producing hybrids.  In recent years, the two species were again given full species status so they again became Bullock's Oriole and Baltimore Oriole. 

 

Bullock's Oriole

We are fortunate to have this bird visit us.  It is a delight to see a visitor from afar both for its beauty and for the challenge to identify it.  We hope it does well at the excellent area it has found.