Highlights from Recent Walks and Updates on Swallows and Ospreys

    Immediately parental duties are dispensed with Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) begin their pre-basic moult, which is complete, in preparation for their long migration south. This individual shows evidence of moult.

   
       
     I suspect that the blue-grey bill of this species is a seldom noted feature, and many birders might be hard-pressed to correctly identify it, having besotted themselves with the black and orange splendour of this much-loved bird.

     The picture above shows the bill in excellent detail - from New World Blackbirds, Jaramillo and Burke (1999) - ".........with the lower mandible, and the cutting edge of the upper mandible, entirely blue-grey."

     Thanks, Miriam, for capturing this feature so well.

     A Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a bird that invites anthropomorphism. The males seem to sing for the sheer pleasure of doing so!

     Birds are not the only creatures to capture our attention. I think I first saw this foal when it was mere days old and the passage of time has only added to its allure.

     It never strays far from mama, who furnishes security and food in one reliable package.

     There is another horse and foal in the same paddock, and both foals have the white badge on the forehead, perhaps indicating common fatherhood.
     American Robins (Turdus migratorius), both adult and young are seemingly everywhere!

     This Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) remained high in the trees, perhaps a little more secure there from birds anxious to make lunch of it.

     Better beware, however, an Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) was perched uncharacteristically in the uppermost foliage, and would make short work of a juicy butterfly given the chance.

     We have settled on Hillside Park, with an entry from Forwell Park, as our default after-dinner walk, providing a round-trip of about four kilometres, with a host of wildlife to occupy our curious minds.

     There appears to be a robust population of Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) with several nests. They have provided us with a good deal of pleasure. The eastern race is yellow-shafted, as the picture below illustrates, with the wing looking like a saucer or a piece of wood cut from a branch!

     The individual below is in a more conventional pose.

     Until recently we had not seen Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) this year. Our most reliable spot to find this species is The Mill Race Trail, which has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic. You will understand our delight when we located three together in Hillside Park.

     A female Brown-headed Cowbird probably poses little threat to potential host species by late July, most of which have completed egg laying for the year.

     As humans, as you all know, we can at times display an incredible degree of stupidity. We deliberately introduced the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) to defoliate our deciduous forests and woodlands, to follow up in short order with the Japanese Beetle (Papila japonica) to decimate leaf tissue and ripening fruit. 

     Don't hold your breath that we have finished with such folly.
     The Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) at SpruceHaven are into second broods, and seem to be thriving in the hot weather that causes so many of us to wilt.

     The pioneering pair of American Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in the meantime are busily adding to their nest. 

     It will be with a sense of triumph if I am able to report soon that nest construction has been completed and the female is incubating eggs. My fingers and toes are crossed I hope yours are too!
     The Western Ospreys (Pandion haliaeetus) at River Song continue to delight us, and we check on them several times a week. Parental dedication is the hallmark of this pair.

     We also a monitor another active osprey nest in Waterloo but it is both farther away and higher, so we are not given the intimate views we have with the River Song pair, but the degree of dedication to the welfare of the young seems less admirable. I have never, for example, seen the Waterloo pair shield the nestlings from the hot summer sun. Perhaps this is a young pair breeding for the first time, with much to learn.
     Covid-19 has impacted all of us in different ways, but perhaps for the person whose life is woven around the ever-changing, ever-fascinating, ever-satisfying world of nature, the effects have often been barely noticeable. 

A Morning at River Song

St. Jacobs, ON

29 May 2015

     John Pries, a long-standing member of Waterloo Region Nature, and his wife, Susan are the proprietors of River Song Banquet Hall on Hawkesville Road.

     

     The property is situated on five acres of diverse natural habitat along the Conestogo River where John, a dedicated naturalist, is fortunate to have what amounts to his own little nature preserve. Some of the views along the river are quite lovely.

     During our visit we purchased coffee and delicious baked goods from Susan and took them down to the river's edge where we could observe nature in all its spring glory to our heart's content.

     Both Midland Painted Turtles Chremys picta marginata and Snapping Turtles Chelydra serpentina are residents in the creek and John monitors their nesting activity in the spring, and goes to great lengths to protect a percentage of their nests from various predators who are keenly aware of the turtles laying, and are anxious to feed on the rich source of protein the eggs provide.

     John is diligent about not safeguarding all of the eggs and permits some nests to be vulnerable to predation as nature befits.

     The protected nests above contain eggs just laid by painted turtles and this anthropogenic intervention will assure that at least some young will ultimately make it to the water to embark on their precarious path to adulthood.

     Very kindly, John removed the cover from a clutch of eggs he had protected just the previous night and carefully cleared away the soil so that we could observe an egg.

      The egg was then very carefully put back in the same orientation before it was removed, and all of the soil replaced on top of it.

     As might be expected the creeks are home to numerous species of reptiles and amphibians and we had many excellent views of Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana .

     This American Toad Bufo americanus stayed clear of the water and tried to hide itself in the grass.

     Bracket fungi abounded and this configuration seemed particularly interesting.

     An Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe was sitting on its nest, but the location did not lend itself to great pictures. 

     However, we did see this adult bird with a caterpillar in its bill; perhaps there are already young in the nest and hungry mouths to feed.

     Just before arriving at the banquet hall we snapped this Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus on a fence and I include the picture here to show two members of the large tyrant flycatcher family together.

     A colony of American Cliff Swallows Petrochelidon pyrrhonota are in residence on the bridge crossing the river and the whole place was buzzing with commotion and activity.

     We spent a very pleasant hour and a half or so and saw many other species not covered here. If you are planning to be in the area be sure to give John a call. I have no doubt that he would be willing to show you the treasures of his property and share his fine knowledge of the natural world. And I guarantee you a mouth-watering delight if you splurge on some of Susan's fine baking.