September 30 2016 . RBG Hendrie Valley, Burlington, ON. When, a few days ago, I saw that the weather forecast promised us a couple of days of rain I thought, “Good, now I can catch up. I have photographs to review, edit and label, I have emails to answer and presentations to prepare.” So yesterday, with driving sheets of rain outdoors, I worked at my computer, just catching up. Today dawned wet and gloomy and I foresaw another day of much the same, but by late morning I was getting tired of the greyness; and then the sun broke through.
This afternoon I took a long walk armed with binoculars and camera, my usual stuff. The east wind was still howling, tearing away at the remaining fabric of summer so I wasn’t sure what to expect in the way of birds; whether there would be lots of them sheltering in quiet corners or whether they’d all blown away; in the end it was a bit of both.
Strong winds do funny things; high-flying birds sweep across the open sky and are gone in moments. I watched a young Bald Eagle circle overhead and then get carried far away; it was only its size that kept it in view for any appreciable length of time.
I plodded around my route grumbling a little to myself because everything seemed to be so transitory, here one minute and gone the next. With a bit of self discipline I paused to make some notes: Bald Eagle, Osprey, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wood Duck, Great Egret, Magnolia Warbler and White-throated Sparrow, plus all the old familiars: Great Blue Herons, Gray Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, Mallards, Turkey Vultures and Black-capped Chickadees; why complain?
I came to realise that it really was a very nice day. A small brown bird ducking around some roots turned out, through binoculars, to be an Ovenbird; and as I was processing some mild jubilation at it, another striking bird stepped to the fore, a male Black-throated Blue Warbler! Now they really are spectacular and I’ll share with you a rather disappointing photograph but ask you accept and ignore a little overly soft focus. It became my instant Bird of the Day and while I examined the photo digesting a twinge of disappointment another bird hopped into view, a Red-eyed Vireo, another favourite.
This wonderful trio had appeared so suddenly and I wondered whether I’d wandered into the mother lode of sheltering birds. But no, I searched high and low for more, but they had all gone; blown away again.