White-breasted Nuthatch and Friends

White-breasted Nuthatch and 

Other Species

Waterloo County

16 December 2013

    On a classic December day, with nothing but bright sunshine and pristine snow, the temperature a crisp minus eleven degrees C, and no wind, it was a perfect day to share with our feathered friends.

   A White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis seemed like a good target bird and we set off to locations where we were pretty sure we could find one. We were not disappointed!

    Needless to say the nuthatch was not alone and both male and female Downy Woodpeckers Picoides pubescens were foraging in the same area.

Female Downy Woodpecker

Female Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy Woodpecker

    A Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus was pretty much guaranteed to put in an appearance.

    A couple of Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis came to feed on the seed we spread around; the following picture is of a female. This species has several distinct sub species, quite different morphologically, and it is a source of great enjoyment for birders to search for races not normally found in a given area. The variant normally found here is Junco hyemalis hyemalis, or Slate-coloured, depicted below.

        American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea is a winter visitor to southern Ontario, having left its breeding haunts in the far north, primarily above the tree line. This picture shows an individual gleaning seed from the snow while a White-breasted Nuthatch hitches down the wall.

    Two of the identifying characters of American Tree Sparrow are the bicoloured mandible and the central breast spot. Perhaps you can detect them on the following images.

    We had scattered a little seed on the top of a stump and a female Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis wasted no time claiming her share.

       And all of this activity takes place due a simple suet feeder nailed to a tree, with a little knee wall whose function escapes me.

    The weir on the Conestoga River and the river itself were clad in glorious winter dress. It seems hard to believe at this time of year that within a few months swallows will be hawking over the water.

Birds of the Hinterland of Waterloo County

Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and

an American Kestrel

15 December 2013

    On a drive through the agricultural hinterland of Waterloo County this afternoon we observed several flocks of Horned Larks Eremophila alpestris feeding in fields of corn stubble and also on the rural roads foraging for grit. In some of the pictures below it is easy to see the remnant corn on which the birds are feeding. It is an irony of mechanized corn harvesting that about eight percent is left in the field, fully sufficient to sustain many birds throughout the winter.

    Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis generally flock together in large groups and the ones we came across this afternoon were no exception. We estimated that a conservative count would be three hundred.
    As can be noted from the picture below they were initially spotted gleaning grit from the road. But for the presence of two young Old Order Mennonite women striding purposefully to their destination, we could have eased the car slowly towards them for better pictures. Unfortunately the birds flushed as the women drew closer.

    Many landed in nearby fields to join other birds already feeding there.

    This picture gives an idea of the stark, snowy, windswept landscape where these little birds eke out a living at the harshest time of the year.

   American Kestrels Falco sparverius are notoriously skittish when a car stops alongside them and we were fortunate to capture this image of a male as it left its perch on the wire.

Winter Wonderland Good News and Bad News

Winter Wonderland in Waterloo

    Yesterday, on a bitterly cold winter's day (the highest temperature we achieved was minus 11 degrees C) with deep and continuing snow, we did the annual Kitchener Christmas Bird Count. As might be expected under such conditions, the total count was down from previous years, but our party managed to find three significant species - only the second record ever for Greater Scaup Aythya marila (a pair on the Grand River), a Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus and a very agreeable Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor.

    Unfortunately, between the snow falling constantly, and the fact that we were bundled up against the cold, I failed to get a single picture.

    This morning I went out to shovel my driveway; the good news is that it's done, the bad news is that it's still snowing and will probably need it  again before the day is out!

    Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like on Osprey Drive in Waterloo.

My house with its clean driveway

Looking north along the street

Looking south along the street

Look Again People, I'm Beautiful

Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris

    I don't know whether Common Starlings are treated with as much disdain in other parts of the world, as they sometimes are here, but they are stunningly beautiful birds if one takes the time to look at them closely.

   They are, of course, an introduced species, and aggressively compete with native species for nesting cavities. But it is we who introduced them into North America and we should not now be maligning them for their success. They have become part of our avifauna and I always enjoy seeing them, especially when they enliven a sterile parking lot on a breezy winter's day.

   

Crows Just Hangin' Out on a Cold Winter's Day

American Crow Corvus brachynchos

Waterloo, ON

9 December 2013

    Winter seems to have come early this year, and today is a cold, snowy day with high winds and very strong gusts. The air temperature is a relatively mild minus one degree C, but the wind adds a substantial chill to the air. Many of these crows were fighting the sudden shifts in the wind as they navigated through the air. 

    I estimated that in total there were about three hundred individuals congregating together as they dealt with the inclement weather we all have to face today.

The Birds of Three Bridges Road, Waterloo County

Three Bridges Road

8 December 2013

    This morning, on a cold but sunny day, Miriam and I decided to take a drive along Three Bridges Road, near the town of St. Jacobs, to see what bird life we could find. It is quite astounding to contemplate the variety of species we have seen along this rural stretch of about five kilometres in Waterloo County.

    Near to the weir along the Conestoga River, at the end of the Mill Race, there is a low brick wall and a tree where some kind soul has placed a suet feeder, which is restocked throughout the winter, and additionally bird seed is sprinkled along the top of the wall. As you might expect a variety of birds are attracted to this bounty.

    This morning we were fortunate to have both Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens and Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus coming in to feed on the suet. The first picture below shows Downy Woodpecker, which to all intents and purposes is a smaller version of Hairy Woodpecker. The pictures readily show the small bill of the downy as contrasted with the longer, more robust bill of the hairy, one of the key distinguishing features.

Male Downy Woodpecker

Male Hairy Woodpecker

    Blue Jays Cyanocitta cristata were coming in to take advantage of the seed strewn along the wall and on the ground.

    Male and female Dark-eyed Juncos Junco hyemalis darted in and out to grab a few seeds, in between bouts of feeding on natural food found in the leaf litter. 

Male Dark-eyed Junco

    
Just past the feeding station this handsome pair of American Black Ducks  Anas rubripes was dabbling in the Conestoga River.

    A Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus had emerged from beneath the ice and if you look carefully at the right side of the picture you will see the hole whence it emerged. 

    This gnarled old tree looks like it has weathered many winters.

   Throughout our drive we saw several raptors, most frequently soaring above the flat terrain searching for prey. This Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis was perched in a tree scanning the ground below

    One of the species we had expected to find this morning was Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris but we saw nary a one. We will save that one for next time!

Winter Ducks at Sioux Lookout Park

Sioux Lookout Park

Burlington, ON

7 December 2013

    It always seems to me that Sioux Lookout is a bit of an odd designation for a park in southern Ontario since not a single branch of the Sioux nation ever lived here! It would have been more appropriate perhaps to name it Mohawk Lookout, or Iroquois or Huron, all reflecting aboriginal people with a continuing presence in this part of Canada.

    Be that as it may, Sioux Lookout Park is always a prime vantage point from which to view large aggregations of winter ducks, often quite close inshore.

    Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula is one species guaranteed to be found there.

    When courtship commences males engage in an elaborate ritual involving a great deal of head tossing and posturing. I was surprised to see some of this already taking place, as can be seen in the picture below (see bird on the right). It may represent early pair bonding or perhaps some sort of dominance display to other males.

    This duck is quite tiny but lives on the water in the most awful of conditions at times. Lake Ontario is in fact a large inland sea and is subjected to substantial wave heights during winter storms.

     Here is a mixed flock with Red-breasted Mergansers Mergus serrator, another species easily found at this time of the year.

    This female Red-breasted Merganser obligingly swam close to shore as though posing for a picture.

    Many small groups were constantly diving for food and seemed to have success every time.