Pinery Birds!

We headed back to Pinery Provincial Park today to help a friend introduce some cousins to birding. There were few birds to see in the morning, but that changed when we stopped for lunch at Beach Parking #9. Several Tufted Titmice were happy to see us!

Black-capped Chickadees were the "stars of the show". Their black cap and "chick-a-dee" song made for easy species identification. It was nice to experience the start of "hand-feeding season"!

A White-breasted Nuthatch stayed close by but did not land on any out-stretched hands. These birds are masters of stealing food cached or stored in tree bark by other birds.

A walk along the beach resulted in only one bird that the group could see which was a distant Bonaparte's Gull. Tracks in the sand revealed an American Crow had passed by earlier. Crows are in the group of birds with 4 toes; 3 pointing forward and 1 pointing behind. The backward-facing toe is called the hallux and is often larger and stronger than the other toes, providing support and balance. Two side-by-side Crow tracks are visible in the picture. The toenail of the hallux is dented into the sand behind the toe print.

https://learnbirdwatching.com/bird-claws/

Cedar Waxwings followed us along the Heritage Trail. There were lots of berries for the waxwings and Robins to feast upon.

We weren't lucky enough to see a Pileated Woodpecker today, however Deryl spied this individual on a visit a few days ago.