We are coming to the end of our first vacation for the year. We always take at least one week off in early May and much of that time is spent birding. It has been an exhausting but great week off. And I just wanted to share some of our sightings from home and beyond.
A ruby-throated hummingbird spent a few days in our yard because it was still pretty cold much of the time and there was nothing in bloom yet, so he was depending on our nectar feeder for survival. His behavior tells me that as he pretty much ignored us outside and would fly close to us to get to the feeder. We gave him his space so he could feed but there was a few close run ins with the bird while doing things out back. Once the blooms started in our golden current shrubs, he started spending a lot of time in there. This provided a nice photo opportunity.
We also encountered a Cape May warbler one morning in some cherry blossoms. It too had little care for anything as it tried to feed on a very chilly day. We just stood in one spot and watched the bird, giving it space and not disturbing it.
A couple of Cape May warblers have been hanging around our neighbourhood the last few days. We saw both at our water fountain one afternoon. The moving water brought them to it but then also scared them off. They have since braved up to the fountain as well as have discovered our other water sources in the yard like this small basin in a decorative chair.
We've had some other warbler species in and around the yard but they've all been high in the trees and there's been no photo opportunities. But we have seen them in our travels this past week. One of the species is this, a northern parula.
Another is the black and white warbler. They're fun to watch as they go up and down the trees like nuthatches.
We were also blessed to see a number of blackburnian warblers; one was in the yard too! What a stunning little bird. They were difficult to photograph as they just kept moving and feeding. The photo does it no justice.
Our highlight bird(s) were a hooded warbler which took us about an hour to finally see in some woods instead of just hear, and the other was 2 Canada warblers. We hadn't seen a hooded warbler in 7 or so years just because they aren't one to come through Toronto. Canada warblers are hit and miss for us each year. So seeing both of these warblers while on vacation was great!
Hooded warbler.
Canada warbler. It looks like it is wearing a necklace.
We have been enjoying a variety of sparrow species at home. We had one off visits from both a fox sparrow and a Lincoln's sparrow.
Fox sparrow.
Lincoln's sparrow, seen with a white crowned sparrow (we still have 2 of these hanging around).
We have never had white crowned sparrows spending as many days in a row here with us. I am assuming it is the same couple of birds. The same goes for up to 4 white-throated sparrows on any given day. They're one of my favorite sparrows.
During our week off we saw just over 100 species of birds. Overall the birding was pretty leisurely but still exhausted us with a lot of early mornings and a lot of walking. Hey, it is still better than being at work! Here's just a few more highlights from the week off.
Scarlet tanager. We saw 3 today!
Bald eagle. We saw a nest near one of the birding area parking lots. How convenient!
Killdeer on nest.
And one more, Angie spotted a screech owl in a tree cavity. We were so busy looking for warblers and other migrants that screech owl was not on our radar, so it was a lovely surprise.
I'll end it here. It was a great week off with lots of bird sightings. I'm going to be a mess in the coming days as I adjust to my work schedule once again. *sigh* Wish me luck there.
Thanks for stopping in. Cheers!
