Sunday 23 October 2016

Down to Long Point

Having been a while since I was last in Norfolk county, I managed to visit the area yesterday for the first time since last spring.

First up was the Bird Studies Canada headquarters property in Port Rowan.

There was a decent bit of activity at the far end of the property overlooking the lake.
One of several pied-billed grebes working along the shoreline.
Ducks are beginning to build up in numbers out on the lake, but most were extremely far out.  With the scope I managed to pick out a large raft of canvasback, redhead and scaup.
Raptors were moving over in good numbers.

Including the following bird.  My first thought was young bald eagle, but after reviewing my photos I'm wondering if it is a golden.  I would appreciate any ideas.  I have yet to see a golden eagle so I don't have any experience with them.

There was lots of activity in the trees along the trail.  Massive flocks or red-winged blackbirds and grackles along with the usual other species.

Afterwards was an enjoyable drive along the causeway with periodic stops to check out the view and the ever present phragmites.



A good day in Norfolk


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4 comments:

  1. Quinten Wiegersma25 October 2016 at 16:40

    That seems to be a Golden Eagle! I may be wrong as I too have yet to observe one, but hopefully this weekend at Hawk Cliff will yield one or two (or ten). Of course, the lighting isn't the best, so I can't be certain, but it does appear you've seen this beautiful bird.

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    1. Jonathan Wilhelm25 October 2016 at 17:06

      Thanks Quinten. I agree that the lighting wasn't great in that shot I assumed it was something common so I didn't pay as much attention to it or take as many photos as I should. Hopefully I'll get to see better views of one sometime.

      Good luck at hawk cliff :)

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    2. Quinten Wiegersma27 October 2016 at 04:39

      Thanks Jonathan!

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  2. Jonathan Wilhelm26 October 2016 at 07:40

    Just an update on my raptor photo. I emailed a local bird expert His response is below:

    I believe you have a GOLDEN EAGLE. I realize the bird is at a slight offset angle, but the head length on a Golden is approximately half the length of the tail. Quite the opposite of your Bald Eagle, where the head and tail lengths are about equal. Also very noticeable, is the "narrowing in" of the secondaries closest to the body. The white tail with a fairly narrow dark terminal bar and missing secondaries, tells me this bird is not a juvenile, but probably second year. A juvenile would have a very broad, dark terminal bar. This bird would also very likely have a narrow strip of white at the base of the primaries, continuing into the secondaries, with the widest part at the base of the primaries.

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