Sunday, September 15, 2013

Iona South Jetty - Sept 14th

Work has kept me in a tired state this last while and i haven't been getting out as much but that's life sometimes.

This morning i was determined to get out and do some shooting, decided to give Iona a go and figured i was due for a jetty walk (i like to get at least few walks in yearly with 500mm on shoulders to test endurance) and was hoping for a beautiful morning.
Was surprised by the low cloud and grey conditions, still it wasn't raining and i was determined.

Near the base i ran into my first bird, an active Black-throated Grey warbler.
Iona is an interesting environment with the rocks, it's refreshing to shoot birds down low that you are used to seeing up high in trees. 

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Later i spied a Townsend's Warbler further down the path but was only able to get a long distance grab off before it flew out of sight.

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Quite a few Yellow-rumped warblers encountered.
Saw a lot of spider eating going on as well  :) 

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Once i walked to the end i realized i had come across a mini fallout of sorts. 
A mixed flock of birds all looking quite exhausted hanging out by the elevated platform.

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A Hermit Thrush was in this group of birds.

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as well as a flycatcher i believe is a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. 
ID correction is welcome by the way  :) 

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Was able to get pretty close to the kinglets as they flitted from bush to bush, low to the ground.

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The walk back was rewarding as the Caspian terns were out fishing and making a racket.
In the back of my mind i was thinking to look closely at terns in flight in case a Parasitic Jaeger was mixed in.
Sure enough it happened, quickly, almost too quickly  :lol: fired off 5 shots and got two with bird in frame.
A lucky moment  :) 

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All in all, a rewarding morning out  :)

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The Waiting Area

The Waiting Area