Cooper's Hawk

Well, an interesting event occurred today while leaving the Point Edward arena parking lot after hockey. Just as I was loading my gear into the back of the pickup a Coopers Hawk flew past only about ten feet off the ground carrying a bird and landed in a nearby tree. Meanwhile two Peregrine Falcons were hot on its tail and continued to dive at the Cooper’s.

Eventually the Peregrines left and the Cooper’s started on its meal. Since the Cooper’s had come from the Bluewater Bridge and the Peregrines were severely agitated, I’m wondering if its meal was indeed a young falcon. I managed to get a okay shot as the lighting was very poor and the sight line extremely difficult.

Red-throated Loon

 

I don’t usually post about my day-to-day activities however recently I had a pretty good morning birding along the bay here in Sarnia. A Red-throated Loon was certainly the highlight. Although we have observed Red-throated Loons in our travels this was certainly the closest encounter we have had.

The bay was a good walk this day as I also observed a Common Loon, a White-winged Scoter, a Lesser Scaup, Mallard and Black ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bonaparte, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, all while a Black-legged Kittiwake cruised back and forth along the waterfront. All in all, a pretty good walk.

White-eyed Vireo

 

Back in the spring I was out birding when a local birding guide legend mentioned that he had found a White-eyed Vireo close by. We were unable to relocate the bird however after a couple of hours I was able to relocate the bird in the exact original location.

The White-eyed Vireo forages in the understory often out of sight, but sings nearly all day to let you know it's there. It spends the winter along the coast in the United States and farther south in Mexico, the Caribbean, and northern Central America. Cornell All About Birds

Golden-winged Warbler

 

Back in the spring I had the chance to observe and photograph a Golden-winged Warbler that was in the area. I had previously observed these allusive birds but failed in attempts at obtaining a decent image.

Golden-winged Warblers forage among the leaves and branch tips of their low, shrubby habitat. Males sing their loud, buzzy song over and over again from the tops of shrubs during early summer. Which is exactly the habitat this warbler was observed.

Golden-winged Warblers breed in tangled, shrubby habitats such as regenerating clearcuts, wet thickets, and tamarack bogs. They often move into nearby woodland when the young have fledged. They spend winters in open woodlands and shade-coffee plantations of Central and South America. Cornell All About Birds

Richardson's Owl

On a recent visit to my mother’s new retirement village, I was perusing the very well stocked library when I came across a Roger Tory Peterson A  Field Guide to The Birds first published in 1934. This copy was the fourth edition and published in 1947. It looks like it was a gift to a non birder and is in extremely good condition.

The area covered by the book is the eastern United States.

The retirement home librarian was overwhelmed that I was interested in the book and was more than happy to let me take it home. Apparently, books go missing all the time. Go figure.

I was interested to see a Richardson’s Owl listed and started looking into the name.

The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) or Tengmalm's owl is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the Boreal Owl in North America and as Tengmalm’s Owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm and more rarely as Richardson’s Owl after Sir John Richardson. 

Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer who lived 1787-1865.

Kind of interesting seeing a lot of older names for common birds now. Most of the drawings are in black and white but a few have colour.

I also found out there is a woman’s national football team in Finland called The Boreal Owls.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

 

Killbear Provincial Park has an abundance of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, in fact I would say it is the most common woodpecker found in that area, along with Pileated, Downy, Hairy, Red-headed, and Northern Flickers. There are eBird reports of Red-bellied, however in all my years at Killbear I have never observed or heard one.

Yellow-belled Sapsuckers perch upright on trees, leaning on their tails like other woodpeckers. They feed at sapwells—neat rows of shallow holes they drill in tree bark. They lap up the sugary sap along with any insects that may get caught there. Sapsuckers drum on trees and metal objects in a distinctive stuttering pattern.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are mostly black and white with boldly patterned faces. Both sexes have red foreheads, and males also have red throats. Look for a long white stripe along the folded wing. Bold black-and-white stripes curve from the face toward a black chest shield and white or yellowish underparts. Cornell All About Birds

Hermit Thrush

Although Veery and Wood Thrush are most numerous in the forest of Killbear Provincial Park, Hermit Thrush can often be heard and observed. Especially on the rocky outcrops along the edge of the forest.

Veery

 

Veeries are another common bird found in Killbear Provincial Park. Usually heard long before I could get a look at them. They forage on the ground and logs for invertebrate prey, somewhat in the manner of American Robin or Hermit Thrush, peering around, then moving a short distance and repeating the process.

Veeries are medium-sized thrushes—smaller than an American Robin but similar in shape. They have a plump body, round head, a straight, narrow bill, and fairly long wings and legs.

Blue-headed Vireo

 

Although not near abundant as the Red-eyed Vireo, the Blue-headed Vireo is another Vireo that can be seen and heard around the Killbear Provincial Park forests in summer.

Blue-headed Vireos forage at middle heights in mature trees, where they move slowly from branch to branch, searching for insects. They tend to move slowly, tilting the head to look carefully in all directions, then pouncing on a caterpillar or other prey.

Killbear Warblers

Killbear Provincial Park has an abundance of nesting warblers in June and this year was no exception.

Eastern Phoebe

 

Eastern Phoebe are very common in Killbear and we have found nests almost every year, usually around the old outhouse washrooms. The Eastern Phoebe is a plump songbird with a medium-length tail. It appears large-headed for a bird of its size. The head often appears flat on top, but phoebes sometimes raise the feathers up into a peak. Like most small flycatchers, they have short, thin bills used for catching insects.

The Eastern Phoebe generally perches low in trees or on fencelines. Phoebes are very active, making short flights to capture insects and very often returning to the same perch. They make sharp “peep” calls in addition to their familiar “phoebe” vocalizations. When perched, Eastern Phoebes wag their tails down and up frequently.

These birds favor open woods such as yards, parks, woodlands, and woodland edges. Phoebes usually breed around buildings or bridges on which they construct their nests under the protection of an eave or ledge. Cornell All About Birds

Least Flycatcher

 

Another very common bird at Killbear this time of year is the Least Flycatcher. Least Flycatchers are a small flycatcher. Like other flycatchers they tend to perch upright, but they appear a little more compact than most. The primary feathers on their wings are short, which makes their thin tail look longer. Their head is round and is not peaked at the back of the head.

Least Flycatchers congregate in clusters in deciduous forests during the breeding season. They sing incessantly throughout the summer, tossing their head back with each chebec. They tend to flit from perch to perch among dead branches in the middle to upper level of the forest canopy. This is the exact behaviour observed at Killbear during our camping trip.

Eastern Wood-Peewee

 

We have just returned from our annual June trip to Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay. I was fortunate to get an early start every morning coupled with great weather which allowed for some great birding. Most mornings I would have upwards of fifty species. One of the most prominent birds around that area this time of year, after the Red-eyed Vireo and American Redstart which are very numerous, is the Eastern Wood Peewee.

Some interesting facts about the Eastern Wood-Peewee.

The olive-brown Eastern Wood-Pewee is inconspicuous until it opens its bill and gives its unmistakable slurred call. These small flycatchers perch on dead branches in the mid-canopy and sally out after flying insects.

When several flycatcher species live in the same forest, the Eastern Wood-Pewee tends to forage higher in the trees than the Least and Acadian flycatchers, but lower than the Great Crested Flycatcher.

The Eastern Wood-Pewee’s lichen-covered nest is so inconspicuous that it often looks like a knot on a branch.

The oldest recorded Eastern Wood-Pewee was at least 8 years, 2 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Maryland in 2010. Cornell All About Birds

Western Meadowlark

 

A couple of months ago a Western Meadowlark was reported just south of where we live in Lambton County. We had observed this bird in our travels out west but this would be a new bird for our Lambton list so I jumped at the chance to observe it. The bird was perched on a hydro wire actively singing upon my arrival.

Some cool facts about the Western Meadowlark from Cornell All About Birds

Although the Western Meadowlark looks nearly identical to the Eastern Meadowlark, the two species hybridize only very rarely. Mixed pairs usually occur only at the edge of the range where few mates are available. Captive breeding experiments found that hybrid meadowlarks were fertile, but produced few eggs that hatched.

The explorer Meriwether Lewis was the first to point out the subtle differences between the birds that would eventually be known as the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks, noting in June 1805 that the tail and bill shapes as well as the song of the Western Meadowlark differed from what was then known as the “oldfield lark” in the Eastern United States.

Like other members of the blackbird, or icterid, family, meadowlarks use a feeding behavior called “gaping,” which relies on the unusually strong muscles that open their bill. They insert their bill into the soil, bark or other substrate, then force it open to create a hole. This gives meadowlarks access to insects and other food items that most birds can’t reach.

The Western Meadowlark is the state bird of six states: Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming

Upland Sandpiper

An area I love to bird in the spring, usually around April 18 or 19th, is Marthaville Road south of Aberfeldy in Lambton County. On a nice morning it's great to first cruise along slowly in the truck and since there is very little traffic, parking roadside for photography is pretty easy. Then I enjoy getting out and just walking along roadside to see what pops out. This year was no exception as there were lots of signing birds.

                                                            Upland Sandpiper

                                                                    Bobolink

                                                         Eastern Meadowlark

                                                              Brown-headed Cowbird

                                                                   Savannah Sparrow

Cuban Shorebirds

Low tide along the Cayo Coco coast provides the opportunity to observe a variety of shorebirds, most in their winter plumages.

White-crowned Pigeon

The White-crowned Pigeon is a very large pigeon that is a common to locally abundant breeding resident and passage migrant throughout the Cuban archipelago.

American Flamingo

American Flamingoes can also be observed in large numbers on Cayo Coco.

Usually found in the wetland areas where they feed on algae and small invertebrates by pumping water through their inverted bills.

A pair of flamingoes lay one egg in a mud mound.

American Kestrel

Another very common bird to observe and photograph around the resorts on Cayo Coco is the American Kestrel. Not only are North American Kestrels around but Cuba has it's own subspecies. Sometimes I could observe up to six Kestrels while standing in one spot, all actively hunting.

Neotropic Cormorant

 

The Neotropic Cormorant occurs in sheltered waters of southern U.S. states, the Caribbean, and Latin America. It is smaller and longer-tailed than other cormorants, but otherwise looks very similar to the Double-crested Cormorant, and the two species often flock together.

Unlike its larger cousin, it sometimes plunge-dives for fish from a few feet above the water, almost like a booby, though it dives mostly as it paddles along the water’s surface, catching fish as it darts through the water. Cornell All About Birds

Cuban Black Hawk

 

The Cuban Black Hawk is endemic to the island of Cuba. It is mostly found along the coastlines near swamps and mangroves, in palm savannah and along roadsides. We have had the opportunity to observe many Cuban Black Hawk however none as photogenic as this one.

The Cuban Black Hawk is a large, broad-winged hawk of forests that can usually also be found hanging around resorts. The body of adult is entirely dark brown to black.

Differs from perched vultures in having feathered head plus yellow bill and legs.

The Cuban Black Hawk feeds on a number of different species. A high portion of its diet includes crabs, but it also feeds on centipedes, lizards, birds, and rats.

It is best distinguished in flight by bold white patches near end of wings and by its large size. In flight, the Cuban Black Hawk has broad wings and a shorter tail.