Saving birds in the shadowhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif of the Taliban's menace

Published On Mon Nov 28 2011

Tom Hussain Special to the Star

For conservationist Ehsan-ullah Wazir, it’s been a 12-year “mission.”

Now, the amateur ornithologist, along with a group Pakistani tribesmen, plans to finally conduct a wildlife survey in South Waziristan — a territory on the Afghan border known more for its Taliban safe havens than nature conservation.

“We will cover the whole region, filling in questionnaires, and travel to the most remote settlements to gather data on birds, animals and their habitats,” said Wazir, founder of the Waziristan Nature Conservation Organization.

The survey is the outcome of Wazir’s 12-year campaign — or “mission,” as he calls it — to discourage tribesmen from hunting and trapping migrating flocks of birds that stop over at the confluence of the Gomal and Zhob rivers.

It’s been more than a century since such a survey has been conducted.

And it would have been unthinkable just two years ago, when an estimated 15,000 Pakistani Taliban insurgents occupied much of South Waziristan.

Wazir became interested in conservation by chance. In 1999, his nephew brought him a dead, sparrow-like bird — called shangharai in Pashto — with a plastic ring on its leg.

The ring bore the address of a bird observatory in the Swedish town Annsjon.

Intrigued, Wazir asked hunters in his village of Dabkot to bring him any rings they found.

Then, in March 2001, he summoned his courage and posted a letter to Annsjon, along with a ring.

He was shocked to receive a reply from Dr. Thomas Holmberg, head of the Swedish bird centre.

Wazir had inadvertently solved the mystery of where the Scandinavian bluethroat spent its winters — something that had befuddled ornithologists for decades.

“The recovery of the bluethroat from Pakistan is the most memorable event for Swedish bird-ringing this year,” wrote Holmberg.

He sent Wazir a book about the birds of the Indian subcontinent and advice on how to record migratory data.

Painstakingly, Wazir set about gathering data on the bluethroat, chakor partridge, demosielle crane, sandgrouse and houbara bustard.

But it came to a halt in 2002, when Al Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing NATO forces swamped South Waziristan, prompting nine years of brutal warfare with the security forces.

It wasn’t until June that the Pakistani government was able to declare a victory of sorts — and Wazir was able to resume his work.

He and his colleagues at the conservation organization took advantage of the recent Eid Al-Adha — the Muslim festival of animal sacrifice — to launch a public awareness campaign. The festival is in early November, when the birds return from Eurasia.

They urged residents to stop hunting birds, and to breed captive animals at home rather than trapping them. “For the sake of Allah, spare these birds so they might multiply.”

The conservationists said they were greeted with a mix of interest and incredulity.

“Many people said: human life isn’t worth a damn here. Birds? You’re joking, right?” laughed Ali Mohammed, a director of the NGO.

But Wazir is serious. And he has no illusions about the challenge ahead.

“Hunters have trapped more than 7,000 cranes, the most in living memory,” he said. “Every year, the flocks are diminishing. If the hunting goes unchecked, we’re worried they might disappear altogether.”

Tom Hussain is a freelance writer living in Islamabad.

Recommended Viewing.

Last night, Dave and I happened to catch a documentary called "Ghost Bird". It's from 2009, so we're not exactly on to something new here, but it was a great film. It focuses on claims of sightings of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a species long thought to be extinct from loss of habitat. These alleged sightings were made in 2004 in a small town in Arkansas. The film examines the impact of the "rediscovery" had on the town and the birding world. There are interviews with those who believe and the skeptics, the ensuing controversy and the government's role with regards to conservation and funding. We also learn about the tragic loss of a wonderful and unique species and how this could have been prevented if habitat had been set aside. It's sadly a message that many still do not hear and we continue to carve up forests for the sake of industry. I wonder how many more species will meet the fate of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Here's the link to the film. It would be great for high school students and families who ware interested in this material.
Here

Wow!

Bird Thought to Be Extinct for 150 Years Is Rediscovered

By Alisa Opar
09/26/2011

Storm petrels are nicknamed “Jesus birds” for their habit of seemingly walking on water. Now, the New Zealand storm petrel shares another trait with the biblical figure: It has risen from the dead. Thought to be extinct for 150 years, new evidence proves that the bird is alive.

Researchers compared DNA from birds caught in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf to tissue fragments of the "extinct" species housed in British and French museums. The samples from the 150-year-old skins matched blood samples from living birds.

"We found they were one and the same, and these birds are a distinct species of storm-petrel [Oceanites maorianus]," says Bruce Robertson, a University of Otago zoology lecturer who published the findings in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution with co-authors Brent Stephenson of Eco-Vista and Sharyn Goldstien of Canterbury University.

“Since 2003, researchers had largely accepted that the bird was the NZ storm-petrel, but until we had taxonomic certainty, the conservation effort to protect the bird was paralysed,” says Robertson. “There was always going to be this controversy because no one knew exactly what the museum skins were.”

The black-and-white petrel was rediscovered by birdwatchers Ian Saville and Brent Stephenson, near the Mercury Islands in the Hauraki Gulf in 2003.

"It was a complete fluke," Saville told Auckland Now. "We'd seen heaps and heaps of the common storm petrels, the white-faced storm petrels, and then I just saw this little black and white thing. It raced toward the boat, did a quick circle, raced off again and that was it."

Since then, observers have seen the birds in flocks of up to 30 individuals in the gulf from October to April. Yet the birds remain largely a mystery. Their breeding grounds remain unknown, despite failed efforts to follow them to their nests using radio telemetry. And it’s thought that the birds are merely summer-breeding visitors to the Hauraki Gulf, migrating elsewhere for the rest of the year, though no one knows where they go.

“Hopefully now the NZ Storm-Petrel will be given a conservation priority that would be given to a nationally endangered species,” says Robertson. “This will help us to fund further study of the bird, such as where it breeds.”

Finding the breeding grounds would not only help to determine the population size, it would also enable conservationists to protect the site and the elusive birds.

For more on the New Zealand storm petrel, visit birdlife.org.

Grey Sky. Black Birds.

This hurts my heart...

Birds Are Changing Their Tune

Because of noise pollution, some birds are forced to sing at higher frequencies making them less attractive. Read more HERE.

Baby birds!

A link to an amazing gallery of pictures of baby birds.

ALERT! SAVE OAKVILLE'S NATURAL HERITAGE SYSTEM

Special thanks to Diane B. for sending this my way. PLEASE READ!!

ALERT! ALERT! ..... SAVE OAKVILLE'S NATURAL HERITAGE SYSTEM

The first public meeting for the Town of Oakville Transportation Master Plan Review will be held at Oakville Town Hall on September 14, 2011 at 6.30 pm. Please attend this meeting and tell our Town Council and Mayor Burton to CHANGE this plan as it is the first step to the destruction of our Natural Heritage System.

This transportation plan reveals the massive infrastructure maze of new roads, bridges, sewers, and huge expressway (before 2031) that will be imposed upon Oakville's Natural Heritage System. Large parts of the eco-passages, linkages, buffer zones and core areas of forest and wet lands including critical habitat of endangered , rare and threatened species, is being given over to become road allowance. Where roads are placed, nature dies and development follows! Clear cutting more roads and bridges through Lion Valley Park, The majestic forests and valley lands of the North l6 Mile Creek and the Glenorchy Conservation Area must be stopped.

The Natural Heritage System, including The Glenorchy Conservation Area was promised to the people of Oakville as a refuge for nature, to save the fragile biodiversity of Oakville's remaining nature lands.

Only about 30% of the traffic on these new roads will originate in Oakville. The rest is being built with lots of your tax dollars for cross GTA/Regional traffic diversion, directly through our nature land reserve.

Please write to Regional Chair Gary Carr gary.carr@halton.ca. Mayor Burton Mayor@Oakville your Councillors and our MPP Kevin Flynn KFlynn.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org (who fought hard to help us reserve these lands ) and tell them we need our forests and our song birds.

Oakville does not need a third bridge and road corridor dissecting the majestic forests only 500 meters north of the latest new bridge addition at l6 Mile Creek at Dundas. We don't need an expressway clear cut through Glenorchy at Fourth Line through the l6 Mile Creek. Bull dozers must not gouge through our valley forests and destroy the habitat of our most fragile species and this sanctuary for our remaining wildlife! The l6 Mile Creek Valley (ANSI) and Glenorchy Conservation Area is the heart of the NHS and must not be the place for road development.

Please write to all your political representatives. Please view www.oakvillegreen.org click issues and contact President(at)oakvillegreen.org and http://fog-friendsofglenorchy.blogspot.com/ and onwingedthoughts.blogspot.com wingedthoughts with a note of support.

Please help save Oakville`s Natural Heritage System once again.

Diane Burton Dianeburton(at)eol.ca
Friends of Glenorchy: Director Oakvillegreen

Someone's getting his big boy feathers!

Our first Grosbeak in quite a few days!

Someone's getting his big boy feathers!

Our first Grosbeak in quite a few days!

Blackbirds

For the third consecutive afternoon, the yard and trees are filling with hundreds and hundreds of blackbirds- maybe there's more than a thousand out there in the trees, on the lawns, railings, fences, driveway, and neighbouring fields. It's incredible and a sign that the migrating flocks are gathering. The group seems to be made up of mostly Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. I see very few Starlings (good) and have not seen any Cowbirds as of yet. There are many, many juveniles in the group, most just getting their adult feathers or the young male RWBB with their red patches on their wings.

We have lots of Hummingbirds around. I have not seen any Grosbeaks in a few days, although Dave said he has seen a few. I just had a Baltimore Oriole at the jelly feeder, but that was the first I'd seen in a few days as well. The House Wrens had their second round of babies and they have all fledged. There's a single unhatched egg in one of the two boxes they used.

Of note is that we have a second brood of Bluebirds in the nesting box. That male House Sparrow chased them away from their nesting box, but the pair perservered and took the box the Tree Sparrows had finished with and simply built a nest on top of the old one in there. There are four babies hatched! And we saw the fledglings from the first batch hanging around, so we had a record high of eight Bluebirds on site last week! I hope they are all successful and continue to grow and have nesting success.

Green Heron

We decided to take a walk around the Mill Pond today. We did the complete loop, stopping at the west end of the pond, where the creek runs over a bit of a (man-made) waterfall. While we were there taking some pictures, a train went by. That startled the birds in the area and we saw them take flight. Of particular note, we saw a Green Heron fly up to a tree branch and then it decided to fly to another branch. I was able to see it's reddish body and darker head feathers. It was so beautiful! If the train hadn't startled it out of the water, there's no way we would have noticed it. This sighting is a new addition to our life list, the first since the spring sightings of the new warblers. As Dave said, it just goes to show there are always birds out there- we just have to look for them. Here's a fantastic link to more info on the Green Heron. Of particular interest:

Cool Facts

The Green Heron is one of the few tool-using birds. It commonly drops bait onto the surface of the water and grabs the small fish that are attracted. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifIt uses a variety of baits and lures, including crusts of bread, insects, earthworms, twigs, or feathers.

As is typical for many herons, the Green Heron tends to wander after the breeding season is over. Most wanderers probably seek more favorable foraging areas and do not travel far, but occasionally some travel greater distances, with individuals turning up as far as England and France.

and from whatbird.com:

A group of herons has many collective nouns, including a "battery", "hedge", "pose", "rookery", and "scattering" of herons."

Timely that this article would come my way as we have been watching a Chipping Sparrow work so hard to feed a Cowbird :(

Extortion Rackets and Egg-Farming by Cowbirds

Juvenile Mockingbird

We saw a juvenile Mockingbird at the suet yesterday. First time we've had a juvenile show up and definitely one of the few we've had so close!

We've also had many male Indigo Buntings in the trees over the last week or so. And as I type this, there's a juvenile Cardinal out front as well.

We still have some Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visiting the feeders as well. Won't be much longer until they start to head out for the year.

American Zoos Help Return Condor To South America

by Juan Forero
August 6, 2011

In the high Andes of South America, one of the world's great birds is making a comeback.

The condor is returning from the brink of extinction, thanks to a program in which condor chicks are raised in American zoos and then released in the wild. Success, though, depends on the cooperation of farmers and shepherds — and in one special case, a group of Colombian army soldiers assigned to a rocky cliff.

Getting to condor country requires going high, on narrow, boulder-strewn mountain passes in a sturdy, off-road vehicle. The mountains are so high and strikingly picturesque that they leave you breathless. Biologist Olga Nunez says it is hard to reach the high peaks that are home to the large birds.

Weighing as much as 35 pounds, with wings that can stretch up to 11 feet, the condor is simply magnificent. Using the roaring mountain winds and thermal currents to ascend to 15,000 feet, the birds search for the rotting remains of dead sheep, deer or rodents — and then strip meat off bone in minutes.

The condors' voracious appetite, coupled with their search for food across hundreds of square miles, led farmers to mistakenly believe they snatched sheep, and even small children.

"Indiscriminate hunting killed off the condors in this region," Nunez says.

American zoos, which had decades of experience with the birds, stepped in to painstakingly raise condor chicks.

"At about a year or a year and a half of age, when they are well on their way to development, that's when we start talking about exporting them to Colombia for release," says Michael Mace, the curator of birds at the San Diego Zoo.

The birds are then set free in the Andes Mountains of South America. There are now 30 condors in the stretch of mountains north of Bogota.

Nunez says a vital part of the program's success has been teaching farmers, shepherds and one small group of soldiers to care for the big birds.

A few miles from where the condors are released, 43 soldiers are deployed on a frigid base, 13,000 feet above sea level, at Pena Negra, or Black Cliff. Their job has been to guard vital radio communications equipment against anti-government guerrillas.

These days, however, with training from Nunez, Edison Quintian and other soldiers now watch for condors.

"Since we're here, we monitor the birds and let Nunez know if there's any change in behavior," Quintian says.

On a recent day, though the sky was bright blue, the condors didn't show up even as Cpl. Manuel Vargas scanned the horizon and explained that soldiers had laid out a cow's remains for the birds.

But Colombia now has perhaps 180 condors, more than twice as many as a decade ago, and the soldiers know the birds will be back.

Red-winged Blackbirds

The front yard seems full of Red-winged Blackbids this morning. There are many adults and juveniles visiting the feeders. For the first time ever, I saw an adult female feeding her baby. There are also many juvenile males with their baby colouring along with the adult wing bars beginning to show. Beautiful!!

we made the paper!

Couple on quest to protect bobolinks

It’s unfortunate the bobolink can’t read.

Otherwise, it would see the writing on the wall and make the necessary migration adjustment.

As it is, within the next decade, with the extension of the James Snow Parkway and other designated development, the songbird’s nesting space in the tall grasses of the expansive farmlands between Milton and Oakville could be wiped out.

The area of particular concern is a stretch of Britannia Road from Regional Road 25 to Fourth Line, and Britannia from Fourth Line to the end of Lower Base Line and back up Fifth Line.

“Their status was changed to threatened in 2010 because their population has declined and one of the major reasons is the loss of habitat,” says Jennifer Brink, who along with husband David has been watching the bobolink for several springs as the bird descends upon farmland surrounding the couple’s rural Fourth Line home.

More than one-quarter of the bobolink’s breeding grounds are in Canada but its numbers have dramatically declined over the past 40 years, rendering it threatened under the Ministry of Natural Resources Endangered Species Act (ESA). Dependent on grasslands for breeding, its habitat is being destroyed by land clearing and hay mowing (which inadvertently destroys the nests), according to the ministry’s bobolink fact sheet.

Visible on fenceposts and seen swooping low across the tall grasses along Lower Base Line, the bobolink has one of the longest songbird migrations, covering about 20,000 km per round trip. The male looks like it’s tuxedo-clad, with black underneath and a white back, and a distinct bubbly song.

“We have learned that the fields where we observe the bobolinks are slated for future development and the James Snow Parkway extension will have a direct impact on their nesting grounds. We have been emailing everyone under the sun,” says Jennifer.

The Brinks have contacted every level of government and a myriad of conservation groups in an effort to bring awareness to the issue and determine what efforts are underway to ensure the conservation of the bobolink. As well, they’re participating in surveys to track the bird’s numbers.

“This year we have been tripping over them,” she says.

In their research, the Brinks discovered within an initial environmental assessment study conducted in 1999 by the Town of Milton from Hwy. 407 to Hwy. 401, a team was sent to conduct bird observations in late summer when the bobolink’s breeding season was long over.

“A breeding bird survey has to be done in breeding season,” says Jennifer.

Another study, however, will be required by Halton Region for the proposed James Snow extension from Britannia to Hwy. 407 as the existing study is out of date, according to information the Brinks received from the Region.

They were also told the Region is conducting an environmental assessment study on Britannia from Tremaine to Hwy. 407 to widen Britannia from two to four lanes and their concerns would be included as part of this process.

The couple’s limited success in obtaining definitive answers have left them feeling frustrated, she says. “We get, ‘Thank you for your report.’ We don’t hear much about what’s going to be done.”

According to Conservation Halton’s Watershed Management Services Director Bob Edmondson, a recovery strategy hasn’t yet been determined but a monitoring program is in place.

Conservation Halton (CH) conducted surveys until the end of July. “It’s a difficult problem,” comments Edmondson, explaining that because the bobolink nests low in farmers’ fields, any conservation project will impact farming operations, which could lead to a potentially significant conflict.

A master plan proposed by CH would set aside a significant tract of land bounded by Hwy. 407, Bronte Road and Sixteen Mile Creek, which would be reverted to prairie grass in an effort to re-create the bobolink habitat.

“This is a longer term plan and as we can get finances in place, part of that plan is we’re looking at reverting 50 hectares back into grassland,” says Edmondson.

When you’re looking at developments, one of the hardest things to protect is the open lands, which are usually the first to go, he says.

According to ministry statistics gleaned from its website, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 farmers and rural landowners may have the bobolink on their lands.

Recognizing that the protection of the bobolink has created uncertainty among farmers and rural landowners, the government is proposing a three-year transition period during which farmers can continue their current agricultural practices while a long-term solution to bobolink recovery is developed, states a proposed amendment to Ontario Regulation 242/08 of the ESA with respect to the bobolink.

“The successful recovery of bobolinks will require the support and participation of the agricultural community,” the proposal continues.

In the meantime, the Brinks continue their quest to raise awareness of the bobolink’s plight.

“Unless something is done, it will just be another name on the endangered species list. It’s just sad,” says Jennifer.

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post! So much has been going on in the yard. In fact, there's a Great Horned Owl in the dead tree out back as I type this post. We had Yellow Warblers in the yard today- and one came very close to the house! We've seen families of Grackles, Barn and Tree Swallows, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a single juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles (2 adults and 3 fledglings were at the jelly feeder a few days ago), Blue Birds (who were trying to work on a second nest after losing a territory battle over their first nesting box to a House Sparrow. We tried to intervene, but we couldn't catch the Sparrow. The Bluebirds have moved on to another nesting box, so we'll see what happens), House Wrens (who have also started a second nest with 4 eggs in another nesting box), and more. It's been amazing to have so many around! I think I've been slow in posting because of some sad news. We've decided to sell our house, which was not an easy decision and that was predominantly because of our love for these native birds. I know this will likely be our last summer here to witness all these new birds come to life, come to explore the new world and dine at our feeders, drink and wash in our bird baths, and that fills my heart with sadness. I know we can set up gardens, feeders and baths for birds at our new house, but I'll miss these birds - our regulars- and I hope with all hope that the people who move in here will love these birds as much as we do and support and care for them.

First evidence that birds tweet using grammar

First evidence that birds tweet using grammar

18:00 26 June 2011 by Andy Coghlan

They may not have verbs, nouns or past participles, but birds challenge the notion that humans aloneMovie Camera have evolved grammatical rules.

Bengal finches have their own versions of such rules – known as syntax – says Kentaro Abe of Kyoto University, Japan. "Songbirds have a spontaneous ability to process syntactic structures in their songs," he says.

To show a sense of syntax in the animals, Abe's team played jumbled "ungrammatical" remixes of finch songs to the birds and measured the response calls.

Although many animals, including dogs, parrots and apes are known to interpret and construct "sentences", and recognise human words for individual objects, Abe says that only his finches have been shown to have a form of grammar in their utterances. Similar claims have been made for whale song, however.

In the wild, Bengal finches call back vigorously whenever they hear unfamiliar songs, usually from intruding finches. In the lab, Abe and colleague Dai Watanabe of the Japan Science and Technology Agency in Saitama exploited these reactions to gauge whether finches could notice "ungrammatical" songs.

The rules

First, they played finches unfamiliar songs repeatedly until the birds got used to them and stopped overreacting. Then they jumbled up syllables within each song and replayed these versions to the birds.

"What we found was unexpected," says Abe. The birds reacted to only one of the four jumbled versions, called SEQ2, as if they noticed it violated some rule of grammar, whereas the other three remixes didn't. Almost 90 per cent of the birds tested responded in this way. "This indicates the existence of a specific rule in the sequential orderings of syllables in their songs, shared within the social community," Abe told New Scientist.

In subsequent experiments Abe showed that the rules were not innate – they had to be learned. Birds raised in isolation failed to react to SEQ2 until they had spent two weeks with other birds. He also taught birds unnatural grammatical rules by habituating them to one of his jumbled versions, then gauging their reactions to remixed versions that violated the "artificial" rules.

Finally, Abe chemically destroyed an area of the brain called the anterior nidopallium in some birds, and was thereby able to demonstrate that it is vital for registering faulty grammar. In humans, a region called Broca's area is activated when we hear ungrammatical sentences, so Abe suggests that studying the counterpart region in finches might throw new light on the origins of human grammar.

Bird words?

Constance Scharff, who works on birdsong at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, says the work is important because it is often claimed that humans are the only species that uses grammar.

"It's an ingenious experiment showing that birds are sensitive to changes in song that are consistent with different grammars," she says. "More and more, we are seeing similarities between humans and animals, and that makes some people uneasy."

Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/nn.2869

Family of Finches!!

This morning on the back porch we saw a male with his family. The babies were beating their wings and demanding to be fed!

What Birds Teach Us: Don't Take Them -- or the Future -- for Granted

David Yarnold
President, National Audubon Society
Posted: 06/23/11

The bird you heard singing or saw overhead today? It's pretty easy to take it for granted, but in fact, it might have traveled thousands of miles to get to your house.

It might have been to places where you'd need a passport and vaccinations to visit. Those ducks that show up every winter in your local park? It's likely they were hatched in the Arctic tundra. When you stop to think about it, birds are the last connection to the wild for many of us. And the arrival and departure of birds -- particularly during their heroic migrations -- is a link to nature's rhythms.

But that bond can be broken. We are seeing fewer and fewer migratory birds, even many so-called common species. That's because they depend on a chain of food and rest stops, whether they travel up the Mississippi River or along the Atlantic or Pacific coasts. Break enough links in the chain, and birds die -- or are never born.

The Eastern Meadowlark's four-note call (it sounds like we'ee SEE you) is a classic spring birdsong. Like a super-hero's costume, the meadowlark has a brilliant yellow breast emblazoned with a black V.

But the meadowlark is no super-hero. In fact, it is in mortal danger. Four decades ago, there were an estimated 24 million Eastern Meadowlarks in the wild. Today that number has fallen to fewer than 7 million.

The meadowlark is an indirect victim of American dependence on foreign oil. As oil prices have skyrocketed, farmers have switched over their fields to grow corn for ethanol. Cornfields make poor meadowlark habitats. The chain is broken.

On the West Coast, the Rufous Hummingbird faces similar threats. The Rufous is a tiny, almost all cinnamon-colored bird (males have a red throat), found wherever flowers are near, from dense forests to sunny gardens in southern Alaska to northern California. Tiny and mighty, Rufous Hummingbirds migrate thousands of miles down the West Coast, to spend the winter in Mexico.

The Rufous Hummingbird breeds in Alaska and in the Pacific Northwest, where logging and urban sprawl have degraded its habitat. Current estimates suggest its numbers are crashing: having fallen by nearly 60 percent over the past four decades.

In all, my colleagues at National Audubon Society have identified more than 20 birds, once common, whose numbers have plummeted since the mid-1960s. They are victims of a growing list of threats, including disruption in our climate, conversion of pastures and meadows to farmland, urban sprawl, pollution, logging, and other human causes. (Here's a link to that list.)

Why should you care about that bird pecking in your front yard or about the Rufous or the meadowlark? Because thriving birds = thriving ecosystems. And thriving ecosystems = clean air, clean water, abundant food and great habitat. And those are places where people thrive, too. This isn't just about doing what's best for birds; it's about doing what's best for our kids and the generations to follow.

David Yarnold is President & CEO of Audubon.


Follow David Yarnold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deewhy2

Bluebird Love

I'm sitting outside, watching Papa Bluebird standing on the top of the nesting box, keeping a close eye on one of his fledglings as he/she explores the ground. What a lovely sight!!

Nesting Updates

The Barn Swallows are hatching today; as of 8 p.m., three of the five have hatched!



The two Eastern Bluebird chicks are getting quite big and I suspect they will be out into the big wide world soon enough.



The Tree Swallows have five babies hatched. I love those little faces!



The House Wrens have five babies in their box as well.



We've also seen fledgling Grackles (and unfortunately House Sparrows and Starlings). We know that all the Woodpeckers (Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied) must have young nearby as they are taking big chunks of suet in their beaks and flying off with it. The Cardinals look like they have nested elsewhere nearby (after a previous failed nest), and I've seen the male feeding the female. The male and female Grosbeaks and Chipping Sparrows have both been caught in the act as well. We also observed a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird doing his little dance for the female. Dave saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch gathering nesting material awhile back as well. We are certain there are lots of nests and egg laying going on!

Congratulations to all the new mama and papa birds who are working so hard to feed and raise their young!

Bobolinks - an informal survey

Dave and I did an informal survey of the area from Britannia and 4th Line to Lower Base Line, back up Fifth Line to Britannia. Here is a map with recent sightings.


We weren't expecting to see much, but in fact we did! 35 male and 2 female Bobolinks! Most were too far out for our point and shoot camera to pick them up, but we could see clearly with our binoculars.





And 3 Eastern Meadowlarks as well.







We submitted these to Conservation Halton as part of their call for sightings of these species.

And in just because, I'm including some pics of Turkey Vultures we saw in a field. They were feasting away on what we think was a raccoon.

Birding at Bronte

Late in the day yesterday, we decided to make a trip over to the east side of Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Here's a list of our sightings:

Barn Swallows (and a nest they built over an outdoor restroom light)
Eastern Kingbirds
Blue Jays (including one on a nest- the first Blue Jay nest we've ever seen)
Song Sparrows
Great Crested Flycatchers
Swamp Sparrow- NEW TO OUR LIFE LIST! There was a pair of them and one had food in it's beak. We assume there was a nest nearby.





Am. Robins
Eastern Bluebirds
Orchard Orioles- a male and female pair. This was a first of the year sighting for us and the first female we have ever seen. We haven't had Orchard Orioles at the house in 2 years.



Pair of Hawks- likely Red-tailed

Bobolink updates

From Conservation Halton

Can you help us find these two birds?
We're looking for your observations of these two distinctive birds throughout the Conservation Halton Watershed. Both species, Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) have recently been listed as a species at risk.

As part of CH's continued commitment to monitor, protect and restore species at risk, we're looking for your help to tell us if you see the Bobolink, or the Eastern Meadowlark. Our ecology staff are conducting surveys for these species, but the more eyes the better.

The males of both species are easy to identify and are most commonly found in hayfields, meadows and on fenceposts (especially the meadowlark). The Bobolink is mainly black in colour, and the Eastern Meadowlark is primarily yellow.

If you see either of these birds between now and the end of July (breeding bird season runs from May 1 to July 31) send your observations to Conservation Halton. Please include date, observation details and location when reporting. Observations can by sent by e-mail nfinney(at)hrca.on.ca or online on the CH Species at Risk Form.

This survey will give us a greater understanding of the habitat use and distribution of these species in Halton, enabling ecologists to better plan and protect these species.

Back to me:

It's great to see that there is a call for this information. When I filled out the form for Bobolink sightings last year, I just got a "thanks for letting us know" and didn't hear back about any action/plans to help these birds. It's been very frustrating, but a call for help on Facebook gave me some great suggestions from friends.

However, I would like to thank Oakvillegreen and Friends of Glenorchy for their ongoing support and advice. It's nice to feel we're not alone in this. I'd like to thank Nolan from North Shore Bird and Nest Watch for his advice on looking for nests etc. And to my friends who replied with suggestions and ideas on Facebook- thank you very much! I was given some practical advice and some contact suggestions. I appreciate the green-minded people in my life!

The Milton Champion is coming out today to do a story on the Bobolinks in the area. I'm hoping to stress that the widening and expanding of Britannia and James Snow Parkway will directly impact this species by fragmenting and destroying nesting grounds. Lose the land, lose the birds. It's as simple as that.

Female Bobolinks on the fence line along Lower Base Line:



and a Savannah Sparrow. I'm just including the picture because I really like the composition and wanted to share it:

Nest Check- June 5, 2011

Looks like our Bluebirda had two of their three eggs hatch. We have seen a very busy papa Bluebird coming and going to the nesting box. We haven't seen the female in a few days (not that we've been watching all day, every day, but we were out front most of Sunday and didn't see her). If something happened to her, would the male take over caring for the young? Does anyone know about that in terms of Bluebird behaviour?





Dave was continually dive-bombed by the Tree Swallows when he checked on their box. Looks like five eggs. Very exciting!!







The House Wren also has five eggs





As do the Barn Swallows!!

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Dave was able to take these beautiful pictures of an Eastern Wood-Pewee. We were able to see and hear it hunting in the trees out front. A rare treat for us!






And the Chickadees and Cardinals have hatched in my parents' yard. Very cute!

More nests

Tree Swallow nest


House Wren Nest


Barn Swallow Nest


Bluebird Nest




And in other news, the male Red-bellied Woodpecker has made an appearance after being absent for months! And after a short hiatus, the female is back as well. She's been visiting the suet feeders, taking bit chunks and flying off, which leads us to believe she's feeding some babies nearby.