The Bird Photography Interest Group is an outing-oriented group led by Gary Love with assistance from other members of the club.
Organized Outings
The group will be organizing outings from time to time. Some of these will be dedicated to instructional events for those newer to bird photography, but all members are encouraged to come to enjoy the outing and to answer questions of the newer members.
Ad Hoc Outings
Even if you don’t belong to the group, you can often find members at birding hot spots, particularly in the mornings. From spring to late fall, members tend to congregate at Valley Inn and the Hendrie Valley boardwalk. In winter, they can be found at the shipping canal east of the Burlington Bay lift bridge.
If you are new, introduce yourself and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Members are always happy to assist.
Spring to Fall Hot Spot
On any given sunny morning from spring to late fall (when the ponds freeze over), you can usually find several club members shooting at the ponds at Valley Inn. click here for map Green Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons can usually be photographed at close range in the corner north-west of the Valley Inn bridge. Ospreys are common in this area. As well there are opportunities to catch Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and occasionally a Bald Eagle or Hawk in flight.
Valley Inn Drive is closed at Plains Road, so you have to enter from Spring Gardens, which runs behind the Royal Botanical Gardens off Plains Road. Follow Spring Gardens west until it ends at the Valley Inn parking lot.
From Valley Inn, you can follow the Hendrie Valley Trail. click her for map to the boardwalk to photograph small birds, such as chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, jays and catbirds.
Winter Spots
The ponds at Valley Inn freeze over in the winter, so there are no waterfowl there.
One of the best winter spots is the canal under the Burlington lift bridge. click her for map In winter it is filled with migratory arctic waterfowl like long-tailed ducks, scoters, scaups, merangsers, buffleheads and golden eye. There are good opportunities for in-flight shots at the east end of south bank of the canal near the lighthouse.
Two other good winters spots for waterfowl are Windermere Basin. click her for map (near the intersection of Eastport Drive and Woodward Avenue) and LaSalle Park click here for map (Go south on Waterdown Road to the marina.)
Resources
Please have a look at the Trillium Club’s Beginner’s Guide to Bird Photography click here written especially for this group.
Birding locations in the Hamilton Area: Hamilton Naturalists Club click here
For Bird identification, visit the Cornell Late of Ornithology click here or What Bird click here .
Free Merlin Bird ID App click here .
We encourage members to share photos via the Trillium Club Flickr Group Poolclick here .
E-mail us: [email protected]
Last updated: September 21, 2016