Great Grey Shrike in Unusual Location

Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor (aka Northern Shrike)

Mississauga, ON

4 December 2013

    There is a large shopping plaza at the intersection of Winston Churchill Boulevard and Argentia Road in Mississauga, ON, a location devoid of charm, featuring the motley assembly of big box stores one has come to expect in this era of shopping without character. It is in such locations that Black Friday manifests itself in all its ugliness.

    The only bit of vegetation left is that beneath the high transmission lines at the back of the buildings, running like a ribbon adjacent to Highway 401 (the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway).

    It was a great surprise to find a Great Grey Shrike there. The bird was moving from one perch to another, periodically going to ground to capture some kind of prey, I assume. This species is a rare straggler and winter resident throughout southern Ontario, and it is always quite special to locate one.

LaSalle Park and Marina

LaSalle Park and Marina

Burlington, ON

3 December 2013

    In addition to the Trumpeter Swans Cygnus buccinator covered in the previous post, LaSalle Park always has a great variety of interesting species to see, with much seasonal variation. Today was no exception.

    Red-breasted Mergansers Mergus serrator were quite common, albeit mostly far out on the lake.

    Greater Scaup Aytha marila were present in  abundance.

Male

Two females

    Ring-billed Gulls Larus delawarensis are often in the minority by this time of year, having been largely replaced by American Herring Gulls Larus smithsonianus, but today they were still overwhelmingly the most common larid.

    Bufflehead Bucephala albeola is a common winter visitor to Lake Ontario.

Male

Males and females

    Black-capped Chickadees Poecile atricapillus are known for their confiding nature, and are the delight of parents with young children as they readily take food from the hand. This individual seemed to like my pencil as a perch.

    Numerous American Black Ducks Anas rubripes were interspersed among the Mallards Anas platyrynchos and Canada Geese Branta canadensis.

    In previous years this location has been a winter haven for American Coot Fulica americana but today we saw relatively few of them. Perhaps they were just one bay away from us.

    

    A pair of Northern Cardinals Cardinalis cardinalis were feeding on the ground, but before we could get a picture of both the male flew into the bushes.

Female

    Canvasback Aytha valisineria is one of the diving ducks that seems to be much scarcer than it was in times past so it was very agreeable to see sixteen of them today.

Male

Female

        In addition to large numbers on the ground and on the water, Trumpeter Swans would take to the air from time to time, putting on a masterful display of flight for us, as they moved their heavy bodies through the air.

    It's always exciting to see these large birds make their feet forward landing on the water.

    

    Grey Squirrels Sciurus carolinensis (and their black variants) were well distributed along the trail and in the woodland, and seemed to follow every human, looking for a handout. 

    

    As daylight began to wane we bade farewell to LaSalle Park, already looking forward to our next visit.

Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator

LaSalle Park and Marina

Burlington, ON

3 December 2013

    Surely one of the most magnificent birds in all the avian kingdom, Trumpeter Swans find winter refuge along the north shore of Lake Ontario, with the greatest concentrations at LaSalle Park in Burlington. 

    I have no idea how many times I have visited these splendid creatures, but never often enough, and I hope to do it a thousand times again. My soul is stirred at their sight, my sense of the wildness of nature enhanced by their trumpeting calls; I am peace with myself when I am in their presence.

    Here are adults with the young of the year, all banded and wing-tagged to help monitor their movements and protect them at all costs.

    Canada Geese Branta canadensis are large birds by most standards; here next to Trumpeter Swans they appear small.

    Tranquility and peaceful coexistence are not always the order of the day, and this individual is displaying hostility towards another.

    Finally a bout of intra-specific aggression erupts.

    Contrast the difference between the adult bill and the juvenile bill.

Adult

Juvenile

    And the feet.

Adult

Juvenile

    
When we left the sun was beginning to set and the swans were settling down for the night. I wish them safe passage through the hours of darkness

and the enjoyment of another day tomorrow.

Lark Sparrow in Fort Erie, ON

Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus

in Fort Erie, ON
30 November 2013

    Remarkably, a Lark Sparrow, not normally seen north of the Great Lakes in eastern and central North America, has been present at the feeders of Patrick Baichoo at 801 Niagara River Parkway in Fort Erie.

    As might be imagined, this striking member of a large and diverse family, has caused great delight among the many birders who have been fortunate enough to see it.

    On Saturday last, while taking part in the annual Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists' outing to the Niagara area, principally in search of gulls, we stopped to see this rarity. For many participants it was a lifer.

    The neighbours of Patrick's property left their gate open so that birders could walk across their yard to view the feeders over the fence at Patrick's house, affording very good looks at the bird. 

    Patrick came out to see us and beckoned us over to a good vantage point from which to observe the bird. In the process he engaged us with a great deal of pleasant conversation and showed us pictures that he had taken. These pictures are used on this blog entry.

    On behalf of the birding fraternity, I wish to extend sincere thanks to Patrick and his wife for the hospitable and friendly manner in which they welcomed birders to their home. Their kindness was very much appreciated.

Gatherings of Angels

Gatherings of Angels

Migrating Birds and Their Ecology

edited by Kenneth P. Able

    The other day, in preparation for my upcoming trip to Ethiopia, I ordered a map of that country from an on line bookseller. In order to qualify for free shipping I had to boost the value of my order a little, and I selected the book shown below.

    I am not about to write a review, but simply to state that I find this a very fine work indeed. Migration has always fascinated me, and I suspect, many other nature lovers also. This book covers a sometimes complex, technical subject in a fashion accessible to the lay reader, free of scientific jargon, yet handles all aspects of migration in a comprehensive fashion.

    Some of the leading experts in avian migration have contributed to this work.

    It was published in 1999 so many of you may have acquired it, or at least read it, but if you have not I recommend it very highly.

Other works on migration from my book shelves:

The Mystery of Migration; Baker, Robin

Migrating Raptors of the World; Bildstein, Kenneth L.

The Migration of Birds; Hughes, Janice M.

Flight Strategies of Migrating Hawks; Kerlinger, Paul

Atlas of Bird Migration; Numerous contributors
Living on the Wind, Weidensaul, Scott

    Of the above, I would rank No. 2, 3, 4  and 6 above the other two.

Niagara River at Fort Erie

Niagara River at Fort Erie, ON

30 November 2013

    The Niagara River from Fort Erie all the way to the Falls had great concentrations of both waterfowl and gulls. 

Lone American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus with Ring-billed Gulls Larus delawarensis

    This Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus had found what seemed to be a dead merganser, probably Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator, and was busy feeding on it. I am sure that by the end of the day this carcass would have provided a fine meal for this opportunistic gull.

Lake Ontario Ducks

Fifty Road at Lake Ontario

Grimsby, ON

30 November 2013

    The concentration of ducks on Lake Ontario at this time of year is often spectacular, with staggering numbers of some species. Certain locations, often with semi-sheltered bays, are well-known feeding areas during daylight hours. One is pretty much guaranteed a marvelous spectacle of nature and rare species are nearly always present to any observer with patience and time to spend scanning the flocks.

    This male Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula was just one of thousands present.

    All three species of scoter were present, though not particularly close to shore. The following picture shows Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicallata, the commonest member of this genus on the water that day, with a lone White-winged Scoter Melanitta deglandi off to the left.

    As might be expected numerous Mallards Anas platyrynchos were amongst the throng, often closest to shore.

    This Mute Swan Cynus olor was digging deep for food!

    Every so often something seemed to spook the birds on the water and a mass lift-off would take place. Whenever that happened we would scan the sky for a Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus or Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus but nothing ever seemed to be amiss, and the birds quickly returned to the surface of the lake.

    The last days of November have been unseasonably cold and there is already a buildup of ice along the shore. Winter has its challenges but it also has its stellar delights.

    How beautiful are these sculptures of nature, especially when contrasted against the green of the algae clinging to the rocks.