Brightening Up A Dreary Sunday

Angie and I just got back from a week down in the Cape May, New Jersey area.  What a week we had!  And a blog is coming about that in the not too far off future.

Today, is our first full day back at home, and we opted for a day of mostly rest (and a bit of house cleaning).  We tried to enjoy the backyard when it wasn't cloudy or drizzly but those moments were far and few between.  For me, I was really hoping for something new to visit the backyard today.  It seems over the last few days, friends about the city have been enjoying Indigo Buntings, Scarlet Tanagers, or Warblers making appearances to their feeders.  The cool wet days are keeping migrating birds in Toronto at the moment...  so it seems.

Well, nothing was going on in our yard in way of new.  A dozen regular visiting species plus the return of a Hairy Woodpecker (not seen one here since last fall).

But right before dinner, having my 20th something look out the kitchen window in the last couple hours, and this caught my eye.

Who could miss a sight like that, eh?  Arctic Rock Dove!!!!!  Snowy Dove?  LoL!

As you can see, I raced for my camera.  I know it's just a plain ol' Pigeon but he was clean, bright, pure white and new.  I guess I got what I wished for...  sort of. 

I toyed with the settings on the camera, changing the metering to spot metering.  My friend Brian taught me that this past winter for when out photographing Snowy Owls.  I am not good with technical stuff, but it really does improve the white in photos.  With the dark skies once again, ISO not quite right, making everything else around seem much darker.

He was quite the model bird, showing off all angles of himself.  A near pure white bird minus the dirty backside, like he just went through fresh cut grass.  On a day like today, no way he or anything else outside was going to stay clean.

I snapped photos, took moments just to watch him graze through the garden, and seeing if there was any reactions from the other birds.  If you happened to catch my blog about a month ago about the banded Pigeon from Quebec, he was given a bit of a hard time from the others upon his arrival.  But with this guy here, nobody gave much notice to him except for Angie and I.

The bird did his thing, and slowly got closer to me.  Finally acknowledging my presence but didn't seem to care.  I just sat there and embraced his beauty.  I laughed at this all too.  He's no Indigo Bunting, not a Tanager of any sort, 20x  larger than a Warbler, and most would scoff at this sight.  But in my desperation (joking) of wanting something new to come to the yard today, someone up above gave me just that.  And I took to it quite happily.

After all, on such a dreary Sunday, home all day; why wouldn't I?

Suddenly a couple Jays made screeching alarm calls and sent all the birds flying.  I watched this beauty flee with my regular flock and has yet to return.  It was late in the day and only 2 came back about an hour later.  I wonder if we will see him again?  I sure hope so.

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Backyard Bits This Week

Woo hoo!  It finally feels like Spring.  And it seems the birds agree with me on this one as I am about to share a few bits with you here...

For starts, Baltimore Orioles have returned to the backyard.  As of this morning (Friday May 9th), we've got 3 males visiting.  And of the three, one has caught my attention as he is banded.  I am betting it is the banded male from last fall migration but I never got his full band number so who is to say for certain but seems about right to me.

But actually, with the partial from last year and what I have of it this time around, the numbers are the same.  I had 5 numbers last year and I've got 7 so far now.  Believe me, this is no easy task.  Those bands are so small, I can't even think of a comparison at the moment.  And since they go right around the leg, I just keep hoping I get them all through many photos.  I'll show you below what I've obtained so far.

Here we have 231 over 21

 Here it appears to be 31 over 19

223 over 21.  And anything before that bottom 2 looks quite worn.

Super crop job.  I swear that looks like a 5 left of the bottom 2.  What do you think?

I got all that in two visits from the bird in half an hour.  Two days later, I haven't gotten anymore.  Such a tease from this morning!

I've sent out the partial number to the bird banding office, as well as to friends at Bird Studies Canada, and others in hopes of a miracle somewhere, somehow on this.  You all know I won't give up on this as long as the bird visits us.  It took me 10 days with that female American Goldfinch last September.  All I ask is that you all wish me luck.

Also this week, we saw a stop in from some Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  We had 2 males on Thursday.  I saw 1 female on Friday.

This guy was determined to get some shelled nuts from this feeder which is difficult for a Grosbeak to grab on to.

But he figured it out.

Not the best perch but what the hell.  He's quite a looker, eh?

I didn't get any photos of the female the following morning but that's okay as a few hours later, while outside, I heard some bird song that I kinda knew but also knew I never heard in our yard before.  It took me some searching in our pines behind the house before I finally spotted a male Nashville Warbler.  He was singing and feeding, bouncing from branch to branch.  Warblers are tough to photograph in such scenarios.  I was thrilled to see this little bird and to be able to add him to our backyard species list.  I believe he's number 47 to touch our yard.  We have a fly over list too, which has 11 identified species.

Ta da, look at me!

Singing away in the tree!

Aren't I so pretty?

It's too bad Angie wasn't home to see this visitor.  He passed through pretty quick and I was fortunate enough to be outside and able to spot him.  I wonder how many other Warblers have gone through the yard that we don't know about? 

We also saw some White-crowned Sparrows foraging out back today too.  Suddenly our Finch population has increased, especially with the House Finches.  I often see half a dozen out there at once.  It's nice we have a steady pair of American Goldfinch as well.  Juncos showed up last weekend but seemed to have moved on once again.

And before I go, here's one more little bit for you.  I find this slightly comical and really wish I had of had my camera for the encounter.

Friday morning I took the truck in, finally taking the snow tires off, and getting an oil change.  It's a pleasant morning so I am spending my waiting time outside the garage.  I look over at the gas station next to us and spot some Pigeons.  The red one sure looked familiar.  But then he took off across St. Clair Ave to the Walmart across the street.  I watched him strut cock over there amongst some ladies, and then come back over to the gas station lot.  It's busy and his stay wasn't long.  I got a good look at his feet, saw the clubbed foot, and knew right away it was our little buddy "Red" from the back yard.  I didn't think of taking a photo with my phone until he went back over to Walmart.  You should be able to spot him in this crappy photo.  He did some more strutting and wooing before settling down on the roof top for a good long preening session.

The truck is done.  I head home.  About 30 minutes, who is in the backyard but Red himself.  I stepped out back, he flew right to me and we had a good visit.

The garage and Walmart are just under 2 kms from the house, which really isn't that far.  But to be out and about, and see one of my birds is pretty funny to me.  I'm always looking for them over by the Loblaws since I see dozens about the area from that parking lot.

Since I'm on about them Pigeons, I may as well throw Pierre in the blog.  We've had some visits but I can't help but notice he's rather aggressive, vocal and clingy.  Actually all the Pigeons are the first two, males anyways.  I guess it's that time of year.  Some days Pierre kicks ass, other days he's getting his handed to him.  He's still the king even though sometimes I feel like an emotional tampon to my boy.  I swear he sulks if he's not the centre of attention.  He coos and coos, louder and louder, and makes his presence be known.  He's not been keen on my attention on the Orioles this week, and not 100% focused on him.  What a bird!  Here's a one minute video of how things go with them.

It's been a great week in the yard with the birds.  I wonder what the next few weeks will present us?  Both Angie and I are very curious, but lil Ms Meadow really could care less...

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Creeping Death

We've got 2 weeks of vacation coming up soon and I want to key out a couple bits beforehand (if I can).  So, today just wanted to share a little moment I had with a Great Egret in a park area near the house on Friday.

It was a dark and dreary week, leaving me little motivation for much of anything.  But I finally said "I must go outside!"  And not just in the backyard.  It's early May, the birds are coming through slowly, and I'm sure something is out there to see.  And I was right!

First sighting of him flying around.  I jumped out of the truck and caught this shot real quick.

He landed and started his stroll of the pond.  He looks like he's not up to much but the Red-wings certainly know better and come out to keep him moving.  While no nests are on the go just yet; these birds will eat bird eggs, baby birds, etc if they find them throughout the Spring.

The Egret continues his walk through the pond.  And stops on a log to scan the area.

Funny how the side profile makes it appear that there is much more to them than the front view.

After a minute or two, he continues on through the pond.  He looks so majestic with those long flowing back end feathers.  And he moves with such grace through the waters.

And in an instant, he is on something.  I figure he may have stirred something up from the bottom of the pond as he walked through.

Score!  It's a Frog!

I did feel bad for the amphibian because the next couple minutes sure weren't pleasant and I do hope his death was quick.  And the gracefulness of the Egret quickly disappears as he works on his meal.

The Egret was piercing the Frog, slammed it on a log a few times, dunk it in the water over and over again, and numerous times made attempts to swallow it.

The picture taking guy inside me really wanted to move in closer for some detailed head shots but the respect for the wildlife guy always wins, and I watched from where I stood, cropping pics later on. 

I think the pics are great as they are, with the overcast skies it seemed to bring out the colors of the landscape nicely.  And the white on this bird...  WOW!  Ya, I'm tooting my own horn on getting some photos I am quite happy with.

I wasn't in the park more than 20 minutes from first sight of this bird until I drove off home, totally hyped from what I just witnessed.  It had just started to rain again anyway and work was beckoning soon.  I guess someone/thing rewarded me for getting out of the house, eh?

I guess the title may not be most appropriate to some, but really watching this bird hunt, it was like creeping death.  And hey, I love that Metallica song!  Crank it here!

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What The Fuh?

Fuh!  What's that?  Well, it's the all ages word I just made up in replacement of the word I used today amongst friends, which I am sure I don't need to spell out.

I woke up shortly after 7am on Friday.  A few of my Pigeon buds were in the garden already and they sure have great eye sight, picking up on movement through the kitchen window, even with the shutters only partially opened.  So out I go to feed a couple early morning visitors while I wait for the kettle to boil. 

Looking at this photo below, can you see what I took notice to in the background?  It sure looks like Red sees it as well.

Ya, that's it, right there, on the picnic table...  a bit of a mess of what once was a Squirrel.  And my immediate thought was WTF?!?!?!  Remember, this is maybe 7:30am now.  When I was outside around 11pm the night before, filling feeders and changing baths; that was not there.

So somewhere in the wee early morning hours, probably at first light since the sun had only risen an hour and a bit earlier, this Squirrel got up from his tree house to start a new day, not knowing it would be his last.

Of course I feel a little bad for one of my buds.  But I am really wondering what got to him and devoured him right there on the table?  I'm throwing my guess at a Red-tailed Hawk since one had taken a couple Squirrels out this past winter.  Some others are throwing Owl as another suggestion.  OMG!  I'd drop dead of a heart attack if I saw a Great Horned Owl sitting on our picnic table having a meal.  Serious wow effect there.  But who knows?  I will keep a better ear and eye open out there, not that there's much room for improvement with me and tuning in to the backyard activity. 

Angie is feeling a little bad about this since she was up before dawn and this was going on as she enjoyed her first coffee, on the other side of the wall from where she sat.  But she's really curious too.  How can one not be?

First glances I thought there was more to this Squirrel on the table, but when discarding the remains, I could see it was much like the others...  tail, one leg/foot, a couple bony bloody pieces but this had a long stretch of back skin and fur attached as well.    All I know is the picnic table is in need of a serious power washing on the first real pleasant day.

So readers of this blog, what do you think?  What is your thoughts on what did this?

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Wish Birds

This past Monday Angie and I had a lifer, this bird being a Whip-poor-will.  A bird neither of us imagined we would ever see but only hope to hear on a full moonlit Summer night.  And I must add that this is or rather has been Angie's wish bird for almost as long as we've been into the birds together.

I can't really step in on her part of the story and I encourage you to visit her blog about this adventure by clicking here.  She's done a great re-telling of the afternoon.

And as for me, I caught the tail end of it all, seeing the bird get taken out of the downtown corridor and relocated just north of Toronto, away from all those big buildings and that reflective glass.

The Monday started out as any other Monday, disgruntled that another fine weekend had come to an end.  We spent part of Saturday visiting our friends, both human and feathered, at Mountsberg Conservation Area (Mountsberg Raptor Centre) for another raptor encounter.  We love seeing the great people who look after these birds, and of course, love just as much, and maybe a little more so, seeing the birds that live there.

Sunday we had lunch with some fellow Falcon watchers at the Longest Yard in Etobicoke, while momma Peregrine Falcon sat on her eggs across the street and some 20 stories up.  It was great catching up and feeling the vibe of the insanity to come in mere weeks when the Falcons have hatched and are ready to take their first flights.  O'Conner can be viewed live via the webcam here, and as you can see she's keeping them eggs warm (I got this photo from the site just now).  The first hatch should be in the next week or so (there's 4 eggs).

So yeah, Monday came, and I just wasn't into the work thing.  I was over-tired and actually feeling a little unwell.  Too much fun on the weekend perhaps?  Or maybe it was Angie waking me up extra early because she couldn't find her house keys?  But I'm at work, it's mid-afternoon, just started my shift, and not long after I start getting texts from Angie about seeing this Whip-poor-will downtown near her work.  I can feel her excitement and it grew with the texts and the story that happened down there...  did you go to her blog yet?  You really should.  Link here again.  :P  but don't forget to come back here to finish mine...  LoL!

Both of us were wishing I was down there for the moment.  But obviously I couldn't.  I can't imagine my bosses letting me leave work at the prospect of seeing a new bird, even if it is one that is nocturnal and endangered (which I might never see in my life).  And I'm glad with my job there is little room for error thanks to the computers, scanning product I pick up with my forklift and then having to scan the trailer door it is to be loaded on because my mind certainly was not on the task at hand of getting a load of Pepsi products to Ottawa that afternoon.  I was day dreaming of Whip-poor-wills.  A bird I can only sorta visualize in my head because they are hard to put together unlike a Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Great Horned Owl, etc.  They blend in so well with tree bark for one, and some of their features make them almost Owl like.  A very cool and unique looking species.  But whatever, that's where my head was.

I told a couple of my co-workers about what was going on.  Two of them started in on some Whip-poor-will song together in the shipping office.  It was funny as hell!  I don't know the tune but am reminded that there are some good guys I work with, we have some laughs through the shit of each day.

And I guess someone above took pity on my wantings, and soon along came the supervisors asking me if I'd like to leave work early.  The work load wasn't that big.  I already knew the bird was enroute to north of the city to be released.  So I said "let me get back to you".  And I began to frantically text Lev who had the bird.  Minutes seemed a lot longer and I called his phone probably sooner than I should have, leaving a voice mail of excitement and hope, much like my texts.  Lev got back to me and we set up to meet where he planned on releasing the bird at dusk.

So, as you can guess, I went back to my superiors and said "yes, I want to leave".  And off I went halfway through my shift, battling rush hour traffic from Mississauga to a spot north/west of the GTA.  One of my good buds was texting me about the buzz of Angie's adventure, saying that she really had one on me now with a bird because they are incredibly difficult to spot.  HA!  Little did he know at that moment but I told him in the next text what was unfolding.

I ended up being a little early so I grabbed a coffee and waited, enjoying the sights of a couple Caspian Terns over a small pond.  Then the song of returning White-throated Sparrows added a soundtrack and I suddenly forgot where I just came from...  work.

Lev came along a bit later and we walked to the area he suggested.  A little bird chit chat, a joke or two about some other stuff and then it was time to release the Whip-poor-will.  I didn't know what to expect, like if the bird would just jet off upon release or chill for a moment.  Whatever it was, that's the way it was to be.  I asked Lev if he could hold it for a few seconds just so I could get a good look at this legendary bird.  Legendary?  Hey, they sing songs about this bird in old country music as Angie tells me.  And I know more people hear them at night, and sometimes all night long, and never seeing them.  So ya, legendary seems to fit.

Lighting was pretty crappy by now.  And in my tired state, and now excited state, I didn't pay attention to camera settings, and took this...

I had said to Lev on the way in that I was only hoping for a couple "for the record" photos and not anything museum quality.  I guess I got what I wished for, eh?

Lev set the bird down on a log along the path, and the bird chilled out for a short bit.  He looked a little rough, but expected as such with the big adventure he had in the last few hours.

I got a couple photos in after watching him briefly when he suddenly took flight from this log stump and flew right towards me, passing me on the left side of my head.  Boy did I ever get a good look at him then!

We watched him fly off a little ways, landing in the grass.  This happened to be in the direction of the way we needed to go to get back to our vehicles, so we proceeded very slowly.  I squatted down as we neared the bird and snapped another couple pics.

Well, if that's the Whip-poor-will adventure for me.  I guess that was it...  well almost.  As we passed bird in the grass, he took flight again, obviously gathered his bearings by this point; he took height and flew off far away from us, letting out little snippets of his flight call too.  That was a pretty cool addition and a great ending!

It was amazing for both Angie and I to see this bird even if the sightings were a couple hours apart.  I am so happy she got to see her wish bird.  And I'm even happier this bird was safely removed from the dangers of downtown Toronto.

Now what is my wish bird you may wonder?  Well, at the moment it is the Loggerhead Shrike.  I know where they can be found in Ontario and over the last 7 or so Springs, I've made the attempts to spot one in the area of Carden Alvar...  but no luck so far.  Maybe this Spring will be the one?  Mind you, this past Saturday I did get to see one (again) at Mountsberg.  Her name is "Pierce" and she's one heck of a character.  A captive bred Loggerhead Shrike who is going to be a part of their educational birds team.  We've met Pierce a couple times now and she always puts on a little show of what Shrikes are known for and why she has the name Pierce...  taking meal worms and piercing them on thorns in her enclosure.  What a pretty and wicked little bird them Loggerhead Shrikes are.

Loggerhead Shrikes are a species at risk here in Ontario.  And places like Mountsberg along with the Toronto Zoo and African Lion Safari are involved in a breeding and release program to hopefully keep their numbers up.  Hopefully with their help, I may see one flying around Carden soon?

What is your wish bird, if you have one?

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Long Way From Home

Hooboy!  Just when you and I thought I'd be taking a break from the Pigeon tales, here comes another one...

Late Saturday afternoon I took notice to a Pigeon out back who was banded.  I couldn't miss the bright red band around his leg.

And of course, as you can see, I got my camera pretty darn quick and went to work on this bird and his band.  Who wouldn't want to get the numbers on any banded bird and learn about it?

Lucky for me the band on a Pigeon is much larger than one on a Goldfinch (remember my adventure last Autumn out back?).  The black numbers over a thick red band made it quite easy to read.  So exactly 119 photos later, I had pieced it all together...  5 ID numbers, some other code, and even a website!

I got a 28 right away, and could make out the .ca

A few more photos and I got 8532

I made out the website.  www.crpu.ca

And then this little bit being CU over 2013

The bird constantly moved as he grazed about the lawn and gardens hence the 100+ photos I took of him.  And some of my regulars weren't too accepting of this new bird around, giving him a bit of grief if he got too close.  But this was all fun to watch, try and get those numbers; and I commend him on such a good job of cleaning up about the backyard!  Best full number pic...  28532

I then came back inside and started my research, which took little time thanks to the website.  The site is the Canadian Racing Pigeons Union.  Who knew?  And keying in his number, I learn this bird is from St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu in Quebec.  It's owner is also listed (and address, phone number).  I sent an email to the website, reporting this bird on Saturday afternoon.  As of this morning (Monday) I've yet to hear anything back.  I suppose I could call the guy and tell him about his bird being here but I am waiting for a reply from the CRPU first.  Maybe the guy doesn't speak English and that would certainly be awkward?  Ah well, I'll see what happens in the coming days.

At dusk, the bird flew off on it's own, heading north/west.  And I wondered if I would see it again.  Ya, why wouldn't it, eh?

Sure enough, the bird returned Sunday and spent much of the day here feeding and drinking, a little bathing.  I noticed near dark he/she was still here along with one of my regulars.  And in an instant, they both flew off together heading south/west where they all go.  It got me wondering.

This morning, the birds started coming again, either in singles or pairs, starting around 7am.  Red was first to be seen, then a few others, Pierre about 8:30am.  And then this new bird close to 9am.  I can get within 3 or 4 feet of this bird before he starts to back off.  He pays little attention to me unless I invade his personal space.  And he's not caught on to what goes on at the back door.  But he probably won't care, as he snubs peanut bits.  He seems to prefer the cracked corn, something my hand feeders turn their nose at now, preferring the high protein peanut bits.

The new guy with his friend from last night.  They are hanging out together again today.

It's all made for a good story.  Thanks to Mapquest, I see the bird has traveled approximately 575 kms from his home to our backyard.  Interesting of all the places to stop in, as many others feed the birds across Toronto and beyond, yet he's chosen here (and is staying).  And add how Pierre (French name) started this, and 21 months later a Quebec bird flies in.

I named him Frenchy.  But toyed with creating something like "The Separatist" as all my friends have made similar comments about him separating from Quebec.  Angie frowned on the name so I guess Frenchy is sticking.

To be continued?

I guess this may have been better for some if it was about a Band-tailed Pigeon instead of a banded Pigeon.  Sorry.  LoL!

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