From the Earth to the Sky

 It was a lovely, albeit chilly (1C) morning as I headed towards Hawk Cliff just outside of St. Thomas.  The frost was heavy on the ground, but the sun was peaking on the horizon.  With light winds from the northeast, conditions seemed favourable for watching hawks and late fall migrants next to the cliff.  These kinds of winds move the birds closer to the cliff for better viewing according to Pete Read, our esteemed leader and world traveller!  The drive down the hill towards the cliff started with a sweet surprise, a group of Cedar Waxwings on a tree!  Of course my battery of my camera died at just the right time, but I was able to get a few backlit shots before they flew off.                                                                    Backlit CEWA I met  about 30 OFO members ...

 It was a rainy, extremely windy sw (28Km/h with gusts of 39 and 52 in the afternoon).  We were all sent emails the previous day to gauge interest, 13 of us out of 24 still wanted to brave the conditions. We met our fearless leader Dana Latour and her Dad Tony at the Sobey's parking lot in Grand Bend.  It had been raining off and on since 6am.  We gathered for a group photo and decided not to check out the brush behind the store as in past years it has been good for sparrows.  Sean and I head and saw a commotion, a group of crows were mobbing a grey blob in the tree.  The bird was flushed, a blocky grey raptor, a Great Horned Owl!  Our 1st good bird of the day! We grouped up to car pool and I brought another birder and we ventured to the Grand Bend Beach. It was pretty quiet with some Bonaparte's gulls along with the regulars.   We moved on to Kettle Point.  The shoals were pretty quiet and we were getting pretty blasted by winds.  ...

 I have been exploring Lambton County lately, trying to really get to know the abundance that we have around us.  I had just done a 'Big Day' in Lambton and some of the areas are conservation area run by conservation authorities.  I thought, what are the other Conservation Areas like in Lambton?     The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority is located in southwestern Ontario and includes the Sydenham River watershed and smaller watersheds(Perch and Bear Creek) draining directly into southern Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, and northeastern Lake St. Clair.   I thought I would go south along Hwy 21 towards Shetland CA.  It is a smaller CA that is primarily a campground.  It is on the Sydenham River.  It is known for the last natural stand of Kentucky Coffee Tree in the area, which is a species at risk.  I walked around the perimeter of the campground and spoke to friendly campers getting their trailers ready to leave for the s...

 The weather has been getting cooler and there are more dogs along the way.  I meet alot of friendly dogs and their humans in my travels, but only ones that allow me to take their photos do I write about.  I quite often meet them in unusual spots as well!  Enjoy! Murphy is a gorgeous Australian Shephard with a gorgeous coat!  Murphy and his human were super friendly and we had a nice chat about her story. Luna is a beautiful big Newfoundland dog that got all of the attention at one of the birding festival that I went to in the fall! Tommy and Weaver are lovely Golden Doodles that like to take their humans for walks!  Tommy is a senior boy who still enjoys his walkies, and Weaver is his little sister.  A great pair! I met this lovely Cane Corso Lady on one of my closer to home treks.  She was gorgeous and I was blown away by her lustrous wavy coat!  Her human was pleased that I asked about her as he says many people are scared of her because o...