One of world's six Flamingo species

Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA 

MChilean FlamingoM

Phoenicopterus chilensis

A two-week-old Chilean Flamingo stretches its wings under the watchful eye of its father, Maurice, at the Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex, England.   Apparently, the zookeepers played songs to the birds, sung by Barry White, to encourage breeding.

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Merging tonal contrasts

Photo by Filip Singer/EPA

A seagull flies over sunlight reflections on the waves of Vltava River in Prague.   The Vltava is the longest river in the Czech Republic.
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Eagle gets new beak

You may have seen this video before, but if not, then here is your dose of inspiration for today...

http://vimeo.com/15184546

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Big birds on the canal

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I photographed this Trumpeter Swan three weeks ago in the Holland Marsh.   It seems to have become fond of the Marsh and is hanging around the north canal, a couple of hundred metres east of the intersection of Simcoe and Canal Rds.   Meanwhile, below, this Great Blue Heron has taken up more or less permanent residence nearby.   It can be seen regularly a couple of hundred metres west of the same Simcoe and Canal Rds. intersection.   It was one of three Great Blues I spotted on the marsh canals on Friday.

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Andy Rouse photos

Andy Rouse, professional wildlife photographer, has been awarded the Cherry Kearton Medal, by the Royal Geographical Society in England.   The annual award recognizes the contribution made by a wildlife photographer to photography, conservation, and bringing geography to the masses.   I have selected some of his bird photos for this blog.

Photos by Andy Rouse/Rex Features

An aerial view of over 7,000 King Penguins, by photographer Andy Rouse, is seen on South Georgia in the lower Atlantic Ocean.   The brown areas in the photo are the chicks in creches, being protected by black and white adult penguins.

A Barn Owl hunting in the UK

Gentoo Penguins on an iceberg in Mikkelsen Harbour, Antarctica

A common Kingfisher sits on a perch in Britain

A seemingly laughing Snowy Owl perches in the Canadian Arctic

Gentoo Penguins surfing in the Falkland Islands

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Gerry Binsfeld ~ 23 days in Peru ~ 524 species

King City resident and neighbour of mine, Gerry Binsfeld has just returned from Peru, South America, where he saw 524 bird species in 23 days.   His sightings were made in a variety of habitats, including  Peru's Pacific coastline,  the Andes Mountains and on the Amazon River.   Gerry got warmed up for his Peruvian journey by visiting Mexico for three weeks in January of this year, where he recorded 293 species of birds.   He estimates his life list is now somewhere around the 1600 mark.   Gerry is a retired locomotive engineer, a volunteer fireman in our village, and a full-time birder.   Gerry and I sat on my backyard deck for an hour one morning this week and I got to hear about what Gerry calls his best birding trip ever.   I thought when I asked him for his favourite bird on the trip, that he might hesitate while trying to pick one bird from a list of 524, but he quickly mentioned the Ornate Hawk Eagle (art print below, left, by Frederick Pallinger).   He also recalled, as special, his sighting of an Inca Tern (pictured below, right, By Adrian Pingstone) while on the Pacific coast.    Another highlight was a special outing to look for hummingbirds.   That search turned up 32 species of hummers!   I've only ever been birding with Gerry on one occasion and that was three years ago when he was leading a birding walk at Jokers Hill, the University of Toronto's Koffler Scientific Reserve, here in King Township.   Now, Gerry has asked me to join him this fall for a couple of days birding at Point Pelee, Ontario.   I'm looking forward to it.

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New bird species discovered

Photo by Michael G. Harvey

MMSIRA BARBETMM

Capito fitzpatricki

Just in case you missed it, above is a photo of a Sira Barbet, a new bird species discovered in Peru.   A colourful, fruit-eating bird with a black mask, pale belly, and scarlet breast (never before described by science) has been discovered and named by Cornell University graduates following an expedition to the remote Peruvian Andes.   The Sira Barbet is described in a paper published in the July 2012 edition of The Auk, the official publication of the American Ornithologist's Union.   It was first spotted on October 8, 2008, which gives some idea of how long it takes to lay claim to a new species.  
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Duckling almost dinner

Photos by Paul David Hughes/Barcroft Med

It seems to be game-over for this duckling in the top photo, as a large heron snatches it from a pond near Dublin, Ireland, and carries it to a treetop for a tasty meal.   But the duckling wriggled mightily and escaped the heron's clutches.   It fell from the treetop back into the pond to paddle about for another day.

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First White-breasted Nuthatch in two years

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I've had trouble with one of my hummingbird feeders this week and finally took it down to work on a solution.   In the interim, I put up a bird feeder with mixed seeds, just to see what it would attract.    Immediately, there were some very confused hummingbirds, but the first, other, bird species to visit the feeder was a White-breasted Nuthatch.   It's the first one I've had at the backyard feeders, winter or summer, in almost two years.   They used to show up regularly, year-around, but recently seem to be in the woods, on the edge of the village.   Whatever its reason for suddenly appearing, its more than welcome.   They are such interesting little creatures.   They have incredibly strong legs and feet and are one of most acrobatic birds, equally adept hanging upside-down as perching right-side-up.   This one was quickly followed by the birds pictured below.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Chipping Sparrow

Mourning Dove

Now I have to get a baffle on the pole holding up this feeder because the squirrels quickly found the feeder also and things are getting mighty crowded and nasty.

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Hungry duck swallows bullfrog

Photos by Mircea Costina /Rex Features

A female Hooded Merganser on a wilderness lake north of Montreal must have had a big appetite or a powerful yen for frog legs, judging by these pictures.   The large bullfrog put up a 10-minute fight but the duck finally managed to manoeuvre the frog head-first into its bill and swallowed the frog whole.   Mergansers normally eat fish.   They have fine tooth-like serrations along the sides of their bills which help in capturing slippery fish -- or frogs, it seems.

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Feeding the ducks at Sunset Beach

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Lake Wilcox is a popular York Region spot for feeding ducks.   Most people are content to stand on the shore and throw bread chunks, etc., to the ducks in the water.   This gentlemen likes to get right in the water with the ducks and feed them by hand.   When he gets up and wades about, the ducks follow him begging him for a handout.   I watched as one eager Mallard jumped up from the water and tugged at the legs of his shorts.

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Trumpeter Swan on Holland River

Photos by BarrytheBirder

This lone Trumpeter Swan was  preening itself on the edge of the Holland River, in Northern King Township this week.   The tag on its right wing, and band on its left leg, means that it was part of a captive breeding program or it was the offspring of a mated pair in a breeding program.   The re-introduction of wild Trumpeter Swans in Ontario has been quite successful.

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Holland Marsh birds

Photos by Barry theBirder

All summer I've watched this little  flock of female Mallards and a nearby Great Blue Heron (see picture below) in one of the Holland Marsh canals.   I first spotted them when they were quite small and I've never seen the parents of these ducks nor have I seen any male members of the group.   Even when they are swimming about, they are always this close together.

This Great Blue Heron has become far too reliable and I have taken its picture several times.   I must give it a rest and look for some Green or Black-crowned Night-Herons.

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Berry thief

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I watched this morning as a Robin, I'm not sure whether it was a male or a female, patrolled around the garden and made several hops straight up into the berry bushes and helped itself to red currants, raspberries and blackberries.   Later, while making some tea, I mentioned the encounter to my wife and she said "I hope you shooed it away".   We don't have that many berries this hot, dry summer and Linda is very protective of her berries, although I have spied her picking some each time she passes the bushes and popping them into her mouth.

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Spotted Sandpipers at Bond Lake

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Despite the heavy forest cover right to the shores around most of Bond Lake, south of the community of Oak Ridges, in northern Richmond Hill, I found Spotted Sandpipers in more than one spot on my walk around the water-side trail this morning.   The trail is one of the finest nature walks in York Region and takes approximately 45 minutes.   The surrounding woods, featuring huge maples and hemlocks, and some massive pines, is alive with birds sounds.   Trail maintenance is good and fallen trees are dealt with fairly quickly.   If you walk this trail in the near future, you might want to take a garbage bag with you.   The trail's popularity contributes to refuse, left behind by the unthinking.   Any garbage you collect can be left at the cans near the Yonge Street entrances.

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Great Blue Heron cooling off

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Recent temperatures have been so high in southern Ontario that it brought to mind this photo of a Great Blue Heron which I took in King Township's Holland Marsh not long ago.   Even a Great Blue sometimes feels the need to get into some cool water right up to its armpits...or rather wing tips.

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Trumpeter Swans on King Township Lake

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swan
Cygnus buccinator

This family of six Trumpeter Swans was enjoying a balmy June day on Crawford's Pond, on the east side of the 6th Concession of King Township, below the 16th Sideroad, on Tuesday of this week.   Extirpated from Ontario in the late 1800s, Trumpeters have been successfully re-introduced, via captive foster parents.   Officially, they are considered 'rare introduced breeders'.   They are our largest swans and magnificent to see on the wing.   My use of the Crawford name for this lake dates back to the late 1950s, when the Crawford family owned this lovely property, just south of the King Ridge.   I do not know who owns it today.

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Antique birdhouses and cages

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The 2012  Nobleton and King City Horticultural Society Garden Tour was held on July 8 and antique birdhouses and birdcages were featured in many gardens.   The communal birdhouse above cleverly featured maple tree syrup spigots as perches, at the home of Margi Denobile, in Nobleton, which also featured the antique birdcage below.   In the bottom photo are a trio of old church-like birdhouses in a garden at the home of Sandra and Steve Willert, at Eversley.  

Northern King Township Osprey nest successful

Photos by BarrytheBirder

While a long-time Osprey nests at Seneca College's King Campus on Dufferin Street, and another at the Waterski Park on Keele Street, near Ansnorveldt, were both unsuccessful breeding sites this year, another long-time nest was successful at the end of Bathurst Street, in the extreme northern end of King Township.   While these pictures were being taken, parents were encouraging at least two healthy-looking youngsters to stretch their wings and attempt practise flights.

  

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 BtheB

2nd long-time Osprey nest fails in King

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Earlier this year, there was great disappointment among local birdwatchers when the Ospreys failed to return to their nest atop a light standard in the parking lot at Seneca College's Eaton Campus, near the south side of Lake Jonda.   The photo above was taken in 2010.   Now a second, long-time Osprey nest has also failed to produce young Osprey at the Waterski Park, on Keele Street, south-west of the hamlet  of Ansnorveldt, on the south side of the Holland Marsh.   This second nest had been occupied for almost 20 years and was a faithful producer of young Osprey throughout that time.   Paul, the gentleman who operates the Waterski Park said the Osprey pair showed up as usual and were around the nest up until the latter part of June but no offspring were noticed.   He feels either the Osprey p[air were unsuccessful in their mating attempt this year or perhaps a predator got to the eggs or the hatchlings, in the late spring.   These  two nests played a huge part in the resurgence of the Osprey breed in southern Ontario over the last 20 years.   Their times as successful mating pairs were probably nearing a natural reproductive end anyway, but it's a shame to think there will be no young Osprey being taught how to fly and fish, at these sites this year.

The Osprey nest on the north shore of the Waterski Park lake now sits empty after the long-time resident Ospreys appear to have been unsuccessful in raising any young this year.

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BtheB