Healthy-looking eaglets in southern California...

                                                                                Photo: Friends of Big Bear Valley / AP

A still from a remote video camera shows two Bald Eagle chicks with a parent on a nest in the Los Angeles National Forest, near Big Bear in southern California, USA.   Hatched a month ago, the chicks have names, thanks to a vote by school children.   The older and larger one is named Cookie and the younger one is called Simba.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Early morning outing in east-central England...

Photo: Paul Marriott / Rex / Shutterstock

A pair of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and their many goslings make their way across Overton Lake, just after sunrise at Nene Park, in Peterborough, UK.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Largest seabird in the north Atlantic...

Photo: Carsten Rehder / AFP / Getty Images

A nesting gannet, with a wingspan of two metres, is photographed with a twig in its beak over the German island of Hegoland in the North Sea.   

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Lovely lark lifts off...

Photo: Natalie Fedosenko / Tass / Getty Images

A lark takes wing in a field near the village of Danilovichi, in the Grodno region of western Belarus, very near to the borders with Poland and Lithuania.

Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Mating game in North Dakota...

Photo: USFWS / Alamy

A female Sharp-tailed Grouse walks by as two males dance in the background during the mating season in Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge near Minot, North Dakota, USA.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Do bee-eaters ever get stung?

                                     Photo: Mahmut Serder Alakus / Andalou Agency / Getty Images

A bee-eater is seen flying over the Gediz delta of Izmer in Turkey.   The delta river flows into the eastern Aegean Sea.   There are 27 species of bee-eaters, mostly found in Asia and Africa.   Bee-eaters catch bees in the air and then repeatedly bash the bee on a hard surface until it is dead.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

"Why did the chicken cross the street?"

Photo: Thomas Warnack / AFP / Getty Images

A chicken walks on a crosswalk marked with a special sign in Ertingen, Germany.   A local resident set up the crosswalk for the chickens of a neighbouring farm, as the animals cross the road regularly to drink from a village fountain on the other side of the street.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Attention-getting plumage...

Photo: Costfoto / Barcroft Images

A Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) delivers food to her young, in a tree trunk, at a park in Shanghai, on the coast of the Yellow Sea in China.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Starlings at sunset...

Photo: Dave Biggs

Spooked starlings make a hasty exit from a tree in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, England.   The photo was the winner in the Urban Wildlife category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards in 2011.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Global population runs well into the millions...

Photo: Keith J. Smith / Alamy

A Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is seen perched on a hedgerow in Wilton, Northhamptonshire, UK.   This raptor appears across Europe and Asia and migrates from its main range in western Russia as far as South Africa; a distance of just over 10,000 km or 1/4 of the Earth's circumference.

The eyes have it...

Photo: Biju Boro / AFP / Getty Images

A Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is seen looking out from it nest in a tree in the city of Guwahati, in north-east India.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Orange clouds in China...

Photo:

A silhouetted bird flys in front of clouds illuminated by the rising sun in Karancssag, north-east of Budapest, Hungary.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

For the love of chickens...

Photo: Aletheia Casey

Ella in Callala Bay

Australia National Photographic Portrait

prize finalist 2019

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

The collapse of biodiversity...

Photo: Sam Hobson / WWF

This photo by Sam Hobson was part of a picture essay by The Guardian newspaper in support of the wildlife charity WWF's support of the IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, www.ipbes.net).   IPBES, the independent global scientific body on biodiversity of more than 130 governments has just published it report on the current state of life on Earth.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

Pecking order for orange juice among Baltimore Orioles...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

In my backyard, the male Baltimore Oriole (above) is the first to dine on the half oranges.   He is followed by the mature adolescent male (below) who is followed by the female (at bottom).   Naturally, the mature male always gets the lion's share.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Spring arrivals today...

 Above and at left are a male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Below are three male Baltimore Orioles.
Below them is a Scarlet Tanager and at bottom, a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird.   There were also 12 more  species at the feeders today.   It was our best ever spring migrant day in the backyard! 

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

International Garden Photographer of the Year competition...

Photo: Alan Price

Black & White Photo Project 2019

Alan Price's photograph of a Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) in Criccieth, Wales, was a finalist in this year's competition.   The Blue Tit is a European bird that is common and widespread throughout the British Isles.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Big prize for a big gull...

HERRING GULL

(Larus argentatus)

This Herring Gull photograph, taken by Steve Young, won the top prize at the British Wildlife Photography Awards in 2010.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Cassowary kills Florida man...

Photo: Christian Ziegler

This Cassowary was photographed in north-east Queensland, Australia, in 2012, by Christian Ziegler for National Geographic.   In Florida, this past week, a large Cassowary killed its 75-year-old owner, who fell to the ground and was set upon by the huge bird.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Canada Goose nests at entrance to Pierre Berton Library

 Photo by BarrytheBirder

A pair of Canada Geese have taken up residence at the entrance to the Pierre Berton Resource Library, just south of Kleinburg, on the south side of Rutherford Road.   Their nest is in one of the large round planters near the front entrance and is cordoned off with bright yellow hazard tape.   Library patrons and dozens of school students  walk right by the geese throughout the day.   The geese are not totally oblivious to the traffic about them, but seem at complete ease with the situation.

The gander is never far from his mate's nest in the planter and both male and female will even sleep at the same time, despite human traffic passing them by at all times.   It seems a good example of necessity being the mother of invention.

Please comment 

if you wish.

Barry

the Birder

Rose-breasted Grosbeak appears...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

(Phuecticus ludovicianus)

The first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the spring season showed up on Saturday.   It didn't stay long at the feeders because of the numerous and pesky starlings.  It was a very welcome sight however, especially in flight with its flashing black and white wings.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

First White-crowned Sparrow of the spring arrives...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

A White-crowned Sparrow showed up in the backyard on Saturday, May 4th, approximately 2 weeks after the first White-throated Sparrow arrived.   This is normal but both species seemed to be a bit later than usual.   No surprise however, given the cold, wet spring we have had here in southern Ontario this year.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

A diving seabird of the family Phalacrocorax...

Photo: Costfoto / Barcroft Images

A large, all black cormorant, looking magnificent, but daunting and menacing at the same time is seen taking off in Yichun, Heilongjiang, China.  The province of Heilongjiang is a northernmost, hinterland province of China and  is surrounded by other provinces, plus Mongolia, Russia, Japan and North Korea.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Grey Heron triumphant...

Photos: Martial Trezzini / EPA / AP

A successful Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) catches and holds onto a carp which it has found in Geneva, Switzerland.   My guess is that this is the maximum size of fish this heron can swallow.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Albatross, the film: ode to a victim of the plastic soup...

Photo: Plastic Soup Foundation

Amsterdam, 18 April 2018 - Halfway through the film, the image suddenly stops.   A close-up of an albatross feeding its chick.   The albatross parent regurgitates food and slips it into the throat of of the hungry chick.  The image stops at the point that a blue piece of plastic glides into the chick's throat.   The American filmmaker, Chris Jordan, has worked on Albatross - a love story for our time from the heart of the Pacific for years.   The film is about the largest colony of albatrosses in the world on Midway, a remote archipelago in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, and the devastation that the plastic soup is bringing to the colony.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Two new White Eye species...

Photo: Sean Kelly

Researchers from Ireland and Indonesia and the conservation group Operation Wallacea have described two new species of White Eyes, a widespread family of 140 passerine bird species from Africa, Asia and Australasia.   The new species occur on islands offshore of Sulawesi, a large Indonesian island known for its weird and wonderful plants and animals.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

"Einstein of the Bird World"...

                                                                                                   Photo: Nathan Emery

AFRICAN GREY PARROT

(Psittacus erithacus)

A recent item in The Guardian says that African Grey Parrots are known for their ability to mimic human speech.  However, this has placed them in grave danger.  The parrots are being pushed toward extinction in the wild to feed the pet trade.   Wikipedia states that this bird is not just a top talker, but is also known for incredible intelligence, which gives it the nickname "Einstein of the Bird World".

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Lookout parrot seized by police...

Photo: Mike Pitts / BBC

Brazilian drug dealers train parrot

The Guardian reports that a parrot has been taken into custody in Brazil following a police raid which targeted crack dealers.   Brazilian press said the bird had been taught to alert criminals to police operations by shouting: "Mum, the police".   The parrot was seized when officers swooped on a drug den run by a local couple.   Police said as soon as they got close, the parrot started shouting.   A journalist who came face-to-face with the imprisoned bird, said it had clammed up and hasn't said a word after its arrest.   The parrot is now in a zoo.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Changing the colour despite the weather...

                                                                                                        Photo by BarrytheBirder

American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristis

Well, the male American Goldfinches have turned bright yellow and black, but here in southern Ontario it is still very chilly weather.   Nevertheless, we do have lots of these delightful small birds and they are very well fed.  They are often referred to as the "Wild Canary".   The Audubon Society says their food is mostly seeds and that nesting does not begin until midsummer or late summer when seeds are available.   This allows them to stay in flocks until well past the time when other species have formed pairs and are nesting.   Because they breed so late, only a single set of eggs is raised each summer.  Their bright call "per-chick-o-ree" is delivered in flight and coincides with each undulation.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Three Bald Eagles raising three eaglets...

Photo:

A rare trio of Bald Eagles is raising eaglets together on the upper Mississippi River near, Fulton, Illinois, U.S.A.  The two male birds, named Valor I and Valor II plus one female, Starr, are raising three eaglets which hatched in the spring of this year.   It is only the fourth time such an event has ever been recorded in US. birding history.  Both males were observed mating with Starr, prior to her nesting.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Making ends meet in Al-Hasaken, Syria...

Photo: Delil Souleiman / AFP / Getty Images

A woman displaced from Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province is seen with a hen in al-Hol camp for displaced people, in Al-Hasakeh, Syria.   Presumably, the chicken's future is based on two choices: eggs or the pot.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Hoopoe charm in China...

                                                                                   Photos: Costfoto / Barcroft Images

A Hoopoe, or Upupa epop, carries an insect in Yichun, China.   Hoopoes have come to symbolize peace and happiness.  In the photo below, it would appear that a male is offering food to a female, perhaps as a prelude to mating.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Symbiosis...

Photo: Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP / Getty Images

Egrets perch on water buffaloes in the Manggamut River, southern Aceh province, Indonesian.   It is a symbiotic relationship involving insects as pests and food.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Odd bedfellows...

                                                                                                    Photo by Laurie Wolf

I'm guessing we have an Eastern Screech Owl and a very young Wood Duck in the photo.   Anyone else have a guess?   How they came to be together, I've no idea ... but they sure are cute.
Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

World's fattest parrot has record breeding season, but...

Photo: Don Merton / AFP / Getty Images

Kakapo is still critically endangered 

The Guardian newspaper reports that the world's fattest species of parrot has had a record-breaking breeding season in New Zealand.   Which is good because there are only 147 adult Kakapo alive today.   A far cry from when they were one of New Zealand's most common birds.  The culprits?  Hunting to the brink of extinction, killing by introduced pests and being displaced by farming.   The birds are vulnerably flightless, nocturnal, known for their charismatic charm and owl-like faces.  They are subject to one of the world's most intensive management programs and this year 76 chicks have hatched and 60 are expected to reach adulthood. 49 out of 50 breeding females laid eggs this year.   In the last two seasons, fruit has not been so plentiful in 50 years.  Feeding and breeding has started early and some Kakapo are nesting twice.   The chicks are being raised on two predator-free islands off the New Zealand coast.  The population would have to reach "at least 500" for scientists to think about backing off.   They were thought to be extinct until some were found in the 1970s.   They had reached their lowest number in 1977 at 18 birds.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Prize-winning photograph...

Photo: Alan Fieldus

This photo of an Eliot's Storm Petrel (Oceanites gracilis) was the first prize winner in the BIRDSEYE APPS 2018 / 2019 Tropical Bird Photo Contest.   It was photographed at Las Bachas  Beach, on Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.   This bird is normally a sooty, dark-coloured bird, but I feel the sun, perhaps near the horizon, may have enhanced its colouring.  In fact, the reflection in the water is probably a more accurate colour representation.   Indeed, a most interesting photograph.
Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Love nest sits upon garbage and debris...

Photo: Yui Mok / PA

Grebes prepare for the spring imperative on a nest partially constructed from trash and debris, on the the south quay at the Isle of Dogs, east London.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Great Britain's national bird...

Photo: John Gilbey

A Robin (Great Britain's national bird) sings to defend its territory in a mixed, deciduous forest along the River Teifi, near Cilgerran in Wales.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

The colours of drought...

Photo: Jeffery Arguedas / EPA

A Nicaraguan Grackle (Quiscalus nicaraguensis) looks for water in a lagoon at La Sabana Metropolitan Park, in San Jose, Costa Rica, which has been affected by the droughts produced by El Nino.   This medium-sized bird is found only in Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder