Window-strike confuses birdwatcher

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

My friend Susan e-mailed me a few days ago to say a bird had struck one her house windows and died from the impact. She wasn't sure about the identification and described it and asked if I knew what it might me.   When she mentioned the red under-wing, covert feathers, I thought it had to be a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I had a similar window bird-strike a few years ago and I had taken a photo of the dead bird (see above).   Up to that time, I had never noticed a Rose-breasted Grosbeak's under-wing colour, nor had I read about it in the field guides.   The bird Susan discovered was probably an immature male, similar to the one pictured below which I photographed last year.      

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BarrytheBirder

Goodbye Yellow-rump Warbler?

Female Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler photo By BarrytheBirder

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology issued a press release on Wednesday of this week, stating that "One of North America's most beloved warblers may need to be considered at least three separate species, says a study published today in The Auk.   If the species were split, it would upend a status quo that has lasted for almost five decades".

According to research spokesperson, David Toews, the Yellow-rumped Warbler has four distinct forms and there is now compelling evidence that three of them are full species.   Evidence from more than 37,000 regions of the birds' DNA suggests that the Myrtle and Audubon really are separate species - and so is a third, isolated form known as the Goldman's Warbler that is almost entirely restricted to Guatemala.   A fourth form known as the Black-fronted Warbler lives in the mountains of Northern Mexico.

Myrtle form of Yellow-rumped Warbler photo by Kelly Colgan Azar.   Photos of Audubon, Goldman and Black-fronted forms of Yellow-rumped Warblers by Borja Mila.

The full press release, issued Wednesday, may be viewed by Googling www.birds.cornell.edu, clicking on Birds - Cornell University, and scrolling down the right side of the screen to BLOG.   It is the second item under 'Blog'.

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BarrytheBirder

Summer's 'hummers'

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BarrytheBirder

American Robin bathes two or three times a day

 Photos by Barry Wallace

It seems as though the whole summer has been above 30 degrees Celsius, with one day getting as high as 37C!   Just about every species of bird in the backyard is now jumping into one of the three birdbaths every day, many more than once a day.   

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BarrytheBirder

Backyard 'hummer'

Photo by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Hybrid Mallard in local pond

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

This hybrid Mallard Duck (a male presumably) was spotted mixed in with local male and female Mallards, at nearby Lake Wilcox in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

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BarrytheBirder

A bad hair day ... make that a bad feather day

                                      Photo by Marcin Bieleck/EPA in The Guardian

White-tailed Eagle rescued and released

In this recent photo, by Marcin Bieleck, a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is released into the wild in Swinoujscie, in north-western Poland, after being rescued from the mud in the Szczecin Lagoon, near The Polish-German border and the Baltic Sea. The White-tailed Eagle is one of the largest eagles in the world and has the widest wingspan of any eagle in the world. A huge decline in the population of this species occurred in the 19th and 20 centuries, but it is now making a strong comeback mainly due to conservation efforts.   Poland, Germany and Iceland have the most abundant numbers of this spectacular bird.
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BarrytheBirder 

Big birds at Dufferin Marsh

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Dufferin Marsh, in Schomberg, Ontario, may not be very big

but it does have some big birds.   Today I spotted a Great Blue Heron, a Green Heron and and a tagged Trumpeter Swan (#K05).   There were also ducks and the usual swallows present.

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BarrytheBirder

Finally, rain fills the birdbaths

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

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Barry Wallace

Turkey Vultures

 Photos by Barry Wallace

UGLY...YET ELEGANT

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BarrytheBirder

Gate-crashing Cormorant

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

I am used to seeing as many as 300 Ring-billed Gulls around a small pond, at a horse farm near my home.   I am at a loss however to understand or believe that there any fish left here for the gulls to catch and eat from the tiny pond.   Now, a black-feathered Double-crested Cormorant has suddenly appeared among the white-feathered gulls.   He stands out quite noticeably and in each of these photos seems to be having lots to say.   They are not common though in this horse-farm area of King Township, well north of Lake Ontario. God only knows what they're all eating. 

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Dave Kemp photos from B.C.

Here are two photos from my long-distance birding acquaintance  Dave Kemp, in southern British Columbia.   Above is a male Rufous Hummingbird perched on a solar butterfly in Dave's garden.   What a lovely image.   Below is Dave's striking photo capture of a Barred Owl, with those big, dark brown, see-all eyes.   

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BarrytheBirder

'Hummers' harassed by hornets

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Bald-faced Hornets have returned

August has arrived and so have the Bald-faced Hornets, to once again drive the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds away from their feeders.   It's the same every summer and very frustrating for those of us who invest so much time and effort in attracting the hummers each year.   But it is nature's way.   The hummers do stay around and make the best of it, thankfully.   This hornet is actually a wasp and is also known as the Bull Wasp.

   

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BarrytheBirder

Some of my favourite bird photos

    All photos by BarrytheBirder

After the bath

Gathering nesting materials

Curious crow

Keeping the nest dry

Great Blue Heron

Female Mallard preening

Squabbling Snow Buntings

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BarrytheBirder

Bird carvings

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

The photo above shows three of the birds in my small collection of wood carvings. The Blue Jay, Chickadee and Red-winged blackbird are the work of the Rev. Gordon Elliott, of Schomberg, Ontario, back in the mid-1960s.   The Cardinal, below, was carved by D. Phillips, of Green River, Ontario, in our centennial year, 1967.

The carving above of a Western Grebe was the creation of Liza Chiu of Toronto, Ontario, in 1987, while immediately below, is a charming Ruddy Duck, by Jim Harkness, of Stayner, Ontario, created in 1982.

Above is a sleek, stylized Common Loon by Ron Sadler, carved in 1983.   Below is a beautifully painted carving by F. Smith.   At the bottom is one more carving by Rev. Gordon Elliott of a Red-breasted Nuthatch.  

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BarrytheBirder