Bird count day

We had a lot of fun yesterday. We saw 24 or 25 different kinds of birds and more than 500 individual birds. One of the most spectacular for us was seeing this juvenile bald eagle - maybe two if the second bird I'd seen wasn't a hawk. There were two huge birds feeding on a rabbit or some creature that had had the misfortune to poke it's head out of the snow . Three ravens and another eagle or perhaps a hawk were also trying to scavenge a meal as well.

It was amazing to see a bird of this size on the ground, eating.

We also saw some snow buntings up close and personal. I've only seen these birds looking like a swirl of snowflakes flitting across a stubby field or high in the air, twisting and turning and generally looking as if they're having fun. So seeing a group of about 10 at a bird feeder was also a treat - we were close enough to see the yellow on their heads - bright golden crowns.

The purpose of the day is to see how many birds there are around in a proscribed area and report it back to Bird Studies Canada, that monitors the rise and fall of various species across the country. Our section - my 96 year old partner in this venture and I - covers territory in the country away from towns and villages. So my friend calls certain people whom she knows usually have big bird counts at their feeders. We drive around  the section - about 160 kilometres or more - looking for birds on the wing, sitting in trees watching or at feeders.

As per usual many of the people we visited didn't have the number of birds they'd had the day before. I'm not sure why this happens - do the birds know? On Bird Count day, I seldom see the numbers or the rare birds that often appear at mine throughout the winter. But we were very happy because often we start off with nothing or only a pigeon or two - this year we saw a dozen pigeons and ten sparrows at a milking barn within a hundred yards of the start. And so it went.

This image is of one of the best places to visit of all - the couple who lives nestled in this woodland paradise has many feeders in place and sees incredible numbers of birds: more than 100 goldfinches, numerous chickadees, red and white breasted nuthatches and many other small birds. Among them all a lone turkey. The gentleman is an artist and carves birds - some of his carvings are simply beautiful, many shorebirds. He has a large following and has begun carving eco-friendly toys from wood, important now that we have learned so many children's toys from China contain lead and other toxins.

The day overall was a huge success. At the end of the day, we gathered with 13 others at the coordinators home on Georgian Bay, watching the waves splash up onto the ice to make huge peaks. While we only had three records for birds - an increase in the number of mute swans, red-bellied woodpeckers and eagles for the day but we all laughed a lot and had great fun. "Twas successful on all counts.

Another snow day

Spirit (black) and Bliss (blonde) help me feed the birds on another snow day. We went outside about 7 which accounts for the darkness - it's still not completely daylight at that time. Both dogs watch for the Dread Red - the family of little red squirrels that have taken up residence underneath my house and torment the dogs daily by getting into the trees from the feeder faster than the dogs can reach them. I watched one day while a baby ran back and forth under the eaves for about five minutes until it finally lept into a tree, down the trunk and into a hole it knew about but the dogs didn't. Always something going on outside around here it seems.

As you can see it snowed last night. This image of the drive shed (where the original pioneers used to "park" their horses and buggies when they went to church - actually it's only half the size it was in 1870 when it was built) shows how the northeast wind has blown the snow around and up sealing it against the wooden wall.
Snow now covers the clematis vines  hanging onto some netting I'd nailed in place, as well as one of the bird feeders, all the shrubs and dead flower stalks with seeds still on them... and it continues to blow. This was taken from inside my "studio" around 7:30 this morning. Currently there is a mourning dove nestled out of the wind  inside the big feeder on the deck which my cat Eleia uses as her house and hiding place when the weather is better. Other tiny birds try to get seeds, digging them out from the deck where I've put some or where they've fallen from another feeder.

7 a.m. - Outside filling the feeders, and Bliss continues to look for the Dread Red, that naughty little red squirrel has the entrance to its home under my front entry about five feet from where Bliss is standing.

The snow has covered bushes and shrubs that I had cleaned off a couple of days ago to keep them from breaking. This won't be so easy because the snow started as rain and freezing rain yesterday. Tree branches and bushes are bending low under the weight of snow.

Two feeders - suet and seed - on the west side of the church which is my home, hanging in a Scotch pine. It's branches  touch the ground. The snow has blown up about two feet around the trunk and the Blue Spruce tree's lower branches are once again covered. I'll have to go out at least twice today to fill the feeders since the birds are having a hard time finding seed on the ground, it keeps getting blown in.
Many roads and schools are closed and no school buses are running anywhere in three or four counties. It's supposed to continue for another two days.... A typical Georgian Bay three day blow!
I'm staying inside today as much as possible. It's cold out there! but not as cold as my friend's home in Igloolik where her neighbour's home had its wall and most of its front door removed by a bear yesterday afternoon. Now that's winter scary.

It's a snow day!

These images speak for themselves.
It's been snowing most of the night, and the birds were at the feeders early.

From the front

On the deck

Into the fields beyond - the dogs will love it - the birds will be well fed, and with the fire on I'll enjoy it too.
Have a great day yourself!

Mourning dove calls

This lovely mourning dove called and called the other afternoon - much to my surprise. Usually I find three or four of them underneath the weeping birch, nibbling at the black oil sunflower seeds that I put out on a plate and a table for the jays, grackles and finches who don't want to attempt the tube feeder at my kitchen window. I don't often find them on the wire above my driveway, nor do I see a single bird. There was something more plaintive than usual about its call which prompted my finding my camera and seeing if I could get a shot.

These birds are not the brightest lights in bird-dom. A dear friend of mine had one that one spring made a nest in her basket of pansies right beside her front door, bothered not at all by the family comings and goings. My friend called her Norma Jean - quite beautiful and quite breathlessly wide-eyed about everything. That mum raised two young that hung around the driveway for the longest time. Many of us in my pottery group call all mourning doves Norma Jeans. Their soft colours and gentle calls make them a favourite, year round.

***
An update on yesterday's post about two owl babies I thought were screech owls. I was advised by a bird expert who is involved with the Ontario Nest Registry Survey - (think I've got that right) - that the owlets were saw-whets. He was so surprised to see them and said the nest registry doesn't have very many listings for these owls and asked me to get the details. Even though these images were a couple of years old, I'm sure the information will be helpful since so many of our native birds are declining in numbers as their habitat disappears, they are predated or non-native species take over.

Since I write for organizations that are involved with recovery efforts for our disappearing natural world, I feel its important to spread the word - for all of us to do what we can wherever we can and when we can. A tiny bit goes a long long way - awareness is the first step....and that's the end of my seriousness for today - have a great day!

Robin's worry

Christopher, my black cat seen here, waits to be allowed out. He woke me at 5 this morning, patting my shoulder with one velvet paw. I suddenly realized that I was listening to the "Buck buck buck" sound of a robin (above) calling to its fledged young. Was Christopher telling me Eleia, my other cat, was out on the deck?

Would she find the baby on the ground? I raced downstairs and brought her in. She will stay inside most of the day and hopefully by that time the baby will be strong enough to fly to safety.

Robin babies often spend at least 24 hours on the ground after they leave the nest - flying short hops from here to there to gain strength and confidence. So many of them don't make it since they are truly vulnerable during these early stages.

Robin parents call repeatedly to the baby - I'm assuming this is an encouragement. However I've heard a frantic calling from them which I also assume is a warning - danger danger - specially when I walk close to the baby or there is some other presumed threat. Of course I get dive-bombed by the parents who make a huge fuss trying to divert me from their wee one.

Bluebirds also do this alerting and encouraging their young. There is a pair of these tiny harbingers of happiness brooding in one of my nest boxes at the moment. So exciting to see the flash of turquoise as they search for flies, grubs and other insects in the lawn grass.

Fledging of all birds is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, since so many baby robins, bluebirds and several ground nesting species like meadowlarks, bobolinks and red-winged blackbirds seldom make it beyond this grounding day. Conversely, I've watched baby swallows fall out of their nest boxes, but their wings pop out like mini-parachutes and they swoop into the sky - "Look Mom - I can fly!" Then the whole family dives and floats, swoops and skims the tops of the high grasses - pure delight to watch.

So if you see a baby robin on the ground - it might just be in the first stages of fledging - not necessarily unable to fly, but only able to fly a short way. Give it room and watch... one of nature's little miracles.

cheerio for now -

Swan dive images