A "cool" Leucistic Dunlin

This is not another "Winter's Tale", it's from this summer, but it is a "cool" story.  I have christened the shorebird shown below "Luke" because of its leucism.

Yesterday, a birder friend told me about a Leucistic Dunlin that had been seen in Cobourg Harbour.  It was seen first on July 12th by another mutual friend from Cobourg (Ontario).  I "rushed" over to look for it, and found it on the west side, where it had been seen previously. 

I took over 70 photos of "Luke" between 9.40 am and 10.15 am, including a few movies. It seemed unconcerned by the nearby Kayakers or by me.  I stood still for several minutes and it came quite close to me, as you can judged by the photographs.

There are more pictures of this Leucistic Dunlin to be viewed - here. 
For comparison, below is a picture of a "normal" Dunlin, in breeding plumage.

More pictures of Dunlin in breeding plumage can be found - here.

A Winter's Tale

One bright aspect of the brutal winter of 2013-2014 was the the plethora of Snowy Owls available in southern Ontario, and elsewhere on the eastern seaboard. A particularly large number were concentrated in southern Newfoundland.  Others reached farther south - Little Talbot Island, nr Jacksonville, Florida, and one even made it to Bermuda, 1,239 km (770 mi) south of Nova Scotia. On January 2014, I managed to get some good shots of a cooperative Snowy Owl conveniently located on the west headland of Cobourg Harbour.

Snowy Owl in Cobourg (Jan 18, 2014)

Before the New Year, I had seen 8 other Snowy Owls at various times: 4 at Presqu'ile Provincial Park and 4 at Cobourg Harbour, though I may have seen the same bird on different days.
Finding a window in the winter weather, we headed south to warmer climes, in search of - birds and golf, of course.
Among the ornithological delights of South-East Arizona are the various hummingbirds that may be encountered. Here are five of the nine species web that have seen recently.

Broad-billed, Costa's, Magnificent, Violet-crowned and Anna's Hummingbirds (March, 2014)

The other four hummingbird species we saw were the noisy Broad-tailed, the feisty but, pretty Rufous, the quiet Blue-throated and the elegant Black-chinned. Two other birders directed me to a hummingbird nest which contained one egg (at the time) and I moved off when the mother returned. I am fairly certain she was a female Broad-billed: a common in Madera Canyon and in the area surrounding it.

Broad-billed Hummingbird nest, in Madera Canyon (March, 2014)

Sadly, the next day when I came back to show the nest to a friend, it was empty, no egg, and no sign of the female.

Female Broad-billed Hummingbird, Madera Canyon (March, 2014)

More pictures of our time in Arizona can be found - here.