BARRY the BIRDER

Euro-birds in a deep freeze

2012-02-18T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images

Europe's winter-to-remember, weather-wise, persists and takes a deadly toll in many places. These are recent photos showing the extent of the brutal impact. Above is a dead flamingo, which succumbed to freezing temperatures, on a snowy lakeshore at Gruissan, France. Gruissan is in southernmost France on the Mediterranean coast, near the Spanish border.

Photo by Robin Chittenden/Alamy

Bittern negotiates frozen Norwich wetlands in England

Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Gray Heron standing on a rock, in the snow, near the Bosna River, at Lasva, Bosnia

Photo by Kieran Doherty/Reuters

Swans sleeping on ice at Surrey in southern England

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

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Tree Sparrows change behaviour

2012-02-17T10:41:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

MAmerican Tree SparrowM

Spizella arborea

According to conventional wisdom, American Trees Sparrows are relatively uncommon visitors at feeders. But in this winter of turnabout weather conditions, tree sparrows have been regular visitors at my backyard feeders all winter. Furthermore, my backyard is in the village of King City, not out of town and adjacent to meadows or farm fields. In my copy of Birds at Your Feeder, authors Dunn and Tessaglia-Hymes have this to say about American Tree Sparrows: "Flocks prefer to forage in fields and pasture with few shrubs or trees, belying the species name. They are "bad-weather birds" that usually ignore feeders unless the weather turns severely cold and stormy". Yet, I have had trees sparrows around the feeders every day this winter and up to 20 at a time, on many occasions. On the other hand, this is the first winter ever, that I have seen this level of activity by Tree Sparrows in my backyard. The odd one, now and then, but never regularly in the past. Once again, it has been a winter of contrasts and one is left wondering, in this new weatherworld, if this is exceptional or the new normal.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

A winter for feathers and down

2012-02-16T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Stefan Sauer/EPA

A seagull walks on the backs of swans as both species of birds search for food along the icy Sund promenade in Stralsund, northern Germany, at the southern end of the Baltic Sea. Waterfowl enjoy not just the insulating properties of their feathers but their feathers also provide a water-tight benefit. Both qualities are being tested, in the extreme, in Europe this winter.
Elsewhere...

Photo by Ognen Teofilovski / Reuters

A goose preens in the abundant snow at Skopje, Macedonia, as Europe's 'big freeze' continues. Down are the light and fluffy, feathery filaments that make up the undercoating against the skin of ducks, geese, swans and other waterfowl. Other birds to not produce down.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

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Could you eat a Robin?

2012-02-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

"Supped on Robens which my Chum and Wingate killed" ~ 1759

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I took the picture above exactly one year ago on February 15th. It was the first Robin I had seen in and around King Township in 2011. This year they have have been around and about all winter and in great numbers. Three days ago, I was re-reading BIRDS at YOUR FEEDER, by Erica Dunn and Diane Tessaglia-Hymes, and these women had the following to say about the American Robin: "Once hunted commonly for food, it now enjoys a more peaceful association with man". I don't know why I was surprised to read this, but I was. I easily found the quote over the robin picture (above) on Google and realized that robins were probably once a tasty treat for many early Americans. Even today, although robins are protected by the Migratory Bird Act, one can still shoot robins, with a special permit, if they are shown to be marauding berry and cherry crops. Apart from the fact that many robins have stayed north this winter, the common practise is for robins is to migrate to the south-eastern parts of the United States in great numbers. Roosts of more than a million robins have been observed in recent years.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

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Polar Bear feeds on eggs

2012-02-14T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Jenny E. Ross

A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff, above the ocean, in northern Russia, to feed on seabird eggs. The bear was marooned on land and not able to eat seals, its normal prey, because of melting sea ice that had receded far to the north because of global warming. Jenny E. Ross of the USA won first prize for this photo in the Nature Singles category of the recent World Press Photo Contest.

Meanwhile...

Photo by Claude Paris

Pink flamingos try to forage at a partially frozen marshland, in the Camargue region of southern France. The France Bird Protection League says the prolonged European cold snap has killed-off several of the birds.

Please comment if you wish

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King King City or King Township,

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More Snowies from Boundry Bay area

2012-02-13T02:00:00.001-05:00

All photos by Dave Kemp

My friend Don Flucker, in Ladner, B.C., sent me these Snowy Owl photos which were taken recently by photographer Dave Kemp of Richmond B.C., in the Boundary Bay area, south of Vancouver. I had previously used a photo, by another photographer, of Snow Owls at Boundary Bay in a blog last Monday. This series of great photos show a Snowy making a landing in front of another Snowy, that seems to offer a rebuke and then totally ignores the new arrival.

My gratitude goes out to Dave Kemp for his permission to use his wonderful photos here. To see other photos by this excellent photographer, Google him at Dave Kemp's Picture Perfect Photo Gallery.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinty of King City or King Township,

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Robins, Bluebirds & Flicker at Grammy G's

2012-02-12T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photos by Grammy Grace

One of the very pleasant blogs I follow is called Grammie's Rambling. It is written by Grammy G in Maine. Grammy G puts lots of her photos in her blogs and they are beautifully natural and charming. Above is a photo that captures five of the 22 robins to which she recently played host, and below the robins photo is one of a bluebird (one of three) that joined the robins at the berry bushes. Below the bluebird pictures is a shot of a Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker that also made an appearance!

It seems that Grammy G has a plethora of riches when it comes to unexpected sightings...but it's been that kind of a winter, hasn't it? You can reach Grammy G's blog by Googling it at grammie's rambling. Great photos, Grammy G...and good birding.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

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007 and the Red-billed Streamertail

2012-02-11T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Dick Daniels

MRed-billed StreamertailM

Trochilus polytmus

Ian Fleming, in his 1960 James Bond book, For Your Eyes Only, writes in the very first sentence of the book: "The most beautiful bird in Jamaica, and some say the most beautiful bird in the world, is the streamer-tail or doctor humming-bird". The movie, of the same name and starring Roger Moore, was released in 1981. The Red-billed Streamertail is indigenous to Jamaica and shares the island nation with the Black-billed Streamertail (Trochilus scitulus). My younger daughter, Auralee, sent me the short film clip, below, of author Ian Fleming during an interview in which he explains how he stole the name James Bond for his master spy, many years ago in Jamaica. Click on the link below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_IzoKbNktY

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

February continues to amaze

2012-02-10T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Now it's the female Cowbirds that have arrived at the feeders. The first male Cowbird arrived a few days ago approximately five to six weeks ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, outside of the village and along the sideroads, raptors, like the Red-tailed Hawk below, continue to look well-fed and healthy, as they find easy pickings in the snowless landscape.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.cam/

Thrushes have to be hardy

2012-02-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Darek Delmanowicz

I came across these recent photos of two thrush species today and pondered on their similarities; in particular, how both birds are handling the winters of 2012 on their respective continents. The picture above shows Fieldfares eating berries in Przemysl, Poland, while the photo below shows American Robins sipping melting snow, from a vehicle, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Here in King Township, in southern Ontario, robins have been evident in large flocks all winter. The mildness of our winter is in direct contrast to the harsh, brutal European winter. The Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) and the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) are members of the same family and genus but are separated by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Photo by Ingrid Taylar

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you are in the vincinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my blog called camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Sunday afternoon wanderings

2012-02-08T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Sunday afternoon past saw Linda and I feeding the ducks at Lake Wilcox again and Linda had a pair of Wheaton Terriers watching her every move. The dogs didn't join the ducks in the water but sure looked like they wanted to.

A few feet from the open patch of Lake Wilcox water, where the ducks congregate, three intrepid folks were actually having a picnic in the +2C temperature. They even had a small barbeque cooking up some grub.

Despite the mild, open winter we have had so far, the ice at Lake Wilcox is thick enough for Ice fishermen, on foot, to try their luck. Many were making the effort, but we did not see any hauling in a catch.

Feeding the ducks at Lake Wilcox was followed by a walk part-way around nearby Lake St. George, then it was off to the Pine Farms Orchard, back near King City, to get some MacIntosh apples and freshly baked ginger-and-molasses cookies. The Muscovy Ducks, above, are named Elvis and Costello and are well-known fixtures at Pine Farms. Today was just so 'un-winter-like' that the boys had to get out of their coop and take a walk-about.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vincity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

February fly-past by Tundra Swans

2012-02-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Denny Mott

Jane Busby, who lives on a farm north of Kinghorn, emailed me on the weekend to report that she and her daughter, Lynn, were watching a small herd of deer, browsing near the old barn, when Lynn spotted a pair of Tundra Swans flying over the house. Jane was surprised, needless to say, and commented that she doesn't usually see swans until March. Ah, but this is an unusual year. Down in Lambton County, hundreds of Tundra Swans are showing up at least six weeks earlier than usual. According to the Sarnia Observer newspaper, Alf Rider, a local well-known local birder, said he's never seen the swans this early in his 42 years of living near Kettle Point, at the south end on Lake Huron. Thedford Bog, near Pinery Provincial Park, is a popular stopover for migrating Tundras and can attract 20,000 of the huge birds in March and April - but never in the first week of February...well, hardly ever.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

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Lots of Snowy Owls elsewhere

2012-02-06T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Sandy Milliken

In the previous blogspot, I posted a rather pathetic picture I had taken of a Snowy Owl in the Holland Marsh. No sooner had I done that, than I came across the remarkable photo above. It was taken by Sandy Milliken, of Post Falls, Idaho, when she was visiting Boundary Bay's driftwood beaches, south-west of Vancouver, British Columbia. There are actually eleven Snowy Owls in this picture and it illustrates powerfully what is being called by birding experts an 'unbelievable' irruption of Snowies this winter, in southern Canada and the northern American states. Thousands of these grand-looking birds are being seen from coast-to-coast. One writer has called the irruption an 'owlapalooza'. Reports say that recent previous irruptions occurred in 2005, 2006 and 2007, in different parts of the continent, but they were nothing compared to what is happening in 2012. The question I find myself asking is this 'big year' a fluke and future irruptions will return to normal levels and patterns, or is this the 'new normal' as global warming changes our climate. The irruptions are caused by failed lemming populations ( the owls favourite food) in the far north which force the Snowies to head south in the winter. Below are two more recent pictures of Snowy Owls. The upper one was taken in the American mid-west and the lower one was taken in Michigan.

Photo by Reuters/US Fish and Wildlife Service

Photo by John Dykstra

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking .com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Elusive Snowy Owls

2012-02-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Try as I may, I just can't seem to get close to the one or two Snowy Owls that are calling the Holland Marsh home for the winter. The Snowy Owl in the picture above was about 150 metres away and although I waited, it would not turn around. Nearby, a Red-tailed Hawk (below) was similarly reluctant to allow me a close-up photo. Ah well, any day seeing owls and hawks is a good day.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Red-bellied Woodpecker's red belly

2012-02-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo from juliezickefoose.blogspot.com

I mentioned in a blog a couple of days ago that David and Ann Love have a Red-bellied Woodpecker visiting their feeders regularly this winter, up on the King Ridge. I also referred to the fact that this woodpecker's red belly was usually difficult to see. Today, I came across this photo of a Red-bellied Woodpecker in Julie Zickefoose's most recent blog, which she pens in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio. Her blog is one of the most highly regarded bird blogs in the USA. The photo shows quite well how non-obvious that red belly is. Fortunately, this bird's other visual characteristics make it almost impossible not to recognize.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at cameraonking.com

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Winter's half over ~ what winter?

2012-02-03T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It's February 2nd, 2012. Winter has reached the halfway mark. Here in Southern Ontario, just north of Toronto, a traditional snowy and blustery winter has been almost non-existent. Snowfall, or the lack thereof, and high temperatures are the talk of the town. Records are being set. I have pictured hundreds of crows and starlings, in earlier blogs this winter. These birds seem to have chosen to stay around and tough it out. But it hasn't been that tough so far, and there are only 46 days to go before we reach spring. God forbid I should sound like I'm complaining! Plus, two of those three famous groundhogs did not not see their shadows today, so we will not be having six more weeks of winter, as legend predicts. For the record, Canada's gophers, Wiarton Willie and Shubenacadie Sam did not see their shadows, while the Yankee groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did see his shadow. Maybe that means winter will be shorter here in Ontario and down in Nova Scotia, but 2 weeks longer in Pennsylvania.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace

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World's smallest bird ~ Bee Hummingbird

2012-02-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Jonatas Cunha

mBEE HUMMINGBIRDm

Mellisuga helenae

It's the first day of February and I need to distract myself from the Canadian winter. The world's smallest bird is the Bee Hummingbird. It is found in Cuba. I'd never seen a good photo of a Bee Hummingbird until today when I came across this one above. This bird is 2" or 5 cm. long. The Bumblebee Hummingbird from Mexico, at left, is 2 3/4" or 7 cm. long. In Cuba, the Bee Hummingbird is known as "Zunzun". It weighs as much as a Canadian copper penny. My neighbour, Frank, visits Cuba a couple times each year and has seen this bird. Vagrants occasionally show up in the southern Bahamas. There...I feel much better about this dreary February day having shared this little bird story.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

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Dove loses tail feathers to hawk

2012-02-01T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Anyone familiar with Mourning Doves will notice that the dove pictured above has no tail feathers. That's because its tail feathers are scattered beneath one of the backyard feeders, after a 'close encounter of the Sharp-shinned kind'. Or maybe it was a Cooper's Hawk that almost got this very lucky dove. Whether it was Cooper's Hawk or a large Sharp-shinned Hawk (both kinds are around and about the backyard feeders) the dove was extremely lucky, as the hawks almost never miss such easy pickings. The tail feathers were scattered on the ground below the feeders and the dove has rejoined its mates and is tempting the fates once more.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

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Stupidity Street

2012-01-31T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Michael Wolf

I used Michael Wolf's Painted Bunting photo above in a blog, on January 5th, about the trafficking of wild birds for the caged-bird trade. I commented how 6,000 of these birds are taken each year in places like Mexico and Cuba. My wife, Linda, read the blog and a few days later emailed me the poem below. I had read this poem by Ralph Hodgson before, as have many birders and non-birders, but thought I would reproduce it here.

I saw with open eyes

Singing birds sweet

Sold in the shops

For the people to eat,

Sold in the shops of

Stupidity Street.

I saw in vision

The worm in the wheat,

And in the shops nothing

For people to eat;

Nothing for sale in

Stupidity Street.

Please comment if you wish

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

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Cowbird makes a rare winter visit

2012-01-30T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

A male Brown-headed Cowbird made a rare appearance at our backyard bird-feeders on January 29th. I can't remember ever having a cowbird in January before. But King City is just within the northern boundary of the cowbird's traditional winter range, plus we have had a very open winter so far. It is seen above between a Mourning Dove and a European Starling. This is also the first winter, in a very long time, that we have had starlings staying over the winter in our backyard.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Red-bellied Woodpecker

2012-01-29T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters

Ann Love reports that a Red-bellied Woodpecker has been visiting the feeders at her King Township 7th Concession home this winter. The photo above was taken at a suet feeder in the village of Nyack, just north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. The attractive Red-bellied normally ranges from the southern Great Lakes and southern New England states to the Gulf of Mexico. King Township is likely at the northern limit of this bird's usual range. Red-bellied Woodpeckers in the north usually move south in the winter, but a few remain in our area. The red belly for which the bird is named is almost a misnomer as its underparts are mainly whitish, except for a faint reddish wash on its lower belly, which is usually difficult to see.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace

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Leucistic Redpoll

2012-01-28T02:00:00.000-05:00

This photo of a leucistic Redpoll appears in the January 24th blog of North Shore Nature. Google it at North Shore Nature for other photos and Michael's other great blogs about nature in northern Ontario.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace

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John James Audubon

2012-01-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

IN MEMORIUM

Photo/New World Encyclopedia
John James Audubon
April 26, 1785 ~ January 27, 1851

John James Audubon died on this day, 161 years ago in New York City, at the age of 65. Following is the entry for Audubon from the Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia...

Ornithologist and bird artist, born in Les Cayes, Haiti. He was sent to the USA in 1804 to look after his father's property near Philadelphia, and married Lucy Bakewell, the daughter of an English settler. He spent several years seeking out every species of bird in America in order to catalogue them. In 1826 he took his work to Europe, where he cultivated a rugged backwoodsman image that went down well with fashionable society. In 1827 he published the first of the 87 portfolios in his massive Birds of America (1827-1838). Between 1840 and 1844 he produced a 'miniature' edition in 7 volumes, which became a best-seller. The National Audubon Society, dedicated to the conservation of birds in the USA, was founded in his honour in 1866.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

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Useless hunting dog

2012-01-26T02:00:00.000-05:00

It's a chilly, slippery and overcast day and I'm having trouble convincing myself to go out birding when I'm probably only going to see the usual suspects. Birding in southern Ontario, in January, requires inspiration and determination. I'll check my email first. There's an email from my old buddy "Doc" Gordon. It's called 'Useless Hunting Dog'. This video is 3 1/2 minutes long and it has transported me for those few minutes to a blissful place, far from the cold January landscape outside my window. Give it a whirl. Hope you enjoy...

http://www.dogwork.com/ddsff4/

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

50 Sandhills shot in first Kentucky hunt

2012-01-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Bruce Moorman

Kentucky's first-ever, official, Sandhill Crane hunting season has just ended and the total birds killed were far less than the expected, and planned-for, tally. Pre-hunt plans allowed for a total of 400 birds to be taken from mid December to mid-January but only 50 birds were shot to death. Official state government reports have not been produced yet but the Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville says: "Perhaps Kentuckians just don't have much of an appetite for Sandhill Cranes". The 50-bird tally was far short of the 400-bird limit that the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources had set, but predictably, promoters of the hunt, including state fish and wildlife officials called the inaugural season a success, while opponents argued the hunt was an unnecessary threat to a species that once before was pushed to near extinction. "It was worth the controversy" said one state fish and wildlife commissioner. With just 50 birds shot, one has to wonder was it worth the expense to mount the state-wide program. One can only hope this paltry project will be deemed a non-event and that another hunt is not worth the effort and expense by the state of Kentucky. Long live the Sandhills.

Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Giving new meaning to 'paper cuts'

2012-01-24T02:00:00.000-05:00

These remarkable paper sculptures are the work of Canadian artist, Calvin Nichols.

While the bird pictures above are outstanding, for me there is something extra special and endearing about the paper porcupine portrait pictured below. Google Calvin Nichols Paper Artist to discover more of this talented man's wonderful creations.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Hairy Woodpecker visits daily for real suet

2012-01-23T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

A male Hairy Woodpecker is now joining the male and female Downy Woodpeckers, on a daily basis, and enjoying the real suet to which I recently switched. They also all still peck at the block of reconstituted suet that has been mixed with seeds, which proves that beggars can't be choosers, in the chilly dead of winter. The few Starlings that have chosen to hang around past the middle of January are also quite partial to the suet (see photo below).

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may interested in my new blog: camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com

Shoebill ~ aka Whale-headed Stork

2012-01-22T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Filip Singer/EPA

MMSHOEBILLMM

Balaeniceps rex

I came across this online photograph today and it was labelled Whale-headed Stork. I was startled because the bird looked familiar to me but the name was totally unfamiliar. I immediately assumed it was a totally new bird for me, but one that resembled a bird with which I was already familiar. A quick check revealed that Whale-headed Stork is another name for the Shoebill, which was the bird with which I was familiar. Moreover, the Shoebill is also known as the Shoe-billed Stork and the Whale-headed Stork! Wikipedia calls the Shoebill the 'missing link" between pelicans and storks. There has been great difficulty in classifying this bird over the decades and the most advanced technology still can't seem to say for sure where the Shoebill fits in the grand ornithological scheme of things. It is a native of East African countries. Beautiful? No. Eye-catching? Yes.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

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The real suet is a big hit

2012-01-21T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The Downy Woodpeckers love the real suet I have switched to, instead of the reconstituted suet blocks that I have put out for many years. I don't know why I didn't switch sooner, especially since my butcher gave me the suet free! Those other blocks aren't cheap. The female (left) and male (right) pictured above are now a constant presence throughout the day, whereas before they were irregular visitors. I am disappointed that the Hairy Woodpecker hasn't joined them yet. A male Hairy showed up twice in the late fall but I haven't seen him since. This extremely mild and variable winter weather that we've had so far seems to be confounding assumptions and predictions about feeding behaviours for a lot of species, but I am content to see what I shall see.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace

or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com

25,731 Sandhill Cranes killed in 2009/10

2012-01-20T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Charlie Corbeil

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2010 report on the Status and Harvests of Sandhill Cranes, approximately 26,000 of these wonderful-looking birds were estimated to have been 'sport-harvested' in the United States and Canada last year. That number includes over 3,000 of what are called 'crippling losses' (presumably birds that are irretrievable). In a recent blog, I said I would hopefully find numbers arising out of the first ever Sandhill Crane hunt in Kentucky. That data is probably a long way off, so I will content myself with older numbers for the entire migrating and breeding region, which stretches from Mexico, up through the central parts of the USA and Canada, and on to Alaska and Eastern Siberia. That 'harvest' of 26,000 birds is about 5% of the continent's total population of approximately 500,000. The long-term (1982-2008) trends for the mid-continent population, where most Sandhills exist, indicate that harvest have been increasing at a higher rate than population growth. Thresholds for changing harvest regulations are based on an objective of maintaining Sandhill abundances at 1982-2005 levels of 349,000-472,000 (411,000 +or- 15%) birds. While the existing number of birds seems to be in excess of the target abundance levels, once again recent data state that: "... the rate of harvest is increasing faster than the rate of growth in crane abundance, and the divergent trends cannot continue indefinitely". 13 American states and 2 Canadian provinces are now in the business of 'sport-harvesting' Sandhill Cranes. That's 15 jurisdictions too many for my liking. There is no reason, in my mind, that can be forward to legitimize the slaughter of one of this world's most beautiful and valiant creatures.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in the King City or King Township vicinity

you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com

Trumpeter Swans at Glenville

2012-01-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Two first-year Trumpeter Swans are accompanied by mature birds at Glenville Pond in north-eastern King Township. Despite the fact that it is the third week of January and there have been a few very cold days and nights, moderate temperatures prevail and streams and ponds are not completely frozen over. This no doubt suits these tagged swans which are catered to by the protective benefactor and land-owner.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the King City or King Township areas

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com

Photo Contest Winner

2012-01-18T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Ned Bagno

Ned Bagno was Birdwatching Magazine's photo contest winner for November/December with this compelling, and perhaps startling, photo of a male Wood Duck, that he took at a pond behind a library, in Union City, California.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the King City or King Township areas

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

400 Sandhill Cranes to be shot

2012-01-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Neil Heims

A month ago (Dec.17, 2011) the first official Sandhill Crane hunting season opened in the state of Kentucky. The hunting season was to last for 30 days and a quota was set allowing 400 birds to be killed ( .55 % of the total population of 72,000 Sandhills in the state). While 400 permits were allotted for the hunt, only 332 people applied. Land east of the Mississippi has not seen Sandhill Cranes hunted in more than century due to a decrease in the species' population. Over the last three decades their population has grown more than 300% and Kentucky's wildlife experts(?) and biologists called for a hunting season that will help manage and conserve the species. It sounds to me like the Sandhills are doing just fine without a man-made slaughter to help them conserve themselves. It seems like bogus science to me to say that 400 birds taken out of a population of 72,000 will produce data with any meaningful significance. Maybe the quota was just a wild-assed guess. I know that there are 12 other states which allow Sandhill Crane hunting. I know that Sandhill Crane populations are huge, but not damaging to the environment. I'm told their meat tastes good, but so does chicken. It drives me crazy how we default so easily to killing when the subject of species conservation comes up. I'll try to find the results of this hunt over the next several days and hopefully have more to say on this sorry experiment. Let's hope all Kentucky hunters can tell the difference between Sandhill Crane and Whooping Cranes! Meanwhile, you can sign a petition on this matter by logging in to: kyc4sandhillcranes.com and clicking on the picture of the mother and baby Sandhills to sign the official petition against the hunt.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Young Red-tail poor substitute for a Snowy

2012-01-16T01:00:00.000-05:00

I went looking for Snowy Owls again today in the Holland Marsh, but was not successful. I had to settle for this immature Red-tailed Hawk. The photos above may lead one to think these were two different birds, but lighting and shooting angles can produce many results. This was a small bird for a Red-tailed Hawk...probably no bigger than a large Cooper's Hawk...and its hunting skills left much to be desired.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township
you may interested in my new blog called camera on King.
Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Starlings ~ How cold does it have to get?

2012-01-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

European Starlings ~ Winter Plumage

These extravagantly speckled European Starlings has been around the feeders for about week, eating seeds and suet but never staying very long. One wonders if they are slipping away from their regular flock, for a snack, then quickly returning unnoticed to the group. I have pondered a couple times recently, in this space, about the flocks of crows and starlings that seem to be staying around the area this winter, as opposed to heading slightly south to the other side of Lake Erie or the Windsor area or the mid-American states. It was -14C Friday morning when I took the pictures above. One wonders, and will be observing, to see if and how long the starling flocks hang around.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vincity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Close encounters of the gorilla kind

2012-01-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by monkey-pictures.net

Click on the link below to see a video that gave me goosebumps, laughter and a tear or two of joy. I hope you are similarly touched by this amazing episode of animal interaction.

http://www.wimp.com/mountaingorilla/

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in the vicinity of King City or King Township

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.
Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Holiday Amaryllis

2012-01-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

My wife Linda brought home this beautiful, minature, pink and white Amaryllis for our Christmas and New Year's centrepiece. It spent most of the time on the kitchen windowsill however, which meant we saw a lot more of it, as the kitchen is a busy place during the holidays, and most other times too.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be intersted in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

The intrepid osprey always amazes me

2012-01-12T01:00:00.000-05:00

My wife, Linda, directed me to this video of Ospreys, doing what Ospreys do best: fishing on the wing. Click on the link below to view.

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=110787

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on King.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://www.cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Pileated Woodpecker ~ Looking for love?

2012-01-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Joanne McKinnon

Every once in a while the gods look down upon us and bestow a gift. Surely this was the case when Joanne, wife of my old friend, Glenn MacKinnon, shot this photo in their backyard, in Bracebridge, Ontario. What a remarkable and delightful photograph of a real Pileated Woodpecker, juxtaposed with a handmade, wooden look-alike that Glenn and Joanne picked up at the Cranberry Festival in Bala, Ontario. The wooden woodpecker is the work of a craftsman from the Wahta Mohawk Territory in Muskoka, Ontario. Perhaps is was simply a chance encounter or maybe a moment of outdoorsy predestination, but Joanne will have an image to treasure and enjoy for a long time to come. I've seen some of Joanne's other photos and she has a talent with a camera. You go, girl!
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,
you may be interested in my new blog camera on KING.
Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http:/cameraonking.blogspot.com/

It's always fun feeding ducks

2012-01-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

My wife and I stopped off at Sunset Beach, on Lake Wilcox, in Oak Ridges, to feed the ducks on Sunday past. For those who disapprove of feeding ducks bread (particularly white bread) I have to say, in our defense, that we took along the good stuff. That is to say, organic 100% whole grain sprouted wheat, organic flax seed, non-flour vegan high-fibre bread. The slices were the end crusts, however, not that the ducks seemed to mind.

The Sunset Beach gang of ducks number almost 200 individuals and it appears a certain amount of inbreeding has occurred. One example is pictured above. Its size and shape and markings are definitely Mallard, but the colours are all wrong. Nevertheless, it appeared quite healthy, as did the others of questionable lineage.

One benefactor, alone, could not hope to nourish this crowd, and so it is that there is an endless parade of folks, with bags of scraps and goodies to satisfy the hungry horde, that are lined-up throughout the day with their offerings. If you think that it is a noisy process, you are correct.

After the feeding of the ducks, we visited nearby Lake St. George which Linda was seeing for the first time. She is standing at the spot where water from Lake St. George becomes the East Humber River. This historic stream heads east and south through Oak Ridges, Eversley, King City, Kinghorn, Laskay, King Creek and Kleinburg before merging with the main Humber River, north of Woodbridge. From there it oxbows through the western parts of Toronto, before broadly meandering into Lake Ontario, between High Park on the east and Humber Bay Park West on the west.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://www.cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Visiting the Leslie St. Spit

2012-01-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

Toronto skyline from the Leslie Street Spit

A few of the Leslie Street Spit's 55,000 Ring-billed Gulls (6% of the world's population)

It's not just birds that fly low over the Leslie Street Spit - Porter Airlines planes lands nearby

Far from the Spit, I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk when I was almost home in King City!

All photos by BarrytheBirder

It was a mild +9C when I reached the outskirts of Toronto on my way to the Leslie Street Spit, this past Saturday. Huge, puffy, summer-like, white clouds filled the bright sky on the way down the Don Valley Parkway to Lake Ontario. By the time I reached Lake Ontario, the temperature had dropped to +7C, near the water. Everyone and his brother was there, enjoying the balmy winter day. I didn't see many birds up close but I certainly appreciated the sense of being in a place that is touted as one of the world's best urban wilderness parks. The man-made headland juts 5 kilometres out into Lake Ontario and is has essentially been turned over to wild birds and critters. May it always be so.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Ps. If you live in my vicinity of King City or King Township,

you may be interested in my new blog called camera on KING.

Google it at camera on king barry wallace
or go to http://cameraonking.blogspot.com/

Monarchs in California

2012-01-08T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Michael Yang / Rex Features

Monarch Grove Sanctuary, in Pacific Grove, California, is one of the many southern locales where Monarch Butterflies huddle together in pine and eucalyptus trees to conserve heat, during winter in North America. Some of these butterflies are from Canada and have made the southern migration in one long-haul journey. The reverse northern migration, to Canada, will usually be made in three annual stages, by three different generations of descendants. Monarch Grove Sanctuary normally plays hosts to 25,000 Monarchs each year. As for the connection between Monarchs and birds, let me quote from Ross Layberry's, Peter Hall's and Donald Lafontaine's 1998 book The Butterflies of Canada, where they comment on the connection between Monarchs, Milkweed and birds: "All milkweeds contain poisons, cardiac glycosides, in varying amounts, that protect the plants from most herbivores. Monarch larvae are not affected by the poisons but store them in their bodies and pass them on to the adults. Most birds that attempt to eat adults or larvae vomit and learn to associate this unpleasant experience with the bright patterns of the adults and larvae and thus soon learn to avoid them. The Viceroy butterfly mimics the pattern of the adult Monarchs and gains some protection by the resemblance; recent evidence suggests that the Viceroy itself might be somewhat distasteful to birds, so the mimicry could benefit both species". It seems to me that this inherent defence mechanism of the Monarch must be an important contributing factor to its ability and success with its international migrations.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Albino hummingbird is a beauty

2012-01-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by Marlin Shank/Nature Friend Magazine

My cousin Beverley sent me a recent email containing photos of an albino Ruby-throated Hummingbird, taken by a 15-year-old named Marlin Shank. He took many photographs of the bird at a park in Staunton, Virginia, last September. The photos, which first appeared in his father's Nature Friend magazine, have created a sensation and been distributed widely. Just go to Google and type in albino hummingbird virginia to see many more of the beautiful photographs.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Blue Crane ~ national bird of South Africa

2012-01-06T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Ken Behrens
MMBLUE CRANEMM
Grus paradisea or Anthropoides paradiseus

I was checking in on Mpho Phiri's Mafikeng Birding Blog recently and found myself wondering about the national bird of South Africa. Was there one? What was it called? I Googled it of course and was introduced to the Blue Crane, also known as the Stanley Crane and the Paradise Crane. Then I immediately came upon the photo above and was stunned by the beauty of the foursome in this photo by Ken Behrens. I have since learned that the Blue Crane has some difficulty keeping those incredible tail plumes dry and in a neat and tidy fashion. There are other photos to be found where the Blue Crane looks a little less elegant. Nevertheless, it is Ken Behrens' wonderful photo, above, that I will always have in mind when I recall South Africa's national bird. Canada does not have a national bird, but all its provinces and territories do. Many attempts, and there's always one in progress somewhere, to settle on a national bird have failed and I doubt very much that one will be chosen in my lifetime. Oh well, it's not as though we don't have better things to do when it comes to the state of birds and birding in Canada.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

We're still trapping and caging wild birds

2012-01-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Michael Wolf

Two blogs ago I wrote about A. Radcyffe Dugmore, noted naturalist, painter, photographer and writer who had a remarkable career in the United States at the turn of, and during the early, 20th century. Dugmore was hugely sympathetic to wild birds and their environment, in his writings. But he, like many American citizens, was an ardent collector of wild birds which he kept in cages. As the 19th century progressed in the USA, where the wealthy had had aviaries on a grand scale from early on, more and more of the ordinary citizens took to imitating their rich neighbours by possessing wild birds in small indoor cages. The USA, Mexico and Caribbean islands also supplied collectors in the rest of the world, in particular Europe, with many spectacular species never before seen (see Painted Bunting photo above). Dugmore would rant and rave about man's abusiveness towards the avian world in general but seemed blind to the cruelty of caging wild birds. Fast forward to the 21st century: little has changed. Although the trapping and selling of wild birds has been banned in the USA for more than a hundred years, the practise continues in Mexico and Cuba. It has been estimated that at least 100,000 Painted Buntings were trapped in Mexico between 1984 and 2000, despite a ban from 1982 to 1999. The ban was lifted and the bird captures soared again. About 6,000 birds per year were exported from Mexico to Europe in 2000 and 2001 (Inigo-Elias et al.2002). And this is just one species! The Painting Bunting, by the way, can be found year-around in the southern United States as well as throughout coastal Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean during the winter months. My first sighting was in Cancun, Mexico, and was a thrilling encounter. I'm sure if I'd seen that same bird, in a cage, it could never have had the same impact on me.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Great Blue Heron on Baffin Island!

2012-01-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by David Kilabuk

This photo of a juvenile Great Blue Heron at Pangnirtung on Baffin Island, in Nunavut, was taken this past fall by David Kilabuk. The presence of this bird, so incredibly far north of the bird's normal range, caused quite a stir in this Canadian territory. Apparently it is only the second sighting ever of a GBH in Nunavut. The sighting was widely reported by many media but I only just came across it in the most recent edition of my Birdwatching Magazine online newsletter. Speculation is that the bird accidently wandered north or was blown north by storms. It eventually disappeared after all the hubbub it created, but the really big question is did it migrate south, late in the year, to safety and survival, or did it perish because of its long-distance misadventure. I choose to think it made it.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

-18C / coldest day of the year

2012-01-03T15:58:00.002-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I know, I know, 2012 is only three days old, but -18C is an attention-getter, given the mild winter we have had so far. As noted previously in this space, some local flocks of crows and starlings appear to be testing their ability to spend winter hereabouts, as opposed to heading down around the Windsor and south Lake Erie shore areas. The group of crows above was part of a larger group of about 150-200 that were hanging out east of Pottageville. Although there is snow on the ground, it is only a few centimetres so the crows still seem able to find spilled grain.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

What's in a name? Duck Hawk

2012-01-02T09:03:00.001-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The photo above shows the blade of a canoe paddle which was given to me, by my colleagues, upon my retirement 10 years ago from the newspaper business. The painting of the Peregrine Falcon was done by Geoffrey Duck, the son of one of those publishing colleagues. Back then I think I was vaguely aware that the Peregrine Falcon was known as the Duck Hawk in North America, a long time ago. Here's some of what A. Radclyffe Dugmore had to say about the Duck Hawk in his 1900 book Bird Homes: "Few people associate the name of the Duck Hawk with the Peregrine Falcon of history, yet this is the bird that was used when falconry was the fashionable pastime; at that time almost any price was paid for a well-trained tercel, as the male bird was called; now that falconry has almost died out, the name of peregrine will probably go, and the more common name of duck hawk will be the only name by which this bird will be known". Dugmore's leaning toward the name Duck Hawk did not make him a quack. Indeed, in America, he was a renowned and prolific artist, photographer and writer on all things environmental, although his take on the relationship between humans and all other animals was somewhat out-of-step with modern sensibilities (more on that another time). He was wrong, of course, on the winning name and I personally feel that Peregrine Falcon is an all-around grander name for a bird of such impressive credentials and appearance. The word peregrine has French and Latin origins and is defined as 'having a tendency to wander'. In the case of peregrine, the bird, that 'wandering' is oft-times done at incredibly fast speeds. In a dive, it is variously estimated at speeds around the 300km/h or 200 mph!
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

You gotta have the right equipment

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

My wife and I gave new binoculars to the families of our two daughters as Christmas gifts. Pictured above are our two granddaughters checking out the backyard birds on New Year's Day. I believe you have to start them young at birdwatching. We started the granddaughters and the grandsons when they were 3 1/2 years old.

Please comment if you wish and very best wishes for a wonderful 2012.

BtheB

Christmas was green ~ New Year is white

2011-12-31T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

On the day before New Year's Eve, most of King Township was under a covering of snow, but it was quite mild and fog was the order of the day. The birds in the backyard were still quite visible however. Mt wife, Linda, noted a day or so ago that the mild weather, so far this winter, seems to be keeping the goldfinches just a little more yellow than usual (see top photo). I have to agree, as many of 50 or 60 goldfinches we have are showing a little bit of extra colour. The bottom photo shows a half dozen of our Mourning Doves taking over a couple of the feeders, while a tree sparrow perches above them waiting its turn. The pecking order at our feeders has the Blue Jays at the top and one shrieking, charging Blue Jay will send this group of doves, above, fleeing in a frantic flurry of loud whistling wings.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

2011-12-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

The addition today of real suet to the backyard feeders seems to have been well-received by the Downy Woodpecker. I haven't seen the Hairy Woodpecker yet, but it's the first day for the real suet that is now supplementing the reconstituted suet that contains many seeds and which I have been been offering for many years. I did also notice a Junco, an American Tree Sparrow and a Chickadee all helping themselves to the new suet offering. We shall see what we shall see.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Well-behaved goldfinches

2011-12-29T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder
"Okay, everyone smile"

The first decent snowfall of the winter has covered everything up. This means that the space at the feeders is at a premium, a situation readily evident in the photo above. There were 15 goldfinches posing on this tray and a couple of dozen more at the tube feeders nearby. One certainly has to admire goldfinches for their ability to get along so well with each other. They are easily the best-behaved backyard birds.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Pretty Snow

2011-12-28T02:00:00.000-05:00

Painting by Phil 'The Forecaster' Chadwick

The first decent snowfall of the winter fell overnight and as I was shovelling the driveway last evening I could see that the scene in the morning was going to be very pretty indeed. I told myself that I would take some pictures around the village before the wind came up and disturbed the snowy mantle everywhere. As I was putting the shovel away and thinking of today's blogspot, I knew it should feature some of the snowy photographs I'd planned to take. Then I remembered a copy of a painting I had in my computer by Phil Chadwick, former King Township resident, former Environment Canada weatherman and plein air artist extraordinaire. Phil's outstanding talent with a paint brush is exceeded only by his formidable output. The copy of Phil's painting you see above is exactly what King City looks like this morning. Lucky us.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Muscovy Ducks poor substitutes for Snowy Owls

2011-12-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was on the lookout for Snowy Owls again today but had to make do with a pair of free-range black Muscovy Ducks on the side of an irrigation channel in the Holland Marsh. Muscovy Ducks, particularly the domesticated birds come in a myriad of amazing colours but the original feral Muscovy has always been black with red faces. The two ducks above certainly appear true to their wild ancestors in appearance but they, along with two others nearby, seemed to right at home and part of the family, on their Holland Marsh farm.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Backyard birds on Christmas Day

2011-12-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

American Tree Sparrow

Blue Jay

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Chickadee

American Goldfinch

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch & Junco

All photos by BarrytheBirder

These then were the very welcome visitors in the backyard on Christmas Day. Missing were the Hairy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Purple Finch and House Sparrow. Maybe they are waiting for Boxing Day to make their appearances.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Finally...first Snowy Owl of the winter

2011-12-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Jean Michel Peers

MNyctea scandiacaM

Heaviest of the North American Owls

I made another journey through the Holland Marsh yesterday looking for Snowy Owls and was finally rewarded. I was west of Hwy. 400, heading south on Holancin Rd., when I spotted a minivan parked at the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere. I just had the feeling it was a birder looking for Snowy Owls, so I pulled up behind the vehicle, got out and extended a Christmas greeting. A fellow with a camera, sporting a lens as long as my forearm, returned the greeting. Then his partner got out of the vehicle and she also had a camera with a foot-long lens. They pointed across a field, to the west, and just as I turned to look a Snowy Owl flew up near the river that bisects the marsh and then settled down again on a post. It was too far away for me to photograph and the folks with the super-lenses said it was too far for them also. The lady mentioned they had been down to the Leslie Street spit in Toronto and had seen some Snowies there. The gentleman then showed me some shots on his digital camera. He had some stunning photos of Snowy Owls, in flight. I almost choked with envy. "What great shots!", I exclaimed. He was very modest. The Snowy had dropped down from its perch and disappeared onto the river bank - out of sight. I moved on telling myself there was lots of winter left and that I too would get some neat Snowy Owl photos, even though my telephoto lens is not as long as my arm. It will be just be a matter of time and I keenly look forward to the opportunities.

Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Christmas kiwi

2011-12-24T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Mike Heydon/Lisa Sims Limited/EPA

A 3-day-old, rare, white, kiwi chick is pictured above at the Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre, in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. There are five species of kiwis endemic to New Zealand: four on the South Island and one (the North Island Brown Kiwi / Apteryx mantelli) on the North Island. I don't know if this an Apteryx mantelli or not, but it sure is cute. Female kiwis lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world. In the case of the North Island Brown Kiwi (the most common of kiwis), it's the male who incubates the egg. I think it's the least he can do after his mate has been carrying around an egg that can weigh up to 1/4 of her own weight. Kiwis also have a well developed sense of smell, unusual in a bird, and are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their long beaks. I think this rare Christmas whitey should be named Noel.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

England getting our snow?

2011-12-23T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA

A European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) puts on a brave face at Allenheads, Hexham, in the north of England, where snowfalls have recently been sweeping the countryside. Most of England though, like a great deal of Canada, is not predicted to have a white Christmas.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Soaking up some rays on first day of winter

2011-12-22T11:09:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

These two seem to be quite accepting of the fact that it looks like it's going to be a white Christmas in this part of the world, or at least on Dufferin Street, near King City. According to Environment Canada, most Canadians will go without a White Christmas this year. In the 56 years that Environment Canada has been tracking country-wide snow coverage at Christmas, 2011 will set a new record for the least amount of snow on the ground.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

It's just a matter of time

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was out again this morning looking for Snowy Owls but once more came up short. Others are seeing them in this area but not me, so far. I keep reminding myself to be patient and that's it's just a matter of time. At one point this morning, along the Canal Road, I spotted something from the corner of my eye, perched in a tree. It was about the size of a Snowy or Great Grey Owl and greyish-white. Could it be...could it be? Rats! It turned out to be a large wasp nest. Oh well. maybe tomorrow.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Water, please?

2011-12-20T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It was -5C this morning and the water in the birdbath was a frozen slab, so I boiled a kettle of water and poured it into the birdbath. Within five minutes, these Blue Jays were filling themselves up and they were followed by several Chipping Sparrows.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

The Mill Pond ~ Richmond Hill

2011-12-20T02:00:00.000-05:00

A thin layer of ice covers much of the Richmond Hill Mill Pond today, except at the north end, where a pair of resident Mute Swans share a small open lagoon with a hundred or so Mallards.

Photos by BarrytheBirder

While most of the ducks chose to paddle about in the last remaining bit of unfrozen water, some of their millpond brethren got cold feet standing on the thin ice.

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BtheB

RSPCA Young Photographer Awards

2011-12-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

This photo by Samuel Hood, entitled Swans in Symmetry, was recently short-listed for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Young Photographers Awards, in the age 12-15s category. Other short-listed photos can be found at http://ypa.rspca.org.uk.

BtheB

FEATHERS... ...by Thor Hanson

2011-12-19T02:00:00.001-05:00

I am no book-reviewer but am making an exception here for Thor Hanson's new book: FEATHERS The Evolution of a Natural Miracle. This is a must-read for those who consider themselves a birder or birdwatcher. It is not for the uninitiated. It has taken me to a new level of understanding and appreciation, not to mention curiosity, about the pastime I have now enjoyed for over 20 years. This is Hanson's second book. The first was called The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda, which won the 2008 USA Book News Award for nature writing. If you are familiar with that book and enjoyed it, then you probably won't need much convincing to pick up Hanson's latest effort. For everyone else, I will only say that FEATHERS is being raved about by reviewers everywhere. It is encyclopedic and eclectic, but very readable and even entertaining. Here's an example in the early part of the book: "From the quill to the rachis to the vane, a feather's parts consist largely of keratin, the same kind of protein found in hair and fingernails. People don't generally eat feathers, but their nutritional potential has not been overlooked by the animal feed industry. Chicken and turkey processors in the United States churn out more than ten billion pounds of feather waste every year. They turn a tidy profit by channelling these pluckings to the likes of ConAgra and Purina, where the feathers are boiled, dried, and ground into protein-rich meal that finds its way into everything from canned dog food to cattle pellets. In a macabre twist, it's even fed to chickens." This paragraph serves to illustrate that Hanson's book is indeed about feathers. But the scope is worldwide and fascinating and will intrigue any person who calls himself or herself a birder. I paid $28.50 Cdn. for it at Chapters/Indigo and made it an early Christmas gift to myself.
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BtheB

Egress for eagles

2011-12-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It was a cold, bright Sunday morning on the 17th Sideroad of King Township and I was lucky enough to see a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a small flock of Pine Siskins. As I retreated along the dead end road, I passed this eye-catching gate, featuring soaring Bald Eagles, at the entrance to a private country home.

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BtheB

These sitting ducks are safe

2011-12-18T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder
Free-range domestic ducks soak up some afternoon rays beside a farm pond at Dunkerron, near Schomberg. The -8C temperature didn't seem to bother these sun-worshippers in the slightest.

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BtheB

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers have white backs

2011-12-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

We have three woodpeckers coming regularly to our single suet feeder: a male Hairy (see photo above) and a male and female Downy Woodpecker. Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are the only woodpeckers in eastern and central North America with white backs without markings. I normally put out the prepackaged suet blocks that have seeds or nuts, or other goodies imbedded in them. But I'm thinking that this winter, for a change, I may go to a butcher and buy some large suet remnants that are otherwise sold off to renderers. The name woodpecker, in English, dates back to about 1530. Meanwhile, the game bird known as the woodcock derives its name from the Old English wuducoc (about 1050); formed from wudu wood + cocc cock.

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BtheB

Kettleby crows and wooden barns

2011-12-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The 400-strong 'murder' of crows at Kettleby is nearing 500 I believe. Today the flock was joined by a 'murmuration' of 200-odd starlings. It's 9 days to Christmas and we had record-warm temperatures in this part of the country yesterday. In the past these crows and starlings would have migrated to the south side of Lake Erie or the Windsor area, but with global warming and other recent climate changes, it's possible that these birds will over-winter right here in King Township. On the opposite side of Keele Street, from where the crow picture was taken, is a newly re-clad wooden barn (picture blow). A few miles south of this barn, near Eversley, is another reconstructed wood barn (second picture below). With all due respect for stylish, modern, all-metal, plastic or vinyl barns, the two mainly wooden barns pictured here are a welcome sight to old traditionalists like me.

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BtheB

Old railway line runs through college grounds

2011-12-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

With the exception of the Red-tailed Hawk (at top), I had no luck today, looking for birds in the woods around the former Eaton Hall country estate. I did for the first time, however, pay close attention to the particular trail beneath my feet. Between 1902 and 1927, the Schomberg and Aurora Railway ran through part of, what is today, the King Campus of Seneca College. The former rail-bed of that train line (pictured above) remains today and is a well-used hiking trail at Seneca. The Seneca trails and the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail are easily accessed by a stile (below right) on the west side of Dufferin Street, about a half mile north of the Seneca College Main Gate. The southern end of the old railway trail section starts right behind the old Eaton Hall, and now Seneca College, gatehouse (below left). There's lots of parking on the west side of the gatehouse.

Photos by BarrytheBirder
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BtheB

What a clever heron

2011-12-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Sam Greenwood/GettyImages

This Great Blue Heron was either clever or lucky enough to capture two fish at once near Daytona, in Florida.

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BtheB

Lower East Humber River scenes

2011-12-14T02:00:00.001-05:00

BarrytheBirder photos of Boyd Conservation Area at Pine Grove, near Woodbridge,

and the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg.

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BtheB

Bathurst Street ends here

2011-12-14T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Abandoned buildings, birdhouses and an Osprey nest mark the spot at which Bathurst Street ends, at the northern tip of King Township. To continue north would require a boat and a 1,200 metre journey up the West Holland River to where it joins the East Holland River, which flows north from Newmarket. The combined Holland River continues through marshlands for another six kilometres until it flows into Cook's Bay, at the southern end of Lake Simcoe.

The last hydro pole on northern Bathurst Street supports a sizeable Osprey nest. It won't be known for another four months or so whether the nest will continue to be used. It's location on the east bank of the West Holland River, a few kilometres south of Lake Simcoe, would suggest this nest is perfectly located to support an Osprey family. Meanwhile, below, a couple of Purple Martin houses still seem to be in good condition, at the same site. Being relatively new to this site, I cannot say whether these boxes have been recently used or not. I will keep a eye out for nesting activity here, in 2012.

Another view of the end of Bathurst Street in King Township. The major Toronto thoroughfare is reduced to a single gravel track, frozen puddles and derelict structures.
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BtheB

Cooper's Hawk on Strawberry Lane

2011-12-13T12:08:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

MMMCOOPER'S HAWKMMM

Accipiter cooperii

I was out looking for Snowy Owls today in the Holland Marsh but had no luck. Snowies have been reported there, by a couple of online spotters, since December 10th. I did however see the immature Cooper's Hawk pictured above, on Strawberry Lane. The top photo better shows the immature's whitish underparts with fine streaks on its breast. It is quite smart-looking for an immature bird. Snowy Owls tomorrow, maybe.

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BtheB

Former church lives on

2011-12-13T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I never tire of photographing this bucolic scene on Dufferin Street, between Eversley and Snowball, when I am out looking for birds. The building is the former Temperanceville Presbyterian Church which was built in 1858 and served the faithful in the community for half century before being turned into a private residence in 1912. It lasted as such for another 60 years when it was purchased by Dr. David Willinsky. Dr. Willinsky had it disassembled, plank by plank, and rebuilt on the property that he owned on Dufferin Street, north of the Eversley corners. Its appearance was only slightly modified and now, after 153 years, it continues to charm passersby. And of course, the peaceful animals bring the scene to life each day. The overall effect always seems to heighten with the advent of Christmas.
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BtheB

Super slow-motion goshawk

2011-12-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

Painting of juvenile and adult Northern Goshawk painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

My birder-friend Gerry Binsfeld sent me this video clip today and it shows just how amazingly agile a Goshawk is in flight. Click on the link below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CFckjfP-1E

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BtheB

Greenland glaciers speeding up

2011-12-12T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Vanessa Berlowitz/BBC

Back on November 24, I wrote about my overall lack of knowledge about Greenland, specifically saying that I didn't think it supported many species of birds because it was one giant sheet of ice. Actually 85% of Greenland is covered by ice and some of its glaciers are doubling or tripling their rate of melt. Above is the Rinks Glacier on the west coast of Greenland (that's the Canadian side). The Rinks Glacier is mentioned in David Attenborough's latest filmed examination of global warming's effect on the Arctic and Antartica for BBC Television. The Rinks Glacier is one of a number of northern glaciers that has dramatically increased its melt rate in the last decade. This is in response to a dramatic increase in air temperature of over 2C. While this will no doubt alarm the weather alarmists, it may auger well for migrating, visiting and stray birds.

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BtheB

Not so wild birds

2011-12-11T02:00:00.000-05:00

MMMMMMMMMMMFree-range mixed-breed ducks on a Kettleby farmMMMMMMMMMMMM

MMMMMMMMMMMMMPigeons huddle together in the Holland MarshMMMMMMMMMMMMM

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMale Mallard at Fairy Lake Park in NewmarketMMMMMMMMMMM

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BtheB

As many as 87 species of starlings worldwide

2011-12-10T02:00:00.000-05:00

European or Common Starling

Barrythe Birder Photo

Superb Starling

Photo by Chris Allsebrook

Wattled Starling

Photo by Ben Broughton

Once again, I am dumbfounded to learn that where I thought there was only one species of a bird (starling), there are between 75 and 87 species (depending on whose list you use) of starlings around the world! The European or Common Starling is found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and North America. While Europe accounts for only three of the Starling species, Asia has 63 species and Africa has 45. If Myna birds, which are part of the same (Sturnidae) family, are added to the list, the total number of species is somewhere between 96 and 112...once again depending on whose list your checking. And while many, many of the starlings are dark, glossy, iridescent type birds, some are strikingly colourful and patterned (see photos above). The European Starling vies with the European House Sparrow as the most populous wild bird in North America.

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BtheB

Searching for Snowies

2011-12-09T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Newfoundlander61/Birdwatching Magazine

I have been patrolling the broad open expanse of the Holland Marsh since the first of December looking for Snowy Owls but have not seen one yet. They're usually quite reliable each winter in this location. Meanwhile I came across this great photo of a Snowy as a result of becoming a recent subscriber to Birdwatching Magazine. A gentleman who identifies himself online as Newfoundlander61 took this picture recently at Amherst Island, near Kingston, in southern Ontario. It's a wonderful photo, in and of itself, but also presents this bird in a view not normally seen: i.e. over water and from behind. I love this shot! My compliments to Newfoundlander61.

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BtheB

Canada Geese on Glenville Pond

2011-12-08T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Over 100 Canada Geese provided an eerily silent counterpoint to the the frosted forest surrounding Glenville Pond on the the south side of Highway 9, near Newmarket, this week.

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BtheB

Struggling coyote

2011-12-08T01:30:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This coyote was finding the going tough as it traversed a broad span of the Holland Marsh, near Hwy. 400, on Tuesday afternoon. The soil was ultra soggy from recent rain and melting snow. The coyote's back legs kept collapsing as if it was sick or injured but it kept moving across the now vacant vegetable fields. It looked to be a good size, with a healthy coat, both important factors in facing the next three months of winter.

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BtheB

Fresh snow overnight

2011-12-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

I met a few people on the King City Trails early Tuesday morning and each one used the same word to describe the effect of the overnight snowfall: "Beautiful". In the third photo from the top, it is readily evident that a bunny, a squirrel, and I were the first to use this particular bridge over the East Humber River that morning.

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BtheB

Cormorants at sunrise ~ Kathmandu

2011-12-06T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

I've always thought of cormorants as birds of the sea or river estuaries, or large lakes. Meanwhile, I've associated Kathmandu with the world's tallest mountains. So to come across a photo of cormorants at Kathmandu had me a little puzzled. They have every right to be there, it turns out, and it has more to do with Kathmandu's geography than cormorant inclination or preference. Nepal, of which Kathmandu is the capital City, is only 150 kilometres from 8,000-metre mountains in the north to near sea level in the south. Climates range from arctic conditions to sub-tropical jungles, and lowland-Nepal is characterized by well-watered floodplains, swamps, mangroves, ox-bow lakes and rivers, perfect for fish-eating cormorants. The Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) is one of 42 cormorant species, worldwide. 15 of the cormorant species are commonly called 'shags', instead of cormorant.

Pictured, left, is an Indian Cormorant (photo by J.M.Garg, 2006), while on the right is the Nepalese national bird, the Danphe or Danfe, a pheasant-type bird also called the Monel or Lophophorus. Yes, well, no one ever said Cormorants were pretty.

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BtheB

Headwaters of the East Humber River

2011-12-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

A gnarled and ancient willow tree marks the spot on the south side of Lake St. George, near Oak Ridges, where the East Humber River begins its journey from northern Richmond Hill, through southern King Township, and on to the cities of Vaughan and Toronto, and into Lake Ontario. The East Humber River rises on the south side of the Oak Ridges Moraine and joins the main Humber River, which rises near the Niagara Escarpment, north of Toronto. The Humber River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1999.

The first bridge that crosses the East Humber River is just steps from the Lake St. George headwaters.

An ancient utilities bunker near the shore of Lake St. George.

Ponderosa Pine at the TRCA's Lake St. George conservation field centre.

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BtheB

Goldfinch: European vs. American

2011-12-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Tony Hisgett,Birmingham, UK

European Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelis

Photo by BarrytheBirder

American Goldfinch
Carduelis tristis

I've very recently (yesterday) learned there are five species of goldfinch in the world: three in North America (American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch and Lawrence's Goldfinch) and two in Europe, western Asia and north African (European Goldfinch and Grey-crowned Goldfinch). These five species are according to Monroe & Sibley's A World Checklist of Birds. Go to Wikipedia however and there are 11 subspecies of the European Goldfinch awaiting promotion to full species. According to Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, these lovely birds get their name from "...goldfinch n. 1229, in the surname Goldfinch, developed from Old English gold-finc (about 1,000)." Unlike the American Goldfinch, the European Goldfinch does not change its colour pattern between seasons of the year. European Goldfinch cage-escapees and their offspring are regularly sighted in New Zealand, Australia and the USA. I feel I would be foolish and petty to choose a favourite between these two attractive birds, so I won't.
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BtheB

Sunset Beach ~ Lake Wilcox

2011-12-03T02:00:00.000-05:00

BarrytheBirder Photos

Mallard and ? cross

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BtheB

Waiting for winter at Cold Creek

2011-12-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BtheB

Any day is a warbler day

2011-12-01T04:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Brad Ouelette

MCape May WarblerM

Dendroica Tigrina

This photo of a male Cape May Warbler, in breeding plumage, may seem out-of-season but here's why it is here. I have just become a subscriber to BirdWatching Magazine, although I have not received my first copy yet. But I have gone online at www.BirdWatchingDaily.com and the first thing that hit my eye was this brilliant photo by Brad Ouelette of a Cape May Warbler, which he took last May at Point Pelee National Park. Considering this is the first day of December and the first snow of the fall to stay on the ground arrived yesterday, I just had to share this. If this is typical of the kind of photography I can expect to see with my new subscription, I have spent my money well.
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BtheB

Last day of November

2011-11-30T11:57:00.001-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The last day of November has brought snow that appears to be staying on the ground...and on the bird feeders. This of course provokes a certain amount of nervous overcrowding and bickering about to whom the birdseed really belongs. In the top photo, Goldfinches, Purple Finches and Juncos load up. Out of the frame, but nearby, the more timid Chickadees, Tree Sparrows, House Finches and Cardinals wait their turn. Of course, all these winter warriors will flee at the approach of the boisterous Blue Jays. Then of course there are the squirrels - the bane of my existence.

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BtheB

4 subspecies of Fox Sparrow

2011-11-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder

MFOX SPARROWM

Passerella iliaca

The Fox Sparrow (above) was an unexpected but pleasant surprise in the backyard this afternoon. I was sitting waiting to photograph House Finches and Purple Finches when this visitor joined the finches, the juncos, the sparrows and the chickadees. I did not know, until now, that there are now 4 subspecies of Fox Sparrows. The Sooty, Slate-coloured, and Thick-billed subspecies all live on the west coast of Canada and the U.S.A. The Red Fox Sparrow (pictured above) can be found in Alaska and right across northern Canada. Fox Sparrows are always great to have around. They're big, brightly coloured and have a brilliant and musical song in the spring. This was a bonus, probably because of the record-breaking, mild, November weather we've had in southern Ontario.
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BtheB

Swede jailed for catching 13,000 wild birds

2011-11-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

Photo / onemoregeneration.org

mEURASIAN EAGLE-OWLm

Bubo bubo

Care2, the social network website, reports that a 40-year-old Swedish man has been convicted of taking 13,000 wild birds plus viable eggs from natural habitats, over a 15-year period. He has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. The birds included protected species such as the Three-toed Woodpecker and the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (pictured above). These two species had experienced declines in Sweden related to DDT exposure and programs had been implemented to help them recover. Help for the Eagle-Owl is decades old and in 1983 a breeding program had just two wild Eagle-Owls for mating. Speculation is that the convicted man's behaviour had a negative impact on the Eagle-Owl's recovery. His attorney pleaded a case of an over-zealous hobby but he was convicted of animal cruelty, violating animal protection laws, and hunting crimes. The Swedish Ornithological Society said cases like this were "pretty unusual". Animal hoarding appears compulsive and may be a sign of obsessive compulsive disorder, and collecting on a scale of 13,000 birds appears to be a case of a mental disorder. An 18-month jail term seems to offer no guarantee against recidivism, upon release, if the convicted man is not professionally treated for his offending behaviour. A sad case, indeed.

In another part of Europe, Care2 reports that 10,000 dead songbirds were discovered by officials at the border of Hungary and Romania beneath boxes containing meat and sausages destined for Italy. Most of the birds were Skylarks, while others were Bluethroats, Fieldfares, Mistle Thrushes, Reed Buntings and Pied Wagtails. They were all killed by shotguns. The European Committee against Bird Slaughter says the trade in shot Skylarks and other songbirds costs the lives of hundreds of thousands of bird every year. Italian forest police annually seize thousands of illegally acquired wild birds in restaurants and game butcher shops, which always include deliveries of migrant birds smuggled in from the Balkans. The collective noun for Skylarks is an "exaltation", but in this case, the only beings rapturously excited are the profiteers of the senseless killing.

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BtheB

Annual migration around 1/2 million birds

2011-11-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Marvin DeJong/AP

WSandhill CraneW

Grus canadensis

The terrific composition in this exemplary photograph of Sandhill Cranes, by Marvin DeJong, may be deliberate execution or pure luck. In either case, it is a picture with which the photographer must be extremely satisfied. It was shot at a refuge near Socorro, New Mexico, where migrating birds are expected in record numbers this winter because of drought in neighbouring Texas. Wikipedia says: "The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest. This is the most important stopover area for the Lesser Sandhill Crane...with up to 450,000 of these birds migrating through annually". Below is a photo I took, three months ago, of two Sandhill Cranes near Luther Marsh, in Southern Ontario. Many Sandhills migrate through Ontario but in nowhere near the numbers as in the U.S. midwest.

Photo by BarrytheBirder

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BtheB

Mildest November ever?

2011-11-26T00:00:00.001-05:00

Female Junco photo by BarrytheBirder

For the past week or so I've been commenting to people that I will be 70 years old in a couple of weeks and I don't ever remember a November as mild as this one in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Most people politely nod or make a very brief comment about how it may be so. One or two oldtimers seem to remember a November that might have been milder, and a few others eye me apprehensively for what might be coming next. Well, today I read what Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, and the man acknowledged, far and wide, as the foremost weather expert in Canada, had to say about the possibility. "In my business, we break records by a fraction of a degree", he said. "But we've literally smashed it by one full degree (Celsius)". With just a few days left in the month, plus a warm forecast until the 29th, a new record seems a certainty. One of the people I accosted with this amazing news wondered whether it was good or bad. I for one think it is good...and hope that December will set a record also! Meanwhile, the Dark-eyed Juncos arrived 3 weeks ago and are gorging themselves. Instinct prevails.

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BtheB

GBBC 2011 photo winners

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Photo by Lesley Mattuchio

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2011 Photo Contest winners have been announced and the overall winner is Lesley Mattuchio, of Massachesetts, for her American Tree Sparrow photograph (above). The contest is a joint effort of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada. There are 31 photographs of overall and category winners, plus runners-up and they can all be seen on the GBBC website. Four of the winning photos this year were taken by Canadians. Below is the winning photo in the 'Behaviour' category: Red-shouldered Hawk with snake, by Howard Izenwasser of Florida.

Photo by Howard Izenwasser

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BtheB

Snow Buntings in Greenland

2011-11-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Jon Vidar Photo

After writing about Snow Buntings two blogs ago, I went to bed that night with my copy of Ken Kaufman's Lives of North American Birds. Ken Kaufman notes that these buntings are sometimes called "Snowflakes", for their winter-time, swirling, low-level flying. He goes on to say: "In summer they retire to barren northern tundra, with some breeding on the northernmost islands of Canada and the mountains of Greenland". Greenland? Mountains? I had always assumed Greenland was a gigantic slab of ice, year-around. Out of bed... back to the computer... hit Google... go to Wikipedia. Including the Snow Bunting, Greenland has recorded 240 species of birds! 170 of these are rare or accidental. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by 39 species of ducks and geese, or 32 species of sandpipers, but 24 new world warblers?!? Here's a sampling of some of the other shockers for me: Pacific Loon, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Purple Gallinule, Bohemian Waxwing, Marsh Wren,Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Mourning Dove. These birds should know better. Well, maybe not the Mourning Dove.
As for mountains in Greenland, there are 90 over 1/2 mile high, of which five are over 10,000 ft. Judging by the photo above, by Jon Vidar, Greenland is indeed green, in spots and at certain times, but the ice cap and small glaciers still cover 85% of Greenland.
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BtheB

Fall's first freezing rain

2011-11-23T08:24:00.001-05:00

Photo by BarrytheBirder
A forlorn Junco ponders the thin layer of ice on his breakfast this morning.

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BtheB

First Snow Buntings arrive

2011-11-22T11:29:00.001-05:00

Photos by BarrytheBirder

WSNOW BUNTINGW

Plectrophenax nivalis

We've had no snow on the ground yet, but I saw Snow Buntings this morning in the village of Nobleton. There was a flock of about 30 and they swooped about me for almost five minutes while I patiently waited for them to land, so that I could get a photo. They did not land however and disappeared across a field, so I did not get a picture. Ah, but what about the photos above? I took the photos above, last winter, with a more cooperative flock of buntings. According to the Royal Ontario Museum Field Guide to the Birds of Ontario, the Snow Bunting is an uncommon to abundant migrant and visitor from October to May. It breeds on rocky tundra... something I have never done.

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BtheB

In a bit of a slump

2011-11-21T20:10:00.001-05:00

Photo by Joanne McKinnon

Today I saw a Pileated Woodpecker, a Red-tailed Hawk, and an American Kestrel. The photo of the Pileated Woodpecker above was not taken by me. It was taken by Joanne McKinnon, the wife of my old friend Glenn McKinnon, up in Bracebridge. I'm not sure if the continuing mild weather has something to do with my few recent birding sightings but it's only five weeks until Christmas and we still haven't had any snow that's stayed on the ground. I'm almost wishing for snow in hopes that it will bring some fresh winter visitors. I'm always on the lookout for Snowy Owls, particularly up in the wide-open Holland Marsh, but none yet. Checking the internet, no one else seems to have spotted a Snowy yet, either, in York Region. I'm also ready to see a Great Grey Owl again...it's been a few years.

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BtheB

Fastest disappearing bird?

2011-11-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Photos by Martin J. McGill/WWT/PA

Spoon-billed Sandpiper
Eurynorhynchus pygmeus

A number of authorities are stating that this bird is, indeed, racing towards extinction faster than any of the other bird on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There are a little over 10,000 bird species in the world. Of these, a little over 1,200 will disappear by the end of this century. A precious few will disappear forever, as as early as tomorrow, but won't be confirmed until some time after the fact. A few of the world's most threatened bird species only exist in captivity, in programs designed to somehow reverse what seems like the inevitable. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper joined those ranks this week when 13 young spoonbills arrived at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's centre in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, U.K. These birds will be raised and bred in capitivity as a rearguard action, in support of the last, and seemingly doomed, 120 to 200 pairs breeding in north-eastern Russia. At one time, the occasional stray would reach Alaska and Canada but those days are long over. The Spoon-billed's habitat is being eliminated everywhere it goes: on the breeding grounds in Russia, along its migration routes in Eastern Asia and on its wintering grounds in several south-east Asian countries. Hunting and predation at nests are also a problem. Even normally stuffy scientific organizations call this small bird with the odd bill 'charismatic'. It was listed as vulnerable in 2000, endangered in 2004 and critically endangered in 2008. Let's hope this sandpiper can charm itself and its handlers at Slimbridge enough to avoid the unthinkable.
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BtheB

Murmuration of Starlings gives me goosebumps

2011-11-19T13:04:00.000-05:00

If you haven't see this bit of video yet, you are in for a real treat. The lowly starling literally lifts itself, and several thousand others of its kind, into a lofty, spectacular celebration of flight. It leaves two young women delighted and amusingly breathless. Go into the blue box below and click on the blue link, under Murmuration. You will be linked to a large-size format where you can view 'Murmuration'. Thanks to my friend and neighbour, Ed Millar, for passing this one along.

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/31158841

Murmuration
http://vimeo.com/31158841

About this video:
"A chance encounter and shared moment with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena."

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB