Kingfisher spotted in East Humber River at King Creek...

 

Photo by Barry theBirder

I spotted a Kingfisher under the bridge over the East Humber River at King Creek on January 20.  It was a cool -9C but the river was open and was apparently still providing a fishing opportunity for the late-migrating fish-eater.

Wikipedia Photo                                         

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                                                  BarrytheBirder

                                                           

2nd Snowy Owl of the year...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

This is the 2nd Snowy Owl I have seen and photographed this year.

I spotted it on a trip north of Newmarket, on the Ravenshoe Sideroad, near the southern tip of Lake Simcoe.   It was about 100 metres from me and I slowly moved towards it while taking pictures.   I got to about 10 to 15 metres before it decided to move down the line of old utility poles.  I didn't follow it and I was happy to get the pictures you see here.  I spotted three abandoned Osprey nests in the marsh at the end of the Ravenshoe Road, which I will return to in the spring in hopes of the Ospreys returning to these spots.   One of the nests was atop a pole in centre field at a neighbourhood baseball diamond while another was atop the end of a massive irrigation rig at the edge of the marsh (see below).

The photo at right shows a nearby mailbox decorated with a hemp leaf.   A few hemp greenhouses are to be found these days in the Holland Marsh, to the south, as well as a  monster-sized one, here in the Ravenshoe Marsh.  Both marijuana and cannabis are forms of hemp.

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BarrytheBirder

Rough-legged Hawk in the Holland Marsh...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Rough-legged Hawk

(Buteo lagopus)

This darkish hawk often uses its long wings to hover while hunting.  They typically nest in Canada's far north and have been observed to be wintering farther north of their traditional winter range.   

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BarrythBirder

First Snowy Owl of 2021...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Snowy Owl in the Holland Marsh

Pictured above is the first female Snowy Owl I have seen this winter.  It was perched on a high television aerial on the north-west corner of the Aileen Avenue junction with the Strawberry Lane, about a 1/5 km. east of Hwy. 400.   'Snowies' do like to perch on aerials, but the aerials add nothing to the attractiveness of photos.

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BarrytheBirder   

A few more B.C. birds by Dave Kemp...

 

Virginia Rail chick

Black Scoters

Bald Eagles

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BarrytheBirder

More B.C. birds by Dave Kemp...

 

Harlequin Duck

Long-tailed Ducks & Surf Scoters

Photos by Dave Kemp

White-winged Scoters

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BarrytheBirder

British Columbia swans by photographer Dave Kemp

Mute Swan

Trumpeter Swans

Many thanks to my west coast friend Dave Kemp for sharing these great photos from the Pacific Ocean side of Canada.  Other west coast birds to be shown in the next couple of days.

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BarrytheBirder

Pileated Woodpecker at Marylake...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was photographing dead and dying spruce trees along the road into Marylake, north of King City, on Thursday when a Pileated Woodpecker made an appearance.   I apparently alarmed it and it immediately flew off.   Seeing a  'Pileated' is always a special occasion (a momentary, exciting spectacle!)...would that I could see them more than I occasionally do.

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BarrytheBirder

Another upside-down feeder...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Adding Common Redpoll to the list

Two days ago, I mentioned four birds species that hang upside down at my backyard feeders, if they have a mind to.  They were Pine Siskin, Goldfinch, Red-breasted Nuthatch and White-breasted Nuthatch.   I should have added Common Redpoll (see photo above).   No doubt, there will be a few other species hanging upside down, over the course of the winter, as the feeders are swarmed by hungry birds.

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BarrytheBirder

Feeding swans at Carrying Place

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Golf club feeding Trumpeter Swans

The gentleman (above) from Carrying Place Golf and Country Club is seen feeding swans (both Trumpeters and Mutes) at the big pond, fronting on Weston Road, north of the Lloydtown-Aurora Road.

 

The patches of open water on the Carrying Place big pond are created by sump-pumping pond water (see photo above).   Between feeding and providing open water for the big swans, the expectation is that the Trumpeter Swans will winter remain onsite until spring. The two Mute Swans are permanent, year-around residents.  Below, two of the Trumpeter Swans appear to be having a tete-a-tete.

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BarrytheBirder

 

Get a grip and hang on

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Pine Siskins hang upside-down...

...as do Goldfinches, Red-breasted Nuthatches 

and White-breasted Nuthatches

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BarrytheBirder

Immature Bald Eagle awaits its turn to feed...

 

Photo supplied by Doreen Hiltz

This impressive-looking, immature Bald Eagle also has a bit of a circumspect look as it circles about a fisherman's discarded salmon catch that more mature eagles are already feasting upon.   The photo was taken in British Columbia in the heart of Haida Gwaii, north of Vancouver Island in 2019.   It was taken by my one-time high school music teacher, Doreen Hiltz, of Holland Landing, Ontario, who grew up in Chilliwack, B.C.   The Bald Eagle is an important icon in the Haida Gwaii native culture.

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BarrytheBirder

       

Side-by-side comparison...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

American Goldfinch (on the left)

Pine Siskin (on the right) 

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BarrytheBirder

Looking for Bubo scandiacus...

 

Red-tailed

Hawk

in the

 Holland

Marsh

...but no

 Snowy Owls

yet.

Please

comment

if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Hungry Mourning Doves...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

A solitary Chipping Sparrow looks down on a half dozen intimidating Mourning Doves at one of the backyard feeders.

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BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans at Carrying Place...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The open water in the front pond at Carrying Place Golf Club on Weston Road, has by my most recent count, twelve Trumpeter Swans contentedly making themselves at home.   Where will they go when the ice freezes over again?   Good question.

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BarrytheBirder

Some colour to chase away grey skies...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Cottage country eagle in late December...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

My old friend, Jim Hadcock, spent the Christmas holidays at his cottage, in the Algonquin highlands, and for only the second time in forty years saw a Bald Eagle looking for fish in an open patch of icy water,  in the lake where his cottage is located.   Bald Eagles are often seen fishing along the north shore of Lake Ontario and over the larger lakes in central Ontario.   They are much more seldom seen in the southern, farmland-strip of Ontario where the lakes are usually smaller.   A Bald Eagle with a large fish in its talons is a remarkable sight indeed.   The first Bald Eagle I ever saw, with a fish in its talons, was above a ferry journey between Vancouver and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, 60 years ago on a cross-country hitchhiking trip of Canada (Toronto to Powell River) with a high-school buddy.   However, I took the Eagle photo above at a raptor presentation at Cold Creek Conservation Area, north of Toronto, many years ago.

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BarrytheBirder

Where are the Redpolls?

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Pictured above are 75 birds at a winter feeder in my backyard a few years ago.   60 of the birds in this photo are Common Redpolls (Acanthis flammea).   In the photo below, five of the six perched birds of redpolls.   I don't get these kind of numbers anymore and I'm wondering why.   I have just read that an irruption of Common Redpolls has already begun for this winter , as well as a Hoary Redpoll irruption, so just maybe I'll get some more good photos this winter.

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BarrytheBirder

Pine Siskins at the feeders...

 Photos by Barry Wallace

There are a few Pine Siskins at the backyard feeders so far this winter, mixing in with the same-size goldfinches.   I love the alliterative pronunciation of the Pine Siskin's scientific name which is (Spinus pinus).   The Pine Siskin's breeding range is across central Canada, from the Yukon to Labrador and south to Lake Superior.   At other times of the year, it is widely sporadic across the Great Lakes Region, the Canadian Maritimes, British Columbia, the western United States, right down to Mexico.   Some years they show up in the backyard, other years  they do not.   They are sweet little things.   

      

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BarrytheBirder

Snowy Owl north of Queensville...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

On the Ravenshoe Sideroad

- west of Leslie Street

The Snowy Owl pictured here is likely a female, or perhaps a 1st year juvenile.   Whichever, it was a delightful sighting for several birders on the Ravenshoe Sideroad, west of Leslie Street and north of Queensville.  Five birder vehicles were parked directly beneath this perching owl and it was totally nonplussed. 

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BarrytheBirder

In the Holland Marsh...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Pools of melted-ice water on the Holland River Canal make the winter a wee bit shorter for Mallard ducks.

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BarrytheBirder

On the Kell Farm ~ Keele St. north of King City

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Barred Owl

This owl is chiefly nocturnal and generally does not tolerate close approaches.   It is usually well-hidden in the daytime but is much more likely to be heard in the daytime than most other owls.   Its distinctive call is loud hoots: "who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all".  

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BarrytheBirder 

 

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The first thing to notice about this female Hairy Woodpecker is her large and thick bill, plus her overall size is about twice the size of the smaller Downy Woodpecker.   It is usually found in forests and likes mature woodland areas, but will show up at backyard feeders particularly in winter.  It is normally widespread in North America year-round. There's normally one or two at my backyard feeders twice a day.

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BarrytheBirder

Weston Road ~ just north of the Lloydtown-Aurora Road

                                                                                                     Photos by BarrytheBirder

More than 500 Canada Geese seen 

at Carrying Place Golf Course pond

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BarrytheBirder

-10 Celsius...Brrrrr

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Muffled Mourning Dove

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BarrytheBirder