2013 Highlights (some of them...)

***Disclaimer 1*** below are not some of the nicer/pretty pictures from 2013; they're rustic/documentation style-pictures, that for some reason I really like. I'll do my best to tell you why I like them with a brief paragraph/caption. If you want to see pretty pictures from 2013, check other people's blogs out...! :)

***Disclaimer 2*** these aren't all the highlights (obviously) from 2013; just the one's that I have pictures.

***Disclaimer 3*** some of these pictures aren't mine, however, I have provided ownership to them.

***Disclaimer 4*** and yes, I do, still have a blog, that I occasionally write in...

Alvan Buckley and I found a spanking male King Eider, no less on Lake Huron, in the marina of Goderich in early January!

My old roomate, Andrew, and I were heading back from the Windsor area working. We checked out the Ridgetown lagoons, where I picked out this bad-boy, 'Bewick's' Swan! Pretty darn sweet! There are 2 historic records of this subspecies in Ontario! Photograph by Mark Cunningham.

Another 'work adventure', I found this drake Eurasian Wigeon in late April near Grand Bend.

My Dad, Jim, and I were birding the lakeshore along Haldimand (a great place to go birding!), where I picked out this female Eurasian Wigeon! I must say that this was a really satisfying bird!

My girlfriend, Lillian, and I spent a weekend tearing up Pelee Island in late April. Besides these 24 Willets, we found PROW, LOWA, BLGR(!!!), LBDO and twitched Vandermeulen's LASP at Erieau. A pretty solid start to birding with the ole gf!

This is a shitty pic (no offense Josh!), but one I really like for 2 reasons: 1) its a Prothonotary! and 2) it essentially captures the essence of my Masters (which I completed in 2013!). Photo by Josh Vandermeulen.

Not too many people get to see baby Prothonotaries...! These are the eggs from Pelee Island. Photo by Graeme Gibson.

A bizarre location for an American Bittern, no? This one was in the Sparrow Field, at Point Pelee in early May.

There's a theme here...alot of these pics were taken with my phone...through my scope...! I really like taking pictures thru my phone, as I really like 'documentation style' photos! This, a Laughing Gull, flew into the tip at Point Pelee in early May.

We found this swanky Hudsonian Godwit near Lake of the Woods, on May 21st, 2013 in a flooded field. The drake BWTE provides some decent size comparison.

I really like this picture. This Brewer's Blackbirdgave some stellar looks, as we watched the HUGO (above) near Lake of the Woods.

My Dad and I spent a nice weekend up north on the Canada Day long weekend, basking in Breeding Bird Survey awesomeness. We had 2 routes that were really different, but just nice to bird. We had most of the Boreal specialities, like this loud Greater Yellowlegs!

After successfully twitching the Brown Booby in Fort Erie in early October (I was there on the 1st full day after it was found), I was pretty shocked as it flew by me at the tip of Long Point on October 31st! It was actually kinda funny seeing it. I wasn't super pysched, I just thought it was funny, and pretty cool that I 'got' another new Long Point bird!

While I know other people could get WAAAAYYY better photos, I was happy with this Purple Sandpiper, my first at Long Point.

What would be a year without out "the" Red-shouldered Hawk???!!!! I first found this guy back in high-school (2003); he's still hanging around every winter. I sure hope he'll keep coming back for a few more winters!

Rough-legged Hawks are darn common in north Waterloo Region. This year, the Linwood CBC had 119!! Pretty darn high! Photograph taken by Mark Cunningham.