Frosty Friends

Today was the beginning of what is to be a pretty brutally cold week ahead.  I was to pick up Angie from Pearson at 10:30am and had some time to kill this morning.  I played good hubby on Saturday night and cleaned the house up some while enjoying good tunes and a few White Owl whiskeys.  So I went out early this morning braving the cold.

It doesn't really matter where I went, just that I made the effort to go out, and not just for me, nor for some photographs.  I packed up with a couple bags of food offerings to any furry or feathered creatures that I crossed paths with.  I expected to see a few birds, figuring in this cold snap, some might be out trying to stock up a bit.  I was surprised at how many came to me.

As always it starts with a few Chickadees.  And soon the buzz is about the woods that there's someone with food and more Chickadees come.  And with them soon arrived a few Cardinals, half a dozen Juncos, an American Tree Sparrow and one funny little male Downy Woodpecker.  "Why funny?" you ask.  Well, check out this pic I took of him with my Blackberry...

I couldn't keep track of the Chickadees, it was just a steady flow, and at times there were 3 or 4 squabbling about the palm of my hand to get in and grab a peanut from me.  They were landing on my head, my forearm and on the camera.  It was at that point I got the idea to set up as I did with the picture above and have some fun.  The Downy Woodpecker came in and it took some time despite him REALLY wanting a peanut bit, he was skittish.  And with his skittish behaviour, the faster and more aggressive Chickadees were taking all the peanut bits before he could get one whether I threw them on the ground, had them in my hand, on the camera or all 3 spots at once.  I was actually shooing away the Chickadees at one point and throwing seeds far up the path to open the area up for this Downy.  And then he finally moved in.  His first few attempts to land on the camera were quite clumsy.  He just couldn't get the foot work happening like the Chickadees.  Landing on the hood of the lens sure didn't help either.

Like I said, the Chickadees were better at this idea than Downy.

Then, suddenly, Deer began to appear!  First I noticed one, then as I heard rustling and my eyes adjusted to the brush they moved through it went to 3, then 5 and final count was 7, including one Buck.

Their curiosity brought them in for a few minutes before they moved on.

I needed to get back to the truck and head over to the airport.  I threw a few more handfuls of seed out to all the birds surrounding me and turned to grab my camera but it seems someone was not ready to let me go.

I made sure he got a few more peanut bits before I moved on.  It was hard to leave despite the cold winds and knowing if I was late to pick up my homesick wife, the trouble I would get myself into.

I know some of the birds followed me along the path.  And I found this surprising as a female Cardinal was almost landing on me (or so I thought) with how close she was getting to me.  I am probably wrong since there was post near me but a guy who loves Cardinals so much can dream, can't he?

So, if my nature loving friends can spare some time over this coming very cold week...  please take a moment and perhaps help our "frosty friends" out in the coming days.  High energy stuff like black oil sunflower seed and/or shelled peanut bits (NO SALT) are great!

Confirmed Bird Nerds

Being "into" the birds for nearly a decade now, I've learned a lot.  I'm far from an expert but also very far from where I began.  At times these days I find myself envious of new birders as they get excited over everything that comes their way...  because it's new.  Sure I still get a thrill for some birds I have seen many times now just because I adore them a little more than other species.  But it's an inner happiness that only I feel as I gaze upon an Eastern Bluebird; which is one of my best examples.  I don't see them all the time, maybe half a dozen times a year if I make the trip to some nesting locations.  Or more closer to home, my heart still warms up to our daily visitors, being the Northern Cardinals.

This past New Year's weekend though, myself, Angie and our friends Jim and Lynda found ourselves once again in a situation out in the wild where we were suddenly like new birders.

We set out one morning in search of Snowy Owls among other winter birds but the Snowys were top on the list for us this day.  As we slowly searched an area they frequent in the winter just north of Toronto, we stopped to admire an American Kestrel sitting off the road on a wire.  During this moment, a small bird came flying in and began to peck at the remnants of some weeds sticking up above the snow.  And seconds later another flew in, and yet another after that.

We watched them and for whatever reason our minds went blank to what kind of birds were feeding mere feet from the van.  We knew Snow Buntings were in the area but these definitely were not Snow Buntings.  Another bird who loves the flat fields is the Horned Lark, another winter visitor.  But we've seen a number of those in the past couple years and they are unmistakable.  I think it was me who threw Lapland Longspur out there, and perhaps it was more just in wishing out loud that is what they were.  I know Angie and I have never seen Longspurs before and I am not certain if our friends had either.  Anyways, from that moment on, it was an excited frenzy to ID these birds.  Guide books were pulled out, binoculars to view them better, Jim and I had the cameras fixed on them for future reference if the birds took off.  Looking at the book now, it's obvious these were not Lapland Longspurs either.

The whole ordeal probably lasted a mere minute or so before we confirmed them to be American Tree Sparrows.  But what a "bird nerd rush"!  And we all had a good laugh about it afterwards.

It was a nice feeling to know despite where we are with our birding knowledge and skills, we can still find excitement with even some of the more common birds in Ontario.  And to be pulled back to those thrills of "firsts" in the field even though that was not the case.

I hope some of you got a chuckle out of this tale.  I think most of you out there probably have a similar tale of sorts, nothing to embarrassed about, as this is what keeps birding fun.

Here is one of the American Tree Sparrows we saw.  Perhaps with the weeds blocking view at times helped with the stumping us?

Yes, definitely NOT a Lapland Longspur.

And lastly, the bird we had hoped to see that day, and actually had an amazing moment with a couple of them that will be blog worthy in the near future...  a Snowy Owl!

Thanks for giving this a read.  Comments are always appreciated.  :)

p.s.  if you click on the bird links above, it will take you to Cornell's "All About Birds" website.  The Longspur shown is in it's summer plumage which would have been easy to identify... 

If Ya Can't Beat Them, Feed Them!

Not everyone who feeds the birds likes the Squirrels.  What can ya do about it?  Don't take the title of this blog in the wrong sense, as in "beating" is not a physical act at all...  just they aren't going anywhere.  The backyard is their home, ours is inside.  So instead of going crazy trying to keep them out of your feeders; might as well enjoy their antics and set things up out back for them to eat and play with, and be entertained in the process.

We purchased a bungee corn cob feeder from our local Wild Birds Unlimited store and it's been a blast!  I'm sure one could easily be made at home but if you are like me, not so MacGyver-like, this is the next best thing.  If memory serves me correct, the feeder is under $10 and corn cobs are $0.40 each.  We give them one a day, sometimes 2 on the weekends, and enjoy the show.  Sure some still attempt the other feeders, but most do get preoccupied with this one.

My favorite shot out of any I've ever taken. 

I haven't seen a pole act like this since my days of hanging out in the Manhattan Strip back in the early 90's!  Haha! 

The race is on as to who will get there first.

The feeder bounces up and down, swings back and forth, and they hang on.  Hilarious!

Some really seem to enjoy the corn more than others as you can see.

I believe they are all grateful for the offerings as winter nears.

Thanks for viewing!  Comments are appreciated but not expected.  :)

Cheers!

Tis The Season to be Owly!

Sorry for my absence here, just been busy with this and that, and not really in the mood for a blog. I guess with Angie and I suddenly planning on getting married a couple weeks ago and having probably the smallest shortest ceremony in Toronto's history this past Friday November 30th had a lot to do with it. We sure surprised the heck out of a lot of our friends! Did I just surprise you?

Been birding at home a fair amount since "Project Feeder Watch" started for me a couple weeks ago. Yesterday we had approximately 91 European Starlings here. It was freakin' insane! All I needed was one Hawk to make an appearance to clear out that mob of piggish birds; but one did not come. And today during my count, not a single Starling was to be seen. What's up with that?

A pair of Red-breasted Nuthatch's visit daily, small flock of Goldfinch and occasionally one lone Pine Siskin joins their numbers. Blue Jays, Cardinals, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers add to the counts as well. Juncos are sporadic as is a Mourning Dove. Pigeons and House Sparrows arrive in double digits these days and once again I sometimes wish for a predator to disperse the crowds.

But home isn't always enough and I still venture out about about the GTA once a week. The highlights away from home have been the Owls. This is their season. I am enjoying the sightings and doing my best to not stress over them.  Anyone who has followed my blog knows I worry about these creatures and the interference caused by selfish photographers.

 Sightings so far have included Barred Owl.

Northern Saw-whet.

Eastern Screech.

I anticipate more sightings in the coming months. And am really looking forward to some Long-eared Owls hopefully soon. That is probably my favorite species of Owl to visit the GTA in the winter months. The fact they colonize is pretty cool to me. And that they are incredibly difficult to spot most times makes it a fun challenge to hopefully see one on a walk. I was blessed last winter with one LEO being seen usually once a month from December to March. He earned the nickname "Blinky" due to my YouTube video of him.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and apologies in advance to those who enjoy my blog may not see too many more entries from me in the coming weeks.  Tis the season to be social.  But also "tis the season to be Owly!"

Cheers!

What's Up with this Sharpie?

The past couple Autumns, we've had a Sharp-shinned Hawk show up in the backyard looking for some meals being our song birds.

Not sure what it is, but we get some real characters with some of the wildlife that visits us. Look at Pierre, the prime example! And this Hawk is very different than any other Hawk I've ever encountered in my days (so far).

Let's go back to my first notice of this guy in the fall of 2011...

I am out back one mild October morning, raking the leaves. I have Meadow outside with me on her leash/harness and she's doing her thing, smelling everything, watching the birds and Squirrels, etc. I catch out of the corner of my eye, a small Hawk swoop down on Meadow from the trees behind the house. I just froze as I watched him come down at her, talons out, like he was ready to "take her down". Last second, the Hawk veers up over Meadow and lands in the neighbour's yard. Meadow was completely oblivious to what was going on as she was looking the other way. He then does a turn around and begins to "chirp" at Meadow, staring her down. Now he has Meadow's attention. And Meadow being a cat, the Hawk a bird, Meadow is now all bug eyed with excitement looking at this Hawk. The Hawk then takes another shot at Meadow, and silly me, is still standing in the same spot watching this again. I guess I was in awe and shock. Never did I think of the consequences if this Hawk and Meadow made a connection. He couldn't kill her, he's far too small of a Hawk species, being a tad larger than a Blue Jay. But those talons could really do a number on her. And on the other end, if Meadow caught him, she'd do some damage to him in return but would probably face his talons during the action.

So the Hawk comes down on her again, and same as last time, he veers up last second. And from there, he comes to a branch not far above my head and starts "chirping" at me. Now Hawks really don't chirp but that is how I can best describe the sounds that were coming from him.

I know he wasn't trying to make a meal of Meadow but he really wanted her out of his hunting ground, plain and simple. I took the hint, not wanting them to connect in any physical way, and put Meadow inside. The Hawk remained outside while I worked in the yard. He sat and preened and watched the world around him.

He spent a good part of the winter out back. Not everyday but often enough. I only ever saw him with one take down, being a Mourning Dove. Obviously he got more than just that Dove. He would have starved to death for one. And would surely have moved on if the hunting was that unsuccessful. He came up a number of times as I browsed my final data report sheets for "Project Feeder Watch".

And just like clockwork he has made a return. No interacting with Meadow so far (weather hasn't been favorable for our Princess). But he and I have spent a number of moments together out back in the past week. Nothing shy about this guy and me. He sits in the trees and does his thing, paying little attention to me. The other day he swooped down after some Sparrows while I was out there, and then landed on the "Outhouse" birdhouse which was maybe 10 feet from where I was standing. I had my camera but he was too close for a shot.

Another day, he's out in the tree for quite some time. And eventually the birds started coming around again, forgetting he was there, thinking he left perhaps. And in came the Pigeons too. He made a slight move and everyone got spooked and hightailed it out of there. All the little birds took quick cover in the cedars and I watched the Pigeons race up over the house next door. One miscalculated and crashed right into their second floor bedroom window. What a sound that was! And I watched the bird spiral down to the ground, hitting it hard. The Hawk had flown to another tree, still looking for the smaller birds. Pigeons are too big for a Sharp-shin really.

I watched the Pigeon briefly. He was quite stunned. He stumbled around a bit, and reminded me of the Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons after one of his traps backfires on him. He was just that wobbly. He stumbled up the path between the houses. I ran around front and watched him as he kept going towards the street. I should have video'd him, he appeared drunk. I scooped him up and brought him to the back again, putting him under the table on the deck to hide out and get his bearings. Seems he figured that one out and sat for a number of minutes. After which, he strolls out on the deck, and makes a short flight to the grass behind the house. By this time, the Hawk, who is in front of me is now taking notice to this Pigeon. And he goes for it! I caught this with the camera as he did.

The Pigeon has had enough time to clear his head since the impact some minutes earlier; but the Hawk is on top of him now. And there is a brief but violent thrashing fight between these two birds. The Hawk is trying to take this Pigeon down! And the Pigeon is struggling to get away. I figure with his size actually working for him here, the Pigeon does get away, not before the two end up between the houses, still fighting a bit longer.

The Hawk returns to the tree above the swing. He "chirps" at me a bit and then goes back to the business of watching out for his next opportunity with something else feathery.

A few days later, with sightings in between; I get up late one morning, have a look out back as I normally do when the coffee is on, and I can see him way at the back eating something. Of course I step outside to investigate. With the bigger Hawks, I make it a rule to leave them be outside, undisturbed, while they eat. Why? One day curiosity got the best of me and I went for a closer look and hopefully get a photo with the point/shoot camera; and spooked the Hawk (Red-tailed), having it fly away and leaving it's kill on the ground and did not come back for it after I went inside. I felt really bad about that. The hungry Hawk expelled this energy on a cold winter's day, got a meal in way of killing another living creature and in the end the Hawk did not eat, and the other animal's death in turn was a waste. So, after that, I leave them be, and try to capture whatever I can from the kitchen window and maybe sneaking up the side of the house for a cleaner shot when they have just about finished consuming their prey. But this little Sharpie, seems I don't need to worry about such things. And this day, he proved it to me.

He flew right up over my head, parading his kill! I am not entirely sure what this is, but most certain it's a bird.

This shot, notice the bird's foot sticking out of his mouth?

I was convinced this bird is a Downy Woodpecker just by the black and white feathers, the pattern seemed to be that of what I see on a Woodpecker's back. But a new "birding" friend Angie and I have made pointed out the toes on this foot do not match those of a Downy Woodpecker. And in her exact words, hope you don't mind this Kellie...

"Yanno, I've been thinking of 'the foot photo', and it just doesn't seem right for a Downy Woodpecker. They have a zygodactyl toe arrangement (two toes to the front, two toes to the rear), but the photo shows an anisodactyl arrangement (three toes to the front, one toe to the rear). Also, it doesn't look like it's the right colour. I think a Downy's foot is dark with greyish scaling, but the foot in your photo appeared solid black. Just some thoughts.. chickadees have black feet and are anisodactyl. What others species are visiting your feeders that have black feet?"

All I could do was run off a list of the birds that have been around the past week as I have never paid attention to such a detail on them. And she then overwhelmed and impressed me with this information...

"Well, I have to say that I pay particular attention to bird feet, legs, etc., because of being owned by a parrot. Leg and foot colour is one way to tell approximate age in some species. All parrots show zygodactyly as an adaptation to life as climbers. Your budgies should actually show zygodactyly, too, since they're in the parrot family. It especially bothered me in "Rio" that they got the toes so horribly wrong, just because the movie had gotten so much of the other parrot behaviour fairly spot-on... anyway, I digress. Woodpeckers are about the only non-parrots that show this. Some owls can shift a toe back and forth from aniso to zygo, and I have read in some old books that Rough-legged Hawks can do the same, due to their relatively weak and small feet, but that's about it. It might explain why I love woodpeckers so much, too...
Let's see... juncos have pink legs and feet. Grackles: black legs/feet, but no white feathers. House Sparrows: not sure on legs/feet colour, but wrong feather colour. House Finches: ditto. Blue Jay: I think you'd notice some blue feathers, though they do have black legs/feet. Cardinal: again, I think you'd notice more red or brown, and they don't have any white feathers. Starling: black legs/feet, not enough white in the feathers. Chickadees: have a lot of white plus grey-ish down, and some black feathers on the back and head, plus black legs/feet. Red nutty: grey to black feet/legs, but I don't think there's enough white feathers. Pine Siskin: grey legs/feet. Dove: bright pink feet. Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers: dark grey feet/legs, with plenty of black and white feathers. Hmm... not sure if this helps! I'm still thinking chickadee, although I could be wrong! Those toes just really got me thinking... Thanks for the nice compliment, btw. :D"

Its great for us to be meeting more people in the "birding" world now. We all can learn from each other. And she's given me something to think about when viewing birds, not just looking at their plumage if I have the opportunity. I know I will be looking more closely at the visiting Woodpeckers here.

So, maybe it is a Chickadee he got? Bugs me a bit since it may be one of the ones that was born here out of the few nests they had. But a Hawk must eat too! I only wish he'd pick off the numerous Sparrows and Starlings instead of the less numbered special birds we have visiting.

After his meal, he gave me a bit of a show on cleaning up after lunch.

He's around almost daily. And it's spectacular to watch him on the hunt. Such agility! Even days I don't see him, it's easy to know he's out there by the inactivity at the feeders and not needing to fill them again during the day.

As I putter about, he just sits wherever and does his thing...

Its been a really bad week as we've had steady cloud cover and lots of rain with that slow moving "Sandy" storm. Taking pics out back has been a challenge. This shot is blown to hell but looks kinda cool anyways.

I hope you enjoyed this blog, as long as it was, with the stories I shared. I know my friends sure do when I tell them.

See yas next time!

Meanwhile in the Other Cage... it's a Boy... Again

So, during the last few weeks while aiding Misfit (see here)...  it seems things were going on in Moonie's cage too!  His cere has started turning blue...  again.

As most are aware, we caught him in the backyard just like Misfit.  We knew he was really young but never knew his sex.  Deciding to clip his wings during the first while, helping him to not hurt himself, as he and we adjust to the new living arrangements; the pet place insisted Moonie was a girl.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed.  Lotsa females in this household is the joke but knowing how much easier going male Budgies are, the fact they can be trained, were my reasons.

January of this year, his cere turned slightly blue.  And I announced to the world "It's a boy!"  March comes around, I take him for another wing clipping, and they still said "no, it's a girl".  Moonie's cere had turned brown again by this time.

My mom simply put it this way, "it's still the same bird whether it's a boy or a girl".  That made sense.  And Angie followed it with "Moonie is a boy until the day he lays an egg".  These helped me put it all back into place once again, yes, Moonie is a boy.

His attitude is so different than Misfit's.  He's a far gentler bird.  It's also easy to see he is a far simpler bird too.  Can we blame it on his youth?  Maybe the fact that he didn't live outside for four months and is not as worldly experienced as Misfit?  He did not have to fight Blue Jays many times a week because he did not fit in.  He did not face some severe thunderstorms.  He did not have to sleep in a tree.  But overall, just something about him and his personality still lead me to truly believe he's a boy.

And now, in the past week, his cere is turning more blue now than it was showing back in January.

Ah, nothing like a little more mystery added to this little bird besides the obvious "I wonder where you came from? What's your story?"

I think I even pin-pointed Moonie's exact time of this transformation, capturing that moment with the camera...

Haha! Sure looks like that could be when, eh?

Whatever the case, he's our little boy, and we love him and his goofy antics. The world is shiny and bright to Moonie. And sometimes it's healthy for the soul to sit back and watch him with that happy outlook he seems to have.

Moonie still adores Misfit more than life itself.

Misfit still isn't moved by his admiration for her.

I think this captures the personality of him.

Thanks for giving this blog a browse.

Amherst Trip, Nov. 17, 2012

I know a few of my friends have been talking about taking a trip to Amherst Island one of these seasons but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Well, here's a great opportunity coming up on Nov. 17, 2012, and an affordable one at that; from Authentic Canadian Tours! At $75 you cannot go wrong.

$75!  I can hear some squawking, but also some eyebrows raising too.  For me, that's incredibly reasonable.  Think about the cost of gas as an example.  Amherst is approximately 3 hours east of Toronto at a distance of approximately 260 kms.  And that is one way.

Another reason for me is I love the fact I can drive to the York Mills subway station, park my vehicle and hop on the bus that takes us to Amherst.  Driving can be exhausting, and especially if you don't exactly know where you are going.  Leave it up to the tour company to get you there and just relax, enjoy the view out the window from your seat.  Have a snooze even due to the early start.  And with a stop off at Tim Hortons along the way, enjoy your coffee and hot breakfast without worries of losing time sitting in the restaurant or fumbling with your meal at the wheel.

And lastly, Murray Shields, the founder of this company is an excellent host.  He does his best to ensure every one of his guests is enjoying their day out with him.  And it's just that, he doesn't treat people as customers...  you are like a guest to him.

Anyways, these are my biggest reasons for using Authentic Canadian Tours for such long distance nature trips. 

Angie and I have been on a number of trips with A.C.T. now.  And we've made a number of friends through the tours too.  Always nice to be out with a bunch of people who share a common passion for the natural world outside our door.

On this tour, there is an agenda to get the experience of what Amherst is all about and please click on this link here to see.

I hope you clicked on the link as now I am about to lightly touch upon a couple of the spots.

The radio station is a wonderful visit.  The people who run it are awesome.  It is the smallest radio station in Canada and it sits on a dairy farm.  I've never been in a radio station before; so to visit the smallest one in our country was pretty cool and unique.

The museum is interesting, get some history on the island, view old photos and artifacts.  There usually are some handmade local crafts available for purchase.  Someone bought a lovely Great Blue Heron painting on one of our trips.  Angie and I purchased a one of a kind bird house.

As you travel the island, be on the look out for wildlife.  We had the pleasure of seeing a few Snowy Owls on our trip in January of this year.  And around this time last year, being our first trip to Amherst we were fortunate to see a Northern Saw-whet Owl, a Long-eared Owl and a Short-eared Owl in the famous "Owl Woods".  A lot of Rough-legged Hawks may be seen along the roads too.  Even as we entered Owl Woods, it was easy enough to get side-tracked by the welcoming mob of Black-capped Chickadees greeting us along the first stretch of the trail.  Just put out your hand with some seed in it and seconds later you have a Chickadee or two in your palm as well.  Who wouldn't love that?



If Angie and I didn't already have previous plans, we'd be on this trip once again.  But I thought I would put this out there to all my debating friends.  It's worth it to go for the experience to this small island in eastern Ontario with Authentic Canadian Tours.

Angie did some wonderful blogs from our previous trips there.  Check 'em out here and here.  And if you are on Facebook, please visit A.T.C.'s page here.