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!

Catching up from the Summer - Valley Inn Road

I'm home from church with JoyAnna who is wrapping up her chicken pox experience, and thought I'd try and catch up on post from this summer.  I've been making fewer and fewer lunch outings these days. Possibly laziness, but maybe also a bit of needing to find a couple new spots to visit.  Though this time I went back to a often visited location, Valley Inn Road, to see if there were any signs of the Northern Flicker fledglings.

When I headed to the nest hole I had found earlier in the spring, there was no sign of the birds.  However, through a gap in the trees there, I could see a Great Blue Heron which had landed down in the Grind Stone Creek ponds.

Great Blue Heron

After landing, it had plumped up its feathers and was displaying its breeding plumage, wispy feathers on its back, breast and back of its head.  The next shot shows how tightly it can compress its feathers to minimize its profile while hunting.

Great Blue Heron

More recently I saw a bird at this same location and with help, got a pretty firm ID as a Warbling Vireo.  I briefly saw a bird with similar characteristics again in roughly the location that day and got two pictures.  I'm pretty sure it's the Warbling Vireo again.  The black tip on the beak, hints of the markings by the eyes contributed to my tentative ID.  I'm hoping for a good view and some clear pictures some day.

poor views of a Warbling Vireo??

I headed a bit further along the trail from the Flicker nest and walked down to the Grindstone Creek bank.  As I approached I flushed what was probably one of the adults from the nest and it warily eyed me from a sapling across the water.

Northern Flicker

 
As I turned around and walked back along the trail, the familiar song of the Carolina Wren let me know a little bird would be perched on a prominent branch out in open somewhere, head thrown back and its little beak wide open singing the tune God gave it to boast.  It was.

Carolina Wren

The treat of the afternoon though was a little fledgling, alone on a branch of a dead tree, that was fluttering and periodically chirping away a call for attention in the way of food.  I didn't have to wait long for the parent to come, bringing a meal fit for a young Tree Swallow.  These two series are the result of a number of attempts to get on the right side of the action and the mid day sun.

Tree Swallow fledgling anticipating a meal.

Tree Swallow fledgling and parent.

 

Tree Swallow fledgling and parent.

 

Tree Swallow fledgling and parent.

I was also trying out the RAW file format on my camera.  I'm glad I did for this series, as the JPG pictures were somewhat over exposed.  Recording in RAW means there is more data recorded without the compression and "finalization" done for the JPG file format.  However, it means there is more noise in the pictures as the camera also automatically does its own noise reduction before finalizing the JPG file.  Amazing what all goes on in the little machine that clicks away, processes and records reams of data in split seconds. But as I've mentioned before, it begs that we notice the meager comparison to the amazing gift of sight, comprehension, decision abilities we've been created with.  Scientists are only coming close to just replicating the type of processing power simple neuron networks have.  And our brains contain more than 100 billion.

Tree Swallow fledgling.

Tree Swallow fledgling being fed.

Tree Swallow fledgling being fed.

Tree Swallow fledgling being fed.

Tree Swallow fledgling being fed.

By the time I had to go, this little guy was still sitting there awaiting the next load of freshly caught bugs.

Tree Swallow fledgling.

It is now later in the evening and I'll finish this post and head to bed to ready myself for another week of work.

Till next time,

Keep enjoying HIS handiwork.

Two Nests and Two Life Birds

A little bit back, I saw activity on the bird boards that there were some American White Pelicans in the area and that they had recently moved to Coote's Paradise and were spending time on a sandbar of one of the small islands there in the mornings.  I decided to head into work early to see if they could be sighted.  It didn't take a second glance to confirm they were their.  They are huge, and their size and pure white plumage stood out in stark contrast to the cormorants that were making their company.  I had no close access, so had to make due with a tripod shot from on on the ridge that York Road follows.  These shots are quite cropped, but definitely show the dark flight feather markings of the bird landing. An exciting life bird (#122).

American White Pelicans with Double-crested Cormorants in Coote's Paradise

American White Pelicans

That lunch hour I headed to Valley Inn Road, and headed down the Grindstone Trail.  The songs of many birds filled the air and the distinctive sweet sound of the Yellow Warbler belied its location for a brief picture.  Interesting how birds will still sing even while preening.  I guess that's a lesson in doing your work with cheer!

Yellow Warbler preening

As I headed further down the trail I was met with another flurry of yellow, but darker, larger, and mixed with black. Three Baltimore Orioles were loudly dueling over territory, and later, I discovered a nest right in that vicinity, so one male was courageously dealing with two trespassing intruders.

 Baltimore Oriole nest - way up in the top of a big Poplar Tree

male Baltimore Oriole

 

female Baltimore Oriole

Further down the path, I startled two Northern Flickers off a dead snag, and with a second look, noticed that there was a freshly chiseled opening.  Biding my time, I settled in for a wait, and sure enough, one returned to what was confirmed as a nest.  Inside he popped, promptly checking on whatever was inside.

Northern Flicker nest entry

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

 After tolerating my presence for a while, suddenly the bird became quite agitated, squawking and looking down below.  I wasn't sure why, but soon it left and I saw the reasons... a Red-bellied Woodpecker pair were on the same tree, and a flurry of chasing began.  It was too fast to try and get any pictures and not one even caught anything.

Protesting the visitors

Notice the Red-belly on the bottom of the picture
and the Flicker at the top.

male Red-bellied Woodpecker

Strangely, it all seemed to end quite quickly, and the male Red-belly remained to feed on a tree just next to the snag with the nest.  It was quite unconcerned with me.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers were given the wrong name in my opinion, given the inconspicuously small patch of slightly red belly they do have.  Others have written the same and I agree with one writer who thought they should have been called "Ladder-back Woodecker".  You can see why in the picture above.

male Red-bellied Woodpecker feeding on ants from a branch hole.

male Red-bellied Woodpecker feeding

Hoping not to belabour the Flicker pictures, I got a couple pictures with the bird blinking. Woodpeckers have a number of significant design features which are all necessary for it to survive its interesting habit of whacking its head on trees (see a previous post about this here about this bird's design features).  One thing they need is strong eyelids to protect and keep their eyes from popping out of their sockets as their head stops with the impact.

Thick, protective eyelids.

I was met by a nice lady who had just spent an hour just around the corner trying to photograph Kingfishers which I had heard noisily rattling away from up the creek while I was at the Flicker nest.  When she came by, I kindly pointed out the Pileated nest.  She got very excited but couldn't seem to spot the nest hole I was pointing her to.  Seems, I had, as I wrote above, mis-spoken. Oops, not a Pileated, a Flicker nest.  Then I understood her excitement and the fact that she could not spot the very large hole that would be present had it been a Pileated Woodpecker nest!  I subtly tried to regain some of my reputation and hoped I could assure her that, although not an expert, I did know what I was talking about. Susan posts some very nice pictures here.  Sorry for disappointing you Susan!

And if I'm honest, I think I was also pointing out following Orchard Orioles (the pictures above), though it obviously turns out that Orchard Orioles are much more of a dark, almost chestnut colour.  Boy, did I ever eat humble pie that day!

In the same area as the Flickers, there was a pair of tiny Blue-gray Gnatchatchers busily harvesting tiny bugs from a flowering Pin Cherry tree.  They are such tiny, cute birds.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - funny look

On my way back to the car, another pair of small birds caught my attention as they flitted about in the trees... They didn't stay long, but I got enough distant pictures for Peter and Caleb Scholtens to help me ID it later on as a Warbling Vireo.  (life bird #123) 2nd of the day!

Warbling Vireo

Just across from the parking lot, this adult Racoon was out in the middle of the afternoon, an odd time for this generally nocturnal animal.  Made for a nice picture though!

Racoon in broad daylight.

More life birds and good times still to post....
Keep enjoying His handiwork!!