Orioles!
In this image we see the female Oriole beginning the construction of the nest. The nest is built exclusively by the female, however, the male will help gather nesting material.

In this image, the female landed directly over me while I walked around. At first I didn't notice that she was collecting nesting material. It wasn't until later, after viewing the images that I noticed the plastic ribbons wind blown into a dead Pine that she had spotted and was collecting.  

Here we see a completed nest. It hangs from a Pine branch about 20 feet high.

Here, the female has just arrived at the nest with dinner. Very challenging to get a decent shot because she is so incredibly quick. A very solid tripod and camera mount are required gear along with pre-focussing on the exact spot she repetitively uses. The slightest hesitation and you have a blurry image.    

Here, the brighter coloured male arrives with dinner. He's a bit easier to photograph because he's slower upon his entry into the nest. Soon, I'll provide some images of the fledglings...hopefully.   

 A Beautiful Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

 Northern Shoveler Drake/Hen

 It's Warbler season in Norfolk County!
This is a Nashville Warbler
A Cape May Warbler

 Yellow Warbler

 Magnolia Warbler

Although not a Warbler, a Baltimore Oriole is still welcome.

 Tree Swallow checking out a nesting box.

 New arrival, a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

 A singing White-crowned Sparrow

 Pure Goldfinch

 A White-throated Sparrow

 A nutty Nuthatch

 A Red-winged Blackbird

 A goofy Grackle

Todays big prize...a Belted Kingfisher (male) and a Savannah Sparrow

 Winter Wren...I think?

 A White-throated Sparrow

 A White-crowned Sparrow

A Northern Flicker...formerly known as a 'Common' Flicker.

Over all, A great day for birding here in beautiful Norfolk County. I missed a Brown Thrasher. Had our first White-crowned Sparrow arrive along with multiple White-throated Sparrows. Had a close encounter with a Flicker. Still no Warblers here but I've heard the od one. 

 Well, the 2016 birding season has officially begun. I went out early today for my first extended birding expedition and came away with several nice shots. The Flickers were calling all morning along with the Towhees. I use a recorded call for the specific bird I'm targeting to help lure them closer. It works great!
I posted some images of my essential birding gear which I take with me. I also wear camo clothing, good rubber boots or hunting boots and face covering. I thoroughly believe these items make a significant difference in not spooking birds that are very close, especially waterfowl.
I just purchased the Wimberley Gimbal tripod head (WH-200) and it's excellent! I'm currently using a Nikon D800E with my Tamron 600mm and a Nikon SB-800 flash. all seems good for now. I'm interested in the new Nikon D500 DX. with its 1.5 crop factor and blazing 10-11 fps and 20+ MPs. Maybe in the fall?    

A Common Flicker calling for a mate.

 An Eastern Towhee also calling for a date. I love their blood red eyes. 

 I got the jump on this old boy when I seen him before he spotted me. Again, camo was the determining factor here all most. He flanked me on the right and landed in a tree over the main path but about two hundred yards ahead. I slowly made forward progress advancing only several feet at a time. It certainly wasn't long till he tired of the game and left. So, only one shot from too far away.

 Wood Ducks. Simply beautiful waterfowl!

A shot of a Bluebird swing'n in the sun!
Things are looking excellent for an encounter with a Warbler soon...

 Bluebird (male)

Bluebird (female)

Been winter out for the last little bit so birding has slowed. Not many new arrivals to report, A Brown headed Cowbird, a few Easter Phoebes and yesterday, our mating pair of Eastern Bluebirds returned.
The weather reports show a consistent warming trend for the next week. This should bring many new migrants north and possibly a few rare birds...

 A Golden-Crowned Kinglet

A Brown Creeper

Many birds are flooding in now. The warming temps brought an assortment of new arrivals. Rusty Blackbirds, Brown Creepers, Kinglets, Sap-suckers. I would have to say, the 2016 spring migration has begun!

 A male Canadian Goose watches me carefully as I approach his mate and nest. Seems that a pair of geese have set up a nest on our pond outback. I'll definitely keep you up-dated with photo's.

A beautiful image of one of our numerous Jays!

It's early in the 2016 bird migration scheme here in south western Ontario. We had a brief warming trend over a week ago that brought some early migrants up. The next week is looking great in terms of weather and temps. Things are definably warming which means more birds! I'm hoping for some rare sparrows such as the White Throated and White Crowned Sparrows soon. Maybe a return of a Lincoln. Stay tuned.

 Celebrating the Common Grackle.

 A House Finch - orange variant

A long exposer of Quance Dam (10 second exp. 24mm, f18, 100 ISO, HOYA Variable Density filter)

 A Juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk

A short video of his visit.