Vultures intruded upon

Photo: Nottingham Trent University

Vultures are seen feeding on a carcass in Manke Wildlife Reserve in South Africa.   The Black-backed Jackal intruding on the vulture feast appears to me to be a very pregnant and hungry female.   The carcass looks to be large, perhaps a water buffalo.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Gannets gorging in Scotland

Photo by Richard Shucksmith / Barcroft Media

Gannets dive into the sea to gorge themselves on fish in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, before returning to their nests on cliffs high above the water.   The photographer, Richard Shucksmith has been capturing gannet images for the past three years and judging by this photograph, he must be an intrepid fellow.

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BtheB

Bees and wasps displace hummers

Photos by Barry Wallace

Our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds appear to have left us and headed south.   The last two we saw were females on September 22 - the same exact date on which last year's hummers packed their bags and departed.   A couple of very chilly nights seemed to be the catalyst or maybe they were just fed up with fighting off the bees and wasps at the nectar feeders.   Below are some of the Bald-faced Hornets (Dalichovespula maculata) that seem to be the most troublesome for hummingbirds in September.

Bald-faced Hornets are also known as Bald Hornet, White-faced Hornet, White-tailed Hornet, Blackjacket or Bull Wasp, and actually belong to a genus of Yellowjackets, which are known elsewhere in the world as just plain wasps.   The White-faced Hornet is a little larger than other Yellowjackets, measuring 2 to 3 cms. or over 1" long.   I sat outside for an hour or so this afternoon, just to make sure there were, in fact, no more hummingbirds.   I had a glass of white wine beside me and during the course of the hour, about 10 wasps and four Bald-faced Hornets fell into my wineglass, something the hummingbirds have never done. 
BULLETIN: This just in...my wife has called out, while I was typing the last sentence above, that she has spotted a hummingbird in the backyard.
I am going to regard her sighting as that of a transient migrant passing through, as opposed to one of the resident hummers we had all summer in the yard.   So there.

 Please comment if you wish.
BtheB  
  

Largest flying bird ever?

Illustration by Liz Bradford/PA

I just came across an online article, by Nishad Karim at theguardian.com, that appeared almost three months ago, about fossilized bones discovered during an airport terminal expansion near Charleston, S.C. airport in 1983. The prehistoric bird had a wingspan between 6.1 and 7.4 metres which is double that of the Royal Albatross, the world's largest flying bird alive.   30 years passed before the full importance of the fossil remains were fully realized.   The name of the bird is Pelagornis sandersi.   

Illustration by Liz Bradford/PNAS

In the illustration above, the skeletal reconstruction of Pelagornis sandersi is compared with a California Condor (lower left) and Royal Albatross (lower right) for purposes of scale.   The remains of the bird included its skull, shoulder blade, hollow leg and wing bones.   Extrapolations of the mass, wingspan and wing shape from the fossilized bones were fed into a computer to estimate the size of the bird and how it may have flown.   The computer model showed the creature was an extremely efficient glider.   It was estimated to have lived 25 million years ago.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

50 years of 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' book

The National History Museum in London, England, has just published and released a new book that commemorates 50 years of its Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.   Below are two photos that feature birds, which are part of the collection of 160 photos in the book.

Photo by Cherry Alexander (UK) 1995

This magnificent blue iceberg was photographed from a ship off the South Sandwich Islands in Antarctica.   It's described as a cathedral of ancient ice, with a little group of Adelie Penguins and an Antarctic Prion perfectly poised overhead.   To catch the moment and frame it perfectly reveals the skill of a photographer (Cherry Alexander) in love with ice..

Photo by Danny Green (UK) 2009

One of the last great wildlife spectacles to be seen in northern Europe is the winter evening gathering of hundreds of thousands of starlings over their roost sites.   Here the stage is Gretna Green in Scotland with the swooping, swirling flock boosted by huge numbers of wintering starlings from Scandanavia.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Yes...it was a starling

Well, I have it on good authority that my mystery bird of the last several weeks was indeed a European Starling.   Two readers of this blogsite kindly suggested the bird in the photo was a juvenile starling.   Thank you to Lucy Robertson and Andrew S. for their directions to photos and indentifications of this common bird.   In fact, starlings are one of the most common and numerous birds in the world.   It is also a bird with a 'coat of many colours', based on its stages of early growth and thereafter the seasons of the year.   After hearing from Lucy and Andrew, I got word from my neighbour, here in the village of King City, Gerry Binsfeld, that my mystery bird was a young starling starting to molt out of its juvenile plumage.   Gerry, by the way, has a huge life list and is one of Canada's best birders.   Although I have been a birdwatcher for many years, I don't consider myself an expert.   Nevertheless, not identifying a starling in my own backyard is very humbling and a bit embarrasing.

    Photo by Barry Wallace

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Dramatic White-tailed Eagles photo

Photo by Kevin Morgans

Above is a recent Wildlife Extra.com 'Reader photo of the week'.   The image of sparring White Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was captured by Kevin Morgans in Kutno, Poland. The encounter was watched by a group of young eagles plus a Hooded Crow and a magpie.   White-tailed Eagles are closely related to Bald Eagles and are also known as Sea Eagles or White-tailed Sea Eagles. 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

Costello welcomes his sons to Pine Farms Orchard

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Pictured above are Elvis (front) and Costello (behind), longtime buddies at King Township's Pine Farms Orchard and ambassadors-at-large to thousands of apple-pickers over many years.   Sadly, many months ago, Elvis wandered off one day and never returned.   It was felt he was embroiled in a misadventure with a fox or coyote.   Costello missed him greatly over the past winter.   He was given a mirror to make him think he was not alone.   Later in the year he was taken away to mate with a lady friend, which apparently took all of 30 seconds and he was rewarded with two fine sons that were destined to join their father at Pine Farms, when they were big enough to hold their own with the old man.   The day has come.   The sons arrived on September 13 and were welcomed by their father, whose tail, it is said, wagged a mile-a-minute.   Today, everything seemed just ducky.

Costello spent time grooming himself prior to his sons' arrival and got his top-knot just right.

On arrival, Costello's sons took to the pool like 'ducks to water', while their father looked on.

It appears that Costello has welcomed his offspring with open arms.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Small feeder ~ big appetites

Photo by BarrytheBirder

AAmerican Goldfinches ~ Niger SeedA

Now that the juvenile goldfinches have joined their parents at our backyard Niger Seed feeders, things are getting a little crowded and a bit frantic.   Amid the mayhem, however, there are some parents that are still feeding seeds to begging youngsters.   Whether it's their own offspring or those of some other parents, I have no idea.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Pied Wagtail gets a reprieve

Photo: Wild About Britain

Rogue wagtail won't be shot

The Guardian newspaper in England reports that a Pied Wagtail that had taken up residence in a Tesco store in Great Yarmouth will continue to fly after a plan to shoot the bird ruffled shoppers' feathers.   The bird had avoided all attempts to trap it and shoo it outside over recent weeks, so using a marksman to shoot it (after store hours) was suggested.   Word got out and their was a public backlash.   On advice, Tesco called on the British Trust for Ornithology and has postponed the shooting.   Plans now are to net the bird which has become quite tame.   The pretty little bird has been sustaining itself by eating crumbs off the cafe floor.   This tale will likely have a merciful and happy ending.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB  

Are birds open-minded?

                                                                

...doesn't seem so.

 ~~ from an unsigned email making the rounds

Please comment if you wish. 

BtheB

I still haven't identified this bird after 4 weeks

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Does anyone know or have a guess?

I have enlarged this photo in hopes that this much larger view will allow for an identification. It is starting to bother me that I haven't found the name of this bird...particularly when it has such a distinctive appearance. It may be a hybrid or cross-breed and my best guess would be a cross between a Northern Mockingbird and Starling.    Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.   

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

2014 British Wildlife Photography Awards

The  overall winning picture was an image by Lee Acaster of a wild Greylag Goose on a grey, moody London riverbank. 

First place in the Behaviour category was this photo by Richard Shuttleworth of an otter capturing a puffin in the Shetland Islands.

Steven Fairbrother won the Portrait section with this image of a shag resting in the Farne Islands in Northumberland.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Robber Fish Eagles

                                                                              Photo by Eugene Troskie/Barcroft Media

Two of three Fish Eagles are seen (above) in a photo by Eugene Troskie, ganging-up on an alarmed Saddle-backed Stork to steal its fish in Kruger National Park in South Africa.   This bird is also known as the Saddle-billed Stork (see photo below by Steve Garvie/Flickr/Wikipedia.   One can't help but wonder if the eagle which carried off the fish shared it with the other two.

Photo by Steve Garvie/Flickr/Wikipedia

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

National Hummingbird Day ~ September 6

                                                                                                                                                               Photos by Barry Wallace

Study says 'hummers' not born with sweet tooth

Jessica Ramos writing on the Care2 website says that according to National Geographic magazine, hummingbirds don't have a sweet taste receptor, like most birds.   However, a new study in Science says that the tiny birds outsmarted evolution by "re-purposing" their umami receptor - the evolutionary receptor responsible for identifying savory meat flavours - to taste and enjoy sweet nectar.   It was never meant to be for hummers to have a sweet tooth but the determined birds made it come about.   Now they are meat-eaters and nectar-sippers.   Future plans are to determine if all species of hummingbirds have undergone this evolutionary adaptation.   Have two diets given hummingbirds any evolutionary advantage? Well they have grown to 300 species in the Americas   

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Another early warbler

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I'm not sure which warbler this might be.   It arrived in the backyard cedar hedge long enough for me to get this picture, but was then scared off by the 30-or-so American Goldfinches in the same hedge.   It did not return.   I'm guessing Yellow, Pine, or Wilson's.   Anyone care to hazard a guess?   This is the second migrating warbler in the backyard this week.   Last Monday there was a Blackburnian. 

Please comment if you wish.  

BtheB 

Not all birds hereabouts are wild birds

Photo by BarrytheBirder

 Rooster in the Holland Marsh

There are no big chicken farms that I know of in the Holland Marsh but there are some market-garden plots that have a few hens and roosters in the yards around their houses.   This cock-of-the-walk certainly appeared to be master of all he surveyed within his small patch, surrounded by thousands of acres of onions, carrots, and other numerous veggies.   Isn't he a beauty?

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Goldfinches at the birdbath

Photo by BarrytheBirder

One of my favourite birds ~ summer or winter

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BtheB

Waiting their turn...

                                                                                                         Photo by Barry Wallace

Mourning Doves at one of the nuthatch feeders

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Blackburnian always first migrating fall warbler in my backyard

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Blackburnian Warbler

For several years the first southward migrating warbler I see in my backyard each August is the Blackburnian Warbler.   These warblers (male and female) spend their summer at the very top of trees and I hardly ever see one.   But each August, a few show up in my cedar hedge (like the one above) and I get my fix.   They start their migration earlier than many other warblers because most are headed for the Andes mountains of South America, particularly the northern Andes of Ecuador and Columbia. They show up as far south as Peru and northern Brazil.   It's arrival date this year in my King City, Ontario, backyard was August 24.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS AT LAKE WILCOX...

                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

...but the ducks don't seem to get the message.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

More of a summer's hummers...

                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

What the heck is it?

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Our backyard played host to this odd-looking bird yesterday.   It appeared at the same time as several Grackles but did not join the Grackles for a feeder frenzy.   I have no idea if this is hybrid, a crossbreed, or a bird I've just never seen before.   It was 6-7" long.   Does anyone have an idea what it may be?

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

American Bittern on the wing

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I may have published this photo before over the course of the last eight years, but I have stumbled upon it recently and have decided to put it in the blog for the following reasons.   1. It's the only photo of an American Bittern I have ever taken.   2. It was pure luck and reflex that I got the shot as I flushed the bird from cattails at Luther Marsh.   3. I like the bittern's markings and colouring.   4. Despite my Audubon Field Guide's contention that the American Bittern is "...short-legged and heavy-bodied..." and "...pot-bellied in flight..." , I really like its shape in flight.   With its long beak and long pointed wing tips, I think it looks quite aerodynamic in the air.   I see and hear this bird in marsh reeds occasionally but this is the only one I have seen flying.   It was special for me.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB   

British Columbia Hummer

All photos by Dave Kemp

While I'm watching several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in my backyard in Ontario, my long-distance acquaintance, Dave Kemp, in lower British Columbia, is watching and photographing several hummer species, including the Anna's Hummingbird pictured above.   Thanks for sharing your photos Dave...great shots!

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Disappointment all-around

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This young Ring-billed Gull's body language describes my feelings after being chilled and rained-out on what was to be a 4-day stay on the beach at Southampton, on Lake Huron, this week.   My wife and I cut the trip to two days after the temperature dropped to 13C.   The date was also Aug. 13...bad luck all-around it seems.   I did record a new life-bird however.   I spotted a two Piping Plovers on a beach at Port Elgin.   More bad luck befell me though when I went to record the sighting on my life list.   After adding the Piping Plover, I did a manual count of my life list which I thought had stood at 425.   That's the number you see at the top of this blog.   But after adding the plover I did a manual count of my list and came up with 421 birds.   Somewhere along the line I had mistakably counted 425!   It's time to switch my list to a computerized count I guess.   Once again, my luck gave out when I saw the plovers but did not have my camera with me.   There was also a Little Gull (which I've never photographed before) near the plovers.   Below is an illustration of Little Gulls by well-known American illustrator, Julie Zickafoose.

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BtheB

The Elvis & Costello team are no more

Photos by Barry Wallace

I visited Pine Farms Orchard today to buy some butter tarts but there was only one left.   I bought it as well as a coconut raspberry square.   There was a poster at the door with a picture and a few words about Costello, the Muscovy duck, who is a resident of Pine Farms. The pictures here show Costello with his long-time buddy Elvis.   Sadly, Elvis is no more. He disappeared one day not so long ago and never returned.   In these two pictures, which I took almost 10 years ago, Elvis is seen on the left side, Costello on the right.   The two buddies were well-liked ambassadors at the apple orchard and Elvis is sorely missed by many apple-pickers and cafe customers.   Muscovy ducks are silent but they have an amazing presence and visual communications skills.   I miss Elvis and I feel sorry for Costello.   Such is life.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB      

Great Blue Heron's perfect perch

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Glenville Pond

Dufferin Street and Highway 9

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Our cat is now on a leash outdoors

Photo by Barry Wallace

After years of our cats running free in the yard (and in the neighbours' yards), our newest cat is now on a leash when he goes into the backyard.   It's to save the birds and to protect him as well.   Over the years we've lost a few cats to misadventure as they had the run of the neighbourhood.   Finally, we know where the cat is at all times.   And it seems the birds and squirrels and chipmunks are much safer.   Jaime is a year old now and as far as we know, he has not caught a bird yet...or any other critter.   It's not for lack of trying.   He still stalks anything that moves but he always runs out of rope before he ponces on anything.   He may not look thrilled about his situation (above), but he is quite used to the leash.   He has not known anything else, since he was a kitten.   We now have many more birds at the feeders at any given time.   The leash was Linda's idea and I wish we had done this a long time ago.   Live and learn.   Below are photos of some of our backyard birds.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB  

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)

House Wren

Black-throated Blue Warbler