Bird Feeder Highlights

It looks like Winter is in its last throes... we've had some relatively warm weather here in Southern Ontario, but sub-zero nights have returned with some pretty heavy snow squalls making Spring weather seem a distant notion, and not weeks away.  In fact one afternoon at work, a co-worker and I sat in my office looking out the window in awe as the snow flake clumps visibly grew to small saucers.  They were massive - I'm sure some were 10cm across and definitely the largest I've ever seen.  Although I wished I had had a camera, I'd have missed it anyway, the scene only lasted a few minutes.

This fall the bird feeders went up again, and I added a $10 finch feeder from Canadian Tire to the other little hopper feeder which hangs from the clothes line.  For the finch feeder, I mounted it on an old weathered post and "grafted" tree twigs so when they landed prior to feeding, a natural picture scene might be available.

Before the snow fell, a caught sight of a very shy Carolina Wren skittering through the shrubs under the bird feeder.  I've only seen one of these down south, so it was nice to actually have this bird visit our backyard!  Unfortunately, it's very hard to get a good picture as my experience is that they are extremely shy.  This picture is actually through the sliding door of our kitchen.

Carolina Wren

The biggest hit were some Common Redpolls which found the Nyjer seeds.  I had only seen cute these birds for the first time this year and was very pleasantly surprised to find them at our feeder!

Common Redpoll

The rest are the more common variety, of House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, House Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, and Mourning Doves.

male House Finch

Dark-eyed Junco

male House Sparrow in Pin Cherry treee

male American Goldfinch in winter plumage

Male House Sparrow huddling in the protection of the hedge.

We have a Crab Apple tree in the backyard which the House Finches love once the warm sun unfreezes them enough for them to eat some of the fruit.

female House Finch

male House Finch eating Crab Apple fruit

male Northern Cardinal

One feeder I never ended up putting up this year was a suet log made with the boys last year.  I put it off for some reason and never got around to making/getting suet and putting it up.  Thus the reason for the missing woodpeckers which we have seen years before.  Next winter.

Spring is on its way though.  The last week has seen sightings of hundreds of Tundra Swans flying north - a beautiful sight.  I never had my camera with me so have yet to catch the scene on camera.

I'm quite excited with the hope to be getting a new lens... I've been waiting, saving, and searching for a used lens for quite a while.  Right now I'm playing phone and email tag with a lady out in Ajax who has committed to save a used Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG APO OS HSM lens for me that she had up for sale on Kijiji.  We are doing a trip with the family out that way in two weeks and I hope she still has it for me and that it's in good shape.  I'll be sure to provide an update at that point if the deal is done. 

LaSalle's Waterbirds

Last week my Aunt emailed me that the Trumpeter swans were doing their courtship displays down at LaSalle beach in Burlington.  There is quite a gaggle of Trumpeters which has been overwintering on this beach for a few years now, part of a reintroduction program which seems to be having some success.  Almost all of the swans are wing tagged (not the nicest for picture taking) with a large number of them being juveniles which is a good sign. I'm not sure exactly when they start the more typical displays in the water, but they were definitely raising quite the ruckus and a number of them were imitating each other, bobbing their heads in sync.

Trumpeter Swan

juvenile Trumpeter Swan

While we were there, one of the swans was obviously injured, limping and being generally picked on.  I felt bad for it, but didn't think to do anything, figuring that's just the nature of things that happens in the wild.  My Aunt emailed me yesterday telling me  that she saw it again the next day and after quite an ordeal by one of the regular swan feeders, and then SPCA, they removed a lure which was caught in the swan's foot webbing.  Because it was so weak, they were planning to send it to the Toronto Wildlife Centre.  Lesson learned - call in an injured bird.

There were lots of other water birds there as well though.  I had hoped to see some new ducks that everyone else seems to report but never end up being there when I manage to visit.  A number of American Black ducks were swimming amongst the habitual Mallard ducks.

American Black Duck

And there were a few American Coots diving for snacks in the cold water.  However, there were three on the beach is not something I'm used to seeing.  They were hunting the sand for bugs I guess.  They let me get uncharacteristically quite close, possibly emboldened by all the mallards and swans which would let you pass within a meter.

American Coot

In the photo below, you can see their distinctive feet.  They don't have webbed feet because they aren't ducks.  They are actually related more to cranes and rails (read more here).  The lobes on their feet lay flat when they are walking through muddy flats or trying to dive, but fold back when they walk.  Quite an interesting design.

American Coots

There were only a few scattered Buffleheads diving off shore.

diving Bufflehead

Now, to my surprises.  I was actually taking the picture below of the female Greater Scaup as it swam through the other mixed group.  Upon examination of the picture at home, I realized that what looked like a female Mallard is actually a female Gadwall.

Canada Goose (left), two female Gadwalls Mallards (very top and centre),
two male Mallards (top right), female Greater Scaup (bottom)

What clued me in really, was this picture below.  I had thought this was just another Scaup, but realized that the colourings on the front and sides were not right.  It's a Gadwall. (life bird #108) The bill is slightly more slender, and dark.

male Gadwall

So going through the pictures again, I discovered I had another shot of something also interesting... a Mallard Gadwall hybrid (see well documented discussion here), along side a female Gadwall.  Apparently Mallards  breed with other ducks much more prevalently than other ducks.

male Mallard Gadwall Hybrid and female Gadwall  (Thanks Joanne R!)
American Black Duck

UPDATE: Joanne Redwood graciously pointed out the above corrections to me.  Though I'm not sure about one... she thought maybe the above hybrid might be a Mallard - Am. Black Duck.  But it has the "barred" feathers of the Gadwall.  Any thoughts anyone?  Joanne also pointed out that the Mallard Gadwall hybrid is commonly referred to as  Brewer's Duck, though I don't believe it is recognized as a species.

I had hoped to see something new for once here, had gone home disappointed, but was pleasantly surprised later.

My Aunt and I strolled the trail a bit and I was struck by the absence of birds.  It was a blustery day, but usually there are still quite a few birds out in this area.  We did see a few of the usual Chickadees and a Junco or two, and later one Downy Woodpecker, but not much more.  After I mentioned that though, we were treated to a close encounter with a pair of Norther Cardinals, the female much more vain and sat posing for a long time for some pictures, even holding out till the sun broke out for a few minutes.  Her husband was much more suspicious and stuck to the higher branches, giving no opportunity for incriminating photos.

female Northern Cardinal

female Northern Cardinal

What there were lots of squirrels... big fat healthy ones living off the goodwill intended for the birds who are often hand fed by walkers.  I think this one was actually eating a natural snack of Sumac fruit.

Grey Squirrel

I'll have to come back for another lunch walk here again, and this time scan the birds more carefully, not counting on catching pictures of new birds by accident.  I guess I should have put the binoculars you gave me M & D and put them to proper use!

Valley Inn Road

For the first time in many weeks, I headed out for a lunch hour with my camera and binoculars for a quick trip to Valley Inn Road.  I didn't end up seeing anything new, but did get some nice opportunities for pictures.  It was quite heavily overcast, so the lighting wasn't great, forcing me to bump the ISO on the camera up to 400 for most shots... I was actually quite pleased with the results considering.

There were lots of Chickadees and Juncos there.  The Chickadees were literally landing on both me and my camera hoping for a handout. The Juncos though avoided me, scurrying away on the ground into the goldenrod, or winging into the brush with their characteristic flash of white from their outside tail feathers.  I never even got one shot of them.  Some day.

Black-capped Chickadee feeding on Sumac fruit.

Black-capped Chickadee perched on Sumac.

There were three Downy Woodpeckers playing a game of tag in the trees along the pond's edge.  They were hiding on opposite sides of trees and then skittering around the trunks, trying to catch the other off guard - quite amusing to watch and hard to capture in picture!

Downy Woodpeckers playing.

Male Downy Woodpecker

I skirted around a pond to see if I could get a better view of a small group of ducks including Mallards, Northern Shovellers, and a single Hooded Merganser, but I ran out of time.  Along the way, the Chickadees followed me, and I saw a Sparrow which I'm sure if a Song Sparrow, possibly a first winter bird.  I also saw a White-throated Sparrow.  Isn't it odd how you can go forever without seeing a bird, and then once you've found it (last post), you see it again soon after?  Odd.

Black-capped Chickadee

1st Winter Song Sparrow?

White-throated Sparrow

Following me also were the Downy Woodpeckers.  They were surprisingly bold and not at all shy.

Female Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy Woodpecker

There were about three or four female Cardinals eating some sort of berries in the trees.  I'm not used to seeing that many cardinals together.  And often when you see a female, a male is present somewhere - not this time.

Female Northern Cardinal

I stopped in at Woodland Cemetery on may way out, hoping that this would finally be my day to see the Red Morph Screech Owl that lives there.  I've stopped many times and never seen it.  I had met a gentleman on my way out from Valley Inn and he had mentioned he had seen again recently, so I had to give it another try. Nothing again.  However, looking over the inlet of Grindstone Creek to Hamilton Harbour (where the Valley Inn area is) I noticed some Great Black-backed gulls.  They weren't close, but I thought it was still an improvement on an earlier, distant picture from back in December, 2011 - almost exactly a year ago.  Turns out, my previous shot is closer. 

Great Black-backed Gulls (left)

I hope to do some more birding and outings over the next while... that was the longest stretch I've gone in a long while but home, work, and church had been very busy lately.  I have a huge pile of firewood on my driveway that has to get split this Christmas holidays, so not sure what will happen this week.  I am still trying to debate whether to go on the Christmas Bird Count on Boxing Day.  I've been down with a cold this weekend so we'll have to see how that figures into the mix as well.

To end this point, here's wishing you all a very Blessed Christmas.  I hope you're all enjoying some time off with family and friends!  We'll see if I get a reason to post again before the New Year.

The Bees and the Birds

No worries, this is not a "birds and the bees" post.  I changed the order for a reason.

Neighbouring two sides of our place is church property. On one side is a parking lot on which our kids are all one by one learning to trust that two wheels will in fact hold them up. Behind us is a very beautiful garden full of flowering perennials and trees.  We get to enjoy the benefit of the view with someone else maintaining it. There is always lots of  bird activity, and although mostly of the common kind, it's still fun on a Sunday afternoon when the rain stops and the sun peeps out to see what is there to see. I had noticed lately a pair of Cardinals persistently perching and singing and frequently giving off their "tink" alarm calls. It seemed very likely that there was a nest in the area. Until a couple days ago, my search had not been successful. I found it in a standard of some sort in the middle of the garden with only one young one in the nest.  

View of the gardens from our backyard (quickly snapped on my new phone)

But, since the order of my post title was purposely switched, I have to show some bumblebee pictures first. This bumblebee is loaded with pollen.  In the first picture you can see the pollen flying off it in the air as it had just "settled" down on this location.

Bumblebee laden with pollen - you can see the pollen in the air above

Bumblebee on Greater Meadow Rue

When I got back out on Sunday to try and capture a picture or two of the Carndinal chicks in the nest, they were no longer there.  I followed the high pitched peeps, and finally located two fledglings in the near by trees and cedar hedge.  They were already flying quite well and seemed to be confident in their ability to wing away, letting me get pretty close before putting some distance between us.

Fledgling Cardinal in Linden Tree
"What YOU lookin' at?"

Cardinal Fledgling in Cedar Hedge

Fledgling Cardinal
(you can see the ear openings just behind and below the eye)

Here are the parents, who surprisingly, were not very agitated by my presence, allowing me to get some pictures without feeling too guilty about stressing the little family out very much.

female Cardinal in rose bush

male Cardinal in Redbud Tree

Missed Pictures

With no camera, I have had no pictures to post and no real reason for a blog post.  With no new pictures to review, I looked through my old shots and found a few I had missed and can share.  Actually, I noticed there was one complete day back in March that I had downloaded at work and forgot to bring home.

I had gone to Valley Inn Road during that unseasonably warm March break week we enjoyed.  Warmer weather than we are having right now in fact, if I remember correctly.  Though I must say, this past weekend were two perfect spring days!

In one location on the trail from Valley Inn towards Hendrie Valley the leaves were being russled by a whole lot of Garter Snakes.  They were all headed down from the hill beside the trail, crossing the broken pavement, and headed down the next bank towards the waters of the Grindstone Creek.

Common Garter Snake

An Eastern Chipmunk was busy filling its cheeks with seeds left for the birds by the many walkers and bird watchers.

Eastern Chipmunk filling its pouches.

On my way back, a Northern Cardinal was singing it's unique tune in it's characteristic location - at the highest point in a tree. I thought I'd try and take a picture from a non-typical view - straight up!

Northern Cardinal - always at the top.

This little Song Sparrow was so lustfully and busily singing, it let me approach quite close.  It is also a life bird - number 76.  I'm just noticing that I didn't include it in list since I hadn't done anything with those pictures.  That brings my life list bird count up to 79.

Song Sparrow

Back at Grass Lake about a month ago, I was heading home, likely later than I intended to be.... why is it that the last 10 minutes before when you know you should be leaving, always end up being about 15 or 20 minutes by the time you look at your watch again?  Anyway, I was rushing home, but saw these Eastern Meadowlarks out in the antenna field across from Grass Lake and had to briefly stop.

Eastern Meadowlark

There was a stiff breeze, and they were hopscotching each other.  The bird in the rear would fly into the wind, then float in the breeze above the other, and then touch down slightly ahead.  This was then repeated by the bird just left behind, and then again.  I couldn't find anything on the net describing this, but wonder if this is a courting ritual of some sort?  Or they were just enjoying the warm day and it was something to do in the wind.

Eastern Meadowlark pair courting?

News on the camera front... Apparently the Tsunami is still having its affects - no parts to repair my camera's stuck shutter. Henry's will either replace with another A33 or replace it with a comparable model.  If the latter is the case, I've been told that they believe that will be an A57.  From what I've read, that would be an excellent "compromise"!!  There are a number of improvements which will be welcome.  I'll not get into them now as I'm trying to keep my hopes up on that possibility.  Henry's system shows one A33 in stock in the warehouse and has been ordered. They were not certain if that would in fact be an accurate number as they aren't a current model any more. We'll find out in a day or so.

So, a few more days of patience, any maybe I can catch a few of the exciting picture opportunities around here still: hatched Bald Eagles in Brantford, the Sandhill Crane family with their colt which I saw on Sunday.  I met my brother Dan along with all our boys, and Peter Scholtens and family also arrived to see the Cranes.  I'm glad Caleb could get some shots - hope to see some of them on his family's blog (Hint, hint!)

It's Been a While

As mentioned in my last post, life has been very busy lately.  I'm struggling to keep my head above water at work with a very large work load.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for work, knowing there are many without right now.  If you know someone in the civil engineering field looking for work in land development consulting industry, feel free to send them my way!

I decided I'd take lunch and head off to Hendrie Valley Marsh for a walk with my camera to relax and see what there was to enjoy on a crisp fall day.  On the way, I stopped along York Boulevard just past the high bridge.  Often on my way into, or heading home from work, I see hawks riding the wind which is forced up by the ridge Yord Boulevard follows.  They face into the wind, and float in a stationary location.  I understand the lift keeping them vertical, but I still haven't figured out why they aren't pushed back.  Unless they are slightly tipped forward?....  There was one red-tailed hawk who must have just tired of that spot and headed out over Coote's Paradise after I got only a couple distant shots.

   

Red-tailed Hawk

I stopped at the ponds just off the Old Valley Inn Road and there was one lone

Double-crested Cormorant perched there.  Many have already gone south for the season.

Double-crested Cormorant

It seemed very nervous with how close I was, constantly moving its head back and forth, but didn`t seem to want to either jump into the water, or try and fly away.  I`m not sure if they can make a direct take-off into