The Annual Summer Lodge Post

Well, I'm doing this post about two and a half months after actually taking most of the pictures on our annual summer vacation up north with my wife's family.  I'm getting further behind and taking less pictures than ever these days! Oh well...

One of the first things I do when we get there, well birding wise anyway, is to listen and look for the Merlins which nest and raise young every year on the opposite edge of lake where my in-law's cottage is.  Last year I noticed, with significant chagrin that the new owners of the cottage with the big old white pine tree which hosted the Merlin nest had been cut down.  I wondered if this year they'd still be around.  I was happy to notice them quite soon, and even more pleased that they seem to be spending more time on "our" side of the lake.  In the morning one day, one of the young ones spent a few moments in a snag not far from our beach.  It tolerated me for long enough to get a couple picture from a bad angle below, and headed out with its trademark "kalee kalee" call.

juvenile Merlin against blue sky.

My dear wife is agreeable to me heading out for a good chunk of a day that week, and I made a circuit of a few spots I've started to have success with over the years.  Tait Lake almost always gives good views of a Loon pair that nests there yearly.  I wasn't disappointed this trip either. 

Common Loon on Tait Lake

Common Loon

Common Loon

I only got one short bit of time though with some close up shots and the loon decided I was not good company and dove to a more distant section of the lake. While wandering around after, the calm morning water doubled the presence of some Mallard females.  They were different sizes, so I wonder if some were juveniles that hatched early in the spring and gotten all their adult plumage already.

female Mallard ducks

As I stood along the bank, I noticed something foraging right along the water's edge, hidden by the foilage growing in a short little undercut the water had made in the sandy bank.  At first I didn't really pay it much attention, but as it continued slowly along, I got curious, for some reason expecting it to be a Starling or something of that sort.  But as I approached, I saw it wasn't a bird at all.  Two black little beady eyes met mine on a dark furry face that froze as I did.  We both looked at each other wondering what would be next.  I knew if I moved it would be gone, but longed to get my camera up.  The weasel moved first and dove into the water for a getaway.  I had to clear some scrub and by the time I got my camera on it, it had made a surprising amount of headway meaning more distant picture. 

Weasel swimming across the lake.

A new mammal on the animal list though!  Because I didn't get more than a partially hidden view on land, and only the view of a wet back in the water, I can't say which of the two larger, darker species it was.  We have three weasels here in Southern Ontario, but I believe it was either a Long-tailed or Short-tailed Weasel. It was too dark and large to be a Least Weasel.

I headed on to Eagle's Nest to walk the Christie Trail loop. (I recently found a better link to a map for the park)  I didn't see a lot this time, but still got a few pictures. My first sighting along the trail to the Hawk Lookout was a Flicker.  Usually, you hear their scolding call first before you have a chance to see them.  However, this one seemed to eye me carefully first, let me take a partially impaired photo, and then beat a noisy retreat.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker

A teasing Hermit Thrush stayed just a head of me as headed to the Christie Trail and gave me only a few chances for an partial view for a picture.

Hermit Thrush

As I finished the walk along the trail which winds through the lower elevations and more open forest, a White-breasted Nuthatch was foraging along the tree bark and caught a caterpillar for a meal.

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

On my way back to the lodge, I stopped one more time at Tait Lake and this time both the loons were back in the small bay by the road.  I stopped and flushed one of the loons into the air as I got out.  That is strange as their preferred method is to dive as they do not get airborne easily. It made a long, running takeoff necessary to get this water loving bird out of the water.  They are actually very fast flyers, reaching speeds faster than most birds, but they need a very long takeoff to get into the air, "running" on the water's top for quite a ways to aid in gaining speed.  The first loon circled back over me again and I managed to get one half decent shot as it zipped by.

Common Loon fly by.

Not long after its mate took off, the other decided to follow suit, too quick for me to change my camera settings leaving me with only a few salvageable shots.

Common Loon takeoff

Common Loon takeoff

Common Loon take off

Although quite blurry, I kind of like this shot from right at the beginning of the takeoff.

Common Loon takeoff

Back at the Lodge there were other sights to see too.  Almost every summer, we experience one night when there is a emerging of flying ants.  They dig out of their underground habitations and take wing.  There to capitalize on the event are hundreds of dragon flies.  It's quite a sight.  Some years are more intense than others, and this year the numbers were not quite as big as other years.

Flying ants emerging and taking to the skies.

A nephew and I rigged a net and caught of few of the dragonflies to look at up close.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Other insects inhabit the lodge grounds as well... I couldn't determine what type of grasshopper this was.

Grasshopper species.

A new butterfly landed just long enough to let me take a blurry picture while it took a quick "sip" from the sand.  I also could not tell what type it was for sure.  It think it is a Duskywing Butterfly.  Dwayne, do you know which one it is?

Juvenal's Duskywing Butterly (thanks Dwayne!)

Later that week, visiting our former Pastor and his wife who were vacationing on the opposite side of the lake the same week, I spotted one of the Merlin again. 

Merlin

Merlin

Don't hold your breath till the next post... my track record would prove to put you on the floor passed out.  But we'll see if I can't close the gap a bit.

Till then...
Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

Merlin Pair - Hamilton Mountain

A few weeks ago we had a couple from church over for a Sunday evening visit.  In conversation it came up that there was a Merlin pair and nest in a big Spruce tree just down the road from them.  A couple days later, I made my way up the "mountain" to see if I could find the nest and the birds.

Knowing the birds were most likely to nest in a big coniferous tree of some kind, the first big Spruce tree in the area was the first clue and turned out to be the one.  Although not easily visible, there's a nest in the top of the tree.

female Merlin

 At first I only saw the one Merlin, and it was in a big silver maple tree that was in full flower.  But the tree was in the middle of all the backyards, and not possible to get any closer to.

female Merlin calling

female Merlin wing stretch

European Starling buzzing female Merlin

The nest tree is located here in the large spruce tree in front of the house on the NW corner of Howe Ave & E 17 Street.  If you go to see it, please be respectful of both the homeowners (I try to knock on the door first before standing in front of someone's house with a camera!) and the birds themselves.  Merlin don't usually nest till May or June, so this pair is either returning to an old nest, or got an early start.

Merlin nest tree

As I was standing by the tree, the female landed and eyed me for a while.  I was surprised how close she let me stand without either taking off, or protesting at me.

female Merlin in nest tree

When she did take off, I followed her flight to where she joined her mate in some taller trees in other backyards.  The home owner was outside there and graciously welcomed me down her driveway to get a closer view.

the Merlin pair (male top, female bottom)

Notice the size difference... this is typical for most raptors and owls in that the female is often about a third larger than the male.

the male Merlin flies in

Female Merlin trying to catch the male's eye.

female Merlin

female Merlin all plumped up for preening

I aim to return there later when, hopefully, there are some young ones flying about.

A big thanks to Doug and Vanessa for letting me know they were there!

Keep enjoying His handiwork!

Shots from the Lodge Part 2

Last year at the Lodge, a pair of Merlins were nesting just across the lake from the Lodge, and the klee-klee-klee call of the adults and two juveniles were heard often.  We saw them wheeling in the sky and saw them a number of times, once close enough for pictures once we found the nest.  This year I was hoping to see them again, but the sky was empty of their cries.

However, at the end of my Monday trip out by Tait Lake I suddenly heard the distinct calls of Merlin.  I tracked them down to a stick nest in a huge White Pine in the backyard of a cottage of someone who lives, ironically, not more than 10 minutes from our place.  Though they had heard the birds all summer (and from the residents, sounds like they've nested there three years now), they didn't know what it was and had never spotted the nest, so they gladly gave me permission to hang out there for a short while in exchange for my service of information.  This nest is about 3.5km (as the crow flies) from the nest site by the Lodge.  I wonder if one of the Merlin from these either of the nests is an offspring from the other.  I was surprised to find active (at the very least last year they would have been active together) nests that close.

This was my first sighting -
Juvenile Merlin close to getting its first year plumage.

While taking pictures, I noticed the wing of a woodpecker (compared to the pine needles, likely a Downy Woodpecker), the only remains of a meal.  The male, who does most of the food provision during nesting period and before the young fledge, probably surprised the prey using its characteristic attack from above hunting style.

A Merlin's supper remains of a woodpecker.

Adult Merlin

I think there was still another juvenile in the nest as the adult paid a good deal of attention to it.  Possibly one or more of the birds hadn't fledged yet as that time of year would be right around the time they normally would do so.

Adult Merlin watching nest.

Later in the week, I took an early evening cruise in the canoe around Lily Lake, the shallower lakes by the Lodge.  This lake has more gradual topography along its edges with swampy fringes and gradual banks.  That is in contrast to Rock Lake (the connected lake where the Lodge is) which is rimmed with rock cliffs and steep banks.

Sunset on Lilly Lake showing the
Lake's typical surroundings.

While doing my slow circuit of the Lake's perimeter, I saw and heard a conversation between, what sounded like two Chipping Sparrows.  Approaching it from the water, I managed to get relatively close, and get a few pictures.  Later, when looking through the pictures, I was pleased to discover that it was a Swamp Sparrow though.  That is life bird #92.  Its pulsing chip is very similar to that of the Chipping Sparrow, and from a distance, its appearance is too.  But the habitat of swampy areas rather than grassy openings was a good clue, and from some research, found out that the "chipping" rate of the Swamp Sparrow's call is somewhat slower.

Swamp Sparrow

Through out my circuit of the lake I had heard the raspy grate of a Raven calling continuously.  I couldn't see it anywhere, though at one point I thought I saw a dark spot in a tree and took the picture shown below, but figured it was nothing.  Later I found out it was... a little later I approached the closest shore and got out to see if the boggy plant material on the edge would support my weight for a better vantage point.  The Raven flew out of the spot I had wondered about.  I hadn't added this bird to my life list earlier, but figured I'd insert it at the bottom as this is really when I saw it first - up north when I worked in Northern Ontario for a summer during university)  It then bumps my list numbers up.  But this was the first photograph opportunity, if you can call a black blob in a picture a photographed bird?

Common Raven
(look for the black blob 1/3 of the way up)
(and this is a cropped view at that!)

With the light waning with the sun already behind the trees, I headed back to Rock Lake to join the rest of the gang for and evening of games and snacks.  As I canoed along the edge of Rock Lake, I noticed a bird foraging along the ground, moving across fallen tree trunks and through the low brush.  I never got a close look but it looked like a thrush of some sort.  By the time I slowed the canoe, put my paddle down, and camera up, I had no chance for a picture as the bird soon headed for cover. Right after that I noticed what I figured were Chickadees busy higher up in the Cedars and Pine branches, flitting from little branch to little branch.  But thankfully, I lingered and a flash of yellow made it obvious this was not the common bird I had assumed.  Quickly switching to ISO 3200! and shutter speed of 1/50, I hoped I could capture enough light for a picture to at least ID the bird.  As I clicked away, a second bird appeared, and I'm assuming it was a pair I saw as the markings are somewhat different - the angles of the pictures on the birds are different so hard to be sure.  The pictures below is what I got with some lighting, cropping and sharpening editing. It's obvious enough from the pictures though that they were Yellow-rumped Warblers, Myrtle variety.  Another life bird - #93!

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - female?

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - male?

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - female?

I must say, this bird was one of the most exciting finds of the week.  It took me a little while to ID it up at the lodge - all I had was my Android version of Sybley's on my phone, though later in the night I did go on the internet (on my phone) and peruse through Cornell's website (a resource I love to use) and finally figured it out. 

So that left my week, so far, at 4 life birds if I count the Raven given it did change my list.  And I saw more...  So, I'm going to leave the rest for a third post so I don't bore you with a long drawn out one here.

I hope you are all enjoying the nice summer weather, and if you live in Southern Ontario, finally some significant rainfall.  I'm off to a wedding tomorrow of a girl from church who's dad is a farmer.  I'm sure they're having mixed feelings about the desire for rain for the crops and no rain for the wedding!

Till next time...

July at the Lodge and Young's Point

Well, vacation is over for the summer, back from my second time up at the Lodge in Bancroft.  Although shorter for me, we had a great time with Holly's side of the family.  It was cooler than the record highs of our previous stint in Bancroft, which meant a little less water activities.  But a great time with relaxing and even construction of a new swing over the water.

Still sharing pictures with you from my week with my family in July...  I got to see and get some pictures of what really are my favourite group of wildlife, raptors.  They are hard to photograph, having such great eye sight, and having a preference to be left alone for the most part.

When we arrived that week, I quickly noticed characteristic, piercing cries of a raptor.  Soon I located the source, across the lake three falcon-like figures, rolling and diving, chasing and then fleeing from each other with great speed.  A couple years back I remembered having gotten quite close to a young falcon/hawk (didn't get close enough to see which), and recognized the cry as being similar.  

Not wanting to be accused of disappearing right away from family vacation time, I put it off for a number of days into the holiday.  On one of our last days, I noticed I had not heard the sound of the birds, which is a persistent "kee, kee, kee", somewhat reminiscent of a killdeer.  I was afraid I had waited to long.  One of my brothers, Dan and I thought we'd see if we could find what we guessed would be a nest site in the large pine which they seemed to frequent most of the time.  After about an hour of hiking in the bush on that side of the lake, and not finding the nest, patience finally paid off, not because of a skillful search, but with the tell-tale cries coming nearer and nearer.  We came down from the ridge we were on, and walking on, Dan spotted the first, then the second juvenile Merlin, quite grown up already.  The one didn't hang around long, but the other decided to take a nap there.  I had to stop short of banging pots and pans to get it to open its eyes for some photographs - well, not quite.  You can see it sleeping in the third of the photo-strip picture below.

Juvenile Merlin

Spreading, Scratching, Snoozing, Stretching Juvenile Merlin

On the way back to the Lodge, my brother spotted the nest, in one of the big pines on the lot of one of the cottages across the lake from us.  It was much closer to the water than I had thought.  Recent talk in Holly's family might mean that we'll be back next year in July, which might mean another attempt to get a little closer to the young.  I'd love to try and get into one of the nearby trees to get a nest view, but don't think that will be possible.  

Merlin Nest

I posted some facts about Merlin when I saw my first one in Myrtle Beach this past winter.

For the last 10 years or so, we've come home from the Lodge through Young's Point which is about 25km north of Peterborough on Hwy 28.  Almost every time we pass, there is an Osprey sitting on a nesting platform on top  of a hydro pole, just beside the bridge which crosses the Trent-Severn Waterway (near lock 27).  Well, when you're either 3/4 of the way on a four hour trip with kids in the back, and getting close to the cottage, or, finally finished packing, got the kids settled in the back, and no longer asking if we're almost home... you don't get much more than the glance through the windshield and then maybe the side mirror.  This time, I dared to ask :) as I was sure my brother Dan would want stop as well, and we were graciously "granted" a quick dash to the bridge by our wives.  I assured it wouldn't be longer than 5 minutes....though how do those minutes always somehow stretch to 10 or 15 ?!?  I think we didn't do too badly though.

Osprey nest with Adult and Juvenile

As we approached, the adult on the left sounded a warning, and the juvenile (though already as large as the adult) quickly disappeared out of site in the nest.  The parent took off and warily circled, higher, then lower, around us as we walked nearer to the nest.

Osprey circling as we approached the nest

Osprey are large raptors, with wing spans of up to 6ft that feed almost exclusively on fish.  They will watch with amazing eyesight, for a fish in a lake, stream, or river, and then dive, often from great heights, and pull up, feet first to grip their prey, sometimes fully submerging themselves under the water to reach their quarry.  They have unique feet compared to other hawks, with one toe being able to pivot backwards or forwards to assist the other rear toe, extending long, sharp talons into slippery, scaly fish.  As they climb up from the water's surface, sometimes with a fish weighing as much as they do, they will arrange the catch to be head first, a more aerodynamic position reducing the effort required gain altitude again and head back to the nest.

The osprey was also designed with special legs compared to most raptors; they are much more heavily muscled, longer to reach deep into the water (up to 3 feet) and covered with very thick feathers to help cushion the impact as they hit the water during the speedy dives to surprise and catch the fish.

An interesting link with more information (and some of the information above) can be found here: 

http://www.cvps.com/osprey/facts-feeding.shtml

Soaring Osprey

If time had allowed the adult might have gotten more trusting and landed on the nest to allow for closer shots.  However, after the 5 minutes (likely 10) we walked back, turning around to get some pictures of it landing to assure junior again. 

Osprey landing at the nest.