Bird in the hand...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I had lunch in Schomberg last week with two old friends.   Ted Bird (at top) and I go back about 65 years.   Dave Moore (left), I've known almost as long.

Ted is displaying my BarrytheBirder blog on his cell phone, showing at least one bird (person) reads my blog.  Meanwhile, Dave alerted me to a bird, just above my head, on a tree branch reaching over our patio table at the Schomberg Pub & Patio.   I looked up and spotted the bird , which you can see in the photo below.   These guys are still having great fun at my expense, after all these years.

Nevertheless, it was one of the best lunches I've had in ages.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Mill Pond ~ Mill Street ~ Richmond Hill

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Heron

Above and below

Double-crested Cormorants

Above and below

Mallard

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

McKenzie Marsh - Aurora

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Great Egret 

(above and below)

Great Blue Heron

Wood Duck

Male (above) Female (below)

Sleeping Mallard

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans at McKenzie Marsh in Aurora...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans

Adult and Juvenile

Juvenile Trumpeter

Adult (banded) and three juveniles

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Squirrel has a bad day...

 

Photo by Barry Wallace

Squirrel gets run over and then is eaten by a vulture

I photographed this Turkey Vulture on the 7th Concession of King Township, just north of the Happy Valley Nature Reserve last week.   It had been feeding on the carcass of a squirrel that had been run over by a motor vehicle.   I couldn't help but think how sad and ignominious for a furry little creature to get a double-whammy like this.  Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder      

Turkeys on Jane Street property

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

From time to time I feature photos of Wild Turkeys in this space, but on this occasion the turkeys are white domestic turkeys on a small King Township property, near to Centennial Park.   I have read that white domestic turkeys are normally bred white to avoid darker skin colouration associated with non-white feathers.   This, I presume, to appeal to turkey diners who prefer white meat.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Also known as the 'Newfoundland Woodpecker'

 

BarrytheBirder

HAIRY WOODPECKER

Picoides Pubescens

The Hairy Woodpecker is not as frequent a visitor to my feeders as is the Downy Woodpecker.   They look almost identical in their markings, but the Hairy is about 1/3 larger in size.   The Hairy pictured here is a female.  She has no red patch on the back of her head, as is the case with the Downy female also.  Only the males, of both species, have a red patch on the back of their heads.   The bigger 'Hairies' always make a bold, striking sight when they show up in the backyard.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Birds at McKenzie Marsh - Aurora

 

Mallard

Great Egrets

Great Blue Heron (left) and Great Egrets

Green Heron

Red-winged Blackbird

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Green Heron (Buterides striatis)

 

Photos by Barry Wallace

...at McKenzie Wetlands, Aurora

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

International Day of Peace...

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Birds accompany cattle...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It's that time of year when starlings (like the one above) and cowbirds get up close and personal with cattle in the fields.   The cattle stir up all kinds of insects for the birds to gorge on.   It's a very symbiotic relationship and lasts throughout the day.   Occasionally the birds land on the backs of the cattle to forage but the cows' tails are constantly whipping across their backs, so the birds have to be quick to catch insects there.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Bittersweet feelings about fall migration...

 

Photos by Barry Wallace

The hummingbirds departed last week.    It was right around Sept. 11, the usual time they depart for warmer and more southern climes.   I'd be quite content to see them 365 days of the year because I am fascinated by the tiny creatures.   However, I do the get excited as I anticipate their return in the new year.   Safe journey my wee friends.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Mackenzie Marsh in Aurora...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Pied-billed Grebe

(Podilymbus podiceps)

The Pied-billed Grebe (pictured above and below) is the most common grebe in eastern North America, so spotting one in nearby Aurora is to be expected.  When alarmed, it sinks below the surface of the water, surfacing again much further away or out of sight amongst reeds.   The behaviour has earned it the nickname "Hell-diver", plus "Dabchick" and "Water Witch.

Nearby to the Grebe, was a Midland Painted Turtle (above) and green Heron (left).   A few days earlier in the Mackenzie Marsh, and pictured in this space were a pair of Great Egrets, a first in the Aurora area for some people.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

 

European Starling

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

"Ready for your close-up sir..."

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Two Great Egrets in Aurora's MacKenzie Marsh

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

My older daughter, Allison, who lives in Aurora, spotted what she thought were Trumpeter Swans while passing the Mackenzie Marsh on the St. John's Sideroad, last week. I went to check it out and was able to stop the car, get out, and get a couple of photos of what turned out be Great Egrets, not Trumpeter Swans.   Great Egrets have steadily been expanding their American and Canadian ranges but it is only in the last ten to fifteen years that they have gathered anywhere in southern Ontario at other than the Luther Marsh, west of Orangeville and Shelburne.   A lot of people would associate a bird like this with the southern United States.   But in the middle of Aurora?   Wonderful!   I also got a couple shots of one of two Green Herons at the same spot at the Great Egrets (see bottom photo).      

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Sparrows in my backyard...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

House Sparrow

Passer domesticus

This is the sparrow found throughout North America, Eurasia and North Africa and it has been introduced on all continents and many islands.   The North American population descends from a handful of birds released in New York's Central Park in the mid-1850s.   They spread very quickly by occupying the same places that humans did.   Their success often occurred at the expense of other small, native birds.   They consume insects and weed seeds and can do damage to agricultural crops.   A few live in my backyard.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

Sparrows in my backyard...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca

The Fox Sparrow is bigger and heavier than other sparrows, and is boldly striped with a rich rufous colour.  It is almost unmistakable.   It is found in a broad range from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to New Brunswick.   They have a rich, melodious sound and quite noisy as they scratch in leaves for food.   Western 'Foxes' are more dusky brown or slaty than the "fox-coloured birds of the east.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder