Muskrats ~ giant water-loving mice

It's that time of the year when every little wild pond, and bit of hidden wetland, reveals a secret muskrat lodge or two.   I'm talking about the ones that are unseen and inaccessible in the deep, dense green of summer.   The pictures here were taken just a few minutes from my home in King City.   Invading the territory of the muskrat, and also that of the more-transient beaver, allows a few insights that are not normally available.   I was not aware, for instance, that a muskrat will build its lodge as a lean-to against or right-around a tree trunk (see photo above).   In this marsh, there are as many of this type as there are stand-alone lodges or bank dens.   Some dens have underwater tunnels, or open-air access holes, or vent holes (see photo at left).   The vent hole may be accidential as a result of little snow, so far this winter.   Evidence of beaver is found on many trees that are still standing or that have been felled by the tough-toothed rodent (see bottom right).   I didn't see any beavers lodges and I assume that they have dug dens in some of the steep banks around the marsh.   The water level is high as a result of the beaver dam that exists.   The beavers have been here for a couple years but are up against municipal workers who breach their dam every so often to prevent flooding of a nearby road.   Meanwhile the muskrats are content

with low or high water levels, it seems, and will likely occupy this wetland for quite some time.   The beavers will move on, but they and generations to follow will return in an endless cycle, unless my fellow citizens and I interfere.   The housing expansion that is occuring nearby in King City is not supposed to encroach here, but humans do prevail with their imperative to intrude upon whatever land they desire.    

Muskrat Photo by Silliopolous 


Please comment if you wish.  
BtheB

A riddle for the new year



What's to be done when

and endangered plant is eaten

by an endangered animal?

At the feeders...

    White-breasted Nuthatch

A pair of White-breasted Nuthatches has joined the throng at the feeders, bringing the number of species seen, so far this winter, to 15.   I was surprised to learn that White-breasted Nuthatches only live for two years, on average.   That is why they lay so many eggs; up to ten at one time, once a year.   Red-breasted Nuthatches, which live longer are content with 6 eggs, on average.   Nature's way is that each species has its own strategy for perpetuating its own kind.   Both of these nuthatches are very successful breeders.   Their numbers are very strong and their ranges are quite large.   If you click on the picture above, you'll get a great view of the nuthatch's huge back talons, which explain its ability to move straight down a tree trunk.  Please Comment if you wish. BtheB                                

                               Red-breasted Nuthatch
Photos by BarrytheBirder

HRHTA hikes

The Humber River is seen from the Kirby Sideroad dead-end, east of Hwy. 27, and south of Nobleton, Ontario.   The direction of view is south by south-west towards Toronto International Airport, approximately 20 kilometres away.  ( BarrytheBirder Photo)

I got an email yesterday from the Humber River Heritage Trail Association about a couple of upcoming hikes.   One of the hikes is on Sat., Feb. 5, on conservation lands just northwest of Kleinburg.   It hadn't visited this area in a while and dropped by yesterday afternoon for a glimpse of this wondeful river valley.   The hike will cover part of the area you see in the picture above.   The river valley here is a tremendous wildlife-viewing area, especially for birds in the summer, but there's lots to see in the winter also, especially with a good guide.   Go to http://www.hvhta.ca/ for details about 2011 hikes.   Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 



Winter foraging...

This is Ben, one of four horses on the Beretta Organic Farm, in King Township.   Ben's your hardy work type.   No custom-fitted, triple-thermal-layered horse blanket for him.   They're for those wussy show horses.  ( Photo by BarrytheBirder)  

At the feeders...

Clockwise from top left:

* Eastern
   Gray Squirrel
   (black morph
   or melanistic
   colour phase)

* Red Squirrel

* Eastern
   Gray Squirrel

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Birdfeeder update

                   Common Redpolls                          

Below is our 2010/2011 winter backyard bird species list, updated from two weeks ago.   The bird name is shown first, followed by the most-seen number of individual birds, at one time.   Please comment if you wish.

              American Goldfinches ~ 61

Dark-eyed Juncos ~ 34

American Tree Sparrows ~ 22

Mourning Doves ~ 19

Common Redpolls ~ 18

  House Sparrows ~   6
Northern Cardinals ~   5

Blue Jays ~   4

House Finches ~   4

Chickadees ~   4

Red-breasted Nuthatches ~   2

Starling ~   1

Cooper's Hawk ~   1

Downy Woodpecker ~   1

   Total Species ~ 14

Photo by BarrytheBirder

18 redpolls arrive

Common Redpoll

Carduelis flammea

Before Christmas, one single redpoll showed up for a few minutes at the backyard feeders, then no more.   Today, 18 showed up and have been around all morning.   They are most welcome to spend the winter here, I say.   The ones pictured above are females.   They are recognizable by the small red spot on the top of their heads.   The winter males also have the red spot, as well as a pale pink wash on their breasts.   Their sweet call is just that: 'swee-ee-eet'.   These dear little birds are most-welcome visitors from Canada's sub-arctic forests and tundra scrubs.   They get along well with the goldfinches and tree sparrows, but the juncos seem to give them a wide berth.   Please comment if you wish. 

BtheB

2011 ~ Day One

Gateway at Marylake Augustinian Monastery

Deadhouse at King City Cemetery

All Saints Anglican Church

What started out as a new year's day birdwatching walkabout became an abbreviated, washed-out, sight-seeing jaunt.   It wasn't cold today, but it was raining.   There was thick fog, and it was dark and gloomy.   So I photographed buildings instead of birds.   These King City landmarks were still attractive in their own ways.   Finely-crafted stonework, even when soaking wet, appears dignified and solid, and that is how I shall start the new year: dignified and solid.   It won't last long, based on past experience.   Please comment if you wish. 

BtheB

Pileated Woodpeckers near Ottawa

I was in the Ottawa area for Christmas this year and spent most of my time watching the antics of my four grandchildren and it was great fun.   I saw hardly any birds at all but the exception were several Pileated Woodpeckers.   I haven't seen one yet this winter near home, but I look forward to seeing one and getting some photos.   The Pileated is probably the biggest woodpecker in the world.   Two larger ones are the Imperial Woodpecker and Ivory-billed Woodpecker, both of the Mexico/Central America areas and both almost sure to be extinct.   We are so lucky to be able to see this magnificent bird with regularity in this part of the world.   Its size, roller-coaster flight path, and loud rising-and-falling wuck-a-wuck-a-wuck-a call are very distinctive.   My friend Glenn McKinnon sent me the photo above.   I believe his wife, Jo, took the photo, at their home, in the Muskoka region of Ontario.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB       

Jupa, Goonda, or Grandpa Jupiter

BB BarrytheBirder and the baby birdsBB 

 I have two grandsons who call me 'Jupa' and two granddaughters who call me 'Goonda'.   That's the four of them and me, in the picture above, at Christmas last year. I decided very early that I wanted to be called 'Grandpa Jupiter' by my grandchildren.   I thought it would make me a commanding, larger-than-life, mega-grandfather.   It didn't occur to me at the time that Grandpa Jupiter consisted of five syllables and that no child, with just one tongue, was going to be able to say Grandpa Jupiter, right out of the starting gate.   My oldest grandson managed Jupa (short for Jupiter) and in due course, his younger brother settled on Jupa also.   On the distaff side, my oldest granddaughter was persuaded by her father to also go with a two-syllable nickname: Goonda.   Which was fine as long as I never went to India where Goonda is a Hindi word meaning gangster or hoodlum!   I'm still adjusting to my son-in-law's sense of humour.   Needless to say, my younger granddaughter knows me as Goonda now also.   The point is that now that I am into my 70th year, these dear little people are my reason for wanting to live another 20 years.   Christmas is for them and they are a joy to me.   Merry Christmas world.

BtheB        

     

Beyond the eclipse...

No moon, no man.

Late 19th century proverb

The evening sky was clouded over the night before last, in my neck of the woods.   While I wanted to take a photo of the lunar eclipse, it was not be.   24 hours later, I looked out my window and saw what you see above.   I snatched up my camera and ran out into the cold.   I captured an image that the entire modern world could see for the very first time: a photo of the moon, the day after a lunar eclipse.   Sure, there are now a million shots of an eclipsed red moon floating around out there (boring), but how many earthlings thought to get a shot of the celestial aftermath?   An event of this magnitude must be shared and as my generosity knows no bounds, I wish to say that this picture is available to the world, at no charge, and you may do with it as you will.   Well, I suppose I should also do the right thing and get an email off to The Smithsonian.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

At the feeder...

Starling (Turdus vulgaris)                                                                     Photos by BarrytheBirder  

 

Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurnus carolinensis). Usually gray but often

 seen as black (a melanistic colour phase).

The cold weather seemed to take its own sweet time getting here this winter but now it has settled in with a vengeance.   It got down to -25C wind-chill one day in mid-December and the bird feeders have to be topped up daily or all hell breaks loose.   It happens easily enough when there are more than 100 birds at one time squabbling for the last few seeds.

Here's what we've seen so far with the bird name first, followed by the most-seen number, at one time:

      

          
 American Goldfinches ~ 61

Dark-eyed Juncos ~ 34

American Trees Sparrows ~ 22

Mourning Doves ~ 19

House Finches ~   4

House Sparrows ~   4

Chickadees ~   3

Red-breasted Huthatches ~   2

Blue Jays ~   2

Cardinals ~   2

European Starling ~   1

Cooper's Hawk ~   1

Downey Woodpecker ~   1

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB                                                                          

Humber Trails Conservation Area

down to the river

a winter raccoon sleeps there

undisturbed on high

Photos and haiku by BarrytheBirder

'Twas a bitter-cold day

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Eyes shut ~ plumes plumped

The dove rebuffs 'gainst winter

O'er me a thick tick

A little wind-blown

"What difference does it make anyway, when there is a tasty tidbit to peck away at?   Besides, I'm beautiful even when dishevelled...not that I want to crow about it".

BarrytheBirderPhotos

Great Blue Heron a.k.a. Arsnicker

Photo by Don Flucker

With a beak like the one above, a Great Blue Heron, possibly attacking from behind, would certainly be well-nicknamed Arsnicker.   Which starts my second (and last) look at bird nicknames.   The first part was back in early December and used, as the source for interesting old bird nicknames, a 105-year-old field guide by Charles A. Reed.   This time, I am using, as a reference source, my Peterson Field Guide "Birds of the West Indies", first published in 1936 with none other than James Bond, as its author.   And this James Bond is indeed the namesake for Ian Fleming's James Bond (see below).   The real James Bond's field guide is an excellent book and, probably unintentionally, seems to have more bird nicknames than any other guide in existence.   The nicknames naturally have a delightful Caribbean proclivity and are often humorous or sometimes inexplicable.   Who knew that so many birds could have so many nicknames...and usually in three different languages: English, French and Spanish?   Here's a sampling of noteworthy, colourful and mainly English nicknames.

1/ White Pelican, a.k.a. Alcatraz Blanco

2/ Flamingo, a.k.a. Filly-mingo or Flamenco

3/ Northern Shoveller Duck, a.k.a. Shovel-Mouth

4/ Ruddy Duck, a.k.a. Rubber Duck

5/ American Kestrel, a.k.a. Killy-killy or Bastard Hawk

6/ Yellow-breasted Crake, a.k.a. Twopenny Chick

7/ Oystercatcher, a.k.a. Whelk-cracker or Sea Pie

8/ Common Stilt, a.k.a. Crack-pot Soldier

9/ Jamaican Blackbird, a.k.a. Wild Pine Sergeant

10/ Least Tern, a.k.a. Kill-'em Polly

11/ Mourning Dove, a.k.a. Long-tailed Pea Dove or Fifi

12/ Common Ground Dove, a.k.a. Tobacco Dove

13/ Barn Owl, a.k.a. Death Owl or Death Bird

14/ Common Nighthawk, a.k.a. Killy-dadick or Gie-me-me-bit

15/ Most hummingbirds are nicknamed Doctor Bird or God Bird

16/ Most woodpeckers are called Carpinteros

17/ White-eyed Thrush, a.k.a. Long Day Hopping Dick

18/ Many warblers are called Chip-chip

19/ Adelaide's Warbler, a.k.a. Christmas Bird

20/ Blue-hooded Euphonia, a.k.a. Mistletoe Bird

21/ Jamaican Becard, a.k.a. Mountain Dick (female) and Judy (male) - go figure!

One of the very last entries in the guide, the Black-face Grassquit, has the most nicknames, including Parson Bird, Parson Sparrow, Sin Bird, Chitty Bird, Black Sparrow, White See-see, Ground Sparrow, Grass Bird, Straw Bird, Cane Sparrow, Tobacco Seed, Parakeet, Grass Quit, Chamarro Negro, Gorrion Negro, Juan Maruca, Barbito, Tomeguin Prieto, Petit des Herbes, and Cici des Herbes.   And these are just the most common nicknames for the Black-faced Grassquit!   In fact, in the West Indies, if you ask for the name of a bird and a person does not know the name, they'll often just make one up, on the spot.   How delightful.

~

                                                        
As for James Bond (1900-1989), he was an important 

ornithologist whose name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy, James Bond.   Wikipedia reports the following.   Ian Fleming, who was a keen bird watcher living in Jamaica, was familiar with Bond's book, and chose the name of its author for the hero of 'Casino Royale' in 1953, apparently because he wanted a name that sounded 'as ordinary as possible'.   Fleming wrote to the real Bond's wife, "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born".   He also contacted the real James Bond about using his name in the books and Bond replied to him, "Fine with it".   At some point during one of Fleming's visits to Jamaica he met with the real Bond and his wife as shown in a made-for-DVD documentary about Fleming.   A short clip was shown with Fleming, Bond and his wife.   Also in his novel 'Dr. No' Fleming referenced Bond's work by basing a large ornithological sanctuary on Dr. No's island in the Bahamas.   In 1964, Fleming gave Bond a first edition copy of 'You Only Live Twice' signed "To the real James Bond, from the thief of his identity" as a final thanks.

In 2002 Bond film 'Die Another Day', the fictional Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, can be seen examining 'Birds of the West Indies' in an early scene that takes place in Havana, Cuba.   The author's name (James Bond) on the front cover is obscured.   Another example from the same film, when Bond first meets Jinx, played by Halle Berry, he introduces himself as an ornithologist.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Waiting its turn...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It's been so cold and windy and snowy the last few days, that there have been several times when we have had up to 100 birds at the feeders at one time.  So far this winter we have had 12 species show up, including a Cooper's Hawk which has reduced the Mourning Dove count by at least one.   The list includes:

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

Mourning Dove

Dark-eyed Junco

American Tree Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Chickadee

Re-breasted Nuthatch

House Sparrow

House Finch

Downey Woodpecker

Cooper's Hawk

At the feeder...



Red-breasted

Nuthatch

               Mourning Dove                                     House Finch

Antique photo for online card

Click on photo to enlarge

My wife Linda and I decided to send a personal online message to friends and family this Christmas.   We've never done this before.   We illustrated the message with the old family photo that you see here.   Linda's Grandfather Glass is the gentleman standing and a great aunt and uncle, his siblings, are seated in a one-horse open sleigh with jingle bells. The idea of an old, old photograph being sent out electronically has a certain spanning-the-generations appeal.   An old winter tradition is seen once again, to be shared instantly across the country and beyond.   I love this photo and what it captures: an old winter-time family outing.   I rode behind a few teams of horses, long ago as a child, when visiting my grandfather's farm, especially at haying and harvesting time.   I even got to drive the horses with a manure spreader in tow!   I've never ridden in a one-horse open sleigh with jingle bells, but I imagine that for anyone who has, the sound of those singing bells is forever in their memory.

Please comment if you wish.
BtheB 

Recent feeder sightings

Photos by BarrytheBirder

American Tree Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Northern Cardinal (Male & Female)

Reptilian doggerel

If a turtle loses its shell,

would it be homeless or naked?

BarrytheBirder photo

Cormorant Update

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Yesterday's Cormorant was gone today. The last open patch of water in the Holland Marsh North Canal was frozen over. This sad little tale seems to have come to an end. See blog below.
BtheB

Cold Cormorant in trouble

Photo by BarrytheBirder








This is the Cormorant I mentioned in my blog back on Nov. 25. The canal at the Holland Marsh is almost completely frozen over and it was occupying one of the last very small patches of open water and was unable to escape. It dived under the water but had to come up in the same spot or be trapped under the ice. I now had time to take its photo. I was puzzled that it still had not migrated south before the freeze-up. Then I noticed its left wing was being held up at an odd angle (see photo above - click on it to enlarge). I think this wing is damaged. So now, apparently it cannot fly and if it could the ice has taken away its take-off stretch of water. The temperature this morning was -12C. Its prospects seem dismal. I called the Toronto Animal Rescue hotline and alerted them to the Cormorant's plight. They asked to see the photos I took and said they would consult with their rescuers about a possible intervention tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for a follow-up.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Short ode

Haikus brief poems
crystallizing images of

nature into truth

Haiku and Mourning Doves photo by BarrytheBirder

At the feeder...

New seed is put out

Mourning Doves and Blue Jays joust

Juncos hide and wait

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Puffin a.k.a. Sea Parrot

I've always been curious about bird nicknames. In my last blog, below, I wrote about the Peregrine Falcon's epicurean taste for duck meat, so much so that long ago this raptor was called the Duck Hawk. It got me thinking and I did some checking. As my reference tool, I consulted a bird guide written almost 105 years ago, in 1906, by Charles A. Reed. It was published in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1910, although my own copy is a 1926 edition. I frankly think this guide is as good as the 1934 Roger Tory Petersen bird field guide; a book described as seminal and the first of its kind to spark the cataclysmic interest in birds and environmental protection in the 20th century. This is not meant to be an essay on etymology or onomastics, but just a light-hearted look at the simpler side of selected bird nicknames. In this case, the selected birds are from that old Chester Reed guide to "Water Birds, Game Birds and Birds of Prey East of the Rockies". Moving beyond the Peregrine then, let's begin with the...

1/ Western Grebe, a.k.a. SWAN GREBE, because of its extremely long neck.
2/ Eared Grebe, a.k.a. DEVIL DIVER, for its diving at the flash of a gun and swimming long distances before coming to the surface.

3/ Puffin, a.k.a. SEA PARROT, for its large, almost grotesque, red and yellow bill.

4/ Black Guillemot, a.k.a. SEA PIGEON, for sitting in rows on rocky ledges.

5/ Dovekie, a.k.a. SEA DOVE or ICE BIRD, for its abundancy in the far north and because it is sometimes blown inland and found with its feet frozen fast in the ice of some ponds and lakes.

6/ Ivory Gull, a.k.a. SNOW GULL, because it breeds in Arctic regions, further north than any other gull, except for the Ross's Gull. Whalers gave it the name Snow Gull.

7/ Forster Tern, a.k.a. SEA SWALLOW, for its resemblance in flight and form to swallows and their embodiment of grace in the air.

8/ Sooty Tern, a.k.a. EGG BIRD, because eggs of this bird were collected by the thousands for food in tropical islands.

9/ Greater Shearwater, a.k.a. HAGLET, so named by fishermen who noted their greedy and continuous quarreling in their flocks, over the lion's share of food.

10/ Storm-Petrel, a.k.a. MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS, because it seems to walk on water, in a flock, looking for food.

11/ Anhinga, a.k.a. SNAKE BIRD or AMERICAN DARTER, because it swims with its body submerged, with only its serpent-like head and neck visible, and also for its habit of perching in dense swamps and diving after fish, frogs and lizards, etc.

12/ Greater Scaup, a.k.a. BLUE BILL, for its blue bill.

13/ Bufflehead, a.k.a. BUTTER BALL, SPIRIT DUCK, DIPPER, etc., because of the speed with which it can disappear under the water.

14/ Ruddy Duck, a.k.a. BROAD-BILL DIPPER, BULL-NECK, BRISTLE-TAIL, all of which speak to some characteristic of its form.

15/ Fulvous Whistling Duck, a.k.a. LONG-LEGGED DUCK, for its long legs. In 1906, it was known as the Fulvous Tree Duck because it laid its eggs in tree hollows.

16/ American Bittern, a.k.a. STAKE-DRIVER, because of the peculiar pumping sound the male makes during the mating season.

17/ Limpkin, a.k.a.CRYING BIRD, for the odd wailing cries that they utter, day and night.

18/ Dowitcher, a.k.a. RED-BREASTED SNIPE and ROBIN SNIPE for its reddish-brown colouring...so called by gunners with whom the bird was a favourite.

19/ Knot, a.k.a. RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER and ROBIN SNIPE for its reddish-brown colour in summer, and GRAY-BACK when in winter plumage.

20/ Pectoral Sandpiper, a.k.a. JACK SNIPE and GRASS SNIPE, probably the two most common of its great variety of nicknames.

21/ Marbled Godwit, a.k.a. MARLIN or STRAIGHT-BILL CURLEW, just two of its many aliases.

22/ Long-billed Curlew, a.k.a. SICKLE-BILL, because of its much decurved and very long bill (up to 8"), the longest of any shorebird in eastern North-America.

23/ Ruddy Turnstone, a.k.a. CALICO-BIRD and CHECKERED-SNIPE, among many other names, for its its peculiarly pied appearance.

24/ Northern Harrier, a.k.a. MARSH HAWK, because it is found most abundantly around marshes and wet meadows.

25/ Cooper's Hawk, a.k.a. CHICKEN HAWK or HEN HAWK, for its preferred food.

26/ Merlin, a.k.a. PIGEON HAWK which, when led by pangs of hunger, is bold and courageous as it chases down pigeons as big or bigger than itself.

27/ Osprey, a.k.a. FISH HAWK, for its exclusive diet of fish.

28/ Barn Owl, a.k.a. MONKEY-FACED OWL, for its odd visage.

29/ Barred Owl, a.k.a. HOOT OWL, because of its noisy hooting and wailing, which 19th century children were taught to regard with terror.

Of special mention is the Great-horned Owl, which has no nickname and how it escaped being called the Skunk Owl is a mystery, because its favourite food is that malodorous mammal. Chester Reed, himself, noted that these owls "...seem to be especially fond of skunks, and nearly all of them...have given unmistakable evidence of their recent and close association with these animals.

BtheB

(Puffin Carving by Dale Davies)

Fastest flying bird in the world

The fastest flying bird in the world is not the Peregrine Falcon, but the Spine-tailed Swift (Hirundapus caudacutus), also known as the Needle-tailed Swift or the White-throated Needletail. Call it what you like, this Asian bird has been clocked at 171 kph or 106 mph, in a level flight. Ah, but what about the Peregrine Falcon, you ask. The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) has been clocked at 390 kph, or 242 mph, in a dive. So, the distinction here is between flying and diving. Is diving really flying? At best, the Peregrine, when flying on the level, can only get up to 110 kph, or 68 mph. In an unofficial internet list, the Peregrine doesn't even make the top ten. Interestingly, six of the top 10 speed-demons are ducks, with speeds ranging up to 129 kph. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Peregrine Falcon was commonly called the "Duck Hawk", for its taste for duck meat. But how does the Peregrine catch up to those speedy quackers, like the Mergansers and Canvasbacks and Eiders? That's where that diving-speed prowess comes into play. It just gets above its prey, dives, and knocks it out of the sky. It does not have to hit its prey at the top speed of which it is capable. Much slower speeds will do the job and it is less hazardous for the Peregrine, which could knock itself out of the sky also! (Swift photo from Wikipedia)
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Cackling Geese in Bolton

Photo by Dave Milsom

Dave Milsom, of Bolton, spotted and photographed these Cackling Geese (Brant hutchinsii), pictured above, in some of the village's ponds. He counted at least five of the smaller birds mixed in with hundreds of larger Canada Geese. Canada Geese are now split into two species (Branta canadensis or Canada Goose, and Branta hutchinsii or Cackling Goose). The two species are further divided into 7 subspecies, in the case of the Canada Goose, and 4 subspecies, in the case of the Cackling Goose, for a total of 11 subspecies (David Sibley is my source here). There are legitimate birders who think Canada Geese could be split into as many as six species and as many as 200 subspecies! No one really believes this will happen, however. Likely, the small Cackling Geese in the centre of the picture above are of the subspecies Branta hutchinsii hutchinsii, but I will defer to the experts, like Dave, to be more accurate than I. Thanks for the heads-up and photo, Dave.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Oh wings... my wings... where are you?

Made into a bird
I would fly around the world
The moon the morrow
Haiku by BarrytheBirder

Wikipedia photo

of Pied Cormorant

by Glen Fergus

Moreton, Australia

Unexpected sightings at Holland Marsh

Wikipedia Photos

I drove up to the Holland Marsh in King Township today looking for some last summer birds, such as Osprey, Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron and the smaller herons, or to see some early winter birds, like Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl and Redpolls. I did see two Repolls but none of the others. What I was impressed to see was a juvenile Double-crested Cormorant sitting on a fallen tree branch in the north canal, just east of Hwy. 400. It had struck the classic pose (both wings widespread and held high) for drying it wet wings. However, the air was only 1 degree above freezing and there was a cold and nasty, south-east wind. It occured to me that it might freeze its wings. Then again, maybe its intention was to have 'freeze-dried' wings. I tried to get a photo but it wanted nothing to do with me and headed east, underwater, along the canal. I headed to the south canal, where a massive multi-$million relocation of the canal is underway. Once again I did not see what I was hoping to see, except for three mallards. Then a Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustri) caught my eye. It's not an uncommon bird, but I don't see or hear them often. The photos above are from Wikipedia. The juvenile Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritis) was taken by D. Gordon E. Robertson, at Shirley's Bay, Ottawa, in October of this year. The Marsh Wren photo, on the right, is from naturepicsonline.com. Below is a photo of what the canal relocation work looks like. It looks more like a logging road, along a river in northern Ontario to me, instead of an irrigation canal in southern Ontario's salad bowl. Please comment if you wish. BtheB

Canal photo by BarrytheBirder ~ Click on photo to enlarge

Haiku of confession

I broke into a

home in the forest today

A grouse woke and fled

BtheB

Like father ~ like son

In the photo above, on the left, my son-in-law, Rob, is scaling the Chief, a 3,000' vertical, granite dome, at Squamish, British Columbia, that all self-respecting rock-climbers dream of mastering. The year was 2004. Rob, now an old married man and father of two (Will and Spencer), made the mistake of letting William (4-and-a-half years) watch a climbing video in the Mountain Co-op Store and telling him that there was climbing gear stowed away in a cupboard at home. It seems Will was immediately hooked and has been rappelling between floors at home, for over a week (photo at right). Brother Spencer (2-and-a-half years) has been more than willing to join in. Rob thinks his boys are not just mimicking him but that there is something karmic going on, and that the boys are channelling or transmigrating previous, unknown existences, because of him. Whatever, as long as they don't fall and break their necks on my watch.

BtheB