Some updates

Just some happenings that are going on:

February is National Birdfeeding Month! Get out the feeders! Share the love!!!!!

Barred Owls will begin calling this month. We're keeping an ear out. Hopefully we'll hear or see them soon.

Red-winged blackbirds are coming back soon too! A sure sign of spring on the horizon.

We saw the first horned larks of the season on Sunday. We spotted 4 in the neighbours fields and then one in another nearby field. None have made an appearance at the feeders yet, but we're keeping an eye out for them.

Dave put up a new suet feeder and has attached it to the trunk of a tree. We're hoping that will attract some new larger woodpeckers to our yard (pileated and/or red-headed). Dave has also put up a heated birdbath on the back deck. No takers yet, but again, we're keeping an eye out for them.

Chickadee

I think these are probably the most recognizable of all birds. It seems everyone can spot and knows the chickadee. Maybe it's their distinctive call, unique looks or the fact that there was a kick-ass kids magazine of the same name in the 80s (anyone remember that one?). Over the bird count, we saw 6 different chickadees flitting around the yard. It was hard to count them because they move so fast and come in and out so quickly. Britt spotted one as the first bird of the day for Saturday's bird count at about 6:30 in the morning (yes, she was up that early). They are at the feeders first thing in the morning and usually last at night. Very cute and very cheery little birds.

Bird Count: The highlights for 2009

Arthur prepares for his part in the Great Bird Count (and the not-so great squirrel count)

Okay, so I didn't post or update as much as I thought I would over the weekend, but that's because the birdcount was pretty exciting!! It was very active outside, even with the sunny weather. Last year, it was very cold and snowy over the birdcount weekend, so we saw some species in greater numbers (ie lots of cardinals last year). There were some surprises and some new sightings for us this weekend. Here are some highlights:


Friday- a total of 21 different species of birds.
Dave spotted FOUR American Robins. We've seen one here and there for most of the winter to our surprise, but seeing four is pretty impressive at this time of year.
We saw the male and female red-bellied woodpecker. We haven't seen the male in quite awhile, so it was nice that he made an appearance for when it counts.


Saturday- a total of 22 different species.
The stand-out today was the Sharp-Shinned Hawk that flew into one of the trees in the front yard near the end of the day. This guy is pretty small, so he would be easy to miss if not for the fact all the other birds scatter in his presence. This was the first time we have seen and been able to confirm a sharpie, so that was pretty exciting for us. Again, it was great timing for him to show up that day. It was here and then flew off so quickly, so we didn't get a picture of it.

Here is a picture Dave took of the Redpolls at the Nyjer Seed Bags.

Sunday- 19 different species.
No stand-outs for today, other than at the end of the day we saw more Downy Woodpeckers than we thought we had around. It was a last-minute feeding frenzy and we counted three males and two females. That was a record number to see at one time for us. We also saw two male and two female Hairy Woodpeckers, and I think that was more than we usually see too.

Some pics of the female Hairy WP eating an orange .

Monday- 20 unique species.
The stand out for today was the Cooper's Hawk. We've seen this guy around quite a bit this winter. He seems to favour swooping directly in front of the main windows and grabbing birds from the shrubs. About a month ago, I saw him flying by the front of the house daily for weeks on end. This seems to have died down a bit in the last while (probably with melting snow he has more food choices). Dave spotted him quite far off in the distance and we were pretty sure it was Cooper after a good look through the binoculars. Dave being Dave had to go in for a closer look. 30 minutes and lots of mud later, he came back with a confirmation AND the best pics we have of this hawk to date. A very exciting way to end the day and finish off the Great Bird Count weekend!! Looking forward to next year already!

The Bird Count Begins!

The bird count starts today! So far we've had some mourning doves and juncos- the usual early birds and three crows. In another 20-30 minutes, it will be in full swing out there.

Dave took a holiday from work today, so one of us will be posted most of the day. We're hoping we'll get an owl one night this weekend too for the count too.

Anyway, it's not too late to join in- even if you just do it for 15 minutes one day. It's fun and it's helping the birds. Click on the link to see how to participate!

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html


8:45 am update:
Mourning Dove
Dark-eyed Junco
Common Redpoll
Am. Goldfinch
Black-Capped Chickadee
Am. Crow
Pine Siskin
Euro. Starling
Blue Jay
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow
Am. Tree Sparrow
Am. Robin
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Canada Goose
Red-Bellied WP
Hairy WP
Northern Cardinal
Downy WP
House Finch

Northern Mockingbird

This was one of the first birds we spotted when we moved here that wasn't one of the usual suspects (cardinals, jays, chickadees, blackbirds, mourning doves etc). We've seen the Northern Mockingbird a total of three times. He seems to be around for just an hour or so, feeding and then moving on. The last sighting was in mid-December. He has a very distinctive tail, so it's not too hard to miss. Apparently they are fairly common, just not around our house :) They are reknown for their song and will sing all day and even into the night. I read this interesting fact too:
"A Northern Mockingbird continues to add new sounds to its song repertoire throughout its life", which I think it pretty cool too.

Lists

In late December, Dave and I decided to make lists of birds we'd like to see during our lifetime. We went through the Sibley's North America book to come up with our lists. I guess we could have gone worldwide, but we decided to keep it closer to home. We regret that we didn't do more birding when we were in Indonesia and Malaysia, but that was before we got the birding bug. Alas.

Anyway, here are our lists. I went all out and picked some birds that are very rare and in a very small area, but I figured I should go all out on some. We had 14 in common.

Also, since writing the lists, we have seen some of the birds there for the first time.

Jenn's list
Scarlet Tanager
Gunnison Sage Grouse
Greater Sage Grouse
Puffin
Blue-footed Booby
Other hummingbirds (any other than the ruby-throated we get here)
Green Heron
Black-Crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Cuckoo
Roadrunner
Roseate Spoonbill
Hook-billed kite
Harris Hawk
Gyrfalcon
Crested Caracara
Green Kingfisher
Barn Owl
Long-Eared Owl
Great-grey Owl
Snowy Owl
Barred Owl
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Lewis WP
Red-headed WP
Sapsuckers
Red-Shouldered Hawk
California Condor
Vermillion Flycatcher
Fork and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Stellars Jay
Green Jay
Violet-Green Swallow
Mountain Bluebird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Bohemian Waxwing
Northern Parula
Any other grosbeaks
Any other buntings
Any other jays


Dave's list
Snow Goose (may have been spotted flying outside our house- no pics to confirm though)
Tundra Swan- seen in our January visit to the Hamilton Harbour. We had to post pics on whatbird.com to get confirmation and it came in.
Trumpeter Swan- I'm not sure if this was in that same batch. Dave? Can you confirm or deny this?
Harlequin Duck- so far we only have Harlequin Romance books (ha ha ha- I'm here all week)
Am. White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Little Blue Heron
Any Egret
Wood Stork
Any Crane
Black Vulture
California Condor
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel- we have spotted this twice together and Dave once more on his own. He hangs out near a strip mall on Dundas (Hwy 5)- I'm not sure of the cross street. We saw it again on the same day out as the swans etc. I still have to post about this bird. Sooo beautiful.
American Coot
Atlantic Puffin
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Owl
Snowy Owl
Other hummingbirds
Green Kingfisher
Red-headed WP
Gray Jay
Purple Martin
Tufted Titmouse
Common Wren
Blue-Gray Gnatcatccher
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Bohemian Waxwing
Phainopepla
Scarlet Tanager
Snow Bunting
Pyrrhuloxia
Blue Grosbeak
Painted Bunting
Yell-headed Blackbird
Hoary Redpoll
Evening Grosbeak

Horned Lark

We saw this guy for about a week or so last year. He would show up on our front lawn- usually near the end of the day, hop around a bit and eat. They move in an interesting fashion, as they tend to walk/run around the ground. Everything I've read says they move in flocks, but we only saw the lone guy....he could have been lost or maybe just more adventurous from the flock that could have been nearby.

We haven't seen him yet this year, but we're hoping to this weekend when we'll be glued to the windows a little more for the bird count. Apparently these birds are pretty common in open field areas, so we should see them out and about. This might be an off year for them too.

Cross your fingers for the crossbills.

So in part of our birding travels lately, we've been specifically looking for crossbills. Crossbills spend most of their time in the Arctic, but have been spotted locally this winter in fairly good numbers. When we were driving around about a month ago, we thought we spotted some flying at the tops of some evergreen trees, but due to the distance and the light, we weren't entirely sure. We also went to Bronte Creek Prov. Park after reading on some websites that crossbills had been sighted there as well. Same story- we may have seen them, but we weren't 100 percent sure. Fast forward to this morning, we are having breakfast at my parents' house (yes, a big wknd outing for us) and my mom is standing at her window and looking out. She comments on all the finches and siskins she has there and then says, "Oh, what's that?". I turn around and see a male white-winged crossbill sitting in a branch of the evergreen, just hanging out. I called for Dave to come see. The bird left the tree and then went down to the ground, too close to the house for us to see. Then we noticed a female white-winged crossbill foraging through the seed under the tree. Dave sprinted up to my parents' room to get a pair of binoculars and the camera from our bag. I think he may have missed the close-ups of both, but we were able to watch them in the next door neighbours' tree for awhile. We counted three males and one female. Pretty exciting and it shows you don't have to go so far to see something unusual. I would never have guessed we would have seen crossbills in my parents front yard.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of them (yet).

Here's a link to the pic I posted above:

http://i.pbase.com/g6/09/610009/2/76028947.PnHY3pU6.jpg

Because it's Friday....

A short video that shows the joys of birdwatching:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x51o31_lnwcob-birdwatching-in-central-park_shortfilms

A rare one (for us)

Here are some pics of the Pileated Woodpecker. We saw this guy last year on our trip to Willow Beach. We were driving along a country road and pulled over to sit and watch. I could hear a very distinct, very loud "knock, knock, knock". Looking up, we were able to see the Pileated WP working away. It's unbelievable how much power is in the beak. She was just drumming away and didn't seem bothered by our presence.




The other pic (so blurry- apologies!) are also from WB when we went in Sept in 07. Dave and the dogs were up early and went for a walk. Dave didn't realize (and I probably didn't articulate it well) that I was going to be joining them, so by the time I got up, dressed and outside, the rest of the Brink crew was no where to be seen. Problem-solving at my best, I decided to stand around and wait. Since I was being so quiet and it was pretty early, this guy just flew down to the felled tree and started working away. I didn't want to move too much and I think since the camera was already on zoom, I didn't want to fiddle with it and scare off the bird. So the pic quality is not it's best.


Anyway, we hope to see them again this year. It would actually be quite a treat to see them closer to home. We think it's possible they may be in the conservation area valley close to our home, but we haven't had any sightings. We'll see what happens.

Ruffed Grouse

We've booked our annual trip to Willow Beach Cottages- great dog-friendly place! We like to do some bird-watching on our weekend away there. Last year we saw some interesting birds. Attached is a pic of the roughed grouse. We were at a stop sign waiting to make a left turn and I happened to see some movement out of the corner of my eye. We made the turn, pulled over and saw the bird leap up into the tree, wait a minute or two and then it flew to the ground and took off- none of it's movements were all too graceful. Can you see it in the trees in this pic?

Red-bellied Woodpecker

This is the second of the three woodpeckers we get at our feeders. RB is the biggest of the three, but also the shyest. It took forever for him and her (we definitely have seen one of each, but never more than one female or one male at a time) to work his/her way up to our suet feeder that is directly outside our window. I think that area might be too crowded though as he/she hasn't been at that feeder in quite awhile and seems to frequent the solitary suet feeder.

In the late spring, we saw one of the parents going to the suet and flying back into the cover of the oak tree and we were able to spot three little babies who were peeping their hearts out. Unfortunately because they were so well protected, we were unable to get any pictures, but we would rather have successful fledglings than a picture anyway. Hopefully they all made it and are out in new territories.

Here are some shots (some from last year, some from last month) of one of my top five favourite feeder birds.

This is a picture that shows the exception to the rule- for the first time ever (Jan 09) we observed a male RB taking seeds from a feeder, flying into the tree and cracking them open to eat.

The next few pics are the RB enjoying a meal at the suet until a noisy blackbird comes along...the expression on RB's face in the second pic makes me laugh... .


02/10/09- Dave took a pic this past weekend of the RBW flying in to grab a peanut. Usually the bluejays monopolize this, but it was a little less crowded with jays and the RBW was able to get in there too.

In honour of the Superbowl...

I have decided to blog the female cardinal (I had to get some gender balance in there somewhere). The female cardinal might get overlooked since her male counterpart overshadows her in terms of colour. However, when the light hits the female's feather just right, you can see the beautiful brown with a hint of red. The female's beak is a beautiful bright orange colour too. We see many pairs here, especially in the winter They were frequenting our yard but then from about June until mid-Dember we only saw them a few times and only about 2-3 at a time (usually 2 males and one female). They finally reappeared at our feeders in December and have been showing up in greater numbers since then- usually at most between 3 and 5 at a time, although we have seen up to 8 or more. Their preference seems to be the sunflower seeds and they are usually at the ground feeding from the feeder at a bit of a distance from the window. Something interesting about cardinals is that they usually remain in their pairings year-round and will call to each other. This makes it (to me) especially tragic when one dies since it's mate will be looking for it and calling in vain. I find that pretty depressing to think about, so I'll move on.

As I'm cheering for the Cardinals in the NFL today, I'm cheering for and cheered by the cardinals (the birds) in real life. I really like these birdes- they seem hopeful and bring some colour to an often bleak winter landscape. Here are some shots I took last week of one of our "femme cardinales" being her sassy self just out front our main window.