Pine Siskin

Pine Siskins are cute little finches that we haven't seen in our yard until just a couple of weeks ago. The first time we saw one, actually, was on our trip to New Brunswick last September. The bottom picture above was taken on the deck of our cottage we were staying at in Fundy National Park. They are not particularly fearful, which is why we were able to take a picture standing just a couple of feet away.

We didn't see any Pine Siskins at all last winter. But this winter, starting a few weeks ago, we've seen them almost daily, eating the niger seed along with the goldfinches and redpolls. The Pine Siskin is an irruptive species, meaning that in some winters they will be numerous at a given location, while other winters they may not show up at all. Their movements in winter are thought to be driven by food supplies, so when their normal food sources are limited they move further south to more plentiful supplies. Apparently this year is one of the best years in the last decade for Pine Siskins. Today we saw more than 10 at the niger seed bags. The top picture above shows a few of them along with some American Goldfinches.

-posted by Dave-

The 2009 Great Backyard Bird Count is less than a month away!‏

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

12^th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

February 13 – 16, 2009

COUNT FOR FUN! COUNT FOR THE FUTURE!

Dear Great Backyard Bird Count participant,

The twelfth annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is fast approaching–February 13 is less than a month away! Plan to join tens of thousands of other bird watchers across North America as we tally the birds over these four days. Count on your own or with family, friends, and neighbors to make this the biggest, best GBBC ever!

If you know someone who might be interested in joining the GBBC for the first time, please pass along our website: www.birdcount.org!

Note- anyone can do this from anywhere- just sit and watch outside your window or go to a local park. Just bring a notepad and pen and keep track of the time you spend watching. It's a fun way to spend a few hours or even the entire day. We're looking forward to participating again this year.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

With the impending storm today, the feeders are already quite busy and the sun is still just coming up. I thought I would write about the white-breasted nuthatch today since the last posting was about the red-breasted. We get quite a few wb nuthatches for most of the year. They are not around the feeders so much in the summer since I think there are more items to supplement their diet (namely insects). We see them at all the feeders and hopping up and down the oak trees out front. They are quite vocal and we hear them "talking" to each other. I love the colouring on these guys- the blue on their backs can be quite vibrant and I'm sure our pictures won't do them justice. It's hard to tell the male and females apart (at least at the level we're at right now). We did see a nuthatch checking out one of Dave's nesting boxes last year, but it didn't take.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Here's a rare treat for us- the red-breasted nuthatch. We only see this bird for a very short time over the winter. This guy just showed up about a week ago. I think they only make an appearance at the feeder when it's pretty cold out. We finally managed to get some pictures of him (I think it's a male) yesterday. He would fly up to the feeder, grab a sunflower seed and then fly off to eat it somewhere else. They are always moving and moving pretty fast at that, so getting a picture isn't so easy. I'm also assuming it was the same one, since we didn't see more than one at a time. The white-breasted nuthatch will stick around a little longer and we see them in greater numbers. The red nuthatch is a little smaller and has the distinct black eye-liner too. Nuthatches can climb downwards on trees and I think this is a unique trait. I like these little guys- they make cold winters a little cheerier.

Great Horned Owls

We've seen and/or heard owls around our yard three times so far. In all three cases, they have been the Great Horned Owl, which is generally the most common owl in most parts of North America. The first experience was at the end of December, just a few months after we moved to our house. We heard at least two owls calling back and forth; it started before dawn, and it lasted for several hours, although we were unable to find them to see. The second time was at the beginning of June, at the end of the day as it was getting dark. There was a big commotion in the dead tree behind our house, and it turned out it was several robins protecting their nest, trying to chase the owl that had flown into the tree. The owl didn't make any sounds, but stayed long enough that we were able to get a few pictures, including the one above. It was getting dark and we didn't want to try to move to close, so the picture is pretty fuzzy, but you can see the silhouette of the "horns", which are actually tufts of long feathers around the ears.

Our most recent experience with the owls came a few weeks ago on January 11. Jenn heard some hooting around 8:00 (pm), and we noticed an owl perched in the same dead tree, but it flew off just as we saw it. We continued to heard the calling, but couldn't see it. I went onto the back deck quietly and waited for it to call again. The hooting of the Great Horned Owl is fairly easy to mimic, and the birds are often curious to know where the new sounds are coming from, so I called out my best version of it. The owl replied, and I called again, and then the owl flew back up into the dead tree where we could see it's silhouette. It perched there, quietly looking around for a couple of minutes. I hooted out to it again, and this time it took to the air and did a fly-by to check things out. It flew just over the house into the front yard, passing maybe 20 feet from where I was standing on the deck. It's wingspan is huge when you see it up close. I went back inside, and looking out the living room window, we saw that it had perched atop the hydro pole at the end of our driveway. From there it flew into one of the oak trees in our front yard, where it continue to hoot for about 10 or 15 minutes before flying off. Later, around 10:00, I went outside with the dogs, and again noticed an owl in one of the trees behind our house, which flew off just after I saw it. A minute later, I noticed another silhouette in a tree near our neighbour's house, which could have been the same bird or a different one. I hooted for it, and it flew towards me and perched on the top of our other neighbour's barn. A minute later, a second owl flew up also to the top of the barn, from the other direction. So there were two owls on the peak of the barn, separated by perhaps 20 feet and facing each other. I could see their silhouettes perfectly, because the sky in that direction is lit up due to the lights in the golf course parking lot. One of the owls was significantly larger than the other; it turns out that females are the larger ones. They took turns hooting back and forth to each other for several minutes, then they followed each other from perch to perch among the trees in our front yard and our neighbour's, hooting frequently back and forth. They would land so close to each other, at the tops of the trees, on small branches that looked like they wouldn't support their weight. At one point, they seemed to lock talons with each other. Finally, they flew off to the north. This is the time of year that the owls are courting and looking for a place to mate, and it was a very exciting thing to watch.

-posted by Dave-

Redpolls- where are you??

Last winter we had so many Redpolls (the Common Redpoll) at our niger seed bag feeders. We set up two and these feeders would be covered with Redpolls- sometimes as many as 50 birds at a time! They were constant winter visitors and once spring rolled around, they returned to their arctic home. Apparently last year was a record year for Redpolls and numbers were reported to be on the rise everywhere and our yard was a microcosm of this. Apparently the numbers are down this year and we've only seen one or two to date. Redpolls are in the finch family and apparently are similiar to the Pine Siskin, and we're seeing that at our feeders for the first time this year. We're hoping to see a few more Redpolls, but so far there's only been a few.

Red-Tailed Hawks

Red-Tailed hawks are fairly common. Whenever you're driving along the highway or country roads, keep an eye out. They are often perched high up in the trees, keeping a watchful eye out for prey. We often see hawks perched in one of the dead trees out back and they'll just sit and wait and watch. Last year we witnessed a hawk in action when it swooped down in our front yard, grabbed a mourning dove (we think) and sat down for a meal. I think quite often they grab their meal and eat it somewhere else, but this guy sat out front and ate it right up. It was pretty impressive to be about 8 feet away from the show. He ate everything too- only some feathers were left behind. At first we weren't sure what kind of hawk it was, but after consulting with some experts (posting the pic on whatbird.com forum), the consensus seems to be that it's a juvenille red-tailed hawk.

Our beloved Downys

The first woodpecker to ever come visit our suet feeders was the little downy, which makes sense because it's the most common in North America (I'll introduce our other two regulars soon). These guys are pretty small and so cute. They're the smallest woodpecker and they only weigh about 21-28 g (thank you Sibleys). We've seen up to three males and three females at a time (never all six at once, but up to three of each sex at a time). The male has the red patch on the head, while the female doesn't (you can see the male in the pic above).

Last spring we definitely saw the babies as they left the nest and stayed near a parent while exploring the yard for food. The babies were a little smaller and their feathers were so bright! It was pretty exciting to know that they were nesting nearby (I'll post at some point about our nesting box trials and tribulations). We've already heard the drumming on the trees which is their way of communicating and declaring their territory to others. Woodpeckers tend to nest and mate early (Feb/Mar).

The downys have been year-round visitors to our yard- eating at the trees, the suet feeders (usually the near one so we always have a great view of them) and occasionally at the seed feeders as well. These guys are probably in my top five favourites to see. Their little peeping noises are pretty cute too.

Turkey!

Publish Post

A few weeks ago, we took a short drive (along with B, our niece who is excellent at spotting birds far away and high up in the trees). At that time we spotted about a dozen or so wild turkeys. They were pretty far back from the road (and on private property, so we couldn't go trapsing after them). Some were flying/jumping up into the sumac to eat the berries. We watched them for a bit and then moved on.

This past Sunday, we decided to go for a drive to another birding spot and passed by the orchard we saw the turkeys at a few weeks ago. We spotted about 10 in the distance again, took a look and then started on our way. Luckily we were paying attention and spotted another group of turkeys close to the road. They were eating the apples from the trees- stretching and jumping up to get them off the branches and eating them from the ground. We counted a total or approximately 30 wild turkeys. They didn't run off while we were there and we were able to watch them for quite a bit and get some pictures. We think the ones closest to us were all females as they were approximately the same size, but if anyone can tell us otherwise, we'd be happy for the input!!

Intros

So we've been birding for about a year and a half now, including keeping records of our sightings. Our interest really got started when we travelled to England and visited with my uncle Gordon and aunt Sandra. They took us to a bird park and we sat in blinds and watched a variety of birds. Something just sort of sparked within us and we took it up.

We live on approximately an acre lot in Oakville, Ontario. We live at a dead-end road that backs onto a conservation area and the 16 Mile Creek. Our lot has approximately 15 fairly mature oak trees and some maples as well. The border of our property has a mixture of pine trees as well. On our lot we put up 2 niger seed bags (only one in the summer), three mixed seed feeders, two sunflower seed feeders and two suet feeders. We also have a tray feeder that Dave built, where we put out orange halves and grape jelly for the orioles when they migrate through here. Dave also made two feeders that have a nail in the centre and we pierce an orange or apple onto it. We've seen woodpeckers and squirrels both enjoying the fruit. Last, but not least, we also put out peanuts. These are enjoyed by the bluejays year-round and by chipmunks and the occasional squirrel in the summer months.

In the backyard, the lot is fairly open (no trees due to the location of the septic bed). We put out a single mixed seed feeder that also holds two suet cakes. In the summer we put out two hummingbird feeders out back as well. We have also planted a flower garden that is devoted solely to flowers enjoyed by hummers and butterflies. For Christmas this year we received two oriole feeders so we look forward to setting those up in the upcoming spring/summer months as well.

So the purpose of this blog is to share our birding finds with people. We have learned alot and have really come to enjoy seeing our regulars at our feeders each day. I thought I would try to share one a day on here. We'll see how that goes.