When I awoke it was raining ... barely.  It soon stopped because I pleaded for it to stop in that miserable whine that gets things done.  It stopped raining.  I decided to stay local, in the Rouge, in Pickering.  A 1000 plus ISO morning.  Lots of warblers present due to the south wind.  Myrtle, Palm, Chestnut-sided, BT Green, BT blue, Cape May, Blackburnian, Yellow and B&W.  The Blackburian stayed way up and the Palm actually hit the turf.  Should have gotten a recording of the symphony.  Jungle like humidity.

I was out front waiting on a Contractor to show up when I heard a familiar call and a Quink sound.I look up and the Grosbeak flew away heading East. I put seed in feeder for the first time in a week or so just afterwards.
On another note I am sure I spotted a pair of Barn Swallows flitting about, again heading East yesterday afternoon before the deluge.
Napper

I read about the one in Trinity Bellwood a while ago. Wonder if it's still around.

 These dark overcast mornings are not particularly welcome during the peak interval of the warbler migration because they are usually associated with an east wind, or NE wind, which bodes no-good, and also because the level of light is so Stygian as to require a camera with an Fx sensor, necessary to be able to handle four-figure ISO settings.  If I manage to find a subject to photograph,  some cropping will almost certainly be required and then the image looks like a pixel storm.  I guess that’s when that super fast, super expensive glass comes in handy.  Then again, if that echelon of kit is at hand there is probably an Fx sensor camera also in the bag.   If I look deep into my bag all I see is a banana, a zip-lock sack of nuts and something that might need to be sent to the lab for forensic analysis.

 
First on the scene was a Brown thrasher singing one of those bombastic arias. I could hear it from the car.  Clearly, a diva, a mimic bird not quite projecting the repertoire of a catbird, so I figured a thrasher.  I was right.  A few warblers were in mid-story because upon my arrival I had completely missed the first few chapters and even with the travail of a pixel storm I could identify a Cape May warbler.   A sharp call made me turn on my heels because I was too out-of-it to be on my toes and there appeared a sandpiper, despite the total absence of sand.   It was a Solitary sandpiper, no spots, dull mud-green legs and completely alone.   A real loser.   I hadn’t seen one in a few years.   Another buzzy sound from above.   Clouds of gnats all around me.  It’s a good thing they don’t bite.  There!  Another warbler ... a N. Parula. Nice to see a FOY bird even if the photo is unworthy.  I saw a spider’s web that caught some of those gnats ... a gnatty net ... that’s a tech term for 2-D compression.  You see, clouds of gnats is 3-D, a gnatty-net is 2-D ... never mind, the point is that a Red-bellied woodpecker also saw it and was thinking the same thing. Please, don’t challenge me on this.  Peckerheads think alike.

 










Brown thrasher







Solitary sandpiper







Cape May warbler way up there







Red-bellied woodpecker transfixed by the net








Northern Parula

Lovely squirrels!


We have a cinnamon female that’s a regular visitor to our back door for peanuts. She’s definitely an eastern gray. We have named her, somewhat obviously, Cinnamon Girl.