Young Tawny Owls ~ down but not out

Photo by Mike Cardy/Getty Images

Rescued young Tawny Owls perch rather forlornly on a branch as they wait to be released back into the wild at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals West Hatch wildlife centre in Taunton, England, south-east of Exmoor National Park.   Between January and the end of July, 33 of the baby birds were taken to the RSPCA centre in Somerset for care, a large increase over previous years.   Although the exact reason for the rise is unclear, it's thought that weather conditions and extremely windy days through spring and early summer may have contributed to the owls' misadventures.
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Hummingbirds fattening-up

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Today is September 2.   I expect my backyard Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to stay around for another three weeks and then all leave on the same day for sunny climes south.   Weather forecasts say that September may be especially warm and I'm wondering if the hummers might hang-on to the end of the month.   They're more than welcome to do exactly that, if they wish.   Meanwhile, over the past two months, the bellies of first-fall juveniles have gone from being the size of my little finger to the size of my thumb. 

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Hummers in a huff

Photo: www.trogontours.net/Rex Features

Two hummingbirds, a Velvet-purple Coronet and a Buff-tailed Coronet, fight over a colourful Banana Flower in Mindo, Ecuador.   Both species are found in north-west South American, in Columbia, Ecuador and, in the case of the Buff-tailed, also in Venezuela.   Although not seen in the photo here, the Buff-tailed has a prominent feather feature on its thighs, where it displays puffy, white "boots".
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The fox and the goose

Photo by Sergey Gershkov/2012 Veolia Environmental Wildlife Photographer of the Year

In late May, a quarter of a million Snow Geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in north-eastern Russia.   They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese.   Arctic Foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, even caching surplus eggs for leaner times.   But a Snow Goose is is easily a match for for a fox, which must rely on speed, agility and guile to steal eggs.   The foxes are successful, but rarely.

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Sundowners come in all shapes and sizes

Photo byDave Martin/AP

MSunset at Dauphin Island ~ Alabama ~ USAM

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Mystery Warbler

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I was baffled about the identity of this warbler so I called on my buddy Gerard Binsfeld, a neighbour, and one of Canada's eminent birders, for his opinion.   The bird looks like it should be easy to identify.   It has some obvious features: the white eye ring, the greeny-brownish patch behind the neck, blackish streaks along the sides of the breast, white wing bars.   But in total, these features seem more than one warbler species is capable of.   Do you have a guess?   My best guesses were an immature Northern Parula, then I decided or an immature Magnolia.  I'm waiting to hear   from Gerry.

Frog-flipping heron

Photo by Nate Chappell/Rex Features

A Yellow-crowned Nigh Heron positions a frog by flipping it in its bill, so that it can swallow the amphibian in one smooth gulp.   Photographer Nate Chappell captured this shot at Kitty Hollow County Park in Missouri City, Texas, south-west of Houston.   Yellow-crowned Night Herons are found throughout the Americas.    They are also known by the names American Night Heron or Squawk.
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Mud-bath anyone?

Photo by Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen/BNPS

A King Penguin gets coated in mud after a huge mud lake poured across the ice and separated the birds from the water at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, near Antarctica.   The penguins emerged encased in mud before reaching the open sea and throwing themselves into the icy-cold ocean for a much-needed bath.   South Georgia is a British overseas territory over which it is has claimed sovereignty since 1775.  Argentina laid claimed to South Georgia in 1927 and ill-fatedly went to war with Britain in 1982 during the very brief but all-too-real Falklands War.
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Another side of a birder's paradise

Photo by Jeffery Arguedas/EPA 

Costa Rica has a long way to go

A boy watches an ill-fated pelican on contaminated beaches at Guacalillo, on the Costa Rican Pacific coast. Although Costa Rica sells itself, and is recognized worldwide, for its natural resources and environmental policies, it also has a shameful record of having one of Central America's most polluted rivers: the Tarcoles.   It flows into the Pacific Ocean and is polluted with the waters of the rivers of the greater metropolitan rivers, homes to half of Costa Rica's population.   Many of these people dispose of their solid waste and sewage into the water.   Visiting birders need to leave their opinions, as well as their dollars, when and where they can in this special place.

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A hummer in the hand...

Photo by Erin Neese/Rex Features

What would you give for a moment like this?

A juvenile hummingbird perches on a woman's hand to suck sugar water, in Newark, Ohio.   Erin Neese, who shot this photo says "He was pretty happy when he learned that he could get food from us.   It was an amazing thing to be able to feed the little guy".   The hummer seems smaller than the woman's thumb.

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Gourds for Purple Martins at Seneca College

Photos by BarrytheBirder

These artificial gourds are strung across one of the lily ponds at King Township's Seneca College on Dufferin Street.   A nearby sign (pictured below) explains the presence of the gourds as homes for Purple Martins.

I have no idea how well this Purple Martin nesting project has worked, as I have only just become aware of it.   I did not see any Purple Martins at the time of the picture-taking.   Purple Martins normally only raise one brood of chicks and depending on how early they arrived on their breeding ground, they can begin their reverse southern migration as early as July.   So perhaps if there were martins here, they have already left.   I plan to pursue this and will report on it again as details are available.

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Watching 60 egrets roost at Luther Marsh

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I made a return visit to Luther Marsh, north-west of Orangeville, this week, to see Great White Egrets.   I arrived later in the day this time and stayed until almost sunset.   The egrets started gliding in, from unknown points north, a little after 7 p.m.   I suppose I was expecting 250 to 300 birds to arrive all at the same time, drop down right in front of me, and I would take dozens of prize-winning photos of these wonderful creatures.   It doesn't work quite like that however.   They arrived intermittently... one, two, sometimes three at a time.   There was no sound, no warning, they just appeared overhead, floating into the marsh and the snags of dead trees, before making an abrupt turn and dropping down onto logs or directly into shallow water.   It all seemed so casual that I forgot to count them.   Unfortunately, they were landing about 300 to 400 metres away from me and in a spot of the marsh that was completely surrounded by and hence unapproachable from my vantage point.   I decided to set my camera aside.   It wasn't going to be a photographic outing.   I decided to enjoy the scene for what it was worth.   Egrets continued to show up according to their own schedule and I admired every one as they arced across the sky.   I watched for almost 45 minutes and realized that unless I retreated I might be walking in unfamiliar territory, in the dark.   Then I realized I had not counted the Great Whites I had seen.   I stood on a bit of a knoll and looked over the roosting territory.   I quickly counted approximately 60 egrets, plus one Great Blue Heron.   It was a most satisfying experience, though not as dramatic as I had naively anticipated earlier in the evening.

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Faces only a mother could love

Photo: Brookfield Zoo/Rex Features

TAWNY FROGMOUTH
Podargus strigoides

These two Tawny Frogmouth chicks were recently welcomed into the world at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.   There are 16 species of frogmouths in the world and the Tawny Frogmouths are native to Australia, although they also show up in Tasmania and southern New Guinea.   This species has been in existence for 52 million years and although they are related to owls, they are more closely related to oilbirds and nightjars.   The Brookfield Zoo is owned by the Chicago Zoological Society, a non-profit organization.   In the photo below, Tawny Frogmouths do not appear to become more attractive as adults.

Photo: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Doonside, Sydney, NSW, Australia

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Another "critically endangered" bird

Photo by Xie Iiao-fang/BIAZA

MBlue-crowned LaughingthrushM

Garrulax courtoisi

The Blue-crowned Laughingthrush (a.k.a. Courtois's Laughingbird) is among the top 10 species in the world that are fighting extinction with the help of zoos.   Their population numbers between 200 and 250 mature birds in the wild in China.   Trapping for the bird trade is a major cause of the species' recent decline.   Only 100 are known to exist in public and private zoos and their status is listed as "critically endangered".

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One of world's rarest bird

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/AP

BALI MYNAH

Leucopsar rothschildi

Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo has just released this photo of one of three Bali Mynah chicks hatched in July of this year.   It is the first time in 12 years that the Lincoln Zoo has seen a successful hatching of the birds.   The zoo claims there only 115 wild birds on its native range on Indonesia's island of Bali, where it is considered " critically endangered".   An estimated 1,000 more exist in captivity worldwide.   The Bali Mynah is also known as the Rothschild's Mynah and the Bali Starling.

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Juvenile Cooper's Hawk on BC coast

Photo by Dave Kemp

My  west coast  birding acquaintance, Dave Kemp, just sent me this neat photo he took of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk at Terra Nova Park in Richmond, British Columbia.   The Cooper's Hawk doesn't get the attention the bigger hawks do, but it is an impressive looking bird.   Dave has captured the dramatic elegance of this accipter, even though just a juvenile.   Cooper's are found throughout North America.   They are among the world's most skilful flyers, finding their way through thick tree canopies at high speed and emerging to create havoc at bird feeders.   The eye colour of the juvenile in Dave's photo is pale yellow, but when mature the colour will be red, giving this bird an even more compelling look.
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Trying for Great White Egrets at Luther Marsh

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I spent a few hours at Luther Marsh this past Thursday hoping to see the 250-300 roosting Great White Herons.   Actually the herons roost at a smaller portion of the larger Luther Marsh, called Monticello Marsh, about a kilometre north of the Luther main entrance and a 1/2 km. south of the hamlet of Monticello, north-west of Orangeville, Ontario.   I arrived in mid-afternoon, planning to wait around until early evening when the herons return each night to roost.   I saw a few Great Whites, but was rained-out late in the afternoon and decided to return another day.   I got a couple of pictures (see below) and did enjoy my abbreviated visit.

   GREAT WHITE HERON

AMERICAN BITTERN

Female BOBOLINK

I got a little excited when I first spotted this female Bobolink because I momentarily thought it might be a female Yellow-headed Blackbird.   It had much too much yellow on its underside for a Yellow-headed Blackbird however, and I dolefully accepted it as a Bobolink....another time, perhaps.

This the plaque marking the Monticello Marsh and paying tribute to the many partners who were instrumental in its development.   Many people are surprised to discover that one of the lead development partners was the Ohio Division of Wildlife and that funding for the project came from Ohio hunters.

One of thousands of Leopard Frogs to be found in the grass along the margins of the Luther and Monticello Marshes, and which provide tasty snacks for the hundreds of Great White Herons.

Above and below are two views of the main lookout tower, available to birdwatchers in particular, at the main entrance of the Luther Marsh, which straddles the border between Dufferin and Wellington Counties, north of Highway 9.

These mammoth wind turbines are visible from and nearby to Luther Marsh.   They are a source of concern and controversy for many people in the area.   They appear to reach approximately 80 metres (260') into the sky.   I have not heard how these monstrosities affect Luther's Marsh's egrets.

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Just four avocet species in the world

Photo by Mpho Phiri

Pied Avocet

Recurvirostra avosetta

My friend, Mpho Phiri, from Mafikeng, South Africa, posted the photo above in his August 14th, Mafikeng Birding Blog.   The birds are Pied Avocets which he photographed just outside Mafikeng, at the Modimola Dam, a local birding hotspot.   Pied Avocets are found throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the far east.   There are only four species of avocets found in the world.   In addition to the Pied Avocet, there is the American Avocet (North and South America), the Andean Avocet (South America) and the Red-necked Avocet in Australia.   Just four species...but they seem to encircle the globe.   They are all almost identical in size: 17" long with a wingspan of about 31".   Mpho Phiri commented in his blog that these avocets were the first he had seen in his part of South Africa in three years.   I'm happy for Mpho because these are truly elegant birds to see.
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Young hummers join their parents

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It's that time of year, mid-August, when first-year hummers are matured and now join their parents at the backyard feeders.   But it is not all familial bliss.   Every hummer is pre-occupied with protecting what it thinks is its own private feeders and chasing away all interlopers, even if its a brother, sister or parent.   The backyard is a constant swirl of small squealing birds chasing each other.

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Largest moth in the world

Photo by Peter Byrne/PA

MAtlas MothM

Attacus atlas

I know...I know...it's not a bird, but this photo caught my eye and I just had to share it.   This is an Atlas Moth, native to south-east Asia.   This is a newly-emerged specimen at the Chester Zoo, one of the UK's largest zoos and the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain.   This specimen  is being held by butterfly keeper Heather Prince.   Atlas Moths have a wingspan of up to 30 centimetres.   According to Wikipedia, the Atlas Moth's Cantonese name translates as "snake's head moth", which refers to the image on the tips of the forewing, that when fully extended, bear a passing resemblance to a snake's head (see photo above).   Now, back to those feathered, flying thingys.
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