"Okay...eyes closed...stand on one foot...now, hold it"

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The pose

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BtheB

...on Glenville Ponds

Photo by Barry Wallace

Trumpeter Swans continue their comeback

This beautiful bird is one of several that are being protected on a private pond on Dufferin Street in King Township. They are all banded and monitored as part of the great effort over the past several years to re-establish the Trumpeter Swan in Ontario.   We are all the richer for it.

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BtheB

West Coast birds by Dave Kemp

Photos by Dave Kemp

Band-tailed pigeon and  Red-shafted Northern Flicker

Photographer Dave Kemp who is languishing out on Canada's wonderful west coast has sent some of his acquaintances a few recent photographs which he has taken in the Terra Nova area of Richmond, British Columbia.   The 'two-for-one' shot above shows a Band-tailed Pigeon on the left and a Red-shafted Flicker on the right.   Both of the birds are native to the west coasts of Canada and United States.   The Band-tailed pigeon is the largest pigeon in North America, measuring up to 40 cm (16 in.) long and sometimes weighing over half a kilo or 1 pound.   Its main diet is acorns.   The Red-shafted Flicker is native to the southern area of British Columbia and all the western states of America.   The Red-shafted Flicker, of western North American and the Yellow-shafted Flicker of most of Canada and the central and eastern American states have distinctive identifying marks but the two birds do interbreed and offspring show features of both forms, well beyond their zone of contact

Spotted Towhee

The towhee in Dave Kemp's photo above is a juvenile Spotted Towhee and is native to south-western Canada and all of the western United States.   The name towhee comes from the sound of the bird's call note.   In eastern Canada and the U.S., the same bird, although somewhat different in appearance is known as the Rufous-sided Towhee.   The western and eastern versions  do interbreed and they are considered to be the same species.   These photos and many other great Dave Kemp pictures can be seen by Googling Dave Kemp's Picture Perfect Photo Gallery.

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BtheB    

Over 100,000 page views

Just a note to say that as of yesterday (Aug.8) this blog has had 68,414 page views since its inception on the last day December, 2006.   My other blog, called Camera on KING has had 31,622 page views since its beginning 22 months ago.   Together, the blogs have now had 100,000 page views.   That's more than some other blogs and a heck of lot less than a great many others.   I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blogs and look at the pictures.   The blogspots are mainly photo blogs with usually a line or two of info to put some perspective on places and situations.   I'm going to continue for the foreseeable future.   I hope you keep looking me up and passing along your comments.   Have a great day. 
Barry  

Clean your stained hummingbird feeders with vinegar and rice

Photos by BarrytheBirder

One of my 10 hummingbird feeders is a real nuisance when it comes to cleaning it.   It was so stained on the inside of the bottle portion that I could not see through.   I had tried everything to clean this feeder/bottle and nothing worked.   Today I opened my email and there was the Audubon Society's new citizen science email newsletter, called "American Birds".   One of the articles in this online publication was entitled Hummingbirds and Nectar Feeders.   The part that particularly interested me read as follows: "Clean the feeders with a solution of one part vinegar to four parts water about once a week.   If your feeder has become dirty, try adding some grains of dry rice to the vinegar solution and shake vigorously.   The grains  act as a good abrasive.   Rinse your feeder well with warm water three times before refilling with sugar solution."   My feeder was so stained that I used all vinegar and no water.   It took about twenty minutes of shaking in total, with several breaks, for the bottle to be cleaned, but it worked like a charm.

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BtheB