Mallards in McKenzie Marsh ~ Aurora

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Bottoms up!

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BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans still around and about...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Southward migrating Trumpeter Swans can still be found on local ponds.   These photos were taken of a group of five of the big birds on the main pond at Cardinal Golf Club on Weston Road, north of the Lloydtown-Aurora Road.

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BarrytheBirder

Goldfinch with a white skull cap...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

(Urocolius macrourus)

 

Photo by Doug Jansen/Wikipedia Commons

Pictured above is the Blue-naped Mousebird.   I had never heard of a Mousebird before, but found it in my new 'All the Birds in the World' book.   Mousebirds live in the sub-Sahara part of Africa.   In fact, they seem to be the only bird in the world confined to the Africa continent.   There are just six species of Mousebirds, of which the 'Blue-naped' is one.  Mousebirds were much more worldly millions of years ago and once existed widely in North America during the Paleocene era (66 to 56 million years ago).   Considering its grey colour and mousey name, I think it's rather pretty.

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BarrytheBirder

A remarkable bird is the goldfinch...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

If you were to pick a bird to typify summer, you would be hard pressed not to choose the yellowy American Goldfinch.   But I feel this same little bird might just be my favourite winter bird also.   Then again,  this showy little finch is a joy to have about year-round.   Its predominant colour matches sunny summer and contrasts delightfully with winter's grey monotone.  Cardinals, Chickadees, and Blue Jays are delights and quite welcome, but they are not 'sunny'.   What do you think?

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BarrytheBirder     

Birds with grandiloquent names...

 

Elegant Sunbird photo by Limchiu at en.wikipedia

My new All the Birds of the World book lists 140 types of Sunbirds with all sorts of interesting names.   10 of those Sunbirds, in alphabetical order, are:

                 BEAUTIFUL SUNBIRD

          ELEGANT SUNBIRD

   GORGEOUS SUNBIRD

              HANDSOME SUNBIRD 

          LOVELY SUNBIRD

             MAGNIFICENT SUNBIRD

             REGAL SUNBIRD

             SHINING SUNBIRD

             SPLENDID SUNBIRD

             SUPERB SUNBIRD

Nine of these birds look similar, with the Magnificent Sunbird standing out among the rest.   Which one is the grandest? Who can say?   One can pity the Plain Sunbird or the Mouse-coloured Sunbird for their plain names.   What will happen when the number of bird species in the world doubles, as is predicted?   This issue occurs with many other species of birds.

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BarrytheBirder  

   

Dufferin Street ~ opposite Seneca College

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Burr... chilly heron

November 22nd ..... Sunday morning ..... snowy ..... one degree celsius ..... ice forming on pond.   This Great Blue Heron is close to missing its window of opportunity for migrating south.   Hopefully, its instincts kicked in and got it on the move.

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BarrytheBirder

Hwy. 9 and Keele Street

 

Photos by Barry Wallace

GULL POND

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BarrytheBirder

On the Lake Wilcox boardwalk...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Lakeside metal bird sculptures

 

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BarrytheBirder

Under the Lake Wilcox boardwalk...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Male Mallards

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BarrytheBirder

Covid and birds...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Covid 19 boosting birdseed sales

I stopped in at Palma's Barbershop in King City on Wednesday for a haircut.   The gentleman ahead of me was one of the owners of the Nobleton Feedmill, at Highway 27 and the Old King Road.   The conversation got around to feeding wild birds and the Nobleton Feedmill fellow said that his wild bird seed sales were way up and he speculated that it was because so many people were housebound by Covid 19, and there was a lot more bird-watching at backyard feeders going on, which prompted people to re-fill feeders more often with extra birdseed.   I know I am.  I guess it's true that "It's a cold wind that blows no one some good". 

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BarrytheBirder

An inspiring photo...

 

Photo by Bryan Kushner / Alamy Stock Photo

Snowy Owl ~ Oceanville, New Jersey

This above photo showed up on my computer screen a day or so ago as the daily photo feature provided by my online service provider, and I just had to reproduce it here, in my BarrytheBirder blog.   I hope to see a few Snowy Owls this winter in the flat sprawling Holland Marsh, in York Region.  There are usually two or three that show up each winter and in certain years, the owl irruption can produce dozens owls and of more than one species.   I remember several years ago approaching a group of birders on Dufferin Street in 'The Marsh' and they all suddenly pointed at me and hollered at me to look behind.   Before I could turn around, I felt this great spread of wings fly over, just inches above my head.   It was a Great Grey Owl.   I was thrilled.

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BarrytheBirder  

Dufferin Street at Seneca College...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Seen above are a few of the hundreds of Canada Geese which are gleaning the harvested corn fields of the King Campus of Seneca College.

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Barry Wallace

Trumpeter Swan...

                                                                                                              Photo by BarrytheBirder

A few days ago I ran some pictures, in this blog, of 7 Trumpeter Swans on a pond behind the Town of Aurora municipal offices.   Today, I returned and there was only one Trumpeter remaining and it was keeping company with a half dozen Canada Geese.  This single swan will no doubt continue its southern migration very soon.

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BarrytheBirder

Blue Jay imitates puffin...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This photo of a Blue Jay at one of my backyard feeders reminds me of those ubiquitous photos of Atlantic Puffins with several sand eels stuffed in their beaks, heading for their nesting holes.

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BarrytheBirder

All the Birds of the World...

Photo by Alain Pascua

My long-awaited copy of All the Birds of the World (Josep del Hoyo, Editor) has finally arrived.   It is a 971-page hard-cover book published by Lynx Edicions in Spain.   A large-format book, it weighs in at 4.8 kg.   I had a good idea of what to expect when I got in and sat down at the dining room table and opened it randomly at Page 491.   The first bird that caught my eye was at the top-right corner of the page and was a CROW HONEYEATER (Gymnomyza aubryana).   No, I'd never heard of one before, either.  It is one of just 11,362 extant species in the book!  I'm about to enter my eightieth year of age, so this is probably the last bird guide I'll buy, which is good because this new one was not cheap.    

                                                                                                                                            Photo by Richard Fuller

CROW HONEYEATER

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BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans at Aurora Community Arboretum...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

"Seven swans a swimming"

My daughter Allison called me on her cellphone just before it got dark late Thursday afternoon to tell me she was watching seven migrating Trumpeter Swans on the large water retention pond in the Aurora Community Arboretum, behind the Town of Aurora municipal offices on John West Way.   I got the pictures here, early the next day on Friday morning.

It was 'bottoms-up' for all seven swans as they foraged on the pond bottom before resuming their migration south.

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Barry

theBirder

Sunny morning at Richmond Hill Millpond...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Keele Street ~ Near Kettleby...

 

                                                                                                          Photo by BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk

(Buteo jamaicensis)

One has to be lucky or quick to get a close photograph of a Red-tailed Hawk...I think I was both with this one.   Red-tailed Hawks usually have 12 red tail feathers, with black and white tips, as seen above.

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BarrytheBirder

Early day sunlight at Aurora's McKenzie Marsh...

 

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BarrytheBirder

More Dave Kemp photos from Richmond B.C.

 

Photos By Dave Kemp

Snow Geese ~ Garry Park Point

Snow Goose juvenile ~ dark morph

Snow Goose adult ~ dark morph

Fresh snowfall on local mountains

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BarrytheBirder

Bird sculptures at Lake Wilcox Park...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Hairy Woodpecker has a good grip...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I chose these two photos to show the Hairy Woodpecker's excellent gripping abilities on the perches of the seed feeders in the backyard.   

 

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BarrytheBirder