Backyard Birds

A few Sundays, the weather was nice for an outing (unlike today's grey and rainy pattern) but I didn't have enough time.  So I wandered the backyard and the gardens in the church.  Although there wasn't a lot of activity, I still saw a few different visitors.

A Chipping Sparrow has nested for the last year in our neighbour's big spruce tree.  It is quite vocal, all through the day. I got a nice close photo of it on a budding tulip tree. Chipping Sparrows look a lot like an American Tree Sparrow, but one distinguishing feature is they have a solid black bill, top and bottom. The American Tree Sparrow's bottom is light yellow.

Chipping Sparrow.

 Up in a Lynden tree, a Baltimore Oriole was busily catching bugs which were drinking the nectar from the blossoms. It was making a pretty good catch and was too busy to notice me.

Baltimore Oriole in Lynden Tree blossoms.

In our Crab Apple tree, I notice some movement and got only one or two pictures of what at that time I thought was a Eastern Wood Pewee. But I'm pretty sure this is a Flycatcher.  In that case, it is either a Willow or Alder Flycatcher. They are very hard to tell apart, the clearest distinction being their call. Since I didn't hear anything, I don't know.  I'd lean to the the Alder given the eye ring: according to this site http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/TraillsFlycatcher.htm that is a feature that can help with IDing.  If you don't know, apparently you call it simply by Trail Flycatcher, which is what it was called before they knew there were two species.

Trail's Flycatcher (maybe Alder?)

Till next time....
Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

A Grand River Trail Walk

I'm a bit behind, and spring has in fact finally come.  But back only about three weeks ago, it was the first Sunday with some warmer weather and I was itching to get out for a spring outing.  I headed straight west of St. George and at the end of Blue Lake Road, there is a hydro corridor which needs only a short three minute walk to bring you to the Cambridge-Paris Rail Trail.

Along this path, I spotted the energetic movement of a lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher** Ruby-crowned Kinglet weaving through the buds and catching small bugs. They are hard to capture in picture since they rarely pause to stay still.

** UPDATE
Thanks to Caleb for correcting me... We had a back and forth ID argument :), but he won pointing out the tail on the Blue-gray extends much further past the primary wing feathers).

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

I walked the path in both directions and didn't see a lot of birds.  I met an older gentlemen along the way who said he walks this stretch every day and he had the same conclusion for the day.  That didn't encourage me much.  I headed up the steps to the top of an abutment from a long abandoned railway bridge and scanned the river and surrounding horizon.  Out of the corner of my eye, swift movement caught my attention and I turned around just in time to see a Sharp-shinned Hawk land about 30 or so meters away in a large Oak tree. It had some half eaten prey in its grasp which I hoped it would calmly eat there - often hawks will permit you closer when they're distracted by their meal.

Sharp-shinned Hawk with prey.

However, he quickly noticed me and I slowly lifted my camera hoping it would not be spooked.  Despite my careful efforts, I was able to get only a few shots before it took off again across to the opposite and upstream side of the river for a more private dining location I assume.

Sharp-shinned Hawk leaving.

Sharp-shinned Hawk departing.

Before turning to head back down to the trail, my ear caught the scolding call of a Kingfisher and I took a distant shot of it across the river.

Belted Kingfisher

I didn't see much else that afternoon, and spent about half of my time chatting with the same older gentleman mentioned earlier. It's interesting the people you meet while out and about. There are so many people who have the impulse to say hi because I'm walking around with the larger than normal lens.  Some times I have to admit, I'd rather keep walking and exploring, but it is enjoyable to meet people from so many different walks of life and to hear their stories. Many people have their own exciting bird finds they've made either recently or in the past and its nice to share the memory and show interest in their finds.

Walking back to the car, I was followed by a friendly Chipping Sparrow which had recently arrived from the south replacing the very similar looking American Tree Sparrow which made a very big showing this winter in Southern Ontario.  The most of the latter bird have headed north to mate and raise young. The quickest way to tell the difference between the two birds is to note that the Chipping Sparrow has a completely black bill where the American Tree Sparrow's bottom portion is yellow.

Chipping Sparrow

Well, spring is definitely here, and as I write this post, a good old thunderstorm is passing through. The next few days are forecasted to be filled with rain, so I doubt I'll be out birding.  But I have some fun stuff to show from a recent trip to the State of Washington, so stay posted for another post.

Till then...
Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

From Firewood to Birds

A few Saturdays ago I was cutting up a dead tree along a busy road, and a driver did a u-turn, stopped, and got out.  He approached asked if the place was mine?  Uh oh! No, but it was in the ditch so I figured it was fair game, was my reply, wondering if I was going to be challenged on my ability to claim it. Turns out he wanted me to cut up a tree where he lives, and I could have the majority of it for my favour to him in cutting it up.

I did both of us the favour and got a good trailer load of nice dry Elm.  They live on a large tree farm, with a 2 acre, fish stocked irrigation pond, and immediately I started noticing all the birds around.  I had to make a run back for lunch with my original load of wood, and with the gentleman's permission and encouragement, returned with my camera as well.  After the "work" (cutting firewood is the fun part!) of cutting the tree down, chasing a Yellow-rumped Warbler around some big willow trees.

male Yellow-rumped Warbler

male Yellow-rumped Warbler

male Yellow-rumped Warbler (here you can see the yellow rump)

male Yellow-rumped Warbler

Next I headed to the pond where a group of probably about a hundred mixed swallows were hunting.  On the way, a Chipping Sparrow stopped to preen allowed me to approach quite closely for a nice picture.

Chipping Sparrow

On to the Swallows... you'd think with that many flying about, I'd have captured at least one or two good flight pictures.  Harder than it seems - though I did start learning some tricks by the end.  Zoom out and let the bird come into view, rather than trying to zoom to extents and show them farther away.  My first intuition was that it would be easier for the latter, to follow and capture, but it wasn't in my experience.

female Tree Swallow

male Barn Swallow

I was trying so hard to capture the white tail feathers on the barn swallow.  When it fans its tail out, there is a band of white that shows, and almost looks translucent.  You can see it in the picture above, but it's more displayed (maybe not more visible here) in the picture below.

male Tree Swallow (l) male Barn Swallow (r)

three Swallow species: male Barn Swallow (background), Bank Swallow? (mid),

male Tree Swallow (foreground)

male Tree Swallow

male Barn Swallow

As I headed up past the farm house, the lady of the house pointed out a nesting bird in a hanging basket she had left when she noticed the eggs in it.  A House Finch pair has set up home there.  I'm a little perplexed though... the closeup shows what I'm guessing are little larvae of some sort, but the eggs would not have hatched yet, and so I'm not sure why the male would be there with a delivery of food.  Could it be that its infected somehow with a parasite? Anyone know anything about this at all?

House Finch on hanging basket nest.

(note the tiny larvae on the closeup on the left)

After thanking the kind homeowners, I spotted the Chipping Sparrow again.  It was searching for bugs in the grass lawn, and passed behind a large tree.  Anticipating it moving in the same direction, I took the opportunity to quickly sneak up close with the tree blocking my approach.  It came into view just as I thought and gave some nice full frame pictures and didn't seem to mind my presence.

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

On my way out the lane way, I had to stop once more for a male Brown-headed Cowbirds that was posing on the tipsy fence of the neighbouring farmer, and then it joined it's mate in the corn stubbled field.

male Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown-headed Cowbird pair

I saw a few other birds that I have now forgotten with the passage of time.  I hope to get a chance to pop out there again some time as I'm sure there are more to discover.

Thanks very much Brant or the opportunity to wander around your place.  I'll be sure to "warn" you first if/when I come again, if not only to keep your "killer" Jack Russells off of me. :)

Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

A Morning with Dad at Ruthven

On May 19th, Jordan, son number two, got his long awaited one-on-one time with Dad for an outing as we headed to Ruthven for bird banding morning.  Jordan's turn was overdue with Andrew's having happened back in December.  Jordan had often reminded me but neither of us had come up with what he wanted to do.  When Pete Scholten (moderator of Hamilton Birders group) let me know of the event Ruthven was holding, I suggested it to Jordan and he was quite excited about the idea of being able to hold birds and release them.  I was not at all pushing the idea as it's supposed to be something they want to do.  But it sure is nice if they want to find interest in something we can share over the years.

---Creation of this post interrupted by neighbourhood fire!---

Shed Fire

Nothing like a fire to get the neighbourhood out onto the street on a quiet Sunday evening.  While working on this post, I heard a good bang ("Really, not more fireworks again?") and then two very large bangs outside ("That was definitely not fireworks!").  It sounded like the back gate on a dump truck slamming shut just outside the house.  I grabbed my phone and headed quickly out the door.  When outside I could hear the crackle of fire and black smoke just starting to heading upwards into the darkening evening sky.  As it was definitely more than a crazy backyard campfire, I called 911 but had already been beaten by what I later found out was the neighbour just next door who obviously knew something was not right.  Thankfully no one was hurt or injured from what was "only" a shed on fire about 10 houses down.  The neighbours are guessing it might have been an ancient John Deer riding mower the shed owner uses and keeps there.  As for the large explosions, we could only guess at gas tanks exploding or the tires, maybe propane tanks?  Needless to say it had the entire street outside.  Our kids were sleeping already and will likely be quite upset tomorrow when they find out they missed it.

...back to the post ...actually, completion delayed till the next day 

Ruthven is a beautiful park in the form of a land trust donated from the Thompson family who had built a large mansion on the bank of the Grand River just north of Cayuga.  You can read about the history and the programs here.  Aside from the bird banding which happens in spring and fall, there are mansion tours and nice grounds with trails for walking through the Carolinian forest and along the Grand River.

We arrived at about 7:30 in the morning on good advice from Pete that the best hours were before 10am. The staff were already busily untangling a bird from the mist nets strung up all over the grounds. 

Pete Scholtens removing a bird from the mist nets.

The birds are thoroughly examined and identified, and then banded with a unique number which traces them back to this birding station.  They rank their health, measure them up, look for ticks, weigh them and keep a record of the bird for future reference.

Bird banding in process with the tools of
the trade in the foreground.

They had just finished banding a Magnolia Warbler which Jordan got to hold and release.

Jordan about to release a Magnolia Warbler

Of note, this little bird doesn't get to be added to my life list count.  The accepted "rules" are that the bird has to be seen in the wild and be free.  Getting caught in a mist net isn't really free!

Peter took Jordan and I and a few others on a hike along the Grand River trail where we enjoyed the perfect weather and sites and sounds of lots of birds.  Purple Martins (life bird) were noisily circling over some colony houses, nesting material being flown in for accommodation building.

female and male Purple Martins

female Purple Martin

A pair of Tree Swallows (life birds) were sunning on top of their nest box.  The iridescent blue wings contrast so vividly with the snowy white underparts on the male.

female and male Tree Swallows

We headed down the bank to the river and walked through the pink Dame's Rockets.  We first heard and then saw a Belted Kingfisher flying very high up, and I sighted a Red-headed woodpecker (life bird) flying up river.  Peter pointed out a Eastern Wood-Pewee (another life bird), and we saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker emptying a old tree knot of nesting material.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

An Indigo Bunting was seen by the rest of our group, but not by me.  For some reason, there have been a number of times that I've been places when others have see this bird, but it seems to allude me!

Jordan on the trail.

When we returned there were more birds to release.  A Red-bellied Woodpecker female was busy pecking at a staff worker's finger.  If you open up the picture and view it larger, you can actually see the serrated tip of it's tongue which it has to snag and pull out bugs from with the little holes it chisels in the trees.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Jordan got to see a Chipping Sparrow up close. Along with House Sparrows, these are fairly common in your back yard in Southern Ontario, but nice to see up close.

Chipping Sparrow

Here is a series of burst shots of Jordan releasing the sparrow converted into a GIF.  I love his face on about the 3rd frame.  He did this for every release. :)

Jordan releases a Chipping Sparrow into the bushes behind him.

A Gray Catbird was Jordan's last release.

Learning the bird-bander's hold.

Releasing a Gray Catbird

Ruthven is definitely a place to return to and from what I've seen so far, looks like a great place for a family for a day outing.  I hope to come back with the whole family some time soon.  The park staff encourage bringing the kids to see the banding.  Nice to see how good they were with the kids.

Jordan was very excited to tell of his fun when he returned home, confirming that it had been fun day for him, as well as for me.  Justin's up next.