Junior, where have you been?

We had a wonderful surprise this weekend as an old friend of ours came by for a visit.  We call him Junior, as in Smokey Jr, because we know without a doubt this little guy is from the bloodline of a friendly Squirrel we knew some years ago that we called Smokey.

I took this pic of him with my Blackberry on Sunday afternoon.

Junior was a popular and regular visitor back in the summer of 2012.  And somewhere by winter time he disappeared.  One never really knows what happens with our critters when they disappear...  move on to new territory or have they died?  It's a troubling question for me with the ones I've given names to and have some sort of unique "friendship" with out there. 

But on Friday, over a year later, this little gray Squirrel with half a tail and one bold yet very gentle personality showed up in the yard.  Almost immediately I knew it was him.  I kind of forgot about his tail defect but his attitude I did not.  We have at least a dozen Squirrels running around the yard some days, and with only 3 gray ones, it's easier to identify them, especially when one looks at you like a long lost good friend and charges right to you.

If only they could talk and tell us their stories because I'd sure like to know his.

Here's a Pierre video from November 2012 and Junior crashes in.  So funny!

Here's Junior's most likely Grandmother or great Grandmother "Smokey" from the summer of 2007.  The photos were taken with a disposable camera so pardon their lack of clarity and size.  I really like the first one with the bit of sunlight coming through over my shoulder but looks like it's from my fingertips.

Smokey was a wonderful addition to our life outside.  She'd spend hours with Angie and I all summer long.  And my father loved that Squirrel too.  How she'd raid his jacket pockets while he was elsewhere doing something and would happen to look over at her.

Hopefully I have more photos, videos and stories to share with you all about Junior over the next while.

Beautiful Hawk, Ugly People

We recently came across this Red-tailed Hawk in our travels of Southern Ontario.  A big beautiful bird sitting on top of a roadside construction sign.  What really got our attention was the crowd of people, mostly photographers, surrounding this bird.

Can you see the Hawk in the shot?  Upper left sign to the red car.

Of course we pull over.  Angie opted out of getting out of the truck and enjoyed the view of a Snowy Owl off in the distance, in a field on her side.  We both initially thought the Hawk must have been injured to sit along side of the road with a growing crowd of people around her.  And that was the first thing I asked a couple guys upon my inspection of the bird and scene.  They said "no, she's fine, she's just used to people".

How interesting I thought this to be.

I took in a couple minutes with this beautiful bird.  I observed her, took some photos of her as she looked on at us all.  Having her lock eyes with me for a moment was all I really wanted, just that connection in my head, her and I, and not the dozen plus photographers around us.

I lost my zen moment with her that I fought pretty hard to get with all the distractions as one guy started yelling at another individual to get his truck out of the way, as it was interfering with his shots.  These two individuals interacted as the one kept questioning the other on why he had to move his truck and why buddy couldn't move his equipment.  Eventually truck guy fired up his vehicle and moved ahead.

I watched as a couple guys with big lenses moved in closer and closer to this bird.  I stood back with a couple other guys and we were shaking our heads at them.  One guy was maybe 5 ft from the bird now, just crowding in on it.  And as he broke this barrier of what most of us would call "that line you don't cross" this prompted a few others to move in too.

There was no point in arguing with this group of people on this because their return statement definitely would be "the bird doesn't mind" as it sat there and did nothing with their invasion of his personal space.

The small joy of seeing this bird quickly disappeared and I returned back to the truck.  As I was about to open the driver's door and get in, I took one more look back and saw the Hawk leave it's roadside perch and dive into the field mere feet away.  Obviously it just got something to eat and somehow I highly doubt a rodent of sorts would come running through this crowd of people in the field but I could be wrong.

Getting that kill shot...  on private property.

Somewhere on another road in the area, I got talking with some other guys out taking photographs.  I brought up the Hawk just over that way from us and the even larger crowd on him now.  They scoffed in disgust about the goings on over there, the disrespect to the bird, to the farmer's land and of some pudgy little fat bastard who baits the birds for pictures.  Ah ha, I knew it!

The act of baiting birds of prey, mostly Owls, is a non-stop argument the last number of years.  Personally I am not for it.  I like to let things happen naturally when I am out and about.  And it's not my thing to throw another live animal out to his death so I can capture the action in photographs.

When I look back at so many of my photos, I can remember where I was and what happened in that outing whether it was some laughs with Angie and friends, or some great bird sightings.  But that's just me and that's my friends that share this kind of enjoyment with me.

Some might say "well you took photos Rob!"  Yes I did, standing on the shoulder of the road, more than 20 feet away from the Hawk, no baiting was done while I was there, and after 5 minutes or so I moved on.

And when I look back at this Hawk, I only wish her a good life and hope she doesn't end up injured or dead by such close human interaction.  *sigh*

Super cropped close-up...  hence the graininess of this photo.

 

Yay! Pierre Came Home!

If you read my last blog about the Toronto Ice Storm and caught the end of it where I expressed my concerns for my Pigeon pal Pierre.  Well, great news!  He came home on January 2nd, 2014...  roughly 2 weeks since I last saw him.

The last week or more, I've been watching out the kitchen window for him.  Some Pigeons would fly in and I'd be scoping the group out for him.  A couple times I thought he was in the mix but always came back inside with a look of disappointment I am sure since that is what I felt inside.  Sure it was nice to see Jesse and give him a feed along with the others; but they aren't Pierre.

We had a great morning on the deck with his return.  He had a big feed from me, and lots of belly rubs.  I think he was showing some affection towards me as he was trying to nibble at my hair and nose.

Angie came out and snapped a couple quick photos before returning to the warm house.  It's in the -20's with the wind chill right now.  I wasn't bundled up for this moment but didn't care much either.

He's hitting his 18th month mark with us in the next couple weeks.  And I hope for many more to come.

Pierre has a little fan club out there now.  And it's funny because not that many have met him.  Even non-birder friends think it's pretty cool the "friendship" we have.

I knew from the get-go of our first weekend with him, and how unique it was, that he was special and was going to become one of our flock.  Funny reading that old blog now.  See here.

We had quite the weekend as you can see in this picture.  Some people really thought there was vodka in that cup.  Haha!  It's just sunflower seed.

A lot of people out there with backyards open their hearts to the critters, and have those special ones in the mix.  I love hearing about others "backyard friends" and if you have one, tell me about it in the comments below.

Cheers!

Toronto Ice Storm 2013

Some of you out there may not know that Southern Ontario got hit with a pretty nasty ice storm the weekend before Christmas.  In the eyes of some in other parts, it wasn't that bad, just because they had seen worse...  like Quebec had in 1998 I believe where many people were without power for 3 weeks or more!  But for myself, family, friends and most people around here, we had never experienced anything like this.  The devastation to the city as trees froze and fell apart from the weight of the ice.  So much property damage everywhere.  And of course, the power lines that fell too and left many of us in the dark.

Angie and I lucked out here, having lost power on the first and second night, for only 4 hours at a time, from about 3am to 7am.  Some people went much longer, worst being 9 days!

But despite all the landscape carnage, life carried on, especially outside with our wildlife friends.  I've noticed this year, as in this winter season, which started really early and has given us more snow and cold weather than I can recall in the last 5 years or so, the backyard activity sure picked up a lot.

I do "project feeder watch" for Bird Studies Canada and one Sunday just a couple weeks ago, I had 128 birds counted with 14 species.  That's a new record if I am not mistaken.  And even the morning after the ice storm, the feeders were the meal place of choice for a lot of birds.

Here are some pics from the days just after the storm, which will help tell the story of the Toronto Ice Storm of 2013 from our backyard.

Next door's clothes lines.

One tree out back of the house lost a  lot of branches.  The cracking noise was so loud and when the branches let go, it was so sudden, and they all seemed to fall in the same spot.  Quite the brush pile out there now!

The Squirrels were liking the pile and many birds hid out in there too with the Hawk threats about.

Our clothes line.

Branches from the Lilac Tree.

A few yards over from us.  That tree in the centre of the photo, drooping to the left...  it's not there anymore.

Our cable line.

Male House Sparrow atop our bird feeder pole.

American Goldfinch feeding from the non-icy side of the feeder.

The bird bath opened up in the middle, despite the ice hanging from the sides.  Starlings took full advantage of the open water and splashed around in the afternoon after the storm.

This Mourning Dove's tail was frozen.  We could see the icy glaze over it, watched him drag it along, but it did not effect his flight abilities.

The Jays could not get the peanuts from the ring feeder as it was just one big frozen lump.  But the Downy Woodpeckers had no difficulty hammering through the ice and peanut shells to get to the goodness within.

Thanks to the storm, we are seeing more American Goldfinch than what we have in quite some time.  A few years back, we'd have 2 dozen easy.  The numbers dropped considerably and this year it was random sightings until that banded female showed up around my birthday in September.  This past week I've counted 10 in one visit!

I had to bring the feeders in over night, to thaw them out, and be able to refill them for the birds without fear of cracking the plastic tubing.

Seemingly peaceful moment here.

Light enough they is to not break the branches covered in ice.

I did notice a number of birds, like the Goldfinch, and more so with the Mourning Doves, having difficulty landing/stopping on the ice. 

The Northern Mockingbird continued to visit us through the storm and afterwards. So happy to see someone enjoying the Holly berries!

And as Christmas arrived.  Still lots of ice around.  We weren't able to get a "Critter Christmas Tree" which we decorate with edible goodies for the wildlife.  So we used the brush pile shown earlier in the blog.  The Squirrels were loving the apple slices hung from some branches.

Four Downy Woodpeckers still came daily, trying to get on the suet feeders covered in ice until I was able to thaw them out too.   It was a task getting them feeders off frozen feeder hooks and branches without damaging the feeders or the trees.

We had one American Tree Sparrow the other week, but now there's four of them.  It's been a delight to see and hear them out our back door.  They aren't shy either, quick to come in for shelled sunflower hearts and cracked corn with me out there delivering the goods.

Such a nice addition to the backyard this winter.  We've never had Tree Sparrows visit us before.

The European Starlings went through the bird seed bagels pretty quick.  Whole grain bagels smothered in peanut butter and dipped in sunflower, cracked corn and shelled peanuts.  Yummy yummy!

We've got the happiest Squirrels during the Christmas season and days after the ice storm.

Shirley the Sharp-shinned Hawk has been visiting more since the storm.  She caught herself a male House Sparrow.

Another day, another visit... I guess she was "getting rid" of the House Sparrow here.  Haha!

Cardinals, Jays, Juncos, House Finches are also visiting.  But my flock of Pigeons is not.  I'm seeing no more than 3 or 4 any given day.  Jesse is one of the regular visitors but my pal Pierre is not.  I've not seen Pierre since just before the ice storm.  I do hope he is okay and comes home soon.

I've ventured out to some of my favorite walking areas and the devastation is unreal.  One I found most upsetting is this Screech Owl cavity is no more.  The tree broke at the cavity point and I hope the little Owl was not home when this happened.  I had so many great views of the bird here.  In this shot, it was during the "golden hour" the other winter, and he was trilling as he rose to greet the evening.

Here we are 9 days after that storm, it seems everyone in Toronto has power restored in their homes, and have heat once again.  There is so much still to clean up though and I won't be tackling our mess until the Spring.  Mother Nature is beautiful but can be very dangerous too!  When she lets go like this, there is nothing we can do, but ride it out and hope we all make it through.

I hope you all who went through this with us have come out okay as well.

Snowy Owls #5 and #6

The Snowy Owl invasion continues and I follow reports along with my own gut feelings about these birds whereabouts and came across 2 more Owls recently.  Oh, and #4 surfaced yet again!

Snowy Owl #5 was way the heck out on a pier in a lakefront park in Mississauga.  I was scanning the area and something caught my eye far off in the distance.  I guess it was the shape if nothing else.  And in my bins I was second and third guessing what I was seeing.  I took a couple photos with the 500mm lens and still wasn't sure.  I decided to crank the ISO and exposure, basically blowing the s**t out of a shot or two and indeed I was seeing one.

I played a game of "Spot the Snowy" with friends on Facebook with this shot.  It's still a closer shot, being not zoomed with the camera, than what I was seeing with my own eyes at first.  Can you find a Snowy Owl in this photograph?

Well, what do you think?  Any ideas where he is?

Would you believe where I've half circled below is a Snowy Owl?

Surely you see him now in this photo below.

One more super cropped to heck shot.

I can't even guess how far out he was from where I stood.  1,000 ft?  Who knows for sure but he's one of the most off in the distance Owls I have spotted in my days of birding.  As I search out these Owls this season, no matter where I go, how far out they are from me, I'm still enjoying the views and am nearly as excited with each one as compared to the first almost one month ago.

So, that was #5 and later that night, after work, on my way home, I spotted #4 along the 401 once again.  And then the next day, I came across Owl #6.

It was a cold rainy Friday morning and I set out once again for a couple hours before work.  I always have my hopes up but I am never expecting in my outings.  One just can't predict wildlife.  But luck have it, I spotted the bird in another lakefront park quite some ways out on the ice.  It was funny because I swear he just appeared since I scoped the area minutes earlier with nothing and then suddenly I saw the lump.


I was quite excited to see this bird after a lengthy damp dismal walk of the park!  I followed my way around the shoreline in hopes of a better view of the bird and lucky me, he stayed put.

Obviously he was aware of my presence but not bothered enough to take flight and flee from me.  I wasn't aggressive in my walk of the shore and there was no way I intended on creeping out onto the ice for a closer shot.  Note, ice or no ice, I don't believe in invading their personal space.  It's just not my thing.

So, I passed the bird some and found the shore went further out into the water just west of the bird.  I decided to try that spot for a great view and a few more photos.

Here I tried shooting through the crook of a tree.  I was using the tree as a blind, hiding my body from the Owl.

I stepped to the left of the tree and tried a few more pics just as the rain was getting heavier.

This was freaking awesome!  I had never seen such a heavily barred Snowy Owl before.  And experts birding buds tell me this is a young female.  I knew it was a young'un as most of them venturing out from the tundra right now are young birds in search of food after a very good breeding year. 

I'm falling asleep as I key this.  It has been an exhausting few days after that awful ice storm here in Southern Ontario.  I wonder how the birds fared through the storm and who is still around?  Word is some of the recent visiting Owls have disappeared, and people guess they moved across Lake Ontario and into the USA now.

My goal, as some know, is to beat my record of 13 Snowys back in the 2011 invasion.  That's just 8 more Owls to go.  Think I can do it?  Care to cheer me on? 

If you missed my last Owl blog, here it is.  It seems to be a popular one with friends.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Wooly... Snowy!

I was on my way home from work last night and I saw my fourth Snowy Owl.  He was sitting on the guard rail along highway 401 just over highway 410.  It freaked the heck out of me, just wasn't what I thought I would see mere feet from the truck and eye level.  Just like others I have seen over the years along the 401, it's the bird that escapes a photo because it's just plain suicidal to try and do such things on a busy highway, never mind it being dark...  and I didn't have my camera.

And last week, exactly one week from last night, I had a re-visit with a Snowy Owl near where we live.  I assume its either the second or third bird I saw.  It could be another but since I don't know for certain (I count birds in each area).  So unless I see 3 in one day here, I won't be adding them to my list from this spot.

It was a cold blustery morning, -21c with the wind chills but the sun was shining and I wanted to get out for a bit.  We just had some snow recently and I was hankering for a winter photo or two. 

The outing was pretty quiet, saw a couple Hawks hunting off in the distance and that was it.  No Cardinals, Jays, Juncos, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, nothing.  I was nearing the end of my trek as work would be beckoning soon.  I decided to check one more path quick, a very short path I might add.  I came up empty once again.  And as I turned around and started to walk back to the truck, I noticed a Wooly Bear atop a pile of snow and ice cleared from the path.  How could I miss this creature the first time around, passing it only minutes earlier?  He just stands right out against the blanket of white!

I should have taken the Wooly Bear's photo on the snow mound but easily you can see these colors of black and reddish brown would scream at you from a snow pile.

I put the Wooly Bear in my pocket, thinking he was dead, and I could put my macro lens on him when I got home later.  And as I was standing myself upright from this, I happened to look to my left and see a funny mound of snow to my left.  And that's what I said to myself, "what an odd snow pile".  As I focused my sights on it, eyes watering from the wind, I realized it was a Snowy Owl!

Here he is, shot is cropped and was a full zoom with the 500mm.

We weren't very far from each other, maybe 60 ft?  I took a couple photos and then the bird took flight.

He landed on a fence nearby and I thought I would take one more try at some photos.  If he flew once more, I would walk away.

The best approach to wildlife is not direct in my opinion.  Actually Big Frank told me this the other year we were out viewing a Snowy Owl north of Toronto.  "Don't walk right at them.  You gotta try and walk away from them but move closer".  It's hard to explain here being first thing in the morning and working on my first coffee.  But for this bird, here is what I did...

I crossed the small field he was in, because I wanted to be on the other side with the sun behind me (better for a photo).  I did like a half circle, moving away from the bird as I made my way over to the other side.  He watched me, looked elsewhere, watched me, and so on.  Once I was on the other side, the bird lost interest in me probably because he lost most sight of me.  The fence he was on was atop this small hill.  I worked my way up the side of the hill now, slowly and quietly.  Even when I got to the top, we still had some distance between us, once again probably 60 or 70 ft, but we'd be eye level.  There were some small conifers here that I hoped to use as a shield in my sneaky attempt for another photo op.  And it worked!  He was aware of my presence, probably long before I got a view of him again.  But since I wasn't in his face or making aggressive moves towards him, he allowed me some time with him.  And I was thankful for that.  And I don't abuse such a moment.

In the next six or seven minutes, I took some photos, played with my settings, waited for some clouds to roll by and took some more photos.  The bird looked in my direction, he'd look away, and so on.  And then I left him where he was...  grinning from ear to ear.  It was an awesome moment with such a  majestic bird and I was ready to go to work and take on all the nonsense of the afternoon with a smile.

I missed the poop shot here...

Here is the Snowy Owl as I left him...

I guess you guys forgot about the Wooly Bear in my pocket, eh?  Haha!  I almost did too.  When I got back to the truck, I pulled him out of my jacket pocket and set him on the centre console.  A few blocks from home, the little creature work up on my toque.  I half suspected he would with the heat but still another part just thought he was dead. 

I was texting Angie about him, and she did some research.  They have quite the remarkable story which I will share another time.  But I put him out back in one of the bird houses full of wood shavings to go return to his winter slumber.  I plan to check up on him come mid-March or so.  Google the Wooly Bear or wait until the Spring when I blog about him.

The holidays are just about upon us.  I want to thank everyone who has read my blogs the past year; the good ones, the sad ones, the long ones, whatever.  I wish all the best, to you and yours, through the Christmas season, into 2014, and beyond!

Cheers!