The Tree Swallow ~ a beauty and a beast...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Tree Swallow

(Tachycineta bicolor)

I happen to believe that the Tree Swallow is the most attractive of all the swallows in this part of the world, but I have to say they are complete bullies when it comes to stealing homes from bluebirds, especially man-made nesting boxes.   Most of the swallow species are slightly smaller than Eastern Bluebirds, but the Tree Swallow is a bluebird's worst nightmare when it comes to possession and bragging rights over nesting boxes.   Even if a bluebird has already occupied a nest box, a Tree Swallow will harass the bluebird until it gives up its home and moves elsewhere.   I've seen this happens dozens of times over the years at the Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township.   The ousted bluebirds have to take what's left over and often it is not what they prefer.   Wary and timid bluebirds like to nest in wide open spaces where they can keep an eye on things.   They do not prefer to be hidden away in shrubby bushes or short trees where they cannot see all around their nesting sight.

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BarrytheBirder

Jane Street ~ north of Kinghorn

Photo by Barry Wallace 

Pileated

Woodpecker

(Dryocopus pileatus)

Not all of us often get to see and hear Pileated Woodpeckers here and about but they are very active in the spring and many of us will see the gigantic holes they are making in the trunks of mature hardwood trees along roadsides and in the edges of forests, as they search for carpenter ants and beetle larvae.

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BarrytheBirder

Another shot of Texas owlets...

Great Horned Owlets

Here's another shot the Great Horned Owl owlets I pictured in this spot three days ago.   This shot was taken in the same spot in the Rio Grande Valley, near Mexico, but the owlets are little older in this shot.   What a trio of charmers.   Thanks again to Robin and Jim Hadcock for sending along this photo.

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BarrytheBirder

Provincial birds of western Canada...

Steller's Jay photo by Dave Kemp

British Columbia ~ Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

Alberta ~ Great Horned Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Saskachewan ~ Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus)

Yukon Territory ~ Common Raven (Corvus Corax)

Northwest Territories ~ Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

Manitoba ~ Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Provincial birds of eastern Canada...

Osprey photo by BarrytheBirder

Nova Scotia ~ Osprey (Pandion haleaetus)

Newfoundland & Labrador ~ Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

Prince Edward Island ~ Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

New Brunswick ~ Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Quebec ~ Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiaca)

Ontario ~ Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Nunavut ~ Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta)

Please  comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Texas owlets...

Great Horned Owl owlets

(Bubo virginianus)

My old friends Jim and Robin Hadcock sent me this picture of Great Horned Owl owlets nesting in a palm tree, in Texas earlier this year.   The photo was taken near Mission Grande, in the Rio Grande Valley, just across the river from Mexico.  The Great Horned Owl is an early breeder and starts hooting in in the middle of winter, and often lays its eggs in January.   It is found throughout North America, except in Arctic tundra, and in South America from Peru to Patagonia.

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Barry Wallace

Turkey Vultures ~ our roadside cleaners

Photos by BarrytheBirder

These photos were taken on the 11th Concession of King Township, on the west side of Cold Creek Conservation Area.

Someone had thrown a small box of meat scraps,  (pork ribs, I think) on the side of the road, spilling its contents...see photo above.   Five vultures had gathered at the scene but once the meat treats were stripped clean, they took off on another search.

Please comment 

if  you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Many Bufflehead Ducks in local ponds...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Male and female Bufflehead Ducks

Keele Street ~ north of King City

on Bob and Carol Field's farm

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BarrytheBirder

A poem for Earth Day...

                                                                                       Photos by BarrytheBirder

THANK YOU

It's hard not to do,
Get out
See the green
Find new life
Let dreams take wing
with the Red-breasted Grosbeak
never noted here before
New? Or just passing through?
We're all just passing through, 
So keep your feet on the ground
And give thanks to this earth
Our home, here, now.

 Lisa M. Connors

Read - Write - Dream

Originally published April 22, 2019

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

On the nest...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Mourning Dove and baby

Baby feeds from mother's crop

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BarrytheBirder

Blackbirds are all here...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Well, much to the dismay of the smaller birds, the blackbirds are all in the backyard now: Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles and Starlings.  However once they have had their fill of seeds each morning and disperse into the hedges and trees, the smaller birds, such as the goldfinches, the nuthatches, and the still-lingering juncos get their chance.   

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BarrytheBirder

First Meadowlark of the spring...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Eastern meadowlark

(Sturnella magna)

I saw my first meadowlark of the spring this past Thursday just south of the Holland Marsh.   This fast flyer flashed past me in a great hurry to get somewhere.   Numbers of Eastern Meadowlarks are making a slow comeback after encroachment by humans of its normal habitat, which includes pastures, native tall-grass openings, and overgrown roadsides.   Meadowlarks forage for insects, particularly grasshoppers, but also caterpillars and grubs.

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BarrytheBirder

Herons getting ready to nest...

                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

A pair of Great Blue Herons is seen above, perching in a heronry south of King City, at a site that has been in use for many years, although the number of occupied nests changes from year to year.   The forest understorey here

is frequently wet and inaccessible, which no doubt affords the herons a high amount of peace and privacy.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

In the backyard birdbath...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Cardinal does some spring cleaning

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BarrytheBirder

More Trumpeter Swans passing through King...

Photo by Barry Wallace

These two Trumpeter Swans (Sygnus buccinator) were taking a break from their northern migration by resting on the old Crawford Lake on Weston Road, between the 15th and 16th Sideroads, last Monday afternoon.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Early spring bath...

 Photos by Barry Wallace

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BarrytheBirder

Time for turning bright yellow...

                                                                                              Photo by BarrytheBirder

A goldfinch pops up

and goes for a sudden ride

in a gust of quick wind

                                                                                             ~ Haiku by Chris Thorsen

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Created by the Kentucky Coalition for Sandhill Cranes...

Coronavirus messaging

Above is the opening message on the latest email newsletter greeting from the Kentucky Coalition for Sandhill Cranes.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Why must they fly so fast?

                                                                                          Photo by BarrytheBirder

doves fly past - wings cut
the air noisily - bits of
grass trail from their beaks
                                                               Haiku by Rachel Dickinson

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BarrytheBirder

         
                                 

3rd goldfinch blogs in 4 days...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

AAmerican GoldfinchA

(Spinus tristis)

This dear, first-year, male American Goldfinch came to my attention when he crashed into the living room window, knocked himself out, and fell to the ground, as though dead.  He did come to his senses but was immobile for several minutes.   It was long enough for me to go into the house and get my camera.   I got the photo above but the 'goldie' decided it was time to fly into the cedar hedge and away he went.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

King ~ 7th Concession and 15th Sideroad

                                                                                                      Photos by BarrytheBirder

Here's a bit of a twist on a 

'bird in a tree'

There's no doubt about it: female Canada Geese sometimes have a knack for picking unlikely, strange, places to nest.   

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BarrytheBirder

Warm weather welcomed...

Photo and limerick by BarrytheBirder

               Wee american goldfinchs,

                 soft bits of feathered sunshine,

                 full of twitters,

                 full of warbles,

                 long may they charm my garden.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Ahhh, Goldfinches .... birds to raise our spring spirits

Waiting to go from this....

....to this!

Photos by BarrytheBirder

If you have a list of favourite birds,

make sure Goldfinches are on it.

They can lift your spirits every day.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)

                                                                                                        Photo by BarrytheBirder

"If a heron crosses your path

it means you'll have a good day".

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Hummingbirds spotted in northern states this past week...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were reported this past week as far north as New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.   They should probably reach southern Ontario sometime during the last two weeks of April.   I can hardly wait.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder  

Population has declined 71% over past 40 years...

CANADA WARBLER

(Wilsonia canadensis)

One of the most easily recognized warblers in this part of Canada is the appropriately named Canada Warbler, or the "necklaced" warbler, named for its necklace of short black stripes.   The Canada Warbler was first discovered in Canada, where most of the breeding (80%) occurs.   It is designated by COSEWIC however as a "Species at risk" and its population has declined by 71% over the last 40 years.  It is one of the last warblers to arrive in the spring migration and one of first to head south in the fall.  While not easily found, it is readily identified when spotted.

Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk lives here year-around...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk

(Buteo jamaicensis)

The north shore of Lake Erie and the north-west shore of Lake Ontario, along with the very southern border of British Columbia, are the only spots in Canada where Red-tailed Hawks will live year-around, otherwise they do occur and migrate throughout North America.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Influenza pandemics may be caused by birds...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Wikipedia says influenza pandemics occur when a new strain of the influenza is transmitted by humans from other animal species.   Species that are thought to be important in the emergence of new human strains are pigs, chickens and ducks.  These novel strains are unaffected by any immunity people may have to older strains of human flu and can spread rapidly and infect many people.   Influenza A viruses can be transmitted from wild birds to other species, causing domestic poultry outbreaks, and may cause human influenza pandemics.   The propagation of flu viruses throughout the world is thought, in part, to be by bird migrations, though commercial shipments of live bird products might also be implicated, as well as human travel patterns.   
Meanwhile and coincidentally, Bloomberg reported in early February, that a city in China's central Hunan province says that it had recently culled almost 18,000 chickens after an outbreak of H5H1 bird flu in the city that is next to Hubei, the epicentre of the current separate coronavirus outbreak.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Another merganser...this one is a Hooded Merganser

Photo by BarrytheBirder

EARLY SPRING ARRIVAL

On Saturday it was a Common Merganser, and on Sunday on the same small pond, it was a male Hooded Merganser, the smallest of our mergansers.  What a showy duck is the Hooded Merganser, with it fan-shaped black and white crest, black and white stripes on its breast, and black wings with long white and black tertiaries.  Based on its overall appearance, there's no mistaking this bird.   It is a common spring migrant in Ontario, but an uncommon breeder in the most southern part of the province.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Common Mergansers at Glenville Pond

Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Common Merganser

(Mergus Merganser)

No sooner had the ice on Glenville Pond, at Hwy. 9 and Dufferin Street, west of Newmarket, melted this past week, than three Common Merganser Ducks (two  males and one female) showed up.   This type of duck prefers lakes bordered by mature forest and that is exactly what the Glenville Pond provides.   In all likelihood however, these three attractive birds plan to head further north into Ontario to nest and breed.

Please comment if you wish. 

BarrytheBirder