Parking Lot Pigeons

The other week I went for a nature walk.  The woods I explored were eerily dead.  No birds, not even a raccoon sleeping in a tree or cavity anywhere (I'm pretty good at finding raccoons for some reason).  After an hour out, I chalked the walk up to just that...  a nice walk.  I had an errand to run, picking up something from a friends' place on the border of Mississauga.  I happened to pass a small shopping mall and noticed the hundred plus pigeons in the parking lot.  Ya so, what about pigeons in a parking lot?  Well there was some real stand out birds in this flock.  People say pigeons are boring birds because there can be so many around and as some say "they all look the same", but that isn't really so.  Check out these guys I saw...

Red pigeons aren't very common to see so when I do spot one, I always take a longer look.  There was one in this flock and I watched him for a while.  Visually stunning I must say.  I love that fine line around his face, going from grey to that iridescent of reddish/purple.  Wow!

His friend is quite unique looking too...

Then there was this one relaxing near the curb.  He could be Gulliver's cousin.

Here is Gulliver.  Do you agree?

There was quite a few whitish birds in this flock.  Similar looking from afar but not so as you got closer.

I often hear from people who spot the white ones, thinking that they are people's escaped pets.  I don't believe that is so.  Maybe somewhere in the lineage some fancy bird's genes got in the mix; but really, as I learn more about these birds, they all have genes crossed from fancy breeds over generations.  It's a bit much to explain but if you want to learn more, I highly recommend this book, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, as it is a fun yet very educational read.  You can order a copy for yourself right here.

This fellow really stood out from the flock.  Almost all white.  It's like when people see snowy owls, the all white adult males send most into an excited tizzy.  Mind you, with pigeons, an all white bird doesn't necessarily mean an adult male.

I think I found his twin a couple hundred feet away.  He was roaming the ice mound in the corner of the lot.  Maybe finding salt bits in the ice?  The early days of spring can be so gross as snow mounds melt and all the debris that got plowed with the snow begins to show.  It's sad that masks are the new cigarette butt across the landscape; and both are in this photo.

Please note that is not poop on his chest, but it's the slight bit of colouring this bird has in it's feathers.

I joked to someone that these were rare Arctic pigeons.  They took me a little too seriously so I had to spoil the joke and admit that they were just common pigeons, although more uniquely coloured than the typical blues and greys most see.

The beauty of nature is all around us.  It really is there if you allow yourself to see it, even in a mall parking lot.  

I will revisit this flock another day for another look and perhaps take some pictures of the others (I thought I took more photos than what I have here in the folder).

From Sanctuary to Nursery

What I am blogging about here may not thrill that many people but hey, it's our property, and part of the reason for my animal blog and much of my social media posts is to share about living with wildlife, that we can coexist.

So, about 6 years ago the neighbour a couple doors over gave me his old doghouse.  He was putting it out to the sidewalk, asked me for help to move it, and I asked him to help me move it to our backyard.  It's not a massive house like a few that I went and looked at prior so this was perfect.  We don't have a dog so why the heck would we want a doghouse?  It was my intention to be a shelter, a place for a wild one to hide if need be.  We have opossums in the neighbourhood and with how harsh our weather can be in the winter, especially February, I've always wanted to offer them something.  I even went as far to pack it full of straw for warmth.

The house has seen a lot of action over the years.  Random nights I have put my trail cam out there pointed at the house to see what is going on.  Raccoons, skunks and a few opossums have used it for a day or two over the years.  No one has ever been long staying, calling it a "home" and that's okay; it's there for when an animal needs it.

Well this spring the doghouse has come in handy to an animal who really needs it.  A female raccoon has had her young inside.  I discovered this about two weeks ago when I was way down in the back of the yard after work one night.  I heard funny chattering coming from the box.  Check out this short video I took and you can hear them.

In this stream of photos you can see that they are secluded and out of sight.

A view from our back deck.

Almost near the shed.

Now we are at the side.  Squirrels currently are using that house in the back.

Little Al the screech owl used it for a day too!  Did you catch my blog the other day, he came back!

Now we are behind the shed.  There's the house (pardon the mess).  The yards that back onto ours all have garages and sheds so those neighbours cannot see what is going on back there either.  I only mention this because I don't know what any of them think about raccoons.  Raccoons used to live in that garage roof further back in the photo; they were in there for two years!  I told the home owner but he never did anything.  It's only us and the house right next to us, if they ever decide to go that far down into their yard, that could see them.  I use that broken piece of concrete stump for my trail cam.  Nothing can knock that over so the cam stays positioned.

Mother raccoons are very good mothers.  I've seen some great videos of them helping their young in difficult situations.  No one gets left behind.  I just did a quick YouTube search and cannot find the ones that I remember but here is a short one.

So with our mother here at home, I can tell by my camera footage that she's going to be a great mother too.  She doesn't go far from the doghouse or for very long either.  Late March we had a last blast of winter with a bit of snow and some bone chilling real feel temps of near -20 C.  

Mom spent over two full days in the doghouse, keeping her babies warm and fed.  I assume she went into a deep sleep, almost like a hibernation.  I cannot imagine laying in bed for over 48 hours and not getting up; that's how I see it.  Unlike some other animal species, the male/dad raccoon is basically a dead beat dad.  The old "wam, bam, thank you mam" and he's gone.  He doesn't hunt for food and bring it back to mom and the kids.

This guy here looks like a deadbeat dad, doesn't he?  I envision a beer or cigarette in his hand.  LOL!

Some cam images...

Coming home for the night.  She did not emerge again throughout the rest of the night.

A skunk wonders if there is room for him in there?

I won't post a lot of cam pics here but just enough so you get the idea of what's happening.  Here she is going into the box just before midnight.

She comes back out a couple hours later.

Probably went for a pee, to have a stretch and groom herself.

Then back to her young.

Out for a pee break I assume.

Ten minutes later back inside.

There hasn't been any other creatures coming through this stretch in the last week.  No skunks, no opossums and no other raccoons.  Just mom.

Occasionally I go down behind the shed to have a look and a listen.  I cannot wait to see a young one peeking out from that opening.  Right now mom has them tucked away in the furthest back corner of the house away from the opening.  I cannot see them but can hear their cries and grunts from that spot.

I hope for a photo opportunity or two before they vacate the house and our backyard as they get bigger and spread out.

The same mother raccoon as above taking a break in our yard.  Watching four kids is a lot of work.

Young raccoons are very cute and curious.  It was fun watching them play with our garden hose this one morning.  Even when we don't see them, some mornings there are signs that they were here with things moved about in the yard.

We often call our backyard "the sanctuary" but occasionally it turns into "the nursery" as wildlife have their babies here.  Our list isn't long but we've had a few including one house sparrow nest, three black-capped chickadee nests and twice squirrels have been born in one of the boxes.  

If you are in the mood for more reading, here is my blog about the time I was home when the chickadees fledged from the nest box.  It was an amazing thing to see and something I will never forget.

Come back for an update in a few weeks.  I will have one.  I promise!

Al's Return

Back in February I blogged about the screech owl that had been visiting us all winter.  Angie named him Little Al.  He was a real blessing and we enjoyed his many visits as random as they were at times.  His visits lessened as we moved into March.  There was a few days he was here and calling in the early morning, most likely looking for a mate.  Then he was gone.  We figured he left his cozy house and went off to the nearby golf course or the woods just beyond, seeking out a mate, and maybe setting up a nest somewhere else.  It made us sad but we were very thankful for having three months with this bird.  Not everyone is blessed to have an owl sleep in their backyard, are they?

As you can tell by this blog title, he has returned.

Here he is from today, April 4th.

I was going out this morning to get fruit and other necessities for the week when I heard all the ruckus coming from five blue jays in the backyard.  They were all swooping the box, standing on the roof and just screaming down to the entry hole below.  While I couldn't see what was causing them so much upset, I knew there had to be an owl inside.  I quickly went off to run my errand, being glad that I had a list with me, because all I could think about was what was going on back at home.  It had to be Little Al.

When I returned home, I decided to spend some time out in the yard.  It was a pleasant early spring day; I cleaned out a couple of the bird baths and filled them with water.  I puttered about the yard, picking up some trash that had blown in at some point over the winter.  As I was down by the shed, I happened to look up to the box and just like that, there was the owl.  SWEET!  I had my camera with me just in case, and took a few photos.  They look much the same as my winter pictures but what the hell; I was still capturing a wonderful encounter, that being Al's return.  Luckily Angie was working from home so she could enjoy the moment with me.

Al would roost at the entrance for lengthy amounts of time.  Then a couple blue jays would fly in and start yelling at him, swooping the box.  Al would retreat inside.  The jays would go away and eventually Al would surface again.  This scenario repeated itself a number of times throughout the day.

It was great to see him again.  We hope this wasn't just a one off.

This wasn't his actual return day though.  On Friday night I got home from work.  I backed the Mazda into the driveway.  As I stepped out, I instantly noticed a screech owl sitting on the house next door.  It was at the corner of the roof that overhangs their porch adjacent to ours.  Seconds later the owl flies down to the corner post on our front porch.  He's now glaring into the cedar hedge.  I'm still standing next to the car at this point, in awe at what I was seeing.  The owl turns his head and looks at me.  Next thing I know he flies out from the post, swoops low over my head, I could feel the flap of his wings mess up my hair.  He then circled back over me and returned to the porch post.  Wow!  So cool to see this.  I managed to get a s**t record shot of the moment with my mobile.  I don't think he was greeting me.  I think it was more like "go away, I'm hunting!"  I know he was hunting for house sparrows in our front hedges.  A dozen or more sleep there every night.  They often wake us up in the morning with their chirping.

I gave him his space and made my way into the house through the back.  Angie was up waiting for me as per norm for a Friday night; most nights she is usually in bed by now since she has to work in the morning.  We talked for a bit.  I told her about the owl.  After she went to bed, I got my camera, then headed out to the front in hopes of seeing him, perhaps getting a better photo.  Unfortunately he was gone by the time I returned.  Oh well, I was so stoked by this encounter.  It's not every day that you have an owl in your face, kind of attacking your head.  HAHA!

As I wrap up this blog a day later, the jays are back and yelling at the owl house.  Gotta love our backyard snitches.  It's drizzling out so I doubt Al will show himself this morning but I will be watching.

Here is a short video I took of him yesterday from our back deck.  It's not the most exciting video to watch but it is for us since this is right here at home.  If you aren't very familiar with eastern screech owls, here is a link to learn more about them.

I have had three blogs in my head and was going to work on one of them, but then this happened.  Hopefully I can get to the others soon before another "distraction" happens.

Cheers! 

Good Times, Bad Times

I think last week's epic snowy owl encounter was a bit of nature throwing me something good after a few bad things that I dealt with.

A squirrel showed up in our backyard with something very wrong with its tail.  A third of the tail, starting at the rear end and going out was bare.  The first part of that was white and crusty.  From beyond that it was all open, sore and bleeding heavily.  Initially when I saw him, I thought we had a mink in the yard because the tail was long and just dragged behind him.  There was no poofiness to the tail, no movement whatsoever, like it was a dead limb.  The rest of the squirrel appeared normal.  As we had a snowfall early one morning, then seeing him out there from a distance and then being able to follow his bloody track throughout the yard, I knew I had to do something.  I'm sure he was in pain and that tail looked really infected.

I called the Toronto Wildlife Centre and after leaving a message, someone called me back within an hour, and we had a conversation about the squirrel's condition.  Long story short, I could leave him out there and see what would happen.  Best case would be his tail falls off and if he didn't die from infection and blood loss, he would live a shortened life as they use their tails for many things from communicating, to helping them with some of those crazy jumps that they can do, to helping keeping themselves warm at night like a blanket.  This was all things that I never really thought about.  Then thinking back, I recall a few times over the years seeing a tailless squirrel in the yard and they never were around for very long.  I was "warned" that tail injuries most often end up in euthanasia.  This last bit of information threw me and I did debate on what to do.  As the squirrel continued to get around and leave a blood trail over the next day, I knew that catching him was the best thing.  It took 2 days and catching 8 others before him but I got him.  I plan on following up on him as I have his patient number but expect the outcome to be that he is no longer with us.

Then last Tuesday as I left work at 10 PM, I chanced upon an opossum along Britannia Rd in Mississauga.  He was wobbling along and the one side of his face was crimson red with blood.  It's obvious that he had been clipped by a car.  I quickly did a u-turn as soon as it was safely possible and went back for the animal.  I always have spare gloves in the back, a box or a carrier, sometimes both.  I watched as cars passed him, all narrowly missing him.  It was a harrowing thing to witness.  Again, once it was safe to do so, I raced out after the opossum, grabbing him and putting him in a box.  All I can say is "THE BLOOD!"  I had the intention on bringing him home for the night, and if he survived the night, I would take him to Toronto Wildlife.  Sadly he didn't even make it home with me, dying in the car before I got off the 401.  I needed some rocking me to sleep after that.

Normally I share pictures of the critters I blog about but you can understand why I did not here especially with the opossum.

Then, lastly, I have to share about my pigeon pal Lefty.  He showed up one afternoon on our front porch unable to fly.  I was just taking our cats to the vet when I saw him.  He was kinda jumping up at me, going around my feet, and I knew he wanted my attention.  He did distract me for a moment while I was getting the cats in the car.  I walked after him and he got on my hand as I knelt down to him.  I know I said something to him and put him back on our porch, probably said something like "I have to take Merry and Molly to the vet, you wait here".  Like he was going to understand me.  HA!  But don't all of us animal people talk to our furry and feathered friends like they know what we are saying?

I was gone about an hour and when I got home, Lefty was no where to be seen.  I had heard about him some more from Angie and our neighbours as he was walking around the area.  Everyone knew something was wrong with him.  But where did he go?  It was late in the afternoon and I went out every 45 minutes or so until dark, seeing if I could spot him again.  No luck.

The next morning Lefty shows up again.  He comes walking up the side of the house and out into the backyard.  I hold my hand out and he cannot fly up to me.  I kneel down, hold my hand out again maybe 6 inches from the ground and he jumps up into it.  "Aw dude, what's wrong?"  I gave him some food and he ate.  It wasn't a piggish feed like he and any of the other pigeons normally do which added to my concern about his health.  He sat there on my fingers, poofed out...  that was another sign something was wrong with him.

I put him in my carrier and called Toronto Wildlife.  As per norm, about an hour later someone returned my call.  We had a brief chat about Lefty and I had to answer the usual questions like if the bird had any bands, if it was a baby, etc.  I explained how I knew this pigeon as he was one of my regulars, more or less.  He has been coming around since last summer sometime.  He did disappear for a few months late in the fall and just started coming around again in the last few weeks.  So ya, not a baby, not a banded pet pigeon.  I got the approval to bring him in and away we went.

Normally with any animals I bring into the centre, I cover them up and keep things quiet.  Lefty was a different story.  I hate to say that he was almost like a pet to me because he is not that, but most of you get at what I mean.  My retelling of him coming to me for help, at least that is how I took it, says that while he is a wild bird, there's something different with him like some of the others that I have gotten to know over the years.  I talked to him a little here and there with the drive up to the centre.  Lefty just sat there in the carrier and looked at me the whole time.  I told him he was going to get help, they would look after him, everything would be okay.  Again, here I am thinking Lefty understood everything I said to him, word for word.  I honestly believe that he did, in his own way.  He knew I was his friend.  He sought me out when he was in trouble.  Any bird that cannot fly besides penguins as an example, is a doomed bird, especially here in a city with so many animal predators and free roaming cats.

It was hard to pass Lefty over to the staff and see him get taken away to the back, still in the carrier.  But I left Toronto Wildlife with hopes that we would see each other again.  Sadly that was not to be.

It was deemed that Lefty had a viral infection called PMV.  There is no cure.  He would only get worse over time and I have seen that in other birds.  It wouldn't be long until he would turn into a seemingly drunk bird and stumble around and fall on his face.  Then in the last stages, he would start to have violent convulsions and this would carry on for who knows how long until he finally passed.  I have seen this in other birds.  Euthanasia was the only option here.  His suffering ended.

Losing Lefty was like losing another friend.  He showed up in the yard last summer and quickly took to me.  We had a lot of fun last year over the months and he was a little blessing while I was off sick those 10 weeks.  

Then Halloween came around and he obliged my selfies with him.  Some of the pigeons get pretty freaked out at my masks, not Lefty though.

He was an awesome little backyard friend.  He is proof to the people that pigeons really are personable birds.  Just be kind to them and you will get the love in return.

I'm missing him and will for a long time.  Thanks for friendship Lefty.

Most of my bird pals just fly away one day and do not come back.  I don't know what happened to them and don't put much thought into that.  I have mixed emotions about situations like this where I know their outcome; and I try to keep the knowing he's not suffering and died with some dignity at the forefront. 

I think about making a pigeon book of all my friends over the years.  I don't know how often I would look at it.  I see their photos come up on my Facebook memories and much like the many of Meadow over the years, there's days the pictures put a smile on my face while some days I get overwhelmed with sadness as I miss her, and some of these birds who used to come visit me daily.

Okay, that's it for this one.  See you all again soon as I have my next blog already working through my mind, just compiling the photos for it.

Epic Encounter

Hello!  Remember me?  Long time since my last blog, eh.  I have a few in my head to do but...  hopefully I get the *blog bug* to do them in the coming weeks.  What happened last night, really wanting to tell this story might be that revival I need...

So, here we are just flying through March.  Why is this month going so quickly?  In the last week I definitely have noticed more snowy owls after dark on my way home from work than what I have all winter.  It's obvious with spring around the corner, that these northern owls are on the move to their nesting territories.  I've been lucky enough to spot a few around my work either on my 30 minute break or on my way home at 10 PM.

I saw this one 3 nights ago.  Crap record shot from a nearby parking area.  The owl is across a small field from where I was parked.

Then last night after I got my coffee, I took a drive around to another parking area and found this other snowy owl.  The lighting was terrible here but it was cool to see the bird under the near full moon.

Initially I did not spot the owl but tuned into the first sounds of killdeer for the 2022 season.  It was a lovely evening with temperatures in the low teens.  As I drove around looking for snowys, I had my car windows down.  Hearing those killdeer was music to my ears.  As spring migration ramps up, there will be many first bird calls and songs of the year, and it's always a little exciting.  Just over a week ago it was the first red-winged blackbirds and common grackles to return, hearing them before spotting them.  Now it's the killdeer.

I had stopped my car in this parking lot, and listened to the killdeer.  I tried to spot one in the dim light from the moon and distant street lamps.  As I looked around, it was then that I found the snowy owl on a low lamp post.  I had my camera with me and tried for some pictures.  Unfortunately I couldn't get the angle to have the owl in the moon but it was fun to try.  Only having about 10 minutes to play around before having to get back to work didn't help.

The killdeer were loud and flying about the field.  It turned out that the snowy owl had also taken notice to these newly arrived migrants (they weren't here the night before).  I had the thought to take a short video of the owl on this lamp post with the sounds of the killdeer.  Before I could even make that video, off went the owl diving down into the field and it was chasing one of the killdeer.  Holy s**t!  The maneuvering of the owl was incredible to see.  I couldn't see the killdeer but I could hear it's frantic calls as it was being chased.  Mere seconds later the owl had taken down the bird.  There was a couple more ear piercing shrieks from the killdeer before it was done.  Those sounds haunted me the remainder of the night.  I was happy for the owl to get a meal.  I was sad for the killdeer to return "home" for the season only to become dinner on it's first day back.  

The field was more lit up than the parking lot where the owl was hanging out.  I was able to get another crap record shot of it on top of its prey.

I was almost late getting back to work to finish my shift.  I was so wow'd about this encounter.  It sucks that I don't work with any others who share my interest in wildlife.  I mean the guys like this stuff but not nearly to the extent that I do.  I told a couple about this encounter and they were like "oh neat" but perhaps when I see them today and can show them a picture or two, they will be a little more into it.

After work I had to get a few things at the Walmart just a couple blocks away.  On my way to the highway to head home, I passed the parking area one more time.  I found the owl on an icy snow bank along the driveway.  I watched it from my car for a couple more minutes, taking a few more pictures and then headed for home.  

As I got out my car in our driveway, all I could hear was killdeer in our neighbourhood.  Amazing how they're all back...  just like that!

It won't be long now and these snowy owl sightings will once again be a thing of the past until who knows when next winter.

Thanks for stopping in.  I hope this reads well.  I haven't even finished my first coffee yet; but I wanted to get on this before I got distracted by something else with my morning.

Cheers!

Little Al the Screech Owl

I've been wanting to blog, especially ever since Gulliver and I were blogged about in BlogTO but with not getting out much, what is there to blog about?  Anyone following me knows about Gulliver as well as the eastern screech owl that has been using one of our backyard owl boxes.  But did I ever release his name given to him by Angie?  She names most of the critters.

Meet Little Al...

Little Al has been staying with us for the most part for 2 months now.  He's been an exciting distraction from all the stresses of the world these days.  We don't always know when he is here, when he is going to pop his head out of the box, and that all makes for a fun mystery.

I've had my trail camera pointed to the box some nights and only once did it capture him going in.  So many times he has eluded capture on the cam as he left the box at dark, or came in just before daylight.  I was beginning to think that there was something wrong with the camera; but it would seem he is just that fast, too fast for the shutter.

The one time I got him on the camera going in.

The cam picking up two distant raccoons.  So yes, it is just that he is too quick.

Still, setting up the cam and hoping to catch him has been entertaining for me.  Especially on the weekends when I am home for 2 full days and I see him rise around 5 PM yet knowing the camera did not get him coming "home".  I'm saying to myself  "you sneaky little owl".

We've had 40+ minute showings of him some evenings and other times it is less than 10 minutes from his first moments at the edge of the box until he flies off for the night to hunt.  Another fun filled bit of wonderment.  Will he show and for how long?  I'm glued to my chair at the kitchen window both Saturday and Sunday evenings, just watching.

Angie had an epic moment watching him last Thursday.  It was before 5 PM when he stuck his head out of the box.  He was already alert and watching the yard around him.  He began focusing on the holly bushes down below.  At first Angie thought he was watching our regular visiting robin who feasts on the holly berries but as the robin left, the owl was still watching the bushes.  According to Angie, in a flash, the owl flew out of the box, diving down to the bushes and in one swoop grabbed a house sparrow and took it back into the box (to eat of course).  Angie could re-tell this sighting better as I was at work and read her excited texts to me with total envy.  She got to witness something that very few people out there have ever seen...  an eastern screech owl make a successful hunt.  As envious I was, I was very happy for her being able to see this.

Here we are a few days later and I guess I have a bit of payback of my own.  I asked Angie to wake me before she went to the office today as I had an early doctor's appointment.  So I was out of bed by 6:30 AM.  I smooched her goodbye and put the kettle on.  I figured while I was waiting for the kettle to boil, that I would step outside and fill the heated bird bath.  

It's pitch black outside but the bath is only 20 or so feet from the deck.  I'm still half asleep and my eyes aren't focused to the darkness outside.  It's quiet out there, no morning rush hour traffic from the main road happening.  Then I heard it...  the trill of an eastern screech owl.  I got goose bumps!  I fucking love that sound.  YES, emphasis is need to express how much I love love LOVE the trill sound from these owls.  I look up and there is Little Al at the box, trilling away, looking out across the yard.  I filled the bird bath and then backed up to the deck steps where I then just sat myself and listened to him call for a couple minutes.

I was cursing having to go get in the shower and be out of the house within an hour to go to the doctor.  I should have reminded myself that this wasn't going to last all morning so to not be so hard on myself about it.  I went inside, grabbed my camera and tried some night shots from the deck.  I should have grabbed my tripod but really didn't have the time.  I think I did pretty good with this picture I got of him in the dark.

I have a few really nice photos of this owl so I am not trying for them much any more; but a couple times recently I have made some attempts at these darkened scenarios as I have many after dark owl encounters every winter because of my work hours.  I got this "new to me" used Canon 7D camera body which I haven't really mastered in these no light settings.  Remember, you do not use flash on an owl.  You wouldn't want a camera flash in your eyes after dark, it's way worse on an owl.  So I use manual settings, tweaking the ISO and adjusting whatever the other settings are called.  This is how bad I am at technology, I don't even know what some of the settings are called that I am adjusting.  So ya, don't ask me for lessons.  HAHAHA!

I got in the shower and by the time I got out at 7:10 AM, he had tucked himself inside for the day.

Anyway, I guess Al is calling in a mate, or trying to.  Anyone have a thought about this?

I should add that we don't really know if he is a male or a female, we just say "he".  Some have really had an issue with this sexing of the owl, and some of my pigeon buddies.  Does it really matter?  I've had people claim the opposite sex just by looking at a photo of one of these birds.  How anyone can sex a pigeon or an owl by a photo is ridiculous in my opinion.  There's no difference in appearance with owls; it's size and weight that can lead to sexing.  And with pigeons, forget about it!  So many colour variations.  For me, it's when I see my buds, um, doing the deed, that I really can sex them.  You know, who is on top (or bottom).  Okay, getting off topic.

Funny thing when I was at the doctor, I told him about my morning.  He got rather interested, stating he's seen an owl and didn't think they were in Toronto.  He asked if I had a photograph on my phone to show him.  Of course I had a photo and of course I showed him.  He thought it was pretty cool and loved how the owl blended in with the bark on the exterior of the box.

  We hope Al sticks around for a long while.  We hope for a mate.  We hope for a nest.  But time will tell.  Please stay tuned to my blog in the coming months for further updates.

Cheers!

Gulliver Got Blogged!

Last week I shared a photo of my pigeon pal Gulliver on a Facebook page called Weird Toronto.  It's a fun page at times as people from around the city share their weird sightings.  Some really odd stuff comes up at times.  Occasionally I throw in a wildlife sighting of mine, not always weird, but heart warming is more like it, as I can see a lot of people on there dig our common city wildlife like the raccoons.  I like to give a little story to the photo as that keeps it interesting.  I hate those "look what I saw" or "look at my pretty photograph" and there's nothing to it.  So for Gulliver, I said that he visits me everyday.  I called in for a snow day last week to dig us out of this snow storm and not be on the roads.  He figured out I was home all day and visited me numerous times while I was shoveling.  Gulliver was a nice break from my workout.  And the thing with Gulliver is that he doesn't look like your common pigeon, not with that plumage of his.

A number of people from Weird Toronto took a liking to Gulliver, even those who admitted to not liking pigeons a whole lot.  Then I got an email from someone at BlogTO wanting to speak with me about this guy.  I jumped at the chance to speak to someone about him, and that conversation turned into a chat about pigeons, how Pierre started this whole thing with me 10 years ago and I dabbled in our backyard as a whole.  I know I flooded the writer, Karen Longwell, with a lot of story bits, bird and animal species.  She seemed to enjoy the tales.  I knew that everything I told her certainly could not be done in one short blog; and it was going to be interesting to see what she was going to make of this.  She told me it would probably be published over the weekend, which was 3 or 4 days away.  That left me a lot of time to wonder about this in my spare time, but it was good wondering.

Here is the link to the blog she did.

The blog was mostly well received.  Angie and I enjoyed it, as did family and friends of ours who checked it out.  The blog got multiple shares throughout social media pages and I was catching it being posted in various pigeon groups.  I'd say it was 95% positively received by others.  I expected some to not like it at all.  Angie did too, and even before it was released, she asked me to please ignore any negative comments.  I didn't go looking for the comments but if they showed up somewhere, I would view them.  It was a little disheartening how much some people loathe these birds.  One could easily tell that some people never even read the blog and just jumped on a story title about a pigeon.  That's humans for ya!

The majority of people who complain to me about these birds live in high rises and hate pigeons living on their balconies, messing up their little outdoor living space.  Some others just see pigeons as dumb birds who are good for nothing but to feed a hawk, and they get extreme joy from seeing a hawk chowing down on one.  Flying rats is one term I hear often.  Disease carrying vermin is another.  "I wish they would all just die" has been said to me in the past.  Now imagine if there were no pigeons?  What would happen to the populations of birds of prey?  Red-tailed hawks, cooper's hawks, peregrine falcons are examples here in Toronto.  It's kinda fucked up with the love many people have for these big sexy predators yet some seem to be willing to give up their first born to be rid of the primary food source.

I'm currently reading two books about pigeons.  One is A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Understood Bird.  It's an entertaining, yet informative read about pigeons.  The other is called Operation Columba which is based on the use of pigeons by Britain during WW2.  I learned a lot about the second world war in high school but was never taught anything about how pigeons were used for communicating and how some of these messages sent saved many human lives throughout the war.

I know I talk more about pigeons the last little while.  I don't expect people to turn around and fall in love with them.  I just wish more people would have a little more appreciation, heck even a tolerance towards them, and not want to kick every one of them that they pass on the street.  They, like us, and every other creature on this planet, are just trying to live out our lives.

Anyway, back to Gulliver and the blog.

It was fun chatting with people about Gulliver.  I've had people reach out to me to talk about pigeons, share their pigeon friends with me, which has been pretty cool.  Animal lovers in general "get it" about that thing a person can share with an animal.  You can talk to them when you feel no one else will listen to you.  There is a calming effect being around animals.  They are genuine.  You will always know where you stand with any animal; it's people you have to wonder about.  For me, they are a break from the world, such as right now and this pandemic.  Hanging with Gulliver, there is no covid in that moment.  It's just me and this bird who has come to visit me.  Yes, it is mostly for a feed, but he will spend longer moments with me some days, just sitting on my hand, looking at me, looking at the world around us (with me).  I'm a quiet guy for the most part so it's a comfortable silence hanging out with him.

Gulliver and the other's haven't been around since Friday due to a cooper's hawk that has been hunting the backyards lately.  Thankfully with Gulliver's absence, our other (and newest) backyard star has returned.  That is the eastern screech owl.  He disappeared just after that big snow storm last Monday.  He has returned as of Sunday and showed up again on Monday.  I will miss any weekday sightings since I am at work when he surfaces at the hole of the box any time after 4:30 PM.

Having a backyard owl is, well, simply put "freaking awesome".  They can be very difficult to see out in the woods so having one in plain view from the kitchen window rocks.  Plus knowing we are providing a safe, quiet, shelter for this little owl warms the heart.  So many owls around Toronto are taking a constant beating from birders and photographers alike, it's just fucking crazy.  Even when people are visiting the owl just for a few minutes, multiply those few minutes by 40, 50, or more people per day, also throwing in those who spend an hour, maybe even two or more on the owl.  It's just no rest for these birds.  Remember that many of these owls are nocturnal hunters and roost during the day, resting and conserving energy for the nightly hunt.  

Our visiting owl stays hidden in the box until late in the day.  We may get a 10 minute view before he leaves the box to hunt, although a couple days it's been up to an hour.  For the most part Angie and I watch from the window.  I have gone out a few times for photos or just to get a clear view from the back deck instead of looking through our dirty window.  The view of the owl for the most part is just like the photo I am adding.  He sits, almost motionless for a lengthy amount of time, with his eyes as slits.  As it gets darker, the owl becomes more active, eyes open more, he looks about the yard and beyond, most likely taking in what other creatures are still out there, where they are, what may make for an easy meal, any signs of danger...  We have witnessed him fly out of the box, if we have sat at the window until dark.  I can watch this over and over again because A) this is still all new to me B) I don't know how long he is going to stay with us.  He showed up just before Christmas for 3 days.  He disappeared for 9 days and then suddenly came back.  He's been here most of January now, minus a couple days and this recent 5 day absence.  We're just enjoying the little owl show while he is here, while still giving him the yard when he appears.  

He blends in so well with that bark I put around the box hole.

Hopefully we have him for a long time to come but we shall see.

And hopefully Gulliver and the others aren't gone for too long.  I'm watching out for him every day now.  I have seen a couple pigeons pop in, taking a chance at a feed down back, but quickly flying off even though I haven't seen the hawk myself.  They are all in tune to the wild world, more so than we are.