Snow Bunting (Bruant des neiges)

"The strong wind from the north blows the snow almost horizontally; and, beside freezing you, almost takes your breath away. The driving snow blinds you, and where you are protected, you can see but a little way, it is so thick. Yet in spite, or on account, of all, I see the first flock of arctic snowbirds near the depot, white and black, with a sharp whistle-like note. An hour after I discovered half a pint of snow in each pocket of my greatcoat....

These are the true winter birds for you, these winged snowballs. I could hardly see them, the air was so full of driving snow. What hardy creatures! Where do they spend the night?"

Henry David Thoreau, 29 December 1853

     Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) excite my imagination as much today as they did Thoreau more than a century and a half ago.

Another Great Day!

 21 February 2021

     A good friend of ours invited us up to her farm to see the large flocks of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) that have been visiting her of late, and we were happy to accept.  A chance to see the birds and catch up with our friend was not to be missed.

     Actually, several flocks seem to coalesce into one concentrated mass, the corn laid out for them doubtless a factor in this behaviour.

     First let me give you an idea of the number of birds (and none of these pictures captures all of them).

      It is impossible to count them, but there are certainly several hundred. They are quite skittish and swirl into the air at the hint of any threat, real or imagined.

      They are to say the least delightful little birds; on the snow.....

     ..... and in the air,

     ..... or on a wire.

     Common Redpolls (Acanthis flammea) too have invaded southern Ontario this winter, and they were not at all reluctant to approach us at close quarters.

     But for us, in a star-studded cast I might add, the Snow Buntings were the marquee attraction.

     There was corn set out on a table too, and that attracted birds away from the main feeding frenzy taking place on the ground.

     A few Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) joined up with the flocks of Snow Buntings, as they often do. I am sure you will have no difficulty picking them out in the next couple of shots.

     Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) is quite rare in southern Ontario, and we were happy to spot a couple.

     Sometimes, the birds on the wire seemed to chatter to each other and at other times they remained aloof.

     I can't resist one more picture.

     And as we left a Common Redpoll came to wish us safe journey, and we are confident that it echoed our friend's cheery "Come back soon". 

     Rest assured that we will!

     It was barely mid afternoon and there was glorious sunshine, so we decided to go on a quest for Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus). It should be noted that once the owls move south from the tundra, they tend to remain in a given area as long as there is abundant food. This does not always make it easy to find them, but it narrows down the search.

     Knowing where to look proved invaluable and we soon found a majestic male.

     It matters not how often I see one of these birds, my heart still pounds at first sight.

     How could you ever become blasé about such a wondrous creature?

        We are always very cognizant of the fact that the birds are resting, and everything should be done to avoid disturbance. So we were mildly perturbed when this bird suddenly took to the air.

     And then we saw the reason. 

     A large, immature female cruised in and claimed the perch.

     Both birds appeared to be the picture of good health, and we assume that the rodent biomass is more than adequate to ensure that they have no difficulty securing food. And of late we have been going through a prolonged cold snap so conditions have been ideal for a northern-adapted species.

     On their breeding grounds on the tundra the owls operate in a treeless environment, but their feet are well adapted to perching.

     When we left the male was nowhere to be seen but the female was still firmly ensconced on her perch.

     If you needed affirmation that it is great to live in a northern land, a day such as this would clinch it in an instant. We were a supremely happy couple driving home!   

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris and

Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus

in Waterloo County 25 November 2012

    This afternoon my wife and I decided to take a drive through the "hinterland"of Waterloo County with the principal goal of trying to locate a flock of Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis.

    On Streicher Road in Wellesley Township we had the great good fortune to come across a substantial flock of Horned Larks feeding in a field of corn stubble and in with the Horned Larks were at least two Lapland Longspurs. We parked at the side of the road and the birds were very close indeed, at times coming onto the road to feed on grit. The light conditions were not conducive to good photography but the pictures show both species. 

    And by the way, we did get to see the Snow Buntings too. A little farther west along the road we saw a flock of around five hundred birds.

                                Dorsal view of Lapland Longspur

                                              Side view of Lapland Longspur

                                             Frontal view of Horned Lark

                                             Horned Lark feeding on corn

    All in all it was a great afternoon of birding with many other interesting species to round out the day.

Lapland Longspur in banding cage captured by Sharp-shinned Hawk

Snow Buntings, Plectrophenax nivalis approaching the bird bander's cage.

Lapland Longspur, Calcarius lapponicus in the cage

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus on top of cage

Lapland Longspur captured by Sharp-shinned Hawk

While travelling the rural roads near Metz, Ontario we encountered a large flock of Snow Buntings, with a single Lapland Longspur keeping company in the flock.

There was a licenced bird bander present for the principal purpose of banding Snow Buntings, a practice we have witnessed in previous years. In order to capture the birds he uses a cage on the ground, baited with corn, with one-way access into the enclosure.

As the pictures above show, it was verging on serendipitous to watch the longspur enter the cage with four Snow Buntings. Within minutes and certainly before the bander got out of his truck to empty the cages, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and landed on top of the cage, no doubt attracted by the distress of the birds inside who were now flapping and doing everything possible to escape from their confines.

The hawk lost no time in inserting its talons into the pen and quickly caught the Lapland Longspur and made several attempts to get its beak into position to dispatch its prey, but without success given the relatively small mesh of the cage. By now the bird bander was on his way and when he got to within two or three metres the hawk dropped the longspur and flew off. The bird was examined by the bander and released immediately. Much to our surprise it could still fly and sped across the field with the Sharp-shinned Hawk in quick pursuit. As far as we could tell the longspur was not recaptured and the hawk dropped down into the field and then moved to the side of the road where it had nothing in its talons.

Whether the Lapland Longspur can possibly survive this ordeal is open to question, but it was a gripping, albeit somewhat distressing, drama to watch.

Our brother-in-law, John Lichty, was with us and the longspur was a lifer for him; a lifer I am sure he will not soon forget!