Osprey on the Ravenshoe Sideroad

 

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More Butterfly World on Vancouver Island by Dave Kemp...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Common Blue Morpho

 

Malachite Siproeta Stelenes

Orange Julia

Atlas Moth

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BarrytheBirder 

Big birds on the Ravenshoe Sideroad...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I spotted at least five Osprey

on the Ravenshoe Sideroad at the south end of Lake Simcoe this past weekend.  In the same area were also Great Blue Herons, a Pileated Woodpecker, and two Turkey Vultures being chased by Crows.   Several Osprey nests along the sideroad are beginning to be occupied.

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BarrytheBirder

BUTTERFLY WORLD COOMBS

Photos by Dave Kemp

Dave Kemp, of Vancouver Island, B.C., a frequent contributor of bird photos to this BarrytheBirder blog, visited the seasonal opening day at Butterfly World in Coombs on Vancouver Island.   Below are several of his photos taken at this well-known facility.

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Vancouver Island birds by Dave Kemp...

 Photos by Dave Kemp

Boreal Chickadee

The Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonica) is a dusty brown chickadee of the northern forests.   It is mainly found in Canada, up to Alaska.   In some winters, small numbers wander south of their range and are casually recorded south to Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, northern Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

Common Loon

Gavia Immer

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BarrytheBirder

Turkey Vultures welcome spring...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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Light as a feather...

                                                                                           Photo by Dave Kemp

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BarrytheBirder

4 most numerous bird species on planet Earth*

Photo by BarrytheBirder

  No. 1 ~ House Sparrow

          No. 2 ~ European Starling

    No. 3 ~ Ring-billed Gull

No. 4 ~ Barn Swallow

*From 2021 research by Corey Callaghan at the University of New South       Wales in Australia and reported by Adam Vaughan, of NewScientist.

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BarrytheBirder

Black Brant Ducks by Dave Kemp off Vancouver Island...

 Photo by Dave Kemp

A small, dark stock sea goose (primarily coastal) seen mostly in northern Canada.   They fly in ragged formations and are rarely seen inland but some are seen in migrations through the Great Lakes and Appalachian regions in the fall.(Also known as 'American Brant' in the east).

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BarrytheBirder 

Vancouver Island ducks...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Buffleheads

Long-tailed Duck

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BarrytheBirder

Loons off Vancouver Island's east coast...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Common Loons

(during molt)

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BarrytheBirder

Tree Swallows displace Bluebirds...

 

Photo by Barry Wallace

While Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) often precede Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to nesting boxes in the spring, they are very often displaced from nesting boxes by Tree Swallows.   Starlings and House Sparrows are also known to displace nesting bluebirds.   Specially designed birdboxes have resulted in a comeback by bluebirds, but Tree Swallows usually prevail in open woodlands, orchards and farmlands and parks with nesting boxes.   The photo above was taken at Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township, north of Toronto, Ontario.

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Barry Wallace

Black & White Warbler - one of the earliest spring migrants

Photos by BarrytheBirder

(Mniotilta varia)

This is the only warbler that regularly creeps along branches and up and down tree trunks like a nuthatch.

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BarrytheBirder

Wild Turkeys coming out of the woods...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

It's officially spring and many bird types are showing up.  Many people have reported lots of Robins, already.   I've personally seen several Wild Turkeys coming out of the woods nearby, in addition to the Turkey Vulture I reported in yesterday's blog.

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BarrytheBirder

First Turkey Vulture of 2023 in Aurora...

                                                                                                                Photos by BarrytheBirder

I spotted my first Turkey Vulture of this year on Thursday, March 16th, over Aurora, in York Region.   The period of time when Turkey Vultures are seen in these parts, gets longer and longer each year as the big black birds arrive sooner in the spring and head south later in the fall. It is now common in its mapped range and continues to expand its summer and and winter ranges northward.

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BarrytheBirder

Robins return...

 

                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

A few friends have mentioned over the last day or so that they have spotted their first Robin in the middle of March.   This week has started out warmer and sunnier

and it's officially spring now.   To me, this past winter is the second one in a row that seemed easier and gentler.   One wonders what else climate change has in store for us.

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BarrytheBirder

Winter warriors...

                                                                                                                Photos by BarrytheBirder

Dark-eyed Junco

(Junco hymalis)

In winter found in a wide variety of habitats, usually in flocks.   The Slate-colored Junco winters mostly in eastern North America.

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BarrytheBirder

Beautiful Vancouver Island photos by B.C. naturalist Dave Kemp...

Photos by Dave Kemp

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    BarrytheBirder

A magnificent-looking creature on the wing.......

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk

(Buteo jamaicensis)

Has a distinctive, harsh, descending "Keeeeer" call.

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BarrytheBirder

Vancouver Island Harlequin Ducks by Dave Kemp

 

    Photos by Dave Kemp

Harlequin Ducks 

(Histrionicus

histrionicus)

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BarrytheBirder