Presentation This Week

It has been a busy bird-count (and holiday) season, so I haven't had much time to edit photos or post to the blog recently.  All told I have done 3 Christmas Bird Counts, one Christmas Bird Count for Kids and the Guelph Arboretum Winter Bird Count.  Counting birds is just so much fun!  Highlights of the counts were as follows:

-one Common Raven on the Port Hope count (this was a very slow day, so highlights were hard to come by!)
-two Iceland Gulls on the Guelph count (both gorgeous adults)
-one Merlin on the Guelph CBC4Kids (mostly notable because the participants got excellent looks!)
-one Great Black Back x Herring Gull hybrid on the CBC4Kids (this was less exciting for the children)
-one Ring-necked Pheasant on the Rice Lake Plains count (almost certainly a game-farm escapee, but still cool!)
-one Brown Thrasher and one Barred Owl on the Arb Winter Bird Count (thrasher in winter...WEIRD!)
-good numbers of Common Redpolls and Bohemian Waxwings all round

If you didn't count this year, be sure to do it next year - even a slow day of bird-counting is tons of fun!

On a more tropical note, I will be delivering my Madagascar presentation this coming Thursday for the Guelph Field Naturalists.  The meeting is at 7:30 at the Arboretum Centre and it is open to the public, so come on by!  Here are a couple of teasers:

Perinet Chameleon (Calumma gastrotaenia)

Unnamed Frog (Platypelis barbouri)

Hope to see you there!
Kyle