At the Aurora Arboretum ten days ago...

Trumpeter Swan Photo by Barry Wallace

Trumpeter Swans and Common Terns

There were five Trumpeters Swans and two Common Terns on the large pond at the Aurora Arboretum on Tuesday morning, August 8th. Two new Trumpeter Swans have joined the previous three Trumpeters at the big pond behind Aurora's town offices, and two Common Terns were also flying about the pond and catching small fish on the same day.

Common Tern Photo from Wikimedia

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BarrytheBirder

Young hungry grackles...

Photos by BarrytheBarry

  BIG BLACK BEAKS...

        ...BIG BLACK CLAWS...

                 ...BIG BLACK APPETITES

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BarrytheBirder

Lives above 4,000 metres in the Andes...year-around!

Photo by Andres Vasquez Noboa / Macaulay Library

 

Rufous-Bellied Seedsnipe

(Attagis gayi)

I came across this remarkable bird accidently while casually looking through 'Shorebirds - An Identification Guide', which I purchased over 25 years ago.   One particularly attractive bird with remarkable markings caught my eye.   It was a Rufous-Bellied Seedsnipe: a bird I had never heard of.   Apart from its eye-catching appearance, I was most impressed with the following amazing factual data.   This bird is one of the largest of four seedsnipes to be found only in the high Andes, from Chile, Patagonia, Peru, Bolivia and NW Argentina.   It is a bird of the high Andes throughout the year and often found around the snow-line at over 4000 metres (13,123 feet).   It shows sedentary movement, hardly ever moving to lower elevations even in severe weather.   It feeds by pecking seeds and grazing plants.  They are approachable, but when flushed can fly quite rapidly.   I would describe this bird in just three words: hardy and handsome.

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Barry the Birder

New Osprey nest on Bathurst Street North...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The two Ospreys pictured above are sitting atop a very tall man-made wooden tower at the northern end of Bathurst Street, just before Bathurst peters out and merges into the marshlands at the south end of Lake Simcoe.   A nest is well underway but I don't know if there are eggs or young Ospreys in the nest at this point.   It looks however as though this new nest will be around for a long time and become a regular stop for raptor birders.

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BarrytheBirder

Humming imbibers...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

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Barry Wallace

What's in a name? Well...

 

(Photo by BarrytheBirder)

PEACOCK (male peafowl)

For the record, peacock is the name of the male peafowl, while peahen is the name of the female peafowl.   A peacock (male peafowl), as seen above, has brilliant blue and green plumage and a tail (with eye-like markings) that can be colourfully expanded erect like a fan.  Females do not have the extraordinary tail feather colouration and tail size of the males.

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BarrytheBirder

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Tyrant ~ Despot ~ Bully

The Eastern Kingbird's Latin name 'Tyrannus tyrannus' is very appropriate.   Its bold behavior sees its attacking and chasing crows, hawks and other large birds that come to close to its nest.   Almost never seen is a narrow strip of hidden red feathers on its crown.   It is widespread across a large part of Canada and the U.S.

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BarrytheBirder

Small and alert and always quick...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

MERLIN

Falco sparverius

Not a generally common creature but does breed across most of Canada.   It is a powerful flyer but does not hover, preferring to catch birds in flight.   

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BarrytheBirder

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus gabula)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Common breeder in deciduous  woodlands 

over much of eastern Canada and the U.S.

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BarrytheBirder

Dufferin Street ~ Hamlet of Eversley ~ King Township

                                                                                                       

WILD TURKEY

(Meleagris gallopavo)'

'Largest gamebird in North America'

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Adult males are called 'Toms' or "Gobblers'.   They can measure up 49" long. The record size adult male was 37.1 lbs.  They are slightly smaller and more slender than domesticated turkeys.  

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Barry the Birder

Osprey catches big fish...

                                                                                                                      Photos by Barry Wallace

The Osprey pictured above had caught a large fish in the south end of Lake Simcoe (or the north end of the East Holland River where it enters Lake Simcoe).   While returning the two miles or so to its nest on the Ravenshoe Sideroad, it seemed to make a couple of stops along the way.   I deduced that maybe the fish was so large and heavy, the Osprey had to stop and briefly rest and adjust its grip, on its way back to the distant nest.   The photo below are not as in-focus as I'd like but I was hurrying to get the shots.

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BarrytheBirder

Top end of Bathurst Street - south of Lake Simcoe

                                                                           Photos by BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

 

The Great Blue Heron ranges from Alaska, Quebec and Nova Scotia, south to Mexico and the West Indies.   According to my Audubon Field Guide, it also breeds in the Galapagos Islands.  Its voice is a distinctive hoarse, guttural squawk.   My Audubon also says the Great Blue  migrates south in the fall, but a few remain in the north during the winter; such birds often fall victim to severe weather.   All-white morph found in southern Florida formerly considered a separate species, "Great White Heron".   The Great White's pale legs and heavy bill help differentiate it from the Great Egret.

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BarrytheBirder

Interesting west coast creature by Dave Kemp...

 

Photo by Dave Kemp

Western Sea Slater Ligia exotica

Dave Kemp, from Vancouver Island,  has passed along this photo of a sea roach, which is a crustacean with a grey segmented shell.   Though it breathes through gills, these tiny creatures live on land.   They have 14 legs, 2 short antennae, and 2 long antennae.   Sea roaches play an important part in the ecosystems by eating decomposing plants, rotting fish, algae, and more.   Thanks for this, Dave. 

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Barry the Birder

Common and widespread...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia

One of North America's most familiar and widespread songbirds, it has a distinctive habit of pumping its long, rounded tail in flight.   It breeds  from southern Alaska to western Newfoundland and south to the lower United States.  It winters from southern Alaska throughout most of the U.S.A. and northern Mexico.

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BarrytheBirder

Dave Kemp photos from Vancouver Island ...

 

Photos by Dave Kemp

BONAPARTE'S GULL

First Winter

(Larus philadelphia)

In winter, its head is white with dark smudge behind eye.  The Bonaparte's is a two-year gull and the breeding adult has a slate black hood.   It breeds in central and north-western Canada and in winter is found on east and west coats of the U.S. and the Great Lakes.   Its flight is buoyant with rapid wingbeats, and its querulous chattering call is distinctive.

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BarrytheBirder

Red-winged Blackbird Stages of Growth...

                                                                                      Photos by BarrytheBirder 

Chick/Fledgling

                                                                                                               

Immature first-year non-breeding male

Adult Male

Adult Female

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BarrytheBirder

Osprey - south Keswick

                                                        Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

3rd largest woodpecker in the world...

 

Photo by Glenn & Jo McKinnon

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpeckers are what ecologists call a 'Keystone Species'.   So says Ken Cheskey, Naturalist Director of Nature Canada.   What is a keystone species?   Mr. Cheskey says a keystone species is an organism that has a significant influence on the ecosystem it occupies that is disproportionately large compared to it abundance or biomass.

How do Pileated contribute to their ecosystem?   It's their nest sites that contribute.   There are 23 other species of birds and creatures that re-use Pileated Woodpecker nest sites (list below) to reproduce a secure and safe place to have their babies and nurture them through the most vulnerable part of their lives.   The species indebted to Pileated Woodpeckers are:

Wood Duck                             Hairy Woodpecker

Hooded Merganser                Northern Flicker

Common Merganser              Brown Creeper

Barrow's Golden Eye             Northern Flying Squirrel

Common Golden Eye            Red Squirrel

Bufflehead                              Douglas Squirrel

American Kestrel                   Bushy-tailed Woodrat

Flammulated Owl                   American Marten

Western Screech Owl            Ringtail

Northern Pygmy Owl             Fisher

Northern Saw-whet Owl        Little Brown Myotis

Boreal Owl                              Big-Brown Myotis

Vaux's Swift                            Silver-haired Bat

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BarrytheBirder

Dragonflies on Monday ~ butterflies today ... by Dave Kemp

All photos by Dave Kemp at Coombs, B.C.

Giant Atlas Moth

(above and below)

Brown Clipper Parthenos sylvia phillippensis

  Blue Morpho

  Tiger Longwing Dryadula phaetusa

  Eleuchia Longwing Heliconius eleuchia

     Asian Swallowtail Papilo xuthus

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BarrytheBirder

Ravenshoe Sideroad - south of Keswick

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Osprey parents feed a youngster

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BarrytheBirder