What happened to all the birds?

June 12, 2021

Wow, what an interesting migration this May.

It seemed to take quite a while for the Baltimore Oriole and Hummingbirds to return to our yard, but they were few and far between. By the end of May we didn’t see the male Hummingbird anymore, but the female must be looking after some babies as she is the only one that comes by. Hopefully the little ones will be showing up soon at our feeders.

The Orioles were only around for a couple of weeks, and they didn’t even want the oranges that we put out for them. They sucked up their nectar, then came to steal from the Hummy feeder, and soon they were gone too.

The Yellow Warblers and Tree Swallows really showed up in abundance this year, which made it difficult to tell if any of the “special” ones were around.

The Purple Martins set up in their homes all around the county and were often seen buzzing around the wetlands. These birds are like the swallows, but are a bit bigger. The males are a deep colour, almost a royal purple/blue in the sunlight.

I happened upon an Egret at Holiday Beach close to the edge of the water, in the shade with sunlight in behind. It was a male, preening his breeding plumage. I sat at the edge of the marsh and made myself comfortable. I didn’t have long to wait. Within 2 minutes he stretched himself out and the magic happened. After a few seconds, it was all finished. I chimped the camera and felt elated! This time I got decent photos of the feathers being spread in the sunlight.

The shorebirds started their annual march northwards, so it was time to visit Hillman Marsh. Although it was busy enough, there just seemed to be fewer species coming through, and those that visited didn’t stay around very long. We did get a chance to see the Black Throated Stilts, a Western Sandpiper, Golden Plovers, Black Bellied Plovers, Yellowlegs, Dunlins and a pair of Trumpeter Swans. One special visitor was a Leucistic Canada Goose.

Slowly, the warblers began to show up. A few came in early, but this year it seemed that the majority got the Stay at Home order from the Ontario Government, and decided not to migrate. It was either that or the weather. It’s no fun to fly when it’s just too cold and the winds like to blow from the North too often. The warblers need winds from the South to help push them across Lake Erie, but those winds were as scarce as the warblers themselves.

This is not to say that nobody arrived, but if we were looking for the big push, it just didn’t happen. And by the time it warmed up enough for anything to come through, the trees had already popped out their leaves and the groundcover was too deep to see anything.

I know, I sound like a whining child.

Alright, what were some of the highlights;
Warblers – Black Throated Blue, Black Throated Green, Yellow, Palm, we got to see a very rare Kirtland’s way up at the top of a tree (not the best place to get photos), Prothonotary (endangered), Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, Ovenbird, Black and White, Blackburnian, Chestnut Sided, Magnolia, Yellow-Rumped, Parula, Canada, and a few other ones. Have I lost you yet?
Others include – Orchard Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, various Thrush, a quick glimpse of a flying Woodcock, a Sedge Wren, Sora, a few Red Headed Woodpeckers, various Flycatchers, Terns, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Titmouse, Blue Grey Gnatcatcher, a really cute bunch of baby Wood Ducks, a few kinds of Sparrows, Cedar Waxwing, maybe I am dragging this on too long. Skipping to the end of the month brought us a pair of Glossy Ibis, way out on the other side of a flooded field, but at least we can say that we saw them.

My Lady had been pushing me for some time to make a major purchase of something that would help us both see some of the birds that were too far away for our binoculars. I kept putting it off complaining that it would just be another thing that I would have to carry around to go along with the camera and binoculars (and tea, and snacks, and backpack with warmer clothes, and other various stuff). Little did I know she was biding her time for the right moment.

We were able to go out birding with a couple of our friends, and they had a nice scope that brought the distant birds in close enough to identify. When my Lady was able to see one of the rare birds so clearly, she really began pushing in earnest. “You should get one of these” she said, pointing to the scope. From there, they ganged up on me and it became the running line for the rest of the day, even popping up a few times in the following days. It wasn’t just my Lady and our friends pushing me, but also a few members of our birding group got into the act. They were efficient in knocking down my defenses, and after a couple of days I made a stop at the best place in the area to buy optics, and after some humming and hawing, I ended up spending more than a few bucks on some really good equipment. It wasn’t so much that the store saw a sucker, but it was the opportunity to compare products, and select the best product for what my Lady and I would do with it. Of course I am secretly happy about getting a scope and have used it many times over the past couple of weeks, I was just in that “I couldn’t justify it” stage for too long.

Yup I’m one step closer to moving up a stage in the old Birding 101 blog from June 2019. Heck, I’m even starting to learn some of their habits and calls.

Anyway, even though it looks like we saw a lot of different birds, this year’s migration really was very soft. We didn’t get the normal number of birds coming through, even trying multiple locations. Everyone said the same thing, almost becoming a mantra – Slow year eh?

Makes me worry about the future, especially if the warblers couldn’t make it to their breeding grounds this year.

Wow, you actually stayed with me to get to the end?

Thanks so much. See you next time.

Is that the sound of Crickets?

Wow, I really didn’t take a lot of photos in April. We went out a few times, but not much seemed to be happening

As mentioned last month, we had some Pelicans fly in and eventually land in Holiday Beach marsh.

Early April my Lady and I went over to the Hawk Tower, and as soon as we arrived 40 Pelicans performed their landing routines, before splitting into 2 groups and giving us a great show.

We saw them 1 more time after that and then poof, they were gone and haven’t been seen around here recently (but we have heard of some near Pelee)

We happened to see a juvenile Bald Eagle catch a fish and get chased by a handful of Gulls. They wanted the fish, but really had no chance.

The Horned Owls had at least 1 baby, but they always stayed on the wrong side of the tower to get any worthwhile photos.

As of the end of the month the nest appears to be empty, and the Ospreys have returned but are building a nest on one of the light stands in the baseball field across from their original home. Maybe they don’t like the smell of Owl.

The Egrets have also made a comeback, and are showing off their breeding outfits. I have been waiting to get photos of them ruffling all their feathers, but they continue to elude me.

We heard of an Evening Grosbeak at Point Pelee, and made our way over as quickly as possible. Although we had seen a few last year way up in a tree, this one gave us a really nice show.

We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Saint Vincent. La Soufriere has been explosively erupting on and off for the past number of weeks, with lots of rock and ash debris, pyroclastic flows, over 20,000 people evacuated, and we are hearing that the 2 old craters have become 1. The north part of the island, considered as the best growing area, is wiped out and may take a very long time to show any signs of regrowth.

Family is safe right now, but we are still concerned for them. None of them live in the Red zone, but all are being affected in one way or another, some worse than others.

With May comes the real big push of incoming birds on their inbound Spring Migration. We will be trying to be out every day possible, looking for anything that moves, hoping it’s something that is new or special for us, and praying that we get a decent photo.

I will try to get another post out early next month, fingers crossed.

Till then, stay safe.

Thanks for reading.

How was your Halloween?

So, did you get out and vote?

We had a very busy day during the election, starting at 8:00 in the morning, right through to 1:00 the next morning. We spent our day locked up in a school gym, working with Elections Canada, confirming voters, giving the ballots, and eventually counting the ballots. Really a very interesting process.

Funny thing, when we were in Toronto, my Lady often said that she would like to work an election one day. Sure enough, the first election to come around in our new place, and we get asked to work it. Kind of bizarre if you ask me.

Yup, it’s Fall. The trees have almost lost all of their leaves, the weather is cooler, the birds are on their way to somewhere warm, and the days are getting short.

Speaking of birds, we had a really cool sighting recently. It was reported that there was a Nelson’s Sparrow hanging around the Holiday Beach Hawk Tower. We were able to get over to see it, and after some time it showed itself to us. This was exciting as we learned that it was a very rare bird in our area. So of course, I start taking photographs from the top of the tower, into the grass at the base, and was fortunate to get at least a couple of good photos.

After cropping and sending them to one of our very knowledgeable friends, he confirmed with the original spotter, that it actually wasn’t a Nelson’s, but in fact something even more rare, a Le Conte’s Sparrow. It’s strange to think that my photos helped to determine an extremely rare bird in our area.

We have had a Snowy Egret hanging out in our little Egret roost just a couple minutes walk from our place. Much smaller than a Great Egret, it comes in every night before the big ones arrive, and it seems to have claimed it’s own little spot.

Went for a drive a couple weeks ago and came across a large flock of Starlings on the road. They started off on a sideroad, and then moved to a paved road. We stopped and opened the windows and listened to them as they talked to each other and flew off. I forgot my camera so had to use the cell phone.

The hunters have been out recently. We can hear the guns going off in the morning and even at Holiday Beach there are duck hunters around. We would be at the tower, and suddenly, Bang Bang. All the wildlife on the marsh suddenly take to wing and fly off to a different area. Even going for a walk can be restricted on some trails. There are signs out in some areas, warning not to hike during certain times and days due to hunters in the area. Personally, I prefer to hunt with a camera, so I try to stay far away from the guys with the guns. Mind you though, since moving down, we have learned that the most common colour to wear is Camouflage.

How was Halloween in your area? We live on a small street where there are still a few homes up for sale, and only a few people have children. We didn’t have any idea how many kids would come around, and this year the weather really sucked. It was wet all day, stopped for a couple hours during trick or treat time, but that’s when the cold winds blew in strong. As such, we had a total of 12 visitors. Oh well, I guess there’s still more chips and chocolates for me to eat.

So, that’s what we have for this episode.

Thanks for reading, and if you like, don’t forget to tell your friends about this little blog, and get them to sign up too.

Till next time.