After Maurits Cornelis Escher...(1898 ~ 1972)

    Carving by Mark Evan and Chris Soria  ~  Photo by Mark Evan

Pumpkin Carving Extraordinaire

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BarrytheBirder

Sanctuary would be largest protected area on earth...

Photo: Christian Aslund / Greenpeace

A Chinstrap Penguin is seen nesting on Spigot Rock, with mountains and glaciers of Orne Harbour in the background, at Gerlache Strait in the Antarctic.   Green peace is conducting scientific research and documenting the Antarctic's unique wildlife to strengthen the proposal to create the largest protected area on the planet, an Antarctic ocean sanctuary.   (See October 25th blog)

Indian Roller Bird...

Photo: Rohit Umrao / AFP / Getty Images 

INDIAN ROLLER BIRD

(Coracias benghalensis)

An Indian Roller Bird is seen in flight in Jahanabad, Fatehpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India.   It is a largish and attractive bird, about the size of, and with the build of a crow.   It gets its name from, and is best known for, the aerobatics of the male. 

Photo: Arshad.ka5

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BarrytheBirder

Eurasian Blue Tit

Photo: Attils Kovacs / EPA

BLUE TIT

(Cyanistes caeruleus)

Two Eurasian Blue Tits take baths in a bird trough near Pomaz, 20 kilometres north of Budapest, Hungary.   Blue Tits are small passerine birds easily recognized by their combined colours of blue, yellow, white and green.   They prefer to catch insects and are renowned for hanging upside down while foraging for bugs.
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BarrytheBirder

As always, I have contrasting reactions...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Sharp-shinned Hawk

(Accipiter striatus)

This beautiful creature is a regular visitor to my backyard throughout the year.   I always have mixed feelings when it appears: appreciation for its perfect and handsome appearance, and shock and awe for its hunting prowess and survival instincts.   It is a regular visitor because of the numerous bird feeders we have, which attract many small birds.   It will take anything it can get in its talons, but it seems to prefer and has the most success with Mourning Doves, of which there never seems to be a short supply.
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BarrytheBirder

Juvenile (first fall) White-crowned Sparrow

    Photos by Barry Wallace 

I've never seen or taken a photo of an immature White-crowned Sparrow until this week.   I didn't immediately identify it, although I was sure it was a sparrow of some sort.   I quickly realized it had appeared at the same time as mature 'White-crowneds' and identified it with my Stokes Field Guide.   Rather attractive for an immature bird.

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BarrytheBirder

Proposed reserve is five times the size of Germany

Photo: www.britannica.com

The UK government has agreed to support the creation of the world's biggest environmental sanctuary, covering 1.8m sq km of the Weddell Sea and parts of the Antartica peninsula.   Five times the size of Germany, the preserve would ban all fishing, helping to protect penguins, leopard seals, blue whales and killer whales.   The preserve would help to tackle climate change by soaking up huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and aiding the long-term conservation of the Antarctic Ocean.   The Commission of Antarctic Marine Living Resources will decide on the proposal at the end of October in Hobart, Tasmania.

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BarrytheBirder

Mexico's Military Macaws

                                                                                                                Photo: Tim Flach
Military Macaw
(Ara militaris)

This sensational photo of a Military Macaw is featured in a new book titled 'Endangered', by photographer Tim Flach.   It is one of many creatures featured in the book which are endangered, according to the IUCN Red List.  Today, fewer than 10,000 Military Macaws exist in Mexico, which issued an export ban on its 22 parrot species in 2008; yet illegal trade continues.

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BarrytheBirder     

Surely they haven't made a nest in there...

Photo: Ralph Hirschberger / AFP / Getty Images

A male and female sparrow are photographed sitting on one of the two Russian T34 tank cannons of the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin, Germany.

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BarrytheBirder

Landscape Photographer of the Year 2018 in Great Britain

Photo by Karen Deakin

Early morning mist skims the surface of Loch Ard in Scotland.   Geese were honking as the sunrise softly awakened the sublime landscape around them.   This photograph was was one of those short-listed in the Landscape Photographer of the year 2018 contest, in Great Britain.

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BarrytheBirder

Intimate parrots...

                                                           Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP / Getty Images

Parrots are seen (above) at sunset in Pasadena, California, USA.   Parrots are extremely popular as pet birds but are one of the most difficult birds to adjust to captivity.   There are approximately 393 species of parrots in the world, found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions.   19 species of parrots have become extinct in the past 400 years.

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BarrytheBirder

The drunkest bird in New Zealand...

Photo: WWF-New Zealand

The Kereru

New Zealand's 2019 Bird of the Year

A native green and bronze wood pigeon with a taste for fermented fruit has been declared New Zealand's Bird of the Year for 2019.   The Kereru is found in both North and South Islands.   The bird has developed a reputation as the drunkest bird in the country.   It is known to fall from trees after eating rotting fruit left lying on the ground.  During summer when fruit is abundant drunk Kereru are sometimes taken to wildlife centres to sober up.   There are 168 bird species in New Zealand and a third are threatened with extinction, but the Kereru is doing well.

Photo: Bell / Alamy

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BarrytheBirder

Buceros rhinoceros

Photo: Fazry Ismail / EPA

A Rhinoceros Hornbill at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, is one of 10 species of hornbills found inside the ancient Belem Temengor Forest Complex in Perrak, Malaysia.  There is a total of 54 species of hornbills worldwide.  Among the 10 found in the Belem Temengor Forest, eight are vulnerable or near threatened.

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BarrytheBirder

"All aboard..."

Photo: STR / EPA

Birds sit on top of an Indian One-horned Rhinoceros on the eve of the reopening of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, north-east India.
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BarrytheBirder

Giving special meaning to blue...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

BLUE JAY
(Cyanotta cristata)
a.k.a. 'blue chatterer'

The Blue Jay is native to eastern deciduous, coniferous and mixed woodlands, but is also at home in suburban vegetation, found extensively in backyards such as mine, year around.   It eats seeds, and acorns, particularly in winter, but also insects, small vertebrates such as lizards, rodents, bird eggs, tree frogs and fruits.   The Blue Jay is one half of that special bird duet that makes Canadian winters a little more bearable...the other half being the red Northern Cardinal.

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BarrytheBirder

Bird of many names...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

MOURNING DOVE

Zenaida macroura

One of my favourite backyard birds is the Mourning Dove.  They are attractive, make the most pleasant cooing sounds and get along well with most of the other backyard birds.  Mourning Doves also have other names, such as: American Mourning Dove, rain dove, turtle dove (erroneously), Carolina Pigeon, Carolina Turtledove and Sicorro Dove (also erroneously).   Although the Mourning Dove pictured above is sitting on the edge of one of our mixed birdseed feeders, they normally sit on the ground (see photo below) beneath the five feeders where the  American Goldfinches are eating but also spilling very  expensive Niger seed ... or is that Nyjer seed?   Don't get me started on that silly seed spelling debate.   Apparently there are about 475 million Mourning Doves in North America.   They are prolific breeders, which is good because the they have a high mortality rate for both adults (58%) and young (69%).   If they can get past the first year, they will probably last for another four or five.

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BarrytheBirder         

African Grey Parrot ~ world's smartest bird...

Joel Boyce, writing on the Care2 website, says the African Grey Parrot is considered to be the smartest bird species in the world...more than crows...more than pigeons,  and smarter, by a fairly large margin.   It also ranks as one of the top five most intelligent of all animal species in the world.   Boyce states that one of the most famous examples was Alex (pictured at right).  Alex worked with a scientist for over 30 years and proved he was not only capable of incredible language mastery but had creativity of expression and an understanding of such abstractions as mathematical concepts and deep emotions.   He had not only a large vocabulary, but could speak in small phrases also.

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BarrytheBirder

Most beautiful bird in the world?

Photo: Hayden's Animal Facts

VICTORIA CROWNED PIGEON

(Goura victoria)

Whenever I ask Wikipedia to tell me what is the most beautiful bird in the world, there is never one single bird.   I always get the 'Top Ten' or 'Top 100' or some other multiple choice.   But the bird pictured here seems to make it to every list I come across.   It is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon.   It was named after Queen Victoria and happens to be the largest surviving species of pigeon in the world, at 31" long and 7.7 lbs.   This ground-dwelling beauty is native to the New Guinea region. 

Photo: JerryFei.com

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BarrytheBirder

Being underhanded ' down under'...

Photo: The Ambling Photographer

A Little Shag Cormorant is seen (above) in New Zealand.   Organizers of New Zealand's Bird of the Year competition fear that Australian pranksters fraudulently voted to try and push the humorously named bird into top place.

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BarrytheBirder

Young Northern Cardinal

                                                                                                      Photo by BarrytheBirder

Here's a young Northern Cardinal, in our backyard, that appears to be a few feathers shy of a full load, especially in its tail and head crest.   It is being well fed by its parents and has started to feed itself at the feeders so it appears to be well on the road to overall maturity, if not entirely appearance-wise.

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BarrytheBirder

Breaking up that old gang of mine...

Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP / Getty Images

A Malayan Sunbear hangs out with crows in an enclosure on the final day of opening at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand.   The country's oldest and most famous animal park closed on September 30th, after 80 years of operation.

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BarrytheBirder

Basket-weaving, anyone?

Photo: Mahesh Kumar A. / AP

A Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus) builds a nest in a babul tree on the outskirts of Hyderbad, India.   This weaver bird is found across the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia, where it is best-known for its hanging nests woven from stringy leaves.

Photo: Rocksea & Sarah

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BarrytheBirder

A big thrush population...

Photo: TASS / Barcroft Images

A Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) takes flight in Ivanovo, Russia.  It breeds in northern Europe and Asia.   Its common name, Fieldfare, dates back to at least the eleventh century.   Its global population is thought to be between 44 million and 96 million individuals.

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BarrytheBirder 

Nuthatches have powerful feet...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Nuthatches, both Red-breasted and White-breasted can walk upwards or downwards on tree trunks or branches looking for insects, nuts and seeds.  They have long, sturdy, pointed bills and strong toes with long claws.  The bills, toes and claws allow them to easily forage for insects hidden in or under bark.   I photographed the Red-breasted Nuthatch above which was holding onto a relatively smooth metal post with ease.   It flitted to a nearby brick wall where it also gripped the brick surface easily.   There are 29 species of nuthatches around the world and they all seem to have the mobility and climbing skills of spiders, not to mention their speedy and elusive flying agility.   They are a joy to watch.

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BarrytheBirder 

American Goldfinch copes well despite blindness in left eye...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This goldfinch is a regular member of the flock that visits our backyard's Niger Seed feeders every day.   I think it is a male and it seems healthy and well fed.   Its left eye has been injured or infected, (maybe both) and is healed, but sealed shut.   As it hops from perch to perch, while circling the tube feeder, it goes in one direction - to its right; presumably to see the seeds with its good eye.   A bit of a sad story ... but with a fortunate ending.   I do not know if it has a mate.

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BarrytheBirder

Gannets in Canada...

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Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Northern Gannet

(Morus bassanus)

In Canada, Northern Gannets (60,000 pairs in recent years) nest on Bonaventure Island, off the coast of Quebec.  Stream-lined Gannets can dive from a height of over 100 ft., achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.

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BarrytheBirder

Tete-a-tete...

Photo:Robert Bates

Photographer Robert Bates took this picture earlier this year of a Barn Owl, with a butterfly on its head during a bird of prey photography workshop, in Bridlington, Yorkshire, UK.   The shot was taken from a distance of 20 feet.

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BarrytheBirder

2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

Photo: Sergey Gorshkov

This photo by Sergey Gorshkov, entitled 'Arctic Treasure', was a finalist in last year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.   It captures an Arctic Fox carrying a purloined egg from a Snow Goose nest as it heads off for a suitable hiding place.

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BarrytheBirder  

Canada Jay ~ Canada's unofficial national bird...

 Painting by John James Audubon

Art - Canadian Encyclopedia 

Well, despite support in Canada, from coast to coast and just about everywhere in between, the federal government continues to state that it does not have any plans to declare the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) as Canada's official bird.   The most recent push came from 50,000 readers of Canadian Geographic Magazine who selected the top five choices and a panel debated which of the five finalists should be chosen.   The Canada Jay was the final choice.   We head into 2019 wondering if this bird challenge will ever be settled.   Being a bit of a contrarian, I prefer the Common Loon.
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BarrytheBirder

Yellow Cardinal

                                                                            Photo: Jeremy Black

My good friend, Virginia Atkins, sent me an e-mail with the photo above, of a yellow Northern Cardinal, discovered in Louisiana this past February.   I had completely missed this story in my online wanderings, but now have quickly caught up on this remarkable birding discovery.   It disappeared late in the summer for a few weeks but has been spotted again in the last week.
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BarrytheBirder
   

More flamingoes...

Photo: Aleksandrs Thonovs / Alamy

An evocative aerial shot shows Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) flying very low over a lake in Torrevieja, Costa Blanca, on the south-east coast of Spain.

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BarrytheBirder

Crane migration...

Photo: Patrick Pleul /AP

Cranes are seen at Mescherin Germany, resting in a shallow pool of the River Oder during their migration south.   The Oder River marks the border between Germany and Poland at Mescherin.

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BarrytheBirder