Project Feeder Watch; A New Season Begins...

This past weekend was the start of the PFW 2018/19 season. Click on the link if you are not familiar with this citizen scientist program. It's hard to believe we are going at it again already. It's a fun winter project but how many of us are ready to dive into winter? It's also hard to believe I'm going into my 13th season of participating according to my personal data page (I didn't think it was that long).

Before feeder watch, I was counting and documenting visiting bird species to our backyard on the kitchen calendar. Then one day while buying bird seed at our local Wild Birds Unlimited, the owners Jim and Lynda, brought up the idea of taking part in this program. I haven't stopped since.

Why do I document our birds? Well, before signing on with the Bird Studies Canada project, I did it just because... to see who comes in, how many of each species and keep track of when seasonal visitors come and go. Like when I still had Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles in November, I often wondered how much longer were they going to linger? The first couple years I can remember them still being here at this time but it's not been like that in a long while. I can recall one Common Grackle staying with us until mid-January and then he disappeared.

I pay a lot of attention to our backyard, who comes to visit, birds, mammals, butterflies. I guess I should say "we" because Angie really gets into it too. I keep a list of all backyard species who have set foot on our property, and there's a sub-list of what has been seen from the backyard. As the list slowly grows, it's always exciting when another new one shows up. Participating in Project Feeder Watch gives me reason to pay even more attention to the backyard. And lately I tell people this... in a busy world, it gives me reason to sit down, stop for a while and just enjoy the birds at home. The cats do love it too, either watching from the window with me, or just taking advantage of my lap as I am idle for sometimes an hour or more.

Molly helping me look for birds this past weekend.

Merry just takes advantage of the snuggle time with her daddy.

This is just a bit of what came around the first weekend.

I am thrilled there's at least 2 White-throated Sparrows staying with us. They are one of my favourite Sparrows and usually it's a brief visit here in the Spring and the Fall migration, then they move on. It's now been over 3 weeks. Hearing their peeps in the early morning brings a little smile to my face.

We've also got 2 White-breasted Nuthatches coming in daily. This does not happen every PFW season for us, and it's more not than do. They are a fun bird to watch as they go up and down the trees, visiting every feeder available. They are rather vocal too, so even when I don't spot them right away, I do hear them and know to keep watch.

Both these bird species I refer to as my "happy birds". They shed some light on me during these darker days as the weather gets colder. It's great they're here for my first count weekend, and I hope they stay.

The first morning of the count weekend did start off on a sad note as the Pigeon flock was here grazing...

...when suddenly in rockets a Cooper's Hawk. It pinned one of the Pigeons against the fence, giving the bird no chance to fight back, and seconds later the Hawk was carrying it away in it's talons. I'd been in a bit of an emotional slump the last week and was getting out of it but this set me back. I know it's nature. I've adapted a numb feeling to such things, I have to. But this particular morning, I wasn't able to stay numb as a feeling of sadness took over for for the remainder of the morning anway. Most of you reading this know I have a fondness for those Pigeons. I was happy to see my pals Charlie and Dorothy return since that successful attack by the Hawk.

Here's Charlie.

We had 7 Northern Cardinals on Saturday, and then 8 on Sunday! So for my count this weekend, I entered 8 since that was the highest number seen at once. My personal record is 13, being 9 males and 4 females one early evening during a count weekend some years ago. How many can you spot in this photo?

One of the males overlooking the brush pile I made for the birds this fall.

A Cooper's Hawk on the brush pile a few weeks ago. Yes, there's little birds hiding safely inside. Too bad the Pigeons can't get in there, eh?

We had 4 Downy Woodpeckers and 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Two Hairy Woodpeckers also showed up, one male and one female. Normally we say "goodbye" to the Hairys by mid-September for whatever reason, but not this year. The cage around this feeder does pretty good with keeping the Starlings away, but is no match for the Hairys... and we are okay with that.

Three Robins appeared early in the morning and had a feed at the Holly bush. It was too dark out, and too early, for me to go try for a photo. I'm still hoping a Mockingbird or something else appears at some point. A couple Novembers ago we had a late moving Hermit Thrush stop in. Thanks to it being the feeder watch season and a count day, I was parked in my chair by the window to spot him!

House Finches and a pair of Mourning Doves were also nice to see on the first weekend. We don't get a lot of either but this fall, the House Finches are here daily.

House Sparrows and Pigeons make up easily 50% of our total birds.

Sunday we had a really nice surprise with 2 Fox Sparrows showing up. They spent the whole day with us, and again on Monday and Tuesday. Only once before in all the years of backyard bird watching have I spotted a Fox Sparrow come to our property. They are larger Sparrow and fun to watch as they kick the leaves around looking for food.

Fox Sparrows are rather skulky birds. These 2 would sneak in and out of the backyard at random. I'd grab my camera, get my boots on and they would be gone again by the time I was ready to go outside. The photo above was one of the few times I was able to sneak out the front door, then up the side of the house, to photograph one of them near our picnic table. Later in the day on Sunday I admitted my defeat and spent the last hour of daylight just sitting on the deck and watching them. I didn't know if they would come back again or not. I managed one photo just before it was dark out.

Having a dentist appointment and stuff to do made it difficult the next 2 days to try and get photos so I just made mental notes when seeing them.

It's almost the weekend and time for some more counting. What will we see? I may have had some sneak peeks the last couple mornings.

Yesterday there was a bold Red-tailed Hawk who came in. I was outside feeding my flock when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a large incoming bird. It went right after the Pigeons, flushing them all. One Pigeon panicked, hit the kitchen window lightly (having the screen on the outside helps with that) and then flew off. The Hawk chased the rest of the birds. Minutes later in came a Red-tailed Hawk again and was now after the Squirrels. I can't say for certain if it was the same Hawk or it was both of the resident pair making the brazen attacks.

Today a Sharp-shinned Hawk is here making life hell for the birds. No photos as the house next door is getting work done out back right now and all the noise has scattered the birds. I did spot the Hawk earlier on a branch and then dive at the House Sparrows.

Anyway, if you take part in PFW, please take a moment and tell me a bit about how it goes for you. If you don't, maybe I've inspired you to look into it?

For the record, our weekend finished with 18 species and 107 individuals overall. Not bad for a Toronto backyard, eh?

This image came up in my Facebook memories today. You all know so many creatures love our backyard, and on occasion we do get a really unexpected visitor. This is Nix. He used to break into our yard when he was a puppy, sneaking in from his yard that runs behind the shed. Oh what fun that was. We still see Nix but he's much too big and less adventurous being 9+ years old now.

Lastly, if you feed the birds, I hope you have cleaned your feeders for the season, doing this semi-regularly at the very least.

Happy Halloween 2018

On vacation and hoping for something to blog about after it's done. Until then though, wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween. I thought I would share a little bit of the fun I have around here with the cats. Some of the photos I may have shared in the past, but there's a few from this week too. Pets are like our kids, forever being that. The bonds can be quite strong between a person and their animal, and the memories with them can last a lifetime.

Meadow was a blast to share any festive times with. She loved our quality time and put up with my silliness.

Purr and play. I really embraced these times as she got older.

Merry when she was a kitten. This photo won her first place in our vet's Halloween photo contest.

Another Halloween as she got a little older. Funny thing is this year she's quite intimidated by that mask. I've been "working" with her on getting to know that it's not real. Calico cats sure have, um, explosive personalities.

When Merry and Molly were kittens, we said that Merry was going to be the little devil.

How wrong we were. But that's another story, isn't it Molly? Don't let that "Iza pumpkin!" cuteness fool you.

The look of humiliation. Or "are we done yet?"

I can get away with a lot more of this with Merry than I can Molly. She seems to enjoy the time with her daddy.

Oh, it's Franken-Merry!

Merry says "enough with this foolishness!"

I hope you all have a great Halloween with your pets too!

The last Month or so...

Just a quick bit of this, that, whatever as there's nothing really stand out to blog about.

As the weather cools, we're seeing some different birds around our favorite areas.

Like this Northern Harrier. All I can say is "Look out below!" as that's his poop falling from the sky below him.

There was 2, but possibly 3 of them flying around this particular afternoon. It was fun to watch them frolic in the sky above us.

Purple Finches have shown up in Toronto. Angie and I saw a couple dozen last Sunday. Ron Pittaway shared his annual Finch forecast and it looks like his predictions are correct once again. I wonder what other Finches we will see at home, or nearby, in the coming months?

Still lots of Sparrow species passing through. We saw so many White-crowned Sparrows just last Sunday.

White-throated Sparrows in no small numbers as well.

Tons of Golden-crowned Kinglets. I love their call in the fall.

Not quite as many Ruby-crowns but they were around too.

On Thanksgiving weekend, 11 Owls were released to various parts of Southern Ontario thanks to The Owl Foundation. Angie and I were fortunate enough to be able to release 2 Eastern Screech Owls in Toronto. Thankfully another volunteer driver was able to get the birds up to us because otherwise we would have had to pass on this opportunity because of so many other plans with family and friends. Even with this help, it was still just over a two hour drive around the city taking these Owls back to their territories.

One of the Owls after release. Both were wished a happy wild life as they flew off into the darkness.

Prior to this, we released one Screech Owl about 4 years ago. So it was great to be able to do so again.

My birthday was a month ago and we did a private raptor encounter at Mountsberg. A nice visit with friends of both the human kind and a few feathered.

Hanging with Shadow the Barn Owl. He says click here if you would like to learn how to have your own private raptor encounter.

Yard mammal activity has dwindled lately. So weird to not see 8 or more Raccoons (two families) wandering around at the same time.

I've not seen Bear in about a month. We had a nice evening together the last time I saw him, which was on a Whisky Wednesday.

I hope everyone is okay. Not all our neighbours like our wildlife friends. We just hope no one will go out of their way to hurt them.

Topper still comes around.

We have another Skunk wandering around who looks very much like him, but is a first year. We call him "Baby Topper". He's not nearly as tolerant as Topper though. Angie sees him most evenings just before it gets dark. I have to wait until the weekend for those last light encounters but he's still wandering around some nights after I get home.

Well, I guess that's it for this blog. No real story telling but some tell me they prefer these mostly photographic sightings kinda blogs. To each their own. I'm sure a story will present itself soon enough, just watch what I wish for, because not every story to be told is a nice one.

If you have time and feel like a couple more reads, here you go...

I did a nest blog last week which if you did not check it out, please do, as I think it's worth a read. See here.

And if you still have time for more, our latest blog for Bird Canada came out last week too. See here.

The Adventures of being a Volunteer Driver

September 27, 2018 marks the end of my fourth year as a volunteer driver with TWC. Or is it better to say the beginning of my 5th year? What a ride it has been, so many animals (mostly birds) being driven to and from the centre. I still keep track of everything that I do, and list all the species I've helped.

Merry overlooking my notes.

I thought about listing all the species but I won't. I think I have something far more interesting for this blog, something many of you probably wouldn't think about. This is about my encounters with the general public when doing these drives.

Before we get into it here, I feel I should post some sort of disclosure. This is about me, my encounters with people. While it is because of my volunteer work with TWC, it has nothing to do with the centre or anyone else. I am in no way making fun of anyone here. People are quirky. People can be weird. What I might see as weird, someone else may not. I hope the minds of the readers are open enough to see that this is just true retelling of some of my "adventures".

So get comfy now and take a literal walk in my shoes as a volunteer driver.

Most times I will put on one of my TWC t-shirts when I go out. I am proud to be a volunteer, helping wildlife, and carry myself professionally even in some trying situations. I figure it's also good when I'm coming to someone's home for the animal, that they see the shirt and know why I am there, not having to question who this long haired guy is walking up their driveway.

There have been some comical moments with people. Once I picked up an unwell Squirrel at house in south Etobicoke. There was an elderly Italian lady home and her use of the English language was not the best. She did manage to give me one full sentence that I understood, and had a laugh about... "You have'a nice'a hair for a boy!"

Another time I was picking up a Pigeon in North York. I call the guy who I was to meet. The one line I remember from that phone call is "you'll have to wait a few minutes while I empty my bowels". Alrighty then! Thanks for the heads up. I will be sure not to shake your hand.

Most people do not converse with me much aside from the animal's situation. Most are happy to see the creature going to the centre to get the help it needs. I'm also sure these people are happy to have the animal now gone, so they can carry on with their day. But there are the few who do ask me the questions. Some think I am staff. They wonder how much I get paid for this job. Their eyes pop out when I tell them I am a volunteer driver. I do this in my spare time, usually before I start work. I don't get paid for this. The fuel is on me too.

Only once where I've had this conversation with people did one guy say and do something more than go "oh wow!" It was when I picked up an Eastern Screech Owl in the Bathurst and Dupont area (the Owl was hit by a car by the looks of things). The man opened up his wallet and pulled out a $10 bill. He said he wanted me to have this, even though it wasn't much. He was thankful to know there are people who volunteered like this, helping animals, plus helping people who could not get to the centre. He asked me to go get myself some lunch before going to work that afternoon. Hell, he even asked me to promise him that I would do that and NOT give it to the centre. I did make that promise to him as I took the bill, but I ended up breaking it when I got back to TWC. I'm by no means a wealthy person and ten bucks would certainly be a welcoming thing, going to my weekly coffee fund; but I put it in TWC's donation box. I know the money goes towards all the animals, but I told myself it's for this Owl.

There are infuriating moments with the general public. I've had a few unpleasant encounters with off leash dog walkers when I have been trying to release birds. I've asked people to please leash their dogs or take them to another area so I can set the birds free; like maybe take them to the designated off leash areas. Some oblige. Some get down right rude about it and I've been told to fuck off a couple times over the years. I once actually packed up the birds and moved us all to another nearby park because the one we were at was crazy with unruly dogs and their owners. I'm sure the further movement before freedom is stressful for the birds but far better than flying out free into the face of a dog or two. Not all release birds fly high or far initially upon release.

I once had a Red-tailed Hawk I was releasing back to her territory near Fort York. She HAD to go here, this was her home. One lady wouldn't leave the area with her off leash dog, even after my polite asking her to do so, explaining the situation. I gave her a couple options... to either leash the dog, stand back and watch the show OR move along to another area. She said it was her park and she had business to tend to, which is more like "doggy business" waiting for her's to have a shit. Ugh! It was a lengthy wait for her to finally leave the area. I know my patience was wearing thin.

Another time I picked up a Pigeon from an Etobicoke home. This Pigeon was REALLY REALLY SICK. I can never remember the name of the virus that they can contract but it's bad. I've seen it once with a bird here at home. Early stages, the bird would appear to be intoxicated. The one here walked and would suddenly fall forward on it's face, like it just tripped on a stone. To my understanding, there is no cure. The bird wasn't here for very long that day, and I saw it the next for a brief spell too. Then it disappeared.

Well, back to this Pigeon I was picking up. It was way beyond that stage. The bird couldn't walk, so forget about flying. It could not even raise it's head from the ground. I remember looking at it and thinking it's neck looked like it was broken. My heart sank.

It was after the conversation I had with these people that I saw red and it took every fibre of my being to not say anything. Remember, we want people to want to like and want to help wildlife. What happened here is these people had held on to this bird for over one week. Not in the house, but in their backyard. It couldn't fly. They had a box outside which the bird spent much of it's time in. I guess these people thought they were doing a good thing by keeping it here, ensuring it had food, water and shelter. The one woman told me it was looking a lot better. I knew she was lying. It's obvious this bird was getting sicker by the day and they felt it was time to do something about it since they couldn't help him. The big bag full of towels, gloves, pedialytes and a cheque to the centre proved their guilt... to me anyway. I managed to stay polite and positive. I did ask of them to please not hold onto an animal this long if they ever encounter this again. We are not veterinarians. I never followed up on this case but I know I left the centre without a doubt that Pigeon finally received a merciful end to his life. A head shaking story but I try to remind myself that someone gave a shit about a Pigeon.

I hope some of you are still reading along here despite the length and lack of photos. I have one more tale to tell, sure there are more, but this one I want to end the blog with.

November 2017 I picked up an injured Ring-billed Gull. I arrived at the address, park the truck and step out. There's a woman waiting for me up the driveway. I'm walking towards her. I say "hello" and even though I am certain she knows why I am there, I announce it anyway... especially since she is frozen and looks like she just saw a ghost.

Suddenly she blurts out "holy shit!" Now I am frozen in my tracks. I ask her if everything is alright. She says "you look just like my ex-husband!" I'm thinking to myself "uh oh!"

The conversation quickly turns to everything about the Gull, which is in her shed, at the back of her yard. She leads me through the gate and as I walk through her yard, I find myself surrounded by numerous horrific mannequins, some bloodied, some missing body parts. I remind myself that Halloween was just over a week ago. Phew!

I get the Gull and start to make my way back to the truck. And here it came... the story about her ex. The jist of it is he was a musician and left her a few years back to be just that, a musician, and to not be tied down. As she told me all about everything from when he left, to their contact through the years after, and her feelings, she started to cry. She told me more and even said "I don't know why I am telling you these things."

For a guy like me, who is rather private, border line introverted, I am feeling uncomfortable now. I'm no Dr. Phil. What the hell do I say? I keep moving along, making my way to the truck with the large cardboard box we had the Gull in. I listened to her as we walked. My brain is going a thousand miles an hour, trying to think of something comforting to say to this sad soul. I told her life is too short to waste on a person who does not want to be with you. I know I threw in about my own life, being happily married and can't fathom that happening to Angie and I. In my head, it was a defense move, a shield. This person was sad and probably lonely. I've had people who have tried to latch on to me because I was kind. Have you ever been nice to a person, a stranger, and suddenly it seems like they think there was an automatic opening for them to come into your life? They say us Virgos are over-thinkers, as are introverts, which may be true, but sometimes it can be a good thing.

I am at the truck now. I get the Gull inside. She was still talking and again said "I don't know why I am telling you everything".

How do I end this? Just cut her off, thank her for helping the bird and be on my way? I am not good with being rude to someone who does not deserve it. Give her a hug (because she really looked like she needed one from someone, anyone, right now)? NO, remember the shielding! For whatever reason I asked her what she would do if she saw her ex standing on her driveway. Her reply was "I would hug him and never let go". I suggested she try to make that happen then. In the back of my mind, I had visions of a missing person case coming up, some long haired musician type. Finally something came to my mind about what to say... "well, thank you for helping this Gull, but I need to get him to the centre as being in this box, listening to our voices is really stressful". She thanked me for coming to get him and as I backed out of her driveway, I could see her running to the house, the tears starting once again, and she was covering her face. In the end, this Gull got a second chance at a wild life. I do hope that lady found some peace, and maybe a little happiness.

Re-telling of this last tale just reminded me of another Dr. Phil scenario where I picked up a Kinglet from a woman who lived a couple blocks from our home. It was an after work meeting with her, meaning about 11 pm. She gave me this big cardboard box and I just assumed the tiny bird was inside. I wasn't going to open it out there in the dark, and risk it hopping out. I get home to find that the box was empty. I called her back to inform her of my discovery. Well, the next 45 minutes I was on the phone with her about her life and how she fucks everything up, no matter what good she does, it all comes back negatively. Time she could have spent looking for this bird. I declined returning to her condo the next evening after she found it almost 24 hours later, even for the sake of the bird. Someone else drove down to get it, and sadly the bird died in their car on the way back to the centre. For the sake of that person, it was probably a good thing the bird did not die in her home.

So, what'cha think? Did this blog open your eyes to how much more can go on with being a volunteer driver? The stories and encounters aren't constant, but I just never know what might happen with my next drive.

Maybe you remember a blog I did about an intoxicated couple who had an injured Red-tailed Hawk in their sun room? Oh the memories!

Weekend Walks

Angie and I have gotten into the habit of going for Sunday morning walks, even with some very warm mornings we've endured this Summer. We go early. We have no expectations. And they've been great. The key really is to have no expectations, just enjoy whatever comes along, oh, and go early before it really gets hot out.

Here is a bit of what we've seen lately.

One of two juvenile Turkey Vultures roosting in a tree near the path. The black face threw us just for a moment, as the adults have red faces. Neither of us had ever seen a juvi until this morning.

Wild Turkey in a tree that same morning. Sure some regions in Southern Ontario these birds are quite common, but locally to us in the west end of Toronto, not so much.

There's always a bit of mystery, like trying to ID some of the Flycatchers we see. This is one of them we still need to figure out. Any suggestions?

There's been a lot of American Goldfinches buzzing around as August is their time for nesting. I've been told it is because that is when their food source is at it's peak. Interesting. The cries of the young Goldfinches are unmistakable.

The sightings we enjoy aren't just birds.

This American Toad posed nicely along the path one morning. Caption worthy I'd say!

A DeKay's Brownsnake that Angie spotted when we separated for a bit. I've not seen this species in over 5 years!

A wee little butterfly called a Pearl Crescent.

A Black Swallowtail butterfly.

Over the Labour day weekend we saw dozens upon dozens of Monarchs in a field. They were non-stop. It was nothing short of a magical experience. This is an older photo of mine that I am using as for whatever reason, I did not take any shots of the monarchs last outing.

And lastly, a Black & Yellow Garden spider that once again, Eagle-eye Angie spotted for me last weekend. Another species I've not seen in years! It was funny because days before I had seen some posts of this species that people were coming across in their regions, and my mom sent me a photo of one she saw at my aunt's. I was a little envious. Then, just like that, we have one on our next walk.

These walks are a highlight for us both every weekend.