Shouting from the Roof Top!

Monday's continual mini blizzards were interrupted by 20 minutes of sunshine and the Canada Geese wanted to shout the news to everyone!

I love the camouflage on this little Brown Creeper. It disappears into the tree bark in the top photo, but is more visible in the lower one. The naturalist W.M. Tyler, writing in 1948, captured this species' energy and fragility in a memorable description, "The Brown Creeper, as he hitches along the bole of a tree, looks like a fragment of detached bark that is defying the law of gravitation by moving upward over the trunk, and as he flies off to another tree, he resembles a little dry leaf blown about by the wind."

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/overview

 

Red-winged Blackbird marching on a mission!

A Visit to Strathroy C.A.

I enjoyed a recent walk through the Strathroy Conservation Area. Many birds were heard, few were seen, but there were a few surprises! The Sydenham River is the only major watershed in Canada that lies entirely within the Carolinian Life Zone and is home to many plants and animals that are found nowhere else in Canada.

An unexpected find in the Sydenham River was a Horned Grebe. It was moulting into breeding plumage. Horned Grebes regularly eat some of their own feathers, enough that the stomach usually contains a matted plug of feathers. This plug may function as a filter or may hold fish bones in the stomach until they can be digested.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Horned_Grebe/overview

Passersby asked me if the Horned Grebe was a baby Canada Goose. From a distance with no binoculars, I could see how a non-birder might come to that conclusion. I showed them a "close up" picture on my camera to point out the differences.

American Red Squirrels are among the most aggressive of North America's tree squirrels. They are territorial, vocal, and fiercely protective of food caches. Despite weighing less than a pound, they will actively chase away larger gray squirrels and defend a personal range of 2-5 acres.

https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Red-Squirrels.html

A picnic table for the squirrels, 20 feet up a tree!

Many Song Sparrows were singing, but few were seen.

An extensive trail system is dotted with boardwalks for easier walking in wetter seasons.

https://www.scrca.on.ca/portfolio/strathroy-conservation-area/

Owls, Songbirds and a Flying Monkey!

We missed them in the fall, but found a Northern Saw-whet Owl during it's spring migration heading north. They are slightly heavier (but more compact) than a Hairy Woodpecker and smaller than an Eastern Screech-Owl.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/lifehistory

As I approached a known Eastern Screech Owl roosting area in Canatara, I heard a raucous of scolding birds. Blue Jays, Nuthatches and Chickadees were swooping at the tree so I didn't expect to see the owl. I did however find several birds peeking into the cavity. The Black-capped Chickadees appeared to be the bravest!

Long-eared Owls hunt on the wing, coursing back and forth, just above open ground. They will sometimes hover over prey or hunt from perches if winds are strong.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Long-eared_Owl/lifehistory

I recently heard our weather being described as a "whiplash" of temperature changes. Lake Chipican has been going through regular freezes and thaws in recent weeks. In an effort to break the ice by paddling his feet, this Canada Goose was making ice cubes at the surface! (The goose successfully made it to open water.)

Another Canada Goose was "parked" on the BMX track. It will be moving on once the temperatures warm and the track starts to get use.

A Tufted Titmouse was calling high in a tree when it suddenly dove into the underbrush close to where I was standing. I was happy to be able to locate and photograph it as the Canatara Park Titmice are very wary of humans when compared to the ones living at Pinery Provincial Park.

White-breasted Nuthatch looking for hidden food caches.

An American Robin found a rare patch of melting ice for a drink of water on a cold day.

Sometimes, Lake Huron has actually been calm!

Snow fencing between Canatara beach and the parking lot is doing its job of keeping eroding sand out of the parking lot during north winds.

Mallard Pair: She was busily preening and checked out a feather that she had just plucked from her body.

Soon after taking a photo of the resident immature Red-tailed Hawk, it made a dive for some food.  It flew too far away to know if he had success. Its fascinating to watch it manoeuver through the trees in its quest for food!

In keeping with the "Things With Wings" theme, I photographed a Flying Monkey at the Oz in Bloomland Display hosted by the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington this week! 

 Desjardins Canal

A burst of sunshine at lunch on an otherwise grey day encouraged me to visit the Desjardins Canal in Dundas. It wasn’t a particularly birdy day, but a chance to get out for a walk couldn’t be passed up! Soon after my arrival, a Red-tailed Hawk soared over the adjacent butterfly gardens, searching for a snack.

Manmade islands were being inspected by a pair of Canada Geese.

But the next time I glanced in that direction, the Canada Geese had departed and a pair of Mallards were using it for a rest spot, possibly considering it as a location for this year's nest.

All About Birds describes Pied-billed Grebes as part bird, part submarine. I enjoy watching them "sink" out of sight. They have the ability to trap water in their feathers, giving them great control over their buoyancy. They can sink deeply or stay just at or below the surface, exposing as much, or as little of the body as they wish. This individual was my first Pied-billed Grebe of the year!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/overview

Looking towards Coote's Paradise, and scanning with my binoculars exposed zero birds, not even any Canada Geese or Mute Swans!! After finding food, the cold temperatures were keeping the birds in sheltered areas.

Meanwhile, a Cooper's Hawk Near Home:

If I hadn't watched the Cooper's Hawk fly in and land, I likely would have missed the well camouflaged bird. It obviously saw something that it wanted to catch, probably a chipmunk. But after bouncing around on the log and surrounding ground, it flew away "empty-taloned"!

Another first for the year! An Eastern Phoebe caught my attention as it pumped its tail up and down. In order to keep track of the movement of individual birds, scientists will place tiny bands on the legs of birds. Each band has a number, much like a license plate on a car. In 1804, John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe's leg, making it the first bird banded in North America!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Phoebe/overview

American Goldfinch, soaking up the sun. A few male Goldfinch are beginning to show their brighter colours.

White-throated Sparrow that I found without someone else first pointing it out! This bird has done a good job of hiding from me!

In addition to drumming on tree bark, woodpeckers like this Red-bellied Woodpecker are being very vocal.

Tail-less Turkey Vulture - someone's been in a battle!

Gull species, including this Ring-billed Gull, are often found patrolling the Lake Huron shoreline in search of food.

A Herring Gull found a feast when a fish washed up on the Canatara shore.

 Warblers in North Lambton!!

First warblers of the year! We found 2 Yellow-rumpled Warblers at Pinery Provincial Park on Saturday! They were our first warblers of the year, but one warbler was found in the area back in January. It’s hard to say if they are early migrants, or if they spent the winter in the park.

Juniper berries were the food of choice. Hopefully they will be sustained on the fruit until insects begin to immerge from their winter slumber.

We saw an interesting selection of birds including a Fox Sparrow on the Riverside Trail.

We heard the high pitched Ki-Ki-Ki of a Merlin. Upon scanning for the bird, we found this perched individual, but it was not the one that was calling. It wasn’t long before the second Merlin noisily soared past us. Merlins are the second smallest of the 4 Falcons found in Ontario. They are larger than Kestrels, but smaller than Peregrine Falcons.

The bird feeders were well stocked at the Visitor Centre so an abundant number of song birds were in the area. They definitely associate people with food and landed nearby in a constant parade of seed grabbing! It was fun to have close up views of a Red-breasted Nuthatch!

The ever adorable Tufted Titmouse!

White-breasted Nuthatch

Overlooking the Ausable River Cut, a Bald Eagle scanned the assortment of ducks below his perch. Perhaps he was meal planning for later in the day, as no attempts to grab a meal occurred while we watched.

Many handsome Blue Jays were also eager to have an easy snack of seeds. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue_Jay/overview

Walking a marked trail through the Dunes, towards Lake Huron.

Our next stop was at the Lambton Heritage Forest where we had views of a flooded farm field. We found 22 species of birds including 300+ Tundra Swans, 3 Woodpecker species, and lots of ducks including American Wigeon, Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, and even a pair of Sandhill Cranes!

Beaver Lodge visible within the Lambton Heritage Forest. A Bald Eagle flew into a tree nearby and virtually disappeared into a well-hidden nest!

 

Curious Red Squirrels were found at a few locations throughout the day. We walked over 13 km in our quest for birds and wildlife. Happily the sun came out in the afternoon for a very successful and enjoyable day!