Enjoying Nature - Mountsberg Conservation Area

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Now that "busy season" at my office has reached its conclusion, I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you one of my favourite subjects to photograph: birds.

Living in the Hamilton area, there are many excellent places to go birding. These include:

Hendrie Valley
La Salle Park
Fifty Point
Cootes Paradise

While Hamilton is easily dismissed as an industrial town, there are many green spaces to enjoy with your family. On a suggestion from a friend, I moved slightly out of the boundaries of Hamilton to attend a "Raptors in Focus" event at the Mountsberg Conservation Area.

The Mountsberg Conservation Area is located in Campbellville and is easily accessible from Highway 401 (if you are coming from the GTA) or Highway 6. One of the main features of Mountsberg is the Raptor Centre. At the Raptor Centre, employees and volunteers of the Halton Conservation Authority care for various raptors that are no longer able to be released back into the wild. Many raptors are in care at the Centre and include owls, hawks, eagles, and falcons.

One of the more frequently appearing raptors, is a Great Horned Owl named Octavius.

Octavius, the Great Horned Owl
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The Raptor Centre holds various events to promote awareness and education of various birds of prey. Available with general admission to the park is access to the Birds of Prey shows. These occur regularly on the weekends at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. and at varying times during the week (depending on whether school is in session).

For those that are a bit more brave and have a few extra bucks, you can have a more private show by booking a Raptor Encounter. The Raptor Encounter allows you to have a personal introduction to some of the birds at the Centre. You may be able to experience some training or even hold one of the raptors!

On a monthly basis, the Centre holds a Raptors in Focus event. For a small fee, up to fifteen photographers can engage in a private photo shoot. During the hour-long event, four raptors are brought out and perched in a easy to photograph position. I attended two of these events this year. The first on March 29 and the second on May 31. It was a great experience and I believe that the results speak for themselves.

Echo, the Eastern Screech Owl - March 29, 2014
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While it was quite cool (okay, freezing) in March, the surroundings were quite picturesque and allowed for great contrast between the bird and the background. The weather was much more friendly on May 31 and allowed for some more exploration of the park after the event concluded.

Ayasha, the Golden Eagle - May 31, 2014
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If you ever wish to attend a Raptors in Focus event, I recommend bringing a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens of around 200mm or more. A tripod is not necessary but may be advisable if you use a heavier lens. A shameless plug, but you can see more of my Mountsberg photos on my Flickr page.

There are plenty of other activities to enjoy at Mountsberg which include observing the bison, watching the nesting birds from the blind at the reservoir, attending the maple syrup event, enjoying the surroundings, etc.

I hope that in reading this post, you feel a bit more inclined go out and enjoy more of what nature has to offer. Don't forget to share some of your photos, too! Feel free to use the linky below.

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