Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

  "EVEN ITS BEAK 

IS RED"

The Northern Cardinal's bright colouration is from the ingestion of foods that contain  carotinoid pigments, such as many seeds, wild fruit and berries. 

It ranges from southern

Canada to the Gulf Coast, including Mexico

and Belize.   It is said that is was named for the

red robes worn by Roman Catholic cardinals.   Males feed females up to four times per minute through egg-laying and incubation. They are often wary of people, but males are often aggressive with their own reflections in windows.

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BarrytheBirder

Resplendent starling...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Red-breasted Mergansers ~ Richmond, B.C.

Photos by Dave Kemp

Red-breasted Mergansers ~ Terra Nova Park

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BarrytheBirder

Mergansers at Terra Nova Park, Richmond B.C. by Dave Kemp

Red-breasted Merganser (male)

Red-breasted Merganser (female)

Male and Female in flight

Above are three recent photographs of Red-breasted Mergansers taken by my British Columbia birding acquaintance and avid photographer Dave Kemp.  The photos were taken at Terra Nova Park, west of Richmond B.C., on the southern shore of the southern branch of the Fraser River, which empties into the Salish Sea.  The park is right across the river from Vancouver International Airport.   The north branch of the Fraser also empties into the Salish Sea on the north side of the airport.   Tomorrow's blog entry will feature three more merganser photos from Terra Nova.   Many thanks to Dave Kemp for sharing these photos.

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BarrytheBirder

Snowy Owl populations in decline...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Pictured above is a Barred Owl, not a Snowy Owl.   Let me explain.   I was reading about the declining number of Snowy Owls in North America, on a Cornell Lab of Ornithology website and there was a list of causes for  Snowy owls deaths.   It listed a number of causes such as shootings, hit by motor vehicles, found dead on highways, collisions with towers or wires, caught in traps not intended for birds, hit by aircraft, and 'ENTANGLED'.  Yes, owls can become entangled in tree branches or  vines, etc.   The number is small and a mere percentage of the total number of deaths.    But I was instantly reminded of the Barred Owl pictured above.   I spotted in on the 16th Sideroad of King Township  near the Pine Orchard Cafe.  When I first saw it, it was ensnared in the branches of a small tree.   I watched it for several minutes and finally it extricated itself.   It had never occurred to me that such an encounter could cost a bird its life.   

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BarrytheBirder

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was looking for Snowy Owls in the Holland Marsh last Thursday but I had to settle for this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.   It was very overcast and the bird was on a high powerline.   What is notable however on this juvenile is the white patch at the throat and the heavily streaked and spotted brown belly below, that will fade as it reaches maturity.

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BarrytheBirder

More birds from B.C. by Dave Kemp...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Northern Harrier (female)

Great Blue Heron

All Dave Kemp's photos are from Canada's west coast, which is seen in its grandeur in the photo above.   I wished I was there Dave.

Thanks Dave for sharing these photos.

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BarrytheBirder

Dave Kemp sends more bird photos from Canada's west coast...

Photos by Dave Kemp

                    American Widgeon (male)

 Red-breasted Merganser (male)

Bald Eagle ( juvenile)

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BarrytheBirder

Kingfisher spotted in East Humber River at King Creek...

 

Photo by Barry theBirder

I spotted a Kingfisher under the bridge over the East Humber River at King Creek on January 20.  It was a cool -9C but the river was open and was apparently still providing a fishing opportunity for the late-migrating fish-eater.

Wikipedia Photo                                         

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                                                  BarrytheBirder

                                                           

2nd Snowy Owl of the year...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

This is the 2nd Snowy Owl I have seen and photographed this year.

I spotted it on a trip north of Newmarket, on the Ravenshoe Sideroad, near the southern tip of Lake Simcoe.   It was about 100 metres from me and I slowly moved towards it while taking pictures.   I got to about 10 to 15 metres before it decided to move down the line of old utility poles.  I didn't follow it and I was happy to get the pictures you see here.  I spotted three abandoned Osprey nests in the marsh at the end of the Ravenshoe Road, which I will return to in the spring in hopes of the Ospreys returning to these spots.   One of the nests was atop a pole in centre field at a neighbourhood baseball diamond while another was atop the end of a massive irrigation rig at the edge of the marsh (see below).

The photo at right shows a nearby mailbox decorated with a hemp leaf.   A few hemp greenhouses are to be found these days in the Holland Marsh, to the south, as well as a  monster-sized one, here in the Ravenshoe Marsh.  Both marijuana and cannabis are forms of hemp.

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BarrytheBirder

Rough-legged Hawk in the Holland Marsh...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Rough-legged Hawk

(Buteo lagopus)

This darkish hawk often uses its long wings to hover while hunting.  They typically nest in Canada's far north and have been observed to be wintering farther north of their traditional winter range.   

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BarrythBirder

First Snowy Owl of 2021...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Snowy Owl in the Holland Marsh

Pictured above is the first female Snowy Owl I have seen this winter.  It was perched on a high television aerial on the north-west corner of the Aileen Avenue junction with the Strawberry Lane, about a 1/5 km. east of Hwy. 400.   'Snowies' do like to perch on aerials, but the aerials add nothing to the attractiveness of photos.

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BarrytheBirder   

A few more B.C. birds by Dave Kemp...

 

Virginia Rail chick

Black Scoters

Bald Eagles

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BarrytheBirder

More B.C. birds by Dave Kemp...

 

Harlequin Duck

Long-tailed Ducks & Surf Scoters

Photos by Dave Kemp

White-winged Scoters

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BarrytheBirder

British Columbia swans by photographer Dave Kemp

Mute Swan

Trumpeter Swans

Many thanks to my west coast friend Dave Kemp for sharing these great photos from the Pacific Ocean side of Canada.  Other west coast birds to be shown in the next couple of days.

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BarrytheBirder

Pileated Woodpecker at Marylake...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was photographing dead and dying spruce trees along the road into Marylake, north of King City, on Thursday when a Pileated Woodpecker made an appearance.   I apparently alarmed it and it immediately flew off.   Seeing a  'Pileated' is always a special occasion (a momentary, exciting spectacle!)...would that I could see them more than I occasionally do.

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BarrytheBirder

Another upside-down feeder...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Adding Common Redpoll to the list

Two days ago, I mentioned four birds species that hang upside down at my backyard feeders, if they have a mind to.  They were Pine Siskin, Goldfinch, Red-breasted Nuthatch and White-breasted Nuthatch.   I should have added Common Redpoll (see photo above).   No doubt, there will be a few other species hanging upside down, over the course of the winter, as the feeders are swarmed by hungry birds.

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BarrytheBirder

Feeding swans at Carrying Place

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Golf club feeding Trumpeter Swans

The gentleman (above) from Carrying Place Golf and Country Club is seen feeding swans (both Trumpeters and Mutes) at the big pond, fronting on Weston Road, north of the Lloydtown-Aurora Road.

 

The patches of open water on the Carrying Place big pond are created by sump-pumping pond water (see photo above).   Between feeding and providing open water for the big swans, the expectation is that the Trumpeter Swans will winter remain onsite until spring. The two Mute Swans are permanent, year-around residents.  Below, two of the Trumpeter Swans appear to be having a tete-a-tete.

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BarrytheBirder

 

Get a grip and hang on

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Pine Siskins hang upside-down...

...as do Goldfinches, Red-breasted Nuthatches 

and White-breasted Nuthatches

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BarrytheBirder

Immature Bald Eagle awaits its turn to feed...

 

Photo supplied by Doreen Hiltz

This impressive-looking, immature Bald Eagle also has a bit of a circumspect look as it circles about a fisherman's discarded salmon catch that more mature eagles are already feasting upon.   The photo was taken in British Columbia in the heart of Haida Gwaii, north of Vancouver Island in 2019.   It was taken by my one-time high school music teacher, Doreen Hiltz, of Holland Landing, Ontario, who grew up in Chilliwack, B.C.   The Bald Eagle is an important icon in the Haida Gwaii native culture.

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BarrytheBirder

       

Side-by-side comparison...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

American Goldfinch (on the left)

Pine Siskin (on the right) 

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BarrytheBirder

Looking for Bubo scandiacus...

 

Red-tailed

Hawk

in the

 Holland

Marsh

...but no

 Snowy Owls

yet.

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comment

if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Hungry Mourning Doves...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

A solitary Chipping Sparrow looks down on a half dozen intimidating Mourning Doves at one of the backyard feeders.

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BarrytheBirder