Thankful

I've been home, on sick leave from work, since July 29th.  I won't get into the personal details but I am improving and believe it or not hope to be back to work sooner than later.  I miss the routine, maybe a few coworkers and of course the weekly pay cheque.

I've been home the whole time because I really can't nor do I want to do anything.  Just like through this whole damn pandemic, and now with my sick leave, I am truly thankful for our backyard and the creatures we share it with.

Ripper doesn't come around so much the last while but he was here in the first days after I went off sick.

My pigeon pals are here most days.  

Charlie.

Gandalf the Grey.

Slate.

Churchill has been missing for a few months now.  Hopefully he's okay but I never know with most of these wild friends of mine.

We've got a cooper's hawk coming in randomly.  I've found a pile of pigeon feathers.  I saw it here with a house sparrow in it's talons.  A hawk has to eat too.

The hummingbird visits are almost daily as far as we can tell, and there's a few visiting.  Who doesn't love hummingbirds?

We have a backyard chipmunk again which is a lovely distraction from everything else when he comes around.  Look at those cheeks!

Then there's that young skunk or as I call 'em "fart kitten".  

And our raccoon neighbours who sometimes come out a little earlier than dark.

A giant swallowtail has been flying through the yard every few days.  Is it the same one or ???  I haven't been able to get a picture of it so here is one I saw another time, elsewhere.

We've found numerous cicadas in the yard the last few weeks.  They call loudly, all day, every day.

Toads have been calling all night for a couple weeks now.  I would love to find one out there in the garden but I am not looking too hard.  Here's a YouTube link to what we are hearing.

Of course Merry and Molly are pretty happy having their daddy home even though mommy works from home much of the week.  Kitty snuggles and purrs are great for the soul.

Oh Merry.

Oh Molly.

I'm thankful for all these creatures and their love or just a momentary distraction by coming to visit.

I'm looking forward to getting back to normal, even a masked pandemic normal like the last 18 months, give or take.  Wish me luck!

Night Visits

I thought that I would share some of the night visitors of late.  You pretty much know what to expect here but it still might be fun to see them anyway.

Hot and humid it is here in Toronto once again.  The critters sure are enjoying the bath basins.  Too bad that I cannot keep them fresh all night long though.

Skunk.

Two skunks!

This one looks like a mother skunk.

I'd say he is new.  He seems small with extra thick, bright stripes.

Our resident raccoon family.

We are very happy to have an opossum hanging around once again.  He's been showing up randomly for a number of weeks now.

Nine days before.

This one here looks different but I can't say for sure that we have two.  He seems darker but it could just be the lighting.

I had the pleasure of seeing him with my own eyes one night while sitting outside.

One of the raccoon kids comes out earlier than the others so I have had some time to watch him too.

Mom and the kids early one evening.  Might as well share a couple better photos of the critters that I have gotten, eh?

A young skunk has shown up just before dark too the last week.  We aren't spoiled with day time visits from one or more like we have been in the last few Augusts but that's okay; it made seeing this one all the more exciting.

At least he is getting very fresh water when he comes early.

And of course there's the cats, both ferals and some neighbour's cats that they don't keep indoors.

There's a third cat we see, a muscular tom cat.  I feel bad for this guy.  I can't find the trail cam shots of him so here's one of the rare moments I have seen him face to face.  He normally stays away from us.

And lastly, we have at least two downy woodpeckers roosting in our nest boxes out back the last few weeks.  There's three nest boxes and all have had woodpeckers in them at some point but I was able to say with total confidence that there are two using them nightly; spotting both going into different boxes on the same nights, about 10 minutes apart.  It's funny how the woodpeckers are quite vocal upon entry inside.

This box is closest to the house and about eye level.  A female uses it.

This house is way down back, behind our shed, and much higher up.  A male uses it.

This is the middle house, sheltered by our lilacs.  We've watched a female use this house some nights as well.  Perhaps the same one using the first box?

We're happy to be landlords to downy woodpeckers again as has been the case the last few Augusts and beyond, well into the fall, sometimes even into the winter.

Do you monitor your backyard after dark (if you have a yard)?  If not, I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of our visitors.

Moonie Passed

It pains me to blog about this but our little blue budgie Moonie passed away rather suddenly early Monday morning.  

He was just a couple weeks away from his 10th anniversary of being in the house with us.  For those of you who may not remember (or know), I caught Moonie in our garden one afternoon just before I was going to work.  Angie happened to be home that day, and she looked out the kitchen window, commenting about a blue bird in the garden.  I stepped out back for a closer look and there was this very young budgie on the ground looking up at me.  He had baby down feathers on his face.  I quickly took my shirt off, dropped it right on him, scooped him up and brought him in.  And this is where he has been ever since.

Moonie in the first days after coming to live with us.

It was late Saturday afternoon when Moonie's behaviour was noticeably different.  He looked very tired.  He was quiet.  He sat on different perches than where he normally likes to sit.  Occasionally there was still a chirp, a pick at the seeds, a sip of water, and even a head dunk in his bath.  This continued on through Sunday as well.  We monitored him.  We talked about getting him to an avian vet if there was no improvement come Monday.

Angie was up shortly after 4 AM on Monday, this is normal for her during the work week.  Sadly she heard a noise come from his bedroom about 4:15.  Moonie had passed then, falling from his perch.  It took a lot for Angie to not wake me at that time but she knows there`s nothing to do at this point, plus I work well into the evening, so to let me sleep until I got up around my usual time of 7:30 was best.

We have no idea what happened to him.  It`s shocking how quickly he turned ill and passed away.  Right up until those last hours, he was his happy squawking basketball playing self.  

I am more saddened in the days after his death, I guess it is because the shock of it has worn off.  It was too quick, and we weren't even given the chance to try and help him.  Now it is time to grieve.  The house is so quiet without him.  Our routines have changed.  We will certainly miss this bird.

I know a lot of people don't think much about budgies because they can be loud screeching birds but they are so full of personality, and if you take the time, you will grow to love them and admire their quirks.

We are not into the idea of buying birds.  Both Moonie and Misfit were backyard rescues.  Both caught in the warmer weather.  Their lives would have been cut very short if not brought inside before the cold weather set in.

If there was one pet who really had the best last year and a bit of his life, it was Moonie, thanks to this pandemic.  Having Angie working from home as much as she was, Moonie was seldom alone, and he got spoiled with hours of table time every afternoon while the cats slept in our bedroom with the door shut.  Moonie LOVED his table time.  We would open the window a crack so he could chatter with the birds outside.  He loved the view and probably the sun.  His excitement to be on the table was certainly noticeable.  He played so much when here.  He loved his basketball toy and I can't begin to count how many he has broken over the years just from his rough play.  We always had one or two in stock in the pet tote for when he broke the clasp on the ball that attached to the chain.  Oh Moonie!

I've recently been looking at my blogs from 2011 when he first came into our home.  It's brought up a lot of memories.  I used to get his wings clipped early on, hoping to have him adjust to being with us, becoming more tame than Misfit.  

Moonie traveled about the house for silly photo opportunities.  

He traveled with me in the truck when we went for a wing clipping and I would run a few errands.  People did double takes at stop lights seeing a budgie looking at them from the passenger seat.  

He even spent an hour at Wild Birds Unlimited one day when I visited our friends Jim and Lynda while I picked up seed.  As he got older, these adventures stopped.  He did travel to my parents' home on occasion when Angie and I went away for a night or two.  He loved the visits to his grandparents because he got lots of attention, especially from my dad.  He sat in their dining room window all day, not having to worry about a cat trying to get him.

He loved his time out on the back deck with us.  Even a visit from a big pigeon didn't bother him.  This wasn't a regular thing by any means but I guess with so many other birds around us, Moonie knew Slate here was no threat.

As far as budgies go, Moonie was a very easy going bird without much care in the world.  I love this sleepy photo of him from last summer.

Moonie got his 5 minutes of fame in the Toronto Star a number of years ago for the Great Backyard Bird Count.  I remember the photographer coming here to shoot some birds in our backyard for the story but oddly enough there were none.  A Cooper's hawk sat in a tree a few yards over which ruined the photo opportunity.  The guy and I hung out in the kitchen for a bit, waiting it out.  He got the idea to take pics of one of our budgies, just for fun, and maybe do something with it.  I had no idea what but I suggested Moonie as he was the much easier going of the two.  It was a fun day when the paper came out and there was Moonie in the article.  I don't think everyone liked this because what's a budgie got to do with the Great Backyard Bird Count; but they made it work with short timeline they had.  I remember even suggesting to the guy that I would take him to Lambton Woods and show him some birds but he said "no".  I'm glad that was his answer.  I think Angie's reaction was the best because she was on public transit going to work and saw Moonie in the paper, looking over the passenger's shoulder next to her.  She got pretty giddy and excited, stating "that's my budgie!"  I wish there was a video of that.  I wonder what the other person's reaction to Angie's burst of excitement was?  A great forever memory and I have a few copies, one of which I got "placked" to a board.

Moonie now rests with Misfit, buried just above her.  They are together again.  Moonie and Misfit were not cage mates but they were bird buds and he would visit her almost daily.  After an hour or two, Misfit would grow tired of his company and lightly lash out at him.  All I had to do was bring Moonie's cage to the door of Misfit's and he would go back home.

I am sad.  Angie is sad.  But we are also thankful that we had him in our home for a decade.

Rest in peace Moonie.  You are loved.  You will never be forgotten.

James Gardens July 2021

I took a little stroll through James Gardens earlier this morning.  It's about a 2 minute drive from home.  I used to go there a lot many years ago, even before I was really into birds and nature like I am now.  It's a pretty place in the summer and back in the day it was quiet place to sit and hand feed chickadees and chipmunks.

Over the years the place has become more and more popular.  There are times where if you aren't there early in the day, you can forget about finding a parking spot.

Don't ask me why I chose to go this morning, but I did.  Perhaps just a change of scenery yet still be close to home.  And it was early in the day when I went.

Upon arrival I was greeted by an elderly man sitting on a bench with an eastern cottontail rabbit mere feet in front of him.  Both humans and wildlife enjoying the park.

I re-familiarized myself with the grounds as I strolled the paths.  So many plants and flowers...  hostas, joe pieweed, bee balm, sun flowers, cone flowers, lilies, lavender, and so on.

I searched a certain flower that I know hummingbirds like and I was successful.  I found the flowers here (name unknown at moment)...

And here is one of two hummingbirds that stopped in.

I saw at least 8 monarch butterflies.

I saw a few silver spotted skippers.

I saw an ebony jewel wing along with a few other dragonflies.

There was lots of bees of various species as well as some other moths and small butterflies.

A few chipmunks ran around and I felt bad for not having anything to offer him.

It was a nice hour spent in the gardens.  I managed to avoid most other human visitors except when a couple young girls came around and started plucking the asters.  I made eye contact with their father many steps behind and just said "seriously?"  The man came over and softly told the girls to not pick the flowers so others could enjoy them too.  I passed a couple beer cases and empty Tim Horton's cups at another spot and just shook my head.  I should bring gloves and a bag with me on these walks.

I plan on having a few more visits to these gardens with the remaining weeks of summer.  Stay tuned for another blog about my walk.

Baby Sitting

 It was a nice weekend at home in the backyard.  We felt like we were baby sitting so many bird kids.  I didn't take nearly as many photos as I could have, or should have, for this blog but here is a bit of what was going on...

Our resident male northern cardinal who we call "papa" was around a lot with his two kids.  Here he is feeding one of them.

A male oriole brought his three young around quite often, both Saturday and Sunday.

This young downy woodpecker was mostly on his own.  He sampled the nyjer seed and realized it wasn't for him after a few nibbles.

We had a ridiculous number of squawky blue jay young here with their parents.  But I never got a photo that I really liked of them.  Hairy woodpecker with young was here as well.  A few starling families as well.  Starlings aren't high on a lot of peoples' lists but hey, it's not their fault for being "non-native" and a threat to native cavity nesters.  We love the loud antics of the young and any starling in the bird bath is fun to watch because they REALLY get into it.  I always think of this little guy every spring when the young starlings are around.  He was a sweet character, just joining me in the shed, hiding out from the heavy rain.

What's it like where you are?  Are you "baby sitting" any young birds?

Fledge Watching 2021

Busy busy is I!  Excuses, excuses, right?  HAHA!  Anyone else you could say that but anyone who knows me, knows that I am.  Nest box monitoring, home garden work, peregrine falcon fledge watches and of course that thing called work.

With only 2 chicks are our nearby falcon site, it's still dragging along with the monitoring of the one bird.  Her name is Tornado.  I rescued her just last week.  She fledged a couple days earlier but late one evening has a slight "misstep" with her flight and getting to a roof top, she lost altitude and the watchers present lost sight of her.  As they closed up the watch for the night, Tornado was still not to be seen.  I offered to do a drive by after my work shift.  I got the information on where she was last seen and started there.  Luck have it, I found her sitting atop the gym on an upper mezzanine level.  She was probably 15 ft away from me, just sitting there and looking at me.  I was happy she was okay, looked well with how she sat, and she was alert.  I said "goodnight" to her and went home.  I vowed to be back as early as I could the next morning.

Tornado on the roof of the gym.

I got back to the site about 7 hours later, much earlier than I liked, but I knew it had to be done.  I started my search where I saw here the night before and found her on the ground like this.

She was maybe 25 feet from where I saw her the night before.  She is in very close range to two towers here so while her laying position here was a little concerning, my thoughts were there was no way she could have hurt herself in the hours from when I saw her at 10:30 the night before to the finding her before 6 the following morning.  I only took this photo with my phone as a record of how I found her, to share with others, just in case.  Then it was time to grab her.

Tornado was just watching me, not reacting, until I got near her with my towel in my hands.  As I got the towel over her, all hell broke loose.  The timid young falcon turned into a hell beast.  While I had the towel over her body, she managed to get her head out and that kept her fighting.  She was trying to bite me and also flip herself over.  I know a bird of prey will lay on it's back and try to defend itself with it's talons as well.  While I wanted to help her get off the walkway and eventually back up to the roof tops, I was not going to get myself torn up in the process.  I managed to keep her down with one hand and the towel while I got my hoodie off with my free hand.  As soon as I got my hoodie over her head, she submitted.

It was a long walk back to the car and thankfully I took the advice from my friend Lucie to bring a larger carrier instead of the small rescue one I keep in the car.  The smaller carrier is fine for male falcons but not a female who is noticeably larger.  Also I had the smarts to ensure the carrier door was open in the car in case I was needing to put a falcon inside.  She's a big girl and being wrapped in a towel and a hoodie certainly increased her size.  If I only had the smaller carrier, there is no way I could have gotten her inside.  

I got her in the carrier and slowly got my towel and hoodie back without much struggle.  As soon as we made eye contact, Tornado hissed and snarled at me, wings flaring.  I can only imagine what she was saying to me, probably make a truck driver blush.  The open wings I took as a good sign that she didn't have any real injuries during her mishap prior to the rescue.

Tornado was released later that day and things have been very slow since.  She's reluctant to fly much.  Maybe she's a little sore from her bump which brought her down?  Maybe she's lost some confidence and is holding back?  She has been taking a flight once a day, right near dark according to Lucie who is monitoring Tornado and her brother Dart every evening now.  The flights are short, from one building to another, but that's good.  Don't push it.  Start small.  One day I don't think she flew at all.  So in a sense, the watch continues, just on Tornado.  Thankfully Lucie is going daily.  There is a man who lives in one of the condos named Roger who is also monitoring every day for a short period, basically trying to get a head count, make an observation and lets us know what he sees.  I'm still popping in weekday mornings.  Let's hope Tornado gets back on track and progresses as a developing young falcon should with her parents and brother over the summer.

Now, as for her brother Dart, he's doing amazing.  Right out of the gate from his first flight, he's staying high and without too much trouble.  He's already doing food transfers with the adults everyday.  That is something to see.  The adult comes in with prey and Dart flies out to take the prey from the adult.  He learns how to catch the prey in flight and recognizes what prey is.  He's landing on ledges at the towers with ease, avoiding the reflective glass.  I did witness him hit the glass a few days back, it was during one of these food transfers.  I think he was too in the moment of getting the food that he didn't pay attention to the building.  I watched him go for the food, bump the glass, lose altitude for maybe 50 ft, quickly regain himself and then fly away from the glass tower, going around the buildings and disappearing out back.  I spent the next hour looking for him without any success.  Thankfully Lucie came down in the afternoon and spotted him with Tornado on one of the roof tops.  It's not for the faint of heart to watch a bird hit the glass.

The other morning Roger and I got a good show of Dart doing yet another food transfer and he ended up on a rooftop right near where I was parked.

Juvenile peregrine falcons are such stunning birds to look at.  I love their colours and markings.

I hope to share a great update on the birds, especially Tornado in a couple weeks.

I've got another little fledge watch happening elsewhere after finding a pair of young red-tailed hawk chicks in a tree.  The birds aren't quite ready to fly so I am keeping an eye on them daily as I pass them on my way to work.  It's great that I don't have to go out of my way to see these guys.

Close up of the one.  Full zoom, some cropping.  I won't release the location of the birds because I am sure they don't need a crowd of people looking at them.  Even my 90 second stop and look is more than enough human disturbance.  I first spotted the birds almost a week ago.  I don't pull over every day; what's the point?  It's nice to know they are.  I will look out for them every day on my way to work.  Just make sure they are still up in the tree or when they fledge, that they are off the ground, away from the dangers like traffic from a very nearby busy road.

I have so much more to blog about, right from our backyard but will get to that very soon (I hope).

How are you all doing?  What are you seeing?