Bird Photos - March 14 2012

Busy day for us yesterday, went to Winnipeg, saw several large flocks of geese as we approached the city, they all seemed to be heading for Fort Whyte Center.
We went to Henry's to check out some cameras and lenses as Rose wanted to get rid of her Canon 70-300 IS. Even some of the store staff commented that they were less than satisfied with that lens. We were really hoping to try out the Tamron 28-300 VC Macro lens, but Henry's has discontinued carrying it. In the end we realized that Rose would have to buy two lenses, a macro and a zoom to satisfy her camera needs. She didn't want to go to that expense and didn't like the idea of changing lenses either. She then looked at some of the bridge super zoom cameras. In the end she chose the Fuji HS30 over the Canon SX40. Rose found the Fuji easier to operate and the image quality seemed to be better. The Canons function buttons didn't seem to work well. At times we had to push some of the buttons 2 or 3 times before they would perform their assigned function.
We'll post some pictures from the Fuji soon.
We had quite a bit of running around to do in the city but we managed to make it to the Fort Whyte Center on  Mc Gillvary late in the afternoon where we saw about 100 geese on the large lake. There is a large area of water in the center of the lake with the rest of the lake being ice covered. We may have seen a Starling but it was pretty distant and can't be certain. Other than that we saw some seagulls, sparrows and crows. The wind had really come up and we were not dressed for the chill it brought so we didn't stay very long and weren't to keen on standing around trying to identify birds.
Very windy again today so it is unlikely we will walk the trail as a strong wind will cause branches to fall onto the trail, some of them large enough to hurt. Had one large branch fall about 20 feet in front of me last year on a windy day.
I also took the plunge and ordered the Kenko Pro 1.4x teleconverter last night, should have it within the week. Am really anxious to try it out. The Kenko will increase my Tamron 70-300 VC to 420 mm at the long end. I'll post some pictures after it arrives.
A few more old pictures today

 White Breasted Nuthatch

 Dark eyed Junco

 Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Phoebe 

Ruby Throated Hummingbird - An evening shot, framing is a fluke, the green band at the bottom is grass, gray band is street, dark band is grass. 

Bird Photos - March 13 2012

Day two of my bird blog. Had a visitor overnight from California, so I guess it is safe to say the blog has gone international, with a total of 3 visits, one of them was me.
Nothing new in the bird situation here, a few more weeks and migration should start then things should get interesting.
A few more pictures today

Northern Flicker - Morden MB - One of my first pictures with a DSLR.

Eastern Screech Owl - Wouldn't have noticed him 10 feet overhead if two Nuthatches had't been kicking up a fuss trying to get the Owl to leave.

Chipping Sparrow

Clay colored Sparrow

Common Loon - Clear Lake MB. A distant shot

Bird Photos - March 11 2012

Added a counter to my blog, was pretty excited to see my first visitor, turns out it counted me...hahahaha.
My first picture post,

                                                       Pileated Woodpecker at our feeder

                                                       Goose fight Fort Whyte Center, Wpg

   Canada Warbler taken on one of my walks

Belted Kingfisher-at about 70 feet

Gray Catbird - 500mm mirror lens

First Blog Post - March 11 2012

My first blog post.
My Wife, Rose, and I have been birding for about 5 years. It is a great past time, we have seen lots of birds, some incredible scenery and had some pretty good adventures. I must say it is probably one of the most satisfying things we have done.
We mostly bird around our town, there is a nature trail that varies from dense bush, to prairie, river, creek, bog, to forest. We get a good variety of birds in spring. We also have several feeders set up and get quite a variety birds visiting them year round, but spring through mid summer is the best.
Winter we don't go out birding much, to darned cold and afraid we will ruin our cameras. My E510 bit the dust after taking it out for a few weeks in weather as low as -22 C.
I now have a Canon T1i with a Tamron 70-300 VC lens. I am very satisfied with this set up and my only wish now is to try out the Kenko Pro 1.4x tc.
My wife is using a Canon XS with a Canon 70-300 IS lense. The camera is a bit dated although still good it is not quite up to the same standard as the T1i, and we will likely look at replacing in the next year. We both hate the Canon 70-300 IS. The IS seems to be bad on it and we have a very difficult time getting good pictures with it. Have tried it on the T1i and the results are the same. We are actively seeking a new lens for Rose, perhaps the Tamron 28-300 VC macro lens. If anyone has experience with this lens we would really appreciate hearing your opinion.
Will post some pictures over time and hope to hear from some other Canadian birders and hopefully people from around the world.