In Schomberg...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

These Canada Geese have selected tall beaver lodges to mount their nests upon, giving them a high goose's-eye view of surrounding marsh lands.

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BarrytheBirder

Weston Road...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Wild Turkey Crossing

At no time did its feet touch the ground!

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BarrytheBirder

Wandering around Pine Farms Orchard...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I've been dropping into Pine Farms Orchard, on the 16th of King, north of King City, between Keele and Jane Streets, every day or two for the past couple of weeks, hoping to get some photos of the eye-catching resident ducks.   I finally caught up to them last Thursday.   They were meandering about pecking up anything that caught their eyes.  In the photo immediately below, one of the big birds is seen sampling a grapevine bud, while its companion looks askance at it, with a bulging eye.

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BarrytheBirder

Some favourite duck photos I have taken...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Turkey Vultures don't share with crows...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Four Turkey Vultures landed in a meadow at a rural King Township butchery  hoping, I suppose, for a few scraps of sheep offal but had to keep crows from joining them.  The pickings looked slim from what I could see.

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BarrytheBirder

Wood Ducks and Mallards

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

A pair of Wood Ducks is seen above in a roadside ditch on the 18th Sideroad of King Township.   In the photo below, the Wood Ducks appear to be sharing their small pool of water with a pair of Mallards.

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BarrytheBirder

Male and female Red-winged Blackbird

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I happened to show someone photos of male and female Red-winged Blackbirds a few days ago, and the person had no idea what the female looked like and was completely surprised at its image.   Females are so often hidden in bull-rushes that unless you get close (not easy) or happen to see one at a feeder in the spring, a lot of people may be in the same boat.

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BarrytheBirder

Holland Marsh Chickens...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The rich black soil of the Holland Marsh seems as suitable for raising chickens as it does for growing vegetables.   More and more of the market vegetable crop-lands seem to be setting aside small plots for chickens.

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if you wish.

Barry

the Birder

Sunday morning in the Holland Marsh...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

 8 Great Blue Herons and 11 nests spotted

I was delighted this past Sunday morning to spot 8 Great Blue Herons  and 11 nests on the edges of the Holland Marsh swamp north of Highway 9 and west of the West Canal Bank Road.   In the two hours I was in the area I also spotted three Red-tailed hawks, a Wild Turkey, a Pileated Woodpecker, a pair of Common Mergansers, and a pair of Killdeers.  

Killdeer

Red-tailed Hawk

Male and female Common Merganser

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if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds should appear in early May

Photo by Barry Wallace

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds travel an average of 1,500 miles on their way to a summer home.   The first to arrive just north of Toronto should be spotted in early May, depending on the weather.

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BarrytheBirder

 

It's not spring until the Goldfinch is completely yellow...

   Photos by BarrytheBirder

It's not spring until the American Goldfinch is completely yellow (see photos above and at right).   It's my own personal rule after being an avid birdwatcher for the last thirty years.

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BarrytheBirder

Birds in the garden don't always have to be real...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Garden bird facsimilies, of all shapes, sizes and colours are de rigueur these days.   I spotted the example above at Black Forest Garden Centre on Keele Street north of King City.   It was one of many bird choices there, new and available, for this spring.   This one was as tall as me.   Be still my sprouting heart.

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BarrytheBirder

Carrying Place Golf & Country Club...

 

                                                                                                     Photos by BarrytheBirder

The eleven Trumpeter Swans (above) that over-wintered at the Carrying Place Golf & Country on Weston Road have finally departed for breeding grounds further north.   It was a delight to chronicle their stay in this space for many weeks.  Now the two resident Mute Swans (below) at Carrying Place have  taken over the big Pond and they seem very content.  One wonders with great anticipation what next winter will bring.

Bottoms up!

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if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

20 eagles a day in Calgary...

 

Photo by Dave Kemp

CBC News' Hannah Kost quotes naturalist Brian Keating saying he saw upward of a half-dozen Bald Eagles on any given walk, in Calgary, during this past winter, while some folks have reported 20 more more sightings per day.   The Calgary sightings may be due to more people out walking during the Covid crisis and it may be that there is a surplus of duck, the Bald Eagle's favourite cold-weather treat.   Calgary had more ducks than ever this past winter.

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BarrytheBirder

At the feeder...

                                                                                          Photos by BarrytheBirder

WET GRACKLE

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BarrytheBirder

Back to December 31, 2006...

Photo by Barry Wallace

It was raining yesterday so I didn't get a picture for today's BarrytheBirder blog.  Instead, I went back to the first BarrytheBirder blog I ever wrote, on December 31, 2006, almost 15 years ago.   The photo was taken in late 2005.   The blog contained the following limerick:

I walk and look up

Counting a thousand blackbirds

I fall to the ground

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BarrytheBirder

Main Street backyard ~ Schomberg

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Another birdhouse with pretensions

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BarrytheBirder

Rarest bird in the world?

Photo by Ciro Albano/American Bird Conservancy

Blue-eyed Ground Dove

(Claravis pretiosa)

This bird is found only in the Botumirim area of eastern Brazil, where the American Bird Conservancy partner SAVE Brazil has recorded 25 Blue-eyed Ground Dove individuals in spring 2020 - the highest count yet for one of the world's rarest birds, if not the rarest.   This bird was re-discovered in 2015.  The latest count of 25 Blue-eyed Ground Doves is four more than 2019.   Careful monitoring has identified four nests, three of which had eggs.   Expectations are that more nests and birds will be discovered.

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BarrytheBirder

Finch with a bloodthirsty name...

 Illustration: HBW

VAMPIRE GROUND-FINCH

Pictured above is a Vampire Blood-finch (Geospiza Septentrionalis).   It is the only one of 10,989 species in the HBW and Birdlife International checklist with 'Vampire' in its name.   It is found on just two of the Galapagos Islands off the west coast of South America.    It has the rather ghoulish feeding habit of pecking for insects on the feather roots skin of larger birds, such as boobies, until a wound opens and it can drink its victims' blood.   It is thought that its taste for blood is to compensate for resources on the arid Galapagos Islands of Wolf and Darwin.   They are few in number and classified as Critically Endangered.

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BarrytheBirder

On the Glenville Road ~ east of Dufferin Street

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

When a regular bird feeder

just won't do...

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BarrytheBirder