Spring....is coming??

It may be hard to believe that spring is on its way, especially with it being March 27th yesterday and watching it snow!!   There have been a few slight signs of spring here in Peterborough, however my little visit to Sudbury was anything BUT spring.

My feeder hasn't seen too much action lately.  The typical chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch...the Juncos don't seem to be around as much lately, although they did make an appearance today!  The newest member to my feeder has been a Chipmunk!  Last time I saw the little guy was probably back in November, so it was a nice sign of spring to set my eyes on the little critter!  Not to mention they can't climb and tip over my feeder!

Last weekend I made a quick weekend trip to Sudbury to visit the boyfriend.  I generally bird all along the 400/69 highway up there and try to make a little outing.  On the way there I noticed quite a few bufflehead on any sort of open water that they could find, but not much else was around to look at!  I made a quick stop at French River Provincial Park and walked along the bridge to see what was around.  I was really surprised at how much ice was everywhere and the fact that the only bird I actually saw were Black-capped Chickadees.

There was also a beautiful sun halo that I noticed while on my drive.  I was lucky enough to have been able to pull over and take a photo of it before it disappeared.  I had never really seen a sun halo like this before, so it was pretty neat!

While in Sudbury, Mike and I took a little hike out at Onaping Falls.  It was our first time visiting here and I must say, it's pretty beautiful in the winter!!  The falls were almost all still frozen over, although in some parts you could see (and hear) the water rushing past under all the ice.  Most of the path here was frozen over still, or full of incredibly deep snow (incredibly deep at least if you are as short as me!).  There was no sign of any wildlife here, not even the chirp of a Chickadee or the caw of a Raven.  It's amazing how I left Peterborough where birds were really moving, and drove up here where there isn't even a peep!  It was nice to have one last winter hike though, as now the drizzle of rain seems to be taking over the precipitation patterns.

Once back in Peterborough it looked a lot more like spring.  There was a bit of grass showing and definitely more birds out and about.   I even saw my 50th species of the year....a Song Sparrow!!   

Hoping that it starts to warm up even more and that everyone is having a great start to spring!

Happy Naturing!

Waterfowl Festival at Presqu'ile Provincial Park

This weekend marked the 39th Annual Waterfowl Weekend at Presqu'ile Provincial Park near Brighton.  This weekend is full of children's activities, vendors (such as Bushnell and Henry's!) and, of course, waterfowl viewing.

A group of us from Trent carpooled together to volunteer for the event and it definitely did not disappoint!



Walter Wehtje and I were stationed together at the Lighthouse Blind for most of the morning. Thankfully there was a little blind there as it was a pretty miserable day!  The rain was a constant mist and the wind wasn't strong...but it definitely wasn't still either.  We had a number of visitors despite the weather, some even travelling as far from Burlington, Ottawa, and Parry Sound for the event!





At the lighthouse there were quite a few ducks, but not the best variety.  Throughout the morning we watched Long-tailed Ducks, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and every-so-often a White-winged Scoter would pop up.  There was still quite a bit of ice on the bay and lake, however it didn't seem to be AS bad as last year and some of the ducks were able to come up a little closer to give visitors a great view.  There were quite a few dead ducks on the ice (of course with no head...) so it made us think that there must be some owls around!

We then all met back up after our shifts and took one last look out at the Lighthouse area.  Nothing two new showed up...but we did hear some talk about a Harlequin Duck that showed up earlier in the day, as well as the Red-throated Loon that had been around for a few days. 

We drove over to the Government Dock where a second set of scopes were set up.  There was definitely a lot more ice in this area, however further into the bay where it was open were a crap ton of ducks!!   The photo below doesn't even do it justice.

Ducks flying in Presqu'ile Bay

It was difficult to get every species of duck that was sitting out there on the ice, although the variety was superb!  Greater (and likely some Lesser) Scaup and Redhead were the most populous at this spot.  There was also a decent number of Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Ducks and also a dappling of Hooded, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers!  We even had an appearance by the Red-throated Loon, which was a lifer for me!   Unfortunately, the Harlequin Duck wasn't there anymore by the time we arrived...but hopefully I'll see one sometime!

Overall, it was a fantastic day of birding!  Even with the misty rain and fog we were still able to see a great variety of ducks and a lifer. Best of all, it was a nice day away from the books where I got to spend time with some awesome fellow bird nerds!

Errands and birding do get along!

Today was a day full of errands.  Running to school for meetings, downtown for a bunch of little chores, grocery shopping, laundry....you know those days.  I had been really hoping to set aside some time today to head up the river and take some photos of Goldeneye and a Long-tailed Duck that had been hanging around, but unfortunately, time seemed to have run out.


In Peterborough, the No Frills grocery store is right beside a section of the Otonobee River, very close to Millenium Park.  I will admit that I not only shop there for the lower prices....but also because I can park in the lot and make the excuse to bird a bit with the "but the river is just RIGHT THERE" excuse.  That reasoning came into play today and I hopped on over to the pathway by the river to see a lot of movement!  There were more mallards than I had seen all winter in this spot, as well as Gulls, and one lone Canada Goose.



I am not very good at gull ID, in fact it is probably my worst guild to ID.  My first step was to count how many Herring Gulls there were amongst the Ring-billed Gulls.  Check. As I was scanning I was very excited to note incredibly dark gulls!  Thankfully I had seen Great Black Backed Gulls before...however the question of is it a great or a lesser came into my mind?

Taking out my birding app I noted a key feature between these two species is leg colour.  As this one had pinkish legs I know that I could ID it with certainty as a Great Black Backed Gull (GBBG).  It is nice how these stand out so distinctly from the Ring-billed and Herring gulls.  From the limited number of gulls I have seen thus far, I think these may be one of my favourites!


As I scanned the ice to count the number of GBBG's I noticed a few incredibly white gulls.  In fact, they seemed to be almost pure white!   My initial thought was that they were Iceland Gulls, mainly because this is the only gull I knew to be pure white.  I took a variety of photos so that when I got home I could scan through my field guide and get a better idea of what it could be.

Looking through my field guide made me feel like Iceland Gull just wasn't quite right due to it's size, bill, etc.  So my next option was a Glaucous Gull.  This one is larger in size to a Herring (check) and as a friend of mine pointed out to me, had a bi-coloured bill (check!).  Through these I was able to fully verify it was indeed a few Glaucous Gulls, which is a lifer for me!!  Scanning one photo in particular (below) there is a perfect example of both an adult and a juvenile Glaucous Gull. The one on the left, is an adult. We can see that it looks remarkably like a Herring Gull, however it is larger and doesn't have the black wing tips.  The one beside it, which is almost pure white, is the juvenile.

Being one of the only spots of open water around Peterborough, grocery shopping has definitely been one of my favourite excuses to get out and bird, errr... I mean do chores....eh.

Hope everyone has been enjoying the last few days of warm weather!  Spring is on it's way!

Project FeederWatch

"If you are small and on a search, I've got a feeder for you to perch on..."

         -The Eels, I Like Birds

This is my very first year being in a house where I have been able to put up a bird feeder in my backyard. I wish so much that I had been able to put one up years ago!   With this new addition to my backyard, I also signed up for Project FeederWatch.  This is a fantastic citizen science program that runs from November until April of each year.  Participants watch their feeders twice a week and record all birds within your feeder area and submit their data.

If you are interested in joining (which I suggest you do!)  click here: http://feederwatch.org/

I started FeederWatch this year in mid-November and have been switching between my home in Chatham and my home in Peterborough, depending where I am that week.  I'll try to seperate my sightings so far based on location!

Chatham House:

This is the first year that my parents had decided to put up a feeder....I think I have given them the birding itch!  There was a nice variety of birds here in Chatham while I was home over Christmas and then again over reading week in February.  I saw my first flock of House Finches while I was here, along with Blue Jays, Cardinals and the odd Junco.  House sparrows were of course all around, although once February hit I noticed more American Tree Sparrows visiting the feeder!  The crows were always more of a nuisance bird around the feeders....although in a place like Chatham you can't expect to get anything other than crows!   The local Coopers Hawk made his appearance every time I was home.  Mike and I were very amused watching a flock of almost every neighbourhood bird fly by with him trailing in pursuit.

Peterborough House: 

The Peterborough house had a completely different set of birds at my feeder!  Throughout the beginning of the count (November - mid-December) I only saw Juncos, Chickadees, and American Goldfinches.  

January was a completely dull month, I don't believe a single bird actually visited my feeder for the entire month.  Finally by the beginning of February the Juncos and Chickadees finally started coming back!

I had one really lucky instance for a photo when two Juncos landed on my feeder, a male and female side by side!   In the photo (below) you can see both of them.  The male, the junco on the right that is a dark charcoal colour, is sitting right beside the lighter, more brown female junco on the left. 

At the beginning of February I decided to add some suet to my backyard, in addition to the typical feeder seed.   It brought out a new little guy, a White-breasted Nuthatch!  It seemed to love both the feeder and the suet.  I always love when it sits on the feeder because it slowly just starts to sink until finally, it flips upside down and falls off!  I guess that's what happens when you are used to being upside down!  

A Cardinal finally came out to the feeder yesterday, but today I think was the highlight of the feederwatch!  I was sitting doing some work this morning (awkwardly while I was brushing my teeth) when I noticed something amongst the Juncos.  I almost spit out my toothpaste everywhere I was so excited...when I noticed they were...Redpolls!   Common Redpolls to be exact.  The first time I ever saw these cute little guys was on the Cambridge Christmas Bird Count back in 2012...so a long time ago, making today when they showed up a very special treat.

There is still exactly two months left for feederwatch counts and I can't wait to see what else shows up at my feeder!

Happy Naturing!

Day trip to Lindsay, Ontario

Yesterday, a few friends and I decided to go on a little birding excursion before the big snowfall set in.  We've heard about a few owls in the Lindsay area, so decided it might be a fun place to go, especially since Ariel had never seen a Snowy yet!

We started by going through a few backroads to see if the Barred Owl I had seen the other week was still there.  I wasn't, but Allie did notice a Pileated Woodpecker fly by!  We then went to Emily Provincial Park to go for a short walk and see what was there.  Which....was almost nothing!  It's a little eerie walking around a beautiful forested provincial park and barely even hear a peep from a chickadee!  Luckily, we did find a few chickadees in some cedar and also spotted a juvenile Bald eagle off in the distance.  We walked out onto the Pigeon River which was very frozen now, and watched some people Skidoo by us. For such a tiny park, it took us quite the ways to get back to our car!   One word of advice for anyone planning on going on hikes this time of year....be prepared to jump into a snowbank!!  We had to almost twice for people skidooing around corners way too quickly.  Oie.

Slightly embarrassed by our lack of ability to find almost a single bird, we drove straight to Lindsay Airport in hopes of beefing up our egos a bit.  Luck was on our side, and a beautiful Snowy Owl was sitting up in a tree.  I believe this is actually the first Snowy that I've actually seen in a tree!  We stepped out of the car to take a few photos, but unfortunately it was so cold that we didn't want to be standing outside for too, too long!

 

After our Snowy, we drove around the corner to a location where a Barred Owl had been seen a few days before. It wasn't in the place where it had been listed so we turned around at the TSC and parked for a second to see where to go next.  You know that feeling you get where you just...look up?  Well, I looked up, and there it was!  A beautiful Barred Owl was just sitting on top of a hydro pole right beside the parking lot!   It's wing was sitting a little funny, but thankfully after a few minutes it flew away with no apparently issues.

We think we may have seen another Bald Eagle, however it was flying off in the distance and by the time I was able to drive to a more visible view point...it was gone!   It's never a true birding trip without the illusive bird, right?

Until next time, happy naturing!

The Road to Sudbury and Back

This past Friday I began to make my way up to Sudbury to visit the boyfriend for a Ice Fishing weekend.  I am usually really good at finding my way around places without the use of a GPS (my brain tends to have a pretty good working internal compass!), however this day...I got lost.  Making my way to Highway 7 towards Lindsay I took a "wrong" road and instead realized I was taking the same route I did all summer to get to my gravel pits.  Going the wrong direction was likely the best mistake I'd make all summer!

While trying to gather my bearings to get back to the Highway, I was chatting with my mother over Bluetooth.  We were having a lovely conversation up until the point I started screaming "OH MY GOODNESS THAT'S NOT A HAWK TAIL!!!!".   I immediately turned my car around and drive a few meters back to see a beautiful Barred Owl sitting in the closest tree to the road!  What are the chances!  Luckily my camera was in the front seat with me so I was able to get out easily and take a few shots of it (below).

The owl let me watch it for a few minutes before it decided to fly off into the woodlot.  I noticed it suddenly turn and come back towards me, when it suddenly landed on the ground.  Of course his landing shot turned out all blurry (!!) but it managed to quickly and ever so silently land on an unexpected vole.  It stayed on the ground for a little while before finally taking off into the woodlot for good to devour its meal.  I finally made my way back to the car to hear, "You found a bird didn't you?" over the bluetooth speakers.  You know your mother knows you well when....

While in Sudbury we didn't get to do much birding, but we did do a nice day of ice fishing out on Windy Lake!   The day was fairly slow up until dusk when we caught two Ling or "Dogfish".  It was definitely one of the strangest fist I've ever seen!  It's always so cool to see a "city" basically out in the middle of a lake, all the huts, skidoos, trucks, it's a fun and somewhat strange experience. Especially when you can hear the ice pressure building up and popping under you!  Just before leaving a small flock of Snow Buntings flew by up (yes...in the middle of a lake!), which was so exciting for me because I hadn't seen them yet this season!  Koodos for the boy on spotting them!

The drive back to Peterborough was a fairly uneventful one.  The most exciting bird I spotted would have to be two fully mature Bald Eagles circling over the Parry Sound area (a new bird for the year for me!).

Hopefully I'll be able to get out a few more times before the winter comes to a close and see some other favourites of mine (like more Snowys!).

Happy Naturing!

NSWO Banding

Happy New Year!

I haven't been out birding too much since the start of the new year, so I figured I would catch up on a few posts that have been laying stagnant for a while due to my hectic fall term!  I am surprised that I did not once post about our Owl Banding at Trent U, so I figured it's better late then never!  I published a recent article in the Peterborough Field Naturalists newsletter "The Orchid" on our owl banding, so if anyone is reading from there, a lot of this info will sound familiar!

Since 1999, Dr. Erica Nol has been conducting an annual banding project at Trent University’s James McLean Oliver Ecological Centre near Nogie’s Creek (or Bobcaygeon).  Each day of the week throughout October a bander-in-charge and a group of visitors go to the property to see what they might catch throughout the night. The project has been run soley based on volunteers and donations made by visitors.

Northern Saw-whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus) are the species of owls that we primarily focus on catching and banding.  They are a nocturnal birds that migrate through the Peterborough area every fall, with numbers peaking throughout October.  Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) are robin sized and have large, bright yellow eyes.  They are one of my personal favourites because each individual seems to have their own personality and just burst with attitude.  NSWOs primarily feed on small rodents, however they have trouble hunting in deep snow that leads them to migrate from the boreal forest to areas of lower snowfall.   

Northern Saw-whet Owls are attracted to their territorial calls during the fall and we take  advantage of this for banding.  Three 12m X 2.6m mist nets are set up in a triangular pattern in a wooded area of the property.  An audio lure broadcasts the territorial call, filling the woods with “too-too-too-too” from 8pm until midnight with net checks every 30 minutes.  Each captured bird is removed from the nets and placed into a cloth bag before being brought into the banding station for processing.

Each owl is banded (with a unique 9-digit code), weighed, and the wing chord is measured.  We examine the moulting pattern within the flight feathers of the owl’s wings to determine an age. Alternatively, we can determine age with a small black light. The black light will pick up on traces of pigment left in the feathers showing a pinkish colour (it feels very much like CSI!).  Young birds will have all new feathers, meaning that under black-light all the feathers will have a pink tone to them.  As a bird ages and feathers become older, they will be white under the light.  After second year birds will be a mismatch of pink and white as wing feathers will be a both old and new, being replaced as need be.

This fall, owls were caught and banded on 27 days with a total of 147 NSWOs passing through the station.  Seven of these owls were recaptured birds from previous nights, years or from other stations. 

Hatch year owls (HY, born this season) made up 76% of the owls that were captured this year. Second year owls (SY, born last year) accounted for 8% of the age distribution. After second year owls (ASY, born 2 years ago or more) made up 22%.  1% of owls were not aged or sexed.

Table 1: Age and Sex of NSWO banded at the Oliver Center during fall 2014

HY (f, m, u)	SY (f, m, u)	ASY (f, m, u)	Unknown	Total (f, m, u)
112 (77, 16, 19)	12 (9, 1, 2)	22 (18, 1, 3)	1 (1 f)	147 (105, 18, 24)

The majority of birds were female (71%), followed by unknown sex (16%), and then very few males (13%).  This may sound like a very large number of females, but it seems to be a trend following previous years’ data.  Studies have noted that females tend to migrate further than males. The same can also be said for hatch year owls compared to older owls.

Of the 7 birds that were recaptured, 3 were from other locations.  One owl was banded as an ASY in 2012 at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory (PEPBO) near Picton, Ontario and the second was banded at PEPBO as a SY in 2012.  The third recaptured owl was banded in 2012 as a HY in Port Rowan, Ontario. I always love getting birds that have been banded elsewhere because we get to see where they travel to and from, as well as how old they are.  It is also always exciting to have someone else catch a bird you have banded and receiving an email about it being found.

This fall, we shared this fun and unique opportunity with 119 different visitors in the Peterborough and surrounding area!  If you are going to be in the area and interested in joining us next fall (or I guess this fall now!) at the Oliver Centre, feel free to shoot me over an email and your name can be added to the mailing list (tiannaburke@trentu.ca).

Hope everyone is having a great winter so far!

Happy Naturing!