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.