Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Back to Bronte

We went back to Bronte Creek PP last night and this time we had a close encounter with the American Woodcock. As it was getting dark out, we started to hear the calls again. So we followed the noise towards the campground locations. There in the clearing we saw some movement and then suddenly two Woodcocks flew right past our heads! We were able to get a good look at them as they went by so we can now add this one to our life list without any question. One of the Woodcocks returned to the spot and then flew past us again. It was too dark to get pictures, but we did get more video of the sounds.


As we arrived at the park, we saw the Northern Mockingbird again. Whenever we have seen the NM here, it has not been calling, but last night it was making quite a bit of noise. It seemed to have a range of calls and was singing it's heart out. Not hard to tell that spring is in the air.



We also saw Killdeer in a gravel area and those were the last pics we were able to get before it was just too dark out to see what was out there.



Last night we saw a male Robin chasing a female around the yard. It shouldn't be too long until we come across a nest. I have not seen them checking out the nesting shelf, so maybe they are using another spot this year.




And just this morning I saw a flock of 16 (or more?) Crows flying through.


I'm also including a somewhat fuzzy pic of a fox that Dave saw running across the field on the weekend. We saw a fox 2-3 times last year in the spring but didn't see it all winter long.


Sunday, March 28, 2010

More Red-bellied Woodpeckers!!

This morning I saw a first for our front yard. We had two female and one male Red-bellied Woodpecker; in fact, they were in the same tree at the same time, hopping around and chasing each other. I saw them there for only 30 seconds or so before they flew off accross the road, so I was unable to get any pictures.

Over the past few months, we've occasionally had two male Red-bellied in the yard at the same time, but this is the first time we've had two females. Maybe the local population of Red-bellied Woodpeckers is on the rise? Or, maybe some of these individuals are the babies from the family we saw in our yard last summer (there was a pair of adults with two or three juveniles in tow)?

In any case, hopefully two of these birds will pair up and decide to use on of the nesting boxes we've put up for them!!


-posted by Dave-

Thursday, March 25, 2010

American Woodcock

A new one for the list!....we think. We went for a walk at Bronte Creek Provincial Park tonight around dusk. Dave read there were sightings of the Am. Woodcock in the area, so we thought we'd check it out. As we were walking, I did see a light brown bird fly in the field, but it was far ahead of me and the light wasn't great, so it could have been the Woodcock or it might have just been a Robin (not that I don't love the Robins, but it would be nice to know for sure if I actually saw the A.W.). Anyway, as we were heading back to the car, we heard repeated low calls "beep, beep, beep" and then a higher pitched noise that followed. I recorded some sound of it, but it's fairly windy out so the camera picked up more wind, although the beeping can be heard in the distance. Anyway, we come home and look up on whatbird.com and sure enough, we are confident it's a match to the Am. Woodcock. Our debate is this- does it count to add it to the life list or do we actually have to see it? Is sound ID enough to go on? I'd be curious to know what other birders do in this situation.

Here's the link to the whatbird.com page about the American Woodcock and the call can be heard there as well.
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/980/_/American_Woodcock.aspx

NTERESTING FACTS

* The elaborate courtship ritual of the male American Woodcock may be repeated as long as four months running, sometimes continuing even after females have already hatched their brood and left the nest.
* In this species, there is no pair bond and the male provides no parental care. Nor is there any evidence of a social dominance hierarchy.
* These birds are seldom seen during the day. They are typically active during times of low light such as dawn, dusk, moonlit nights and sometime on cloudy days. They also migrate at night, singly or in small, loose flocks.
* A group of woodcocks has many collective nouns, including a "cord", "fall", "flight", "plump", and "rush" of woodcocks.


Oh and we also saw and clearly identified the Northern Mockingbird, along with Robins, Red-Winged Blackbirds and a Red-Tailed Hawk.

Turkey Vulture

Just spotted what I believe is our first Turkey Vulture of the season. Any time I see these large birds flying overhead, I'm always hopeful it will be an eagle (I wish they would nest in Glenorchy!). When a bird is soaring so high and far away in the air, it can be hard to distinguish. I googled how to tell the difference between a Turkey Vulture and an Eagle if they are flying overhead and found this useful tool.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4728225_soaring-turkey-vulture-bald-eagle.html

How to Tell the Difference Between a Soaring Turkey Vulture and Bald Eagle

By zeolite, eHow Member

High-flying turkey vultures and bald eagles can look very similar to us ground dwellers. Here is a fool-proof way to tell the difference between them. No binoculars needed!

1.Look for a head.
If the soaring bird looks headless it is probably a mature bald eagle with the white head and tail. The white head often "gets lost" to our eyes in the bright sky. Eagles mature into their white heads and tails after about 4 or 5 years, before that they are entirely brown (with some white streaks, but look brown while soaring).

Both raptors often soar in the air riding high on thermals. Turkey vultures are looking for delectable carnage to snack on while bald eagles dine on a diet mostly of fish.

2.

Bald Eagle with flat wings. Image from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Look at the angle of the wings, you'll get the best view when the bird is flying towards or away from you.


If the bird's wings are straight across (see image) it is a bald eagle.

3.

Turkey Vulture with "V" shaped wings. Image from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

If the bird's wings make a "V" shape (see image) it is a turkey vulture.


And some more interesting facts from

http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/TVFacts.html#anchor_13529

Flight
Turkey Vultures fly with their wings in a dihedral (V-shape). They are most graceful in flight, and can soar for hours at high altitudes without ever flapping their wings. Their occasional necessary flaps and takeoffs are quite laborious, however, and the birds often fall victim to predators and cars as a result.

How the Turkey Vulture Flies:
The turkey vulture is one of the most skilled gliders among the North American birds. It migrates across the continents with minimal energy output. Vultures launch themselves from their perches only after the morning air has warmed. Then, they circle upward, searching for pockets of rising warm air, or thermals. Once they have secured a thermal, they allow it to carry them upward in rising circles. When they reach the top of the thermal, they dive across the sky at speeds near 60 miles per hour, losing altitude until they reach another thermal. All this is done without the necessity to flap. In fact, the turkey vulture can glide for over 6 hours at a time without flapping a wing!


Amazing!!

And more amazing facts from the same site:

OTHER FASCINATING FACTS

The Turkey Vultures Sense of Smell:
The turkey vulture is one of the only birds in North America with a sense of smell. This vulture relies both on its keen eyesight and powerful nose to search out food.

Circling Vultures:

Contrary to popular belief, circling vultures do not necessarily indicate the presence of a dead animal. Circling vultures may be gaining altitude for long flights, searching for food, or playing.
These birds soar on thermals of warm, rising air. This allows them to best conserve their energy in flight. After rising on the thermal, they glide as far as possible before they need to gain altitude again. They also rely on thermals of warm air to remain aloft while scanning the ground for food.
You will certainly see vultures in the air over a carcass, but in the case of small carcasses, the descent is rapid. As for larger carcasses, while remaining on the lookout for food, vultures are equally attuned to their fellow vultures. They note when others' behavior indicates the discovery of a food source, and will flock to the area. Often, the entire group will remain aloft until sufficient birds have arrived to dispose of the carcass in a timely fashion.
Please note, however, that American vultures are not known to circle a dying animal.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Cooper's Hawk Investigation Update

Update: The MNR officer came out this morning. I showed her the spot where we found the hawk. I had emailed her the pics we took of the scene and she agreed that the bird was obviously placed there (on top of a brush pile). She said that they will examine the bird to confirm it died of a shot (likely from a pellet gun based on the size of the wound etc). The hawk will probably then be taxidermied and used as a teaching/learning tool. At least he will continue to serve a purpose and not just be disposed of, so I feel a little better about that. She did tell me that farmers DO have a right to protect their livestock. HOWEVER, the livestock must be under a direct and immediate threat. For example, a farmer can't just shoot a bear because it walks along the property- it actually has to be posing a threat. Since the hawk may have been sitting in one of his trees just watching the chickens (or not even the chickens but maybe even the songbirds at his feeder) then that's what needs to be determined. She is going to return in a few days to interview the neighbour and will then let us know what's going to happen. I guess it could be a warning (maybe that would be good enough to put a stop to it) or a fine (even better). At any rate, she was a very nice person and she also assured me that it was the right call to make (I didn't want to be a nuisance call just "telling on my neighbours"). I guess that's it for now. To be continued....
We woke up this morning to the Robins singing their little hearts out! It's such a wonderful sound to hear at the start and close of each day. I wonder if the Robin will take up last year's nesting shelf again.



Yesterday was a cold and rainy March day. We just happened to catch a juvenile Sharp-Shinned hawk outside. The feeder birds scattered when the hawk arrived. Being a smaller hawk, the Sharpie is a predator of these small birds. He sat in one of the front trees and then went to the fence to get a closer look at the brush pile in the side yard. After awhile, he moved on to the back forest and we lost sight of him. We don't see Sharpie as often as we did see Cooper's or the Red-Taileds, so it was a nice treat.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Oakville Urban Forest Awards



(from top to bottom: Dave's 3rd place pic "Cold Creek" and Jenn's 3rd place pic "16 Mile Creek in Spring"



Dave and I are just home from attending a wonderful event organzied by Oakville Green and the Town of Oakville. We submitted entries to the photography contest portion and we each placed third in separate categories. We received Certificates "in recognition of artisitc contribuiton reflecting the beauty and importance of Oakville's urban forest." Each winner was called up to receive the award (and a gift certificate to Henry's!- very nice!!). We met Mayor Rob Burton, MPP Kevin Flynn, and some local councillors and (finally in person) Liz Benneian, the President of Oakville Green. How wonderful to meet these champions and defenders of the environment. We were also able to chat a little more in depth with our ward's Regional Councillor Allan Elgar, who was very instrumental in securing Glenorchy as a conservation area. It was also very interesting to learn about other programs in the area and what other individuals, schools and businesses are doing to keep Oakville green in so many ways. What an inspiring night! My spirits are lifed after a few rough days and feeling discouraged. Oakville is a great place to live!!

I needed to write this.

An Obituary for our Friend “Coop”

Hawk, Cooper’s- Taken suddenly from this life on Saturday, March 20, 2010 in his first year. Beloved feathered friend of bird watchers and bird lovers everywhere. Coop was well known and loved for his silly front-yard antics. His favourite hobbies included hanging out in the shrubs and bushes, strutting his stuff across the porch and lawn and playing hide and seek with House Sparrows in the brush pile. Coop provided us with a close up view of his life and habits and we would like to thank him for that. Dear friend, you are missed. We hope you are soaring high in sunny skies somewhere.



Other updates/news






The Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk returned on Thursday last week and again on the weekend. He perches in the trees quite close to the house, so we get a good look at him. He waits there and waits there and all the smaller birds will work their way back to the feeders and the trees and don't seem to mind him too much. However, the squirrels will definitely freeze in spot. In fact, on Saturday, we managed to get a picture of a squirrel frozen on the same tree the hawk choose to land!







Then, on Saturday we were doing some yard clean up and I was raking up some leaves while Dave checked out and cleaned up all the nesting boxes. Starlings have been making a show of going in and out of the boxes, so we wanted to make sure they weren't building any nests. All of the boxes were empty, so we think it must be displays of territory etc on the part of the Starlings.

Anyway, as I was raking, I pulled up a black/greyish lump of fur. My first thought- could it be an owl pellet??? I called Dave over and I felt around for bones etc that I knew should be in it. Well, deep in the middle of the pellet, there were the bones! A small jaw bone and then what might be some miscellaneous bones. I'm not sure if the entire pellet is composed of one meal or multiple meals. It was pretty cool and exciting to know that at some point there's been an owl in the tree, probably sitting quietly, throwing up pellets. Maybe that's not the most romantic description, but we like it! We haven't heard/seen any Great Horned Owls this year and we usually do in Jan/Feb. We may have just missed them. It's hard to say as this seems to be an off year for many of the winter birds.






Last night we were invited to attend the Bird Study Group of the Hamilton and area Naturalist Club. It was a very informative meeting and we met some very nice people. We plan to take out a membership for the fall (there is only one more meeting this year). We were able to connect with George Holland and sign up for the Chimney Swift monitoring program (SwiftWatch Ontario), so we're excited to participate in the training for that and then the monitoring process. Yay! It is a very large and active group, with many events going on. I think we will learn quite a bit from joining.

http://www.hamiltonnature.org/birds/birdstudygroup.htm

Tonight Dave and I are receiving recognition from Oakville Green and the Oakville Mayor for pictures we submitted to the Oakville Green photography contest. We're excited to attend tonight's event as well. I submitted a few pics from each of us, so I'm not actually sure what the winning photos are.

And finally, the MNR officer is coming out to collect the Cooper's Hawk from us tomorrow. I hope to have more information to share on that soon.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Project Feeder Watch Tallies for the last two weeks.

I'm starting with the March 20th count as that was much more exciting than the week before. The first day of spring greeted us with 27 species! Not all were at the feeders, so they are not all submitted with the count. A few we observed flying above the house- including Canada Goose, Pileated Woodpecker, and Killdeer. We also heard, but did not see, the Northern Flicker.


March 20, 2010

Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 8
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Shrike 1
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 7
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-winged Blackbird 35
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 17
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 13
House Sparrow 9






From top to bottom: A Grackle all puffed out, a Song Sparrow (first of the season!), Male Red-Winged Blackbirds, a Northern Shrike (which we are told is a very nice find in our area this time of year).

March 13, 2010
Canada Goose 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 9
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 0
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 18
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 28
Common Grackle 21
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 45
House Sparrow 12

Sunday, March 21, 2010

RIP Coper's Hawk

Terrible news. Today, Dave and I found a MURDERED Cooper's Hawk. Yes, it looks like he's been shot in the chest. I called the MNR and they are coming to investigate. We took pictures, collected his remains and they will be here tomorrow. An otherwise fanastic birding weekend has been overshadowed by the loss of one of our favourites. We had just remarked earlier this morning that we hadn't seen our Coop yesterday and now we know why. I don't understand why someone would hurt an innocent bird this way. Words are just not enough.



Scroll down for pics, but they aren't pretty...






































Thursday, March 18, 2010

Owl Cam

Visit this link to watch the action: http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox



http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/San-Marcos-barn-owl-Molly-webcam/cXJDolwqv0embaRYeB1yeQ.cspx

Expectant Owl in San Marcos is World Famous


Reported by: San Diego 6 News Team Last Update: 3/17 2:43 pm

SAN MARCOS, CA - A worldwide audience is watching an owl in San Marcos as she tends to six eggs that are about to hatch in her nest.

Molly, the barn owl, is attracting an audience of thousands who are watching via a Webcam mounted near her nest.

Carlos and Donna Royal say more than 100,000 people have visited their Web site to watch Molly tend to her soon-to-be chicks.

The Royal family blogs about what the owl is doing and answers questions from people, mostly about what she eats.

Comments from people watching the feed sometimes are so numerous they fly by before there is time to read them.

One moment that created a lot of excitement was when Molly's mate, McGee, brought her dinner into the nest.

It was a rabbit.

"I thought my kids would freak, but they loved it," said one viewer.

"My kids were really quiet," said another.

A meter at the bottom of the live video shows viewers how many other people are also watching at the moment. It was 4,184 viewers as of this writing.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My best hawk pics to date!





Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day! A hawk landed in the tree and I was able to get quite a few pictures of it (mostly from the back, which was helpful in getting shots of the tail to help make an ID). It then moved to another tree that was even closer and was facing me so I could get pictures of the chest, which is another key to making an ID. At first I thought it might be a Cooper's Hawk, but it seemed a bit too big for that and it had too much white on it's chest. I really wasn't sure what it was. I sent some pics to Dave and he thought it might be a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. I posted the pics on whatbird.com to ask for help and help arrived! It's such a great site with so many friendly and helpful people. Final consensus?? Dave was correct. A juvenile Red-tailed hawk!
http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/thread/143900.aspx

So how was I able to get such great pics without having the hawk take off? Well, it was an accident on my part. I just happened to see it land in the tree. The only reason it moved closer was because I was near it's possible lunch. We have a trap set up to catch House Sparrows and it's placed on the front lawn, in the shade, near a shrub. Sometimes other birds get in there (it's a live trap, so no innocent birds get hurt. We check it regularly and release them accordingly). Anyway, a male cardinal was in there, so the hawk was moving closer and was probably trying to figure out when to make his move. I went over to the trap and the hawk moved up a few branches. I let the cardinal out and he flew off to safety.

While we see Red-taileds quite often, it was pretty exciting to get some nice clear shots and to have a juvenile in the yard for so long.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The last known Wolverine is no longer with us.


http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/22844519/detail.html

Only Michigan Wolverine Found Dead
Hikers Found Wolverine Dead In Ditch

POSTED: Monday, March 15, 2010 UPDATED: 2:08 pm EDT March 15, 2010

SANILAC COUNTY, Mich. -- Michigan's only known wolverine was found dead Saturday in Sanilac County, near where it was first spotted in 2004.

A pair of hikers found the female wolverine in a ditch near a beaver dam in the Minden City State Game Area.

A Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment said it appeared to have died of natural causes, but a necropsy will be performed at a DNRE lab at Michigan University.

The Department has said it plans to eventually mount the animal for display in the Bay City State Game Area.

A group of coyote hunters initially spotted the animal in Ubly, about 90 miles north of Detroit in February 2004 -- nearly 200 years after the species was last seen in the state that uses the small but ferocious animal as its unofficial nickname.

The wolverine, a member of the weasel family that grows to about 25 pounds but is fierce enough to fight off bears and wolves, once ranged across the northern and western United States. It is now limited mostly to northern Canada, Idaho and Alaska, with sightings in a few other states, but its last confirmed sightings in Michigan were by fur traders in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Condors on the rebound??

http://www.ktvu.com/news/22787027/detail.html

Condor Couple Lays Historic Egg At Pinnacles Park

Posted: 10:22 am PST March 9,2010
Updated: 2:27 pm PST March 9,2010

PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif. -- For the first time in more than 100 years, a pair of California condors have nested in the Pinnacles National Monument in California's Central Coast, excited park officials announced Tuesday.

Park Superintendent Eric Brunnemann said the female condor had been released in the park about a year and a half ago while the male was released in nearby Big Sur by the Ventana Wildlife Society.

The condors have been tagged with visible numbers and tracked using radio telemetry and global positioning technology.

The majestic birds were observed performing courtship behaviors for nearly a month before an egg was confirmed in the nest on Friday, the park service said.

Park officials quickly closed the areas directly around the nest to the public for the duration of the nesting period. However, the park service said, public viewing was still possible, but it will take a strenuous hike of approximately two miles from the closest East or West Side parking areas.

Biologists will be closely monitoring the nest to determine if the new parents succeed in incubating the egg and rearing a young bird.

Park officials said that condor eggs take an average of 57 days to hatch. Nestlings remain flightless for an additional 5½ to 6 months. It would take its first flight in early October.

Pinnacles National Monument was chosen as a California condor release site due to historical documentation of condors in the area, good cliff nesting opportunities and large expanses of intact habitat in the region, park officials said.

There have been six groups of condors released at the park, bringing the current total to 26 free-flying condors. 2009 marked the first year that a Pinnacles released condor nested. Condor 313 paired with Condor 303, who laid an egg in a rocky outcrop at the RS Bar Guest Ranch in southern San Benito County.

Condor 303 died before her nestling took his first flight, but the juvenile survived and continues to fly.

The reestablishment of California condors to Pinnacles is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Ventana Wildlife Society, the Institute for Wildlife Studies. the Pinnacles Partnership and community volunteers.

The San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and the Oregon Zoo breed condors destined for rlease in California, Arizona, and Baja, Mexico. The Pinnacles condor release site is an important link in the overall condor recovery effort.

Volunteers Needed: American Woodcock Survey Comes to Bird Studies Canada

So we tried to participate in the Owl Survey, but all available routes less than a 4 hour drive from us were taken. We hope to sign up for it asap next year so we can help. Another volunteer opportunity has come up and I've put our names in for this:




The American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey is a bi-national monitoring program that provides an index of the relative size of the woodcock breeding population in North America. It is the most important source of data used to guide federal, state, and provincial woodcock programs. Bird Studies Canada has recently taken on the role of coordinating the Ontario portion of this survey, and we are looking for volunteers interested in surveying assigned routes throughout the province. Each route consists of a single sunset survey of 10 stops, where the participant will count the numbers of individuals observed using the vocal courtship displays, or “peents.” Monitoring will occur between April 15 and May 20; the actual monitoring window will depend on where in Ontario you live. Routes will be assigned according to the participant’s availability and geographic location.

If you are interested in participating in the American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey, please contact Elisabeth van Stam at evanstam@birdscanada.org.

Let's hear it for Ecojustice!!!!!!!

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/777024--scarborough-highrise-a-death-trap-for-birds?bn=1

Scarborough highrise a death trap for birds
Hundreds of migrating birds have hit 17-storey mirrored office towers


Published On Tue Mar 09 2010

Ecojustice lawyers have launched a private prosecution against the office buildings at 100-300 Consilium Place in Scarborough that are responsible for hundreds of bird deaths each year.

Ecojustice lawyers have launched a private prosecution against the office buildings at 100-300 Consilium Place in Scarborough that are responsible for hundreds of bird deaths each year.

Shanta Persaud was standing at the photocopier one morning when she saw a little bird fly directly into a large window on the ground floor of her Scarborough office building. The receptionist ran outside to find the dying bird on the ground.

It "just hit the glass and fell to the ground. It sounded like a pebble against the glass," she said. "It's so sad." And it wasn't the first time she'd seen this happen.

For birds migrating through Toronto each spring and fall, the three multi-storey office buildings at 100, 200 and 300 Consilium Place are a death trap. So much so that, last week, the environmental groups Ontario Nature and Ecojustice – formerly the Sierra Legal Defence Fund – initiated a private prosecution against the buildings' managers under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The towers, near Highway 401 and McCowan Rd., are covered in mirrored glass and are as high as 17 storeys. They stand out in an area with few high-rises, making them more lethal than buildings downtown.

In 2008-2009, more than 800 birds were recovered from the lawns around the complex, ironic considering it was awarded a "Go Green certificate of achievement" for its environmental practices by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Toronto. Go Green certificates are most commonly awarded for energy efficiency.

Over the past decade, more than 7,000 birds of 82 species have met painful deaths after flying into what bird safety advocate Michael Mesure calls "the most reflective glass windows of any building in the city."

Among the birds most commonly injured or killed at the site between 2000 and 2006 were the White-throated Sparrow, the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and the Dark-eye Junco.

The action against management company Menkes alleges that the buildings' reflectivity has caused death and injury to birds, including species in decline, and, with respect to animal cruelty legislation, has put animals in distress.

"If you see these buildings, these are essentially mirrors," said Ecojustice lawyer Albert Koehl. "What the birds see is the sky and trees reflected in the windows, and they fly right into them."

Most daytime collisions actually happen between ground level and the fourth floor.

"Most of these birds die of traumatic injuries such as fractured skulls or broken backs," Koehl said. The broader issue, he adds, is the decline in migratory birds observed year after year.

The non-profit group Fatal Light Awareness Program has tracked bird deaths in Toronto for more than a decade and initiated campaigns such as Lights Out Toronto to encourage building managers to turn lights off at night, so as not to attract birds.

Caroline Schultz of Ontario Nature says most firms have refused to take real action.

"There has been nothing specific in terms of legal action to really force business owners to seriously review the options that are available to them to reduce the problem," said Schultz. "That's the reason for doing this private prosecution, because this is the worst building in Toronto in terms of bird deaths every year.

"Opportunities exist to do things to mitigate the problem, and what we really want to do is to set a precedent that business owners have a responsibility under the law to do this," she said. "It's not voluntary."

Menkes is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on March 17.

The building owner didn't respond to numerous calls for comment on the charges.

Toronto is on the migratory path for millions of birds, said Mesure, FLAP's executive director. The spring migratory period begins next week and will go until early June. The fall migration runs from August to the end of October.

Mesure has worked on the issue for 20 years, but recalls two "days of hell" at the Consilium towers when it seemed to be "raining birds." On May 12, 2001, he said, FLAP volunteers recovered 500 injured or dead birds in six hours. On a Thanksgiving weekend in 2005, the group picked up 400 birds over two days.

In the past few years, the building managers have made attempts to address the problem. According to Persaud, employees have been told to report falling birds and to turn the lights off and put down blinds at night. They have also tried tactics to scare the birds away, such as hanging orange balls from surrounding trees, and placing silhouettes of hawks and owls in windows.

But Mesure says Menkes has been reluctant to do anything more because the only real solution involves changing the aesthetics of the building.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Greater Sage Grouse denied much needed protection!

What the hell is wrong with people? Why not take action to PROTECT all species that need help before it's too late? Why do we see the same mistakes happen over and over again? It's disgusting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/science/earth/06grouse.html

No Endangered Status for Plains Bird

Jerret Raffety/Rawlins Daily Times, via Associated Press

A male sage grouse fighting for the attention of a female sage grouse on a mating ground southwest of Rawlins, Wyo.


WASHINGTON — The Interior Department said Friday that the greater sage grouse, a dweller of the high plains of the American West, was facing extinction but would not be designated an endangered species for now.

Yet the decision in essence reverses a 2004 determination by the Bush administration that the sage grouse did not need protection, a decision that a federal court later ruled was tainted by political tampering with the Interior Department’s scientific conclusions.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a conservative Democrat from a Colorado ranching family, sought to carve a middle course between conservationists who wanted ironclad protections for the ground-hugging bird and industry interests and landowners who sought the ability to locate mines, wells, windmills and power lines in areas where the grouse roam.

Mr. Salazar said that scientists at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service had concluded that the sage grouse deserved inclusion on the endangered species list but that other species were facing more imminent threats, leading the government to assign the bird a status known as “warranted but precluded.”

As a compromise measure, he said, the bird will be placed on the list of “candidate species” for future inclusion on the list and its status will be reviewed yearly.

The middle-ground decision is typical of Mr. Salazar’s stewardship at the Interior Department, where he has tried to mediate between competing energy and environmental interests. Like many previous decisions, including compromises on oil drilling in Utah and habitat protection for the polar bear in the Arctic, Mr. Salazar’s action left both sides somewhat disgruntled.

Residential building and energy development have shrunk the sage grouse habitat over the past several decades, causing its population in 11 Western states to dwindle from an estimated 16 million 100 years ago to 200,000 to 500,000 today.

“The sage grouse’s decline reflects the extent to which open land in the West has been developed in the last century,” Mr. Salazar said in a statement. “This development has provided important benefits, but we must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species’ survival while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources.”

He said that state resource agencies would be instructed to take stronger steps to preserve the sagebrush where the birds live. Federal wildlife and lands agencies will oversee those efforts.

In 2004, the Bush administration Interior Department decided against listing the sage grouse as endangered or threatened, despite reports from agency scientists that the bird and its habitat were in jeopardy. Three years later, a federal judge ruled that a senior Interior Department political appointee, Julie MacDonald, had intimidated agency scientists and overruled their findings. She later resigned from the department over several similar incidents.

The judge ordered the department to review the sage grouse decision, which led to Friday’s announcement.

A group of lawmakers from Western states had strongly urged Mr. Salazar to keep the sage grouse off the endangered species list, saying that the states had made significant progress in protecting its habitat. They said adding the bird to the list would hurt ranchers and energy producers who need access to sagebrush-covered lands that would be off limits under the listing.

“Today’s unnecessary federal designation is one more on a growing list of examples that this administration places environmental special interests before job creation,” Representative Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, said Friday.

“Not only is today’s announcement a direct attack on the hundreds of Western communities that depend on access to federal lands for ranching, livestock, mining and energy production, it also could potentially destroy opportunities for development of our renewable resources,” he said.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, another Utah Republican, has been more pungent in his opinion. “The only good place for a sage grouse to be listed is on the menu of a French bistro,” he said recently. “It does not deserve federal protection, period.”

Brian Rutledge, Rocky Mountain regional director for the Audubon Society, said he agreed with Mr. Salazar that other species were facing greater danger. But he said he hoped the decision to make the sage grouse a candidate for endangered species protection would mean that state and federal agencies would act much more aggressively to protect the bird’s threatened habitat.

“We’ve already achieved 50 percent total destruction of the sagebrush ecosystem and a large part of what’s left we’ve seriously compromised,” he said. “We have been told clearly that the science tells us this bird is in trouble. This is an absolute straightforward clarion call for us to pull together to save it.”

As for Mr. Chaffetz’s suggestion, Mr. Rutledge said: “All I can say is he never tasted a sage grouse; they taste horrible. It’s like eating sagebrush.”

Asked how he knew that, Mr. Rutledge responded, “Anecdotally.”

Feeder Watch and other notes




Our results from the last week of February were just average with nothing new or exciting showing up, but scroll down for more exciting observation from this weekend:

Checklist for FeederWatch Ontario Birds

Cooper's Hawk1
Red-tailed Hawk2
Mourning Dove33
Red-bellied Woodpecker1
Downy Woodpecker4
Hairy Woodpecker2
Blue Jay10
American Crow2
Black-capped Chickadee4
Red-breasted Nuthatch1
White-breasted Nuthatch2
European Starling8
American Tree Sparrow4
Dark-eyed Junco8
Northern Cardinal11
Brown-headed Cowbird13
House Finch2
American Goldfinch23
House Sparrow22


HOWEVER, this past weekend there were some exciting things going on out at the feeders. On Sunday, Britt and I observed TWO male Red-bellied Woodpeckers. One male was making repeated and very loud calls, which got our attention. I saw him chasing another bird and assumed it was the female. I grabbed the camera and B to be my witness when I realized that it was actually a second male RB out front! That's a first for us to see more than one male, so it was pretty exciting!!


Another interesting observation happened Sunday morning as well. Dave and I were looking out front and I asked him; "What do you think we'll see first this season- Grackle or Red-Winged Blackbird?" Dave answered "Red-Winged Blackbird" and at that VERY moment, a male RWBB flew through the front yard to the feeder! First of the season!! It was pretty exciting and one of those interesting moments that just happens in life. So this is a sign that spring is in the air and we will soon have our spring migrants working our way through the yards, and the summer birds will return and take up their nesting. We have to clean out the nesting boxes soon. Some Starlings and House Sparrows are starting to make themselves comfortable so they will be getting an eviction notice shortly!



Here are this week's Project Feeder Watch tallies:

Checklist for FeederWatch Ontario Birds

Red-tailed Hawk1
Mourning Dove24
Red-bellied Woodpecker2
Downy Woodpecker2
Hairy Woodpecker2
Blue Jay7
American Crow2
Black-capped Chickadee3
Red-breasted Nuthatch1
White-breasted Nuthatch2
European Starling17
American Tree Sparrow1
Dark-eyed Junco7
Northern Cardinal5
Red-winged Blackbird1
Brown-headed Cowbird9
House Finch4
American Goldfinch11
House Sparrow7

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

In the News


Syncrude back in court over hundreds of dead ducks
Oilsands company to face charges over 1,600 ducks who died when they landed in the company's tailings pond in northern Alberta

One of worlds' rarest birds breeding site found - in Afghanistan
One Ireland’s first wild hatched Golden eagles has been poisoned
It's war in them thar nests, and the cuckoo's winning eggs down
Firemen flock to trapped bird in Raynes Park pond rescue
Official Number of Protected Migratory Bird Species Climbs to More Than 1,000
The list, last updated in 1985, incorporates the latest taxonomic and scientific data for migratory birds.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Great Backyard Birdcount- Results Analysis

The submission deadline for the GBB was due March 1st, so this morning we examined the results for all of Oakville. We had some significant sightings again this year, as in some cases we were the only ones to report certain species. Here's the breakdown:

We were the only observers to record the following:
Red-bellied Woodpeckers (we saw both one male and one female)
Brown Creeper (a solitary individual on two separate days)
Red-tailed Hawk (this one surprised us-it seems that the Red-tails are fairly common)
American Tree Sparrow (a total of 10 over the four days)
Brown-headed Cowbird (75 total over the four days).

Other significant sightings we had:
1 of the 2 reported Sharp-shinned hawks
2 of 3 Northern Mockingbirds
2 of the 6 Cooper's hawks

I think these results show that we live in an area that needs protected and valued, that these species need a home and space to live and thrive and that the giant paving monster doesn't need to consume all our forested and natural spaces.