Today was a day of damns, darns, almosts and if onlys...

You'll see what I mean. Read on.

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny, early spring day during which we ran errands under the impression that today was supposed to be even nicer. so, we went to bed early last night and got up early this morning with the intent of going to shoot sunrise photos at McLaughlin Bay.

We (reluctantly) rolled out of bed at 6am to be greeted by heavy cloud cover and not a speck of clear sky anywhere.

Despite the very tempting lure of still cozy bedsheets, we both stayed up, downed breakfast and donned our warm long undies as instead of the forecasted +4 morning temps, it was 0 degrees with a cold north breeze.

Undaunted, we changed our projected morning course and went west instead in hopes of spotting a red tailed hawk we've seen several times recently.

We weren't disappointed...at least, not yet. Predicable as always in recent forays, our subject presented himself in a scrub bush on the side of Bloor Street. Eagle-eye Darryl was the first to spot him screeching "Stop!" "Right there, RIGHT THERE!" "Did you not hear me say stop?!"

Um...yeah, but I think screeching to a halt with gravel flying might have scared him off?

Needless to say, with the early hour and overcast skies, conditions were less than perfect for shooting, however, who are we to pass up such an opportunity?

So, without further adue, here is the first "aw crap" shot of the day.

And no, they're not watermarked. If you really want them, be my guest.

We stalked this bird for the better part of 45 minutes from tree to tree to tree. Each time we'd get just about at the right distance for a decent shot, he'd decide we were a weeee bit too close for comfort and move about 50' away...until eventually he flew into an industrial complex we couldn't get into.

We arrived at the conservation area around 7:30am and were greeted by an empty parking lot. Great - the day was looking up! We could hear nature all around us. Quacking duck, honking geese, trilling red-winged blackbirds...there were almost endless photographic opportunities and not a wayward child in sight to ruin it!

Lets start with something simple...a bufflehead with the landing gear down...from the back...how exciting *yawn*.

How about Canada Geese? They're always a reliable subject and there was no shortage of them around this morning.

This has the makings of a pretty decent shot - good colour, nice and crisp...except for the cat tails in the foreground in front of the geese. *sigh*

Okee...here's a new one. Never seen one of these before. We think it's a common golden eye...or maybe a female buffle head? Not sure. It's a so/so photo. Compared to the rest of the day's haul though, it's gallery-ready. :/

Yes, I am joking.

Look! A Deer!

No, wait! THREE DEER!

Fleeing in the other direction, naturally. Would you believe there were more than a dozen deer in a field??

This is the best we got of them.

Of course, as always, we saw the usual suspects, sparrows, chickadees, red wing black birds...

And then, at the end of a somewhat disappointing morning, we had a golden opportunity. This time, it was my turn to spot the next target. Had Darryl been sitting on a chair he could have fallen off of, rather than strapped into the passenger seat of the van, I've no doubt he would have.

As we're circling through a maze of streets in an industrial complex, I gasp "Kestrel!". Of course, Darryl didn't believe me...but sure enough, it landed in a tree not far off the road we were on and we both held our breath hoping against hope that it would stay put...and it did, if only for a few moments. Long enough to get off a dozen or so shots. Sadly, even with the 500mm lens, there was enough of a breeze and enough distance between us and it, that not one of the shots is crisp.

Oh, and did I mention this mornings festivities also included being questioned by 2 cops??

On the plus side, I got A LOT of exercise this morning, saw 3 different species of birds I haven't seen in the area before, found a new place to shoot from in an old favourite spot and bought myself a camo jacket so hopefully, next time I need to sneak up on a hawk or a kestrel, I can get close enough to get a decent shot!

- Paula