American Kestrel, Chestnut-sided Warbler

Once American Kestrels show up in the Spring, they are very easy to find in Carleton and York County. Just go for a drive and you will usually find a couple along most of the back roads perched on power lines.

I found a family of three Chestnut-sided Warblers last week in Woodstock. None of three came out in the open very long, but as you can see in the picture below, the chestnut really shows up on the sides of the male.

Great Blue Heron, Osprey

Sometimes there are up to twelve Great Blue Herons in front of the cottage over on Prince Edward Island. Once the tide starts to go out, they fly in and every day at least one comes quite close.

I found this Osprey a few days ago outside of Woodstock and its meal was still flopping away.

Great black-backed Gull, Song Sparrow

During the summer, you really only see Ring-billed Gulls around Woodstock. Sometimes a Herring Gull will show up and one did last week. I've only ever found a Great black-backed Gull once in Carleton County and that was just this past Spring. It was only around for one day and I don't expect I will see another anytime soon. They are common along the Bay of Fundy and over on PEI where I took this picture.
On the other hand, Song Sparrows are everywhere in every county in the province. I keep double checking each time I see one just in case it is a different type of sparrow I have yet to find. The one below was singing away in front of the cottage.

Eastern Kingbird, Red-tailed Hawk - PEI

My family just returned from another trip to Prince Edward Island. Once again, anything I happened to see or hear, I had at least one of my boys with me. I still managed to check 10 more species off my PEI life list bringing me up to 87. Just in the two trips we have made this summer, I'm up to 64 species.

I found two Eastern Kingbirds at the Cornwall sewage lagoon last week. There was also a Red-tailed Hawk that soared above the cottage for a few minutes over the weekend.

Killdeer, Savannah Sparrow

I found two Killdeer an two Savannah Sparrows yesterday. With such a great zoom on my camera I can get a close shot while staying far enough that the birds don't fly away on me.

Double-crested Cormorant, Common Yellowthroat

A dozen or so cormorants stick around Woodstock for most of the summer. I'd like to get a close enough shot of the inside of their mouth someday as its completely blue and their eyes are quite unique.

Common Yellowthroats are well, common. The males get quite loud and often the females (pictured) make you think for a minute that you have found a completely different type of warbler.

Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird

Flycatchers are a tricky bunch to ID. I started memorizing each of their calls and that has made all the difference in finding a few different types around Woodstock. Least Flycatchers seem to be the most common type around here. I'm hoping to find a Willow, Great Crested and Yellow-bellied this year and if I can find each one in Carleton County, that would be even better.

Right now I can find Eastern Kingbirds in a few different spots without too much trouble. I've never seen one over on Prince Edward Island however. Apparently they aren't nearly as common compared to here in New Brunswick. It is really interesting that you can drive just a few hours away and see so many different (to you) birds.

Wood Duck, Common Goldeneye

It is that time of year!

Cedar Waxwing, Belted Kingfishers

There are lots of Cedar Waxwings around these past few weeks. It is easy to hear them flying overhead pretty much anywhere.

I found three Belted Kingfishers in the same area a few days ago and got a picture of two of them together. They sure were noisy all flying around together!

Confusing Birds Quiz

There are quite a few confusing birds out there, but here are 5 that often get mixed up. Each of them baffled me at one point or another and a couple still cause me to do a double-take.

I will leave this post for a bit and will include the correct title for each at a later time. Please feel free to comment and take a stab at each one!

Northern Flicker, American Redstart

I have found a few different species around Woodstock lately, but have yet to get a picture of the following species; Winter Wren, Alder Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Swainson's Thrush.

I am pleased with these two pictures even though I have seen them around lots this spring/summer. The Northern Flicker was in my backyard this week and I finally got a nice picture of an American Redstart this morning.

Willet - Prince Edward Island

My family makes the trip to PEI at least three times every summer to visit family. We are quite fortunate that they have a cottage right on the Clyde River. Over the course of our time there, I saw/heard 45 different species. We will be returning at least two mores times so I hope to find more species than I did last summer (72). Here is a shorebird that I still have yet to see in New Brunswick. I found two Willet in the exact same location as I found them last year near New Dominion.