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.

Babies!!

Over the weekend, Dave took these pictures of baby Cardinals and Chickadee eggs at my parents house. The Cardinals seem to be re-using last year's nest and the Chickadees are using the nesting box that Dave built (again!)

Beautiful Barn Swallow listed as Threatened

Sad news.

The Barn Swallow has been added to the list of Threatened Species in Canada

http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct7/sct7_3_17_e.cfm

Range-wide Declines Remain a Mystery for Well-known Canadian Bird

"The Barn Swallow is easily identified by its deeply forked tail and swooping flight as it hunts for insects over lakes and fields. This bird, the most widespread swallow species in the world, is following the pattern of declining trends seen in many migratory birds across North America that eat flying insects. The reasons for declines of up to 76% in the past 40 years continue to baffle bird experts but changes in habitats, insect communities and climate have all been implicated. The Barn Swallow was assessed as Threatened."

We have observed them in Glenorchy and certainly in the surrounding area. They have currently returned to the area and inhabit the barns just outside of Glenorchy. In fact, we have a pair building a nest in our shed. Just another example of a species that will be impacted by plans for further development of the area. Frustrating indeed.

On another note, we woke up this morning to see five Cliff Swallows sitting on the wire out front. We've observed this species before, but this is the first confirmed sighting at the house.

Best Birding Day.

We had our highest total day count on Sunday- 50! We had 35 distinct species at home and the rest we saw on our way to and at Bronte Creek Provincial Park, where we saw 10 Warbler species, our single highest count of Warblers too!

Here's the breakdown of the day:
at home: Baltimore Orioles (5), Rosebreasted Grosbeak (3F, 7M), Red-winged Blackbird (5M), Am Goldfinch (50-100), Cowbird (7F, 7M), White-crowned Sparrow (11), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1M, 1F), Tree Swallow (2), Am Crow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, N Cardinal (M and F), Grackle, Chipping Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, Downy (M and F), Rock Dove (3), Mourning Dove (2), Starling (4), House Wren, Blue Jay (3), Indigo Bunting, House Sparrow (M and F), Bluebirds (M and F- still nesting), Bartn Swallow (4), Black-capped Chickadee (2), Robin, Song Sparrow, Hairy WP (M and F), White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch (M), Canada Goose (2), Pine Siskin, Great Blue Heron (2), Turkey Vulture, Killdeer

To/From Bronte Creek: Mallard (M and F), Eastern Phoebe, Belted Kingfisher

Bronte Creek Provincial Park (from 4-5:30 p.m.) : Eastern Kingbird (First of the year),
Bobolink, Savannah Sparrow.
Warblers seen near the Park Office: Nashville Warbler (1st sighting ever- female), Black-throated Green (female), Canada Warbler (1st ever, female and possibly a second CW in the trees), Black-throated Blue Warbler (First of the year and our first ever breeding male- we saw a female at Mountsberg last year. The male is absolutely STUNNING!!), Chestnut-sided Warbler (adult male), Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackburnian Warlber (another beautiful male), American Redstart (first of the year) and a Northern Parula (first of the year, a beautiful female). So to summarize, we saw a total of 10 species, 9 were new for the day, 5 were new for the year and 2 (Nashville and Canada) are new to the life list!)
It waas great viewing because the birds were fairly low in the trees and we could get a good look at them. A great birding day!!

Warbler Mania!!

It's been an amazing Warbler day for us! It's an overcast and rainy day, so that was helpful in bringing the warblers in. It was not helpful in getting any good pictures though (due to the distance and the fast moving of the birds, we just couldn't get any good pics with our point and shoot camera).

Anyway, here's our list of warblers for the day:

Magnolia Warbler- sighted at my parents house in town. A male in perfect breeding plummage- our first sighting ever, so a new addition to the life list. There was a second unidentified warlber in the same tree. It flew across the street before we could make a confirmation of the ID. It was very dull in colour.

At home we saw a Yellow Warbler, the Indigo Bunting again (not a warbler, I know, but worth noting), 2 more unidentified warblers (can't they ever slow down?!?), 2-3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 2-3 other warblers that may have been the Tennessee, Orange-crowned and Cape May, but we're not 100% positive on those.

We have a confirmed ID of the Chestnut-sided Warbler- also new to our life list and another perfect example of a breeding male. We saw the Black-and-White Warbler (first this year and first ever in the yard). We think there may have been a Black-throated Green as well as a Bay-breasted warbler. And we definitely saw a Blackburnian warbler (adult female), which is another new addition to our life list.

With a similar forecast for tomorrow, we're hoping to have a repeat of the warbler success.

We also had a Pine Siskin in with the dozens and dozens of Gold Finch we have on site right now. There are at least 6 Baltimore Orioles visiting the oranges and jelly feeders as well.

And I should mention that we went to the Milton Farmer's Market and the Chimney Swifts have returned. If you are interested in seeing these birds, go to the downtown area on Main Street and go to Knox Presbyterian Church. The Chimney Swifts are flying above the old buildings there. Very exciting!!

Orioles

Baltimore Oriole is back!

The Baltimore Oriole made its first appearance at the oranges on Sunday. He visited the oranges and the grape jelly on the tray feeder again today.



On Mother's Day we went to my parents house and we noticed the Cardinals in the tree in the backyard. It looks like they are re-using the nest from last year and have already laid three eggs.




and the partially albino Robin has returned to my parents yard as well. Dave took some pictures of it, something I was unable to do last year.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Another great birding day on Saturday! Best sightings of the day? Bobolinks- they're back! and the Indigo Bunting made it's annual Mother's Day weekend return to the yard!

Species observed at home: White-crowned Sparrow (at least 5), Brown-headed Cowbird, Goldfinch, Brown Thrasher, WB Nuthatch, Tree Swallow (still gathering nesting material), Eastern Bluebird (gathering nesting material), White-throated Sparrow, starling, Chipping Sparrow, Mourning Dove, RB Nuthatch (pair in/at a hole in the front-yard Oak tree), Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Blue Jay, Crow, Downy WP, Red-tailed Hawk, Cardinal, Chickadee, Killdeer, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Barn Swallow, House Finch, Turkey Vulture, Grackle, Hairy Wp, Rock Dove, Purple Finch, Great Blue Heron, Indigo Bunitn (2 male)

And we took another visit to Bronte Creek PP (we decided to buy a summer pass this year). This list includes additional species only and does not relist the species we previously observe the same day at home:
Canada Goose, Wild Turkey, House Sparrow, Bobolink (first of the year), Song Sparrow, House Wren, Gray Catbird (first of the year), Eastern Towhee (first of they year), Belted Kingfisher, Black-throated Green Warlber (First of the year), Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Mockingbird (we've seen five in the last two days, which is more than we usually see in a year. I'm wondering if this species is enjoying greater numbers this year?), Savannah Sparrow, and Mallard.

Total for the Yard: 33 species and Total for the day: 47 species.

Bluebirds are nest building!

We are watching the Bluebirds gather nesting materials and they are using our nesting box. Very exciting! It's been a few years since we've had a pair choose to use one of our boxes.

It would also appear that a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches are nesting in a tree out front.

We kept a bird list yesterday and we had quite a few sightings (30 species in the yard and 43 total for the day):
Cowbird, White-throated Sparrow, Black-capped dChickadee, Eastern Bluebird, Red-winged Blackbird, Starling, Downy, Chipping Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (including 2 females- first of the year), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (first of the year- good thing I put out the sugar water feeders on Thursday!), Hairy WP, Tree Swallows (also nest building), Great Blue Heron, House Finch, Rock Dove, Purple Finch (Female- and of note is the fact we have been seeing Purple Finches on a daily basis the last while. We usually only see them for a day or two every year. Dave saw 1 male and 4 female PFs on Wednesday- the highest number we've ever had on site), Turkey Vulture, Northern Flicker, Barn Swallow.

In the afternoon, we all went to Bronte Creek Provincial Park for a hike. There we saw: Grackle, Canada Goose, Northern Mockingbird (a pair who were nesting. I checked the nest and there were at least 3 babies in there. One of the parents flew in and was giving me the business- calling at me and fanning the tail- see pics below), Mallards, Song Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker (we haven't seen ours in quite awhile), Red-tailed Hawk, Amerian Kestrel, American Crow, Eastern Meadowlark (first of the year), House Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe.

Bluebirds remain

We have a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. They have been scouting out the nesting box at the bottom of the driveway. They've been around for two consecutive days, so we're hopeful they will choose this as a nesting site.


The Tree Swallows seem to have settled in on the same nesting box they've used the last three years. This pair seems a bit more aggressive and have been dive-bombing Dave when he goes out to the car in the mornings.

We also have a pair of cardinals building a nest in the honeysuckle bush right outside our bedroom window. Very exciting!