Sunday in NDG

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
(Feeding on grapes)

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
(Feeding on grapes)

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

Find the Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula

Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus

  It was still unseasonably lovely out today – a fine Sunday for a bird stroll through a quiet spot in NDG. It felt birdy for late fall, with 22 species encountered in a 90-minute walk. Loads of Dark-eyed Juncos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were feeding and moving through the area, with groups of the former seen visibly migrating. In a personal first for this site, an Eastern Bluebird was heard, from a field edged by a small wooded area.

  Towards the end of my circuit, I observed several Yellow-rumped Warblers feeding on wild grapes. Apparently this species of warbler (which one would normally think of as insectivorous) are known for eating fruit on migration and in winter. Didn’t get great images of them eating the grapes, as they were far off, but as was referenced in the previous post, it’s always rewarding to encounter new behaviour in a familiar species.

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

“Yellow-rumped Warblers eat mainly insects in the summer, including caterpillars and other larvae, leaf beetles, bark beetles, weevils, ants, scale insects, aphids, grasshoppers, caddisflies, craneflies, and gnats, as well as spiders. They also eat spruce budworm, a serious forest pest, during outbreaks. On migration and in winter they eat great numbers of fruits, particularly bayberry and wax myrtle, which their digestive systems are uniquely suited among warblers to digest. The habit is one reason why Yellow-rumped Warblers winter so much farther north than other warbler species. Other commonly eaten fruits include juniper berries, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper, and dogwood. They eat wild seeds such as from beach grasses and goldenrod, and they may come to feeders, where they'll take sunflower seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet. On their wintering grounds in Mexico they've been seen sipping the sweet honeydew liquid excreted by aphids.”

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-rumped_Warbler/lifehistory

Arvo in the Arbo

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata

Winter Wren Troglodytes hiemalis

Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

juvenile Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum

juvenile Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
(quite goofy-looking)

Necklace, the Chickadee Dan wants to adopt

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura

American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Leaf-footed Bug sp.

The scene of the dirt bomb incident

Goblintree

Morgan Arboretum, October 22, 2022
  Last time Dan and I hit the arbo, we got mired in a lovely blizzard. We did a tour of the benches there today, amidst the lovely fallllll follllliage.

  Oh oh, here’s a good’un. One time, when we were birding there as wee lads, I threw the best dirt bomb ever. Dan was way down the hill by the parking lot, cheerfully looking for kinglets, minding his own nine-year-old business. I happened upon this solid little dirt bomb, a perfect projectile, and decided to fire it down towards Dan, to startle him perhaps, with a dramatic near miss. I leaned back and launched it on a high mortar trajectory, like I was skipping a stone into heaven. I almost forgot about the thing because nothing happened for so long, and then everything happened all at once. Dan’s head was enveloped by a massive brown impact cloud, and then he crumpled like Lee Harvey Oswald. The birders around him were confused…confounded even. Pretty sure his mom needed smelling salts to revive him. I felt bad about it at the time, but we can laugh about it now. I think the dirt bomb knocked him into the land of wind and ghosts because it had some pebble knuckles at its core, or something. Paf!

  Enough silly stories, back to the birds. Before today, I’d never seen a juvenile Cedar Waxwing, nor had I ever seen the species flycatching before. That changed over the Quarry. We watched a group of seven juvie Cedar Waxwings…flycatching. Always cool to see a novel age and/or behaviour in a familiar species.

  Fox Sparrow was my bird of the day. We had one skulking by the cedar trail near Blossom Corner. We bumped into Ron Rind there, and joined forces to try to figure out what the ‘Dees were mobbing in the cedartops. A Merlin, most likely. Other notable sightings included several Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a couple of showy Winter Wrens.

  Oh yeah, it was unseasonably warm…like low 20s warm. Spring Peepers were singing, as were the crickets. Loads of insects were out and about, including Cabbage Whites, dragonflies, and clouds of the cursed invasive Asian Lady Beetles. Plus a gnarly-looking Leaf-legged Bug.

  We tallied 23 species in four hours. The end.

Autumnal Bimble

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Swainson’s Thrush Catharus ustulatus

  Went for a quick bimble in the fresh autumn breeze, at a quiet NDG spot. Saw 15 species in an hour’s circuit. Nothing crazy out, but it was nice to see a respectable sampling of sparrows and thrushes skulking in the thorny gloom, where the skulkers skulk.

Ruffed Day

American Pipit Anthus rubescens

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus

Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus

Common Loon Gavia immer

White squall over Lac des Sables

Snow!

Canada, eh!

PN du Mt-Tremblant, Lac des Sables, October 8, 2022

  Struck north yesterday with George and the gang, into the land of the great green pines. On arrival, we received a bracing boreal greeting of white squalls and frigid temperatures. Relatively frigid, that is. I guess it felt so cold because two days ago I was reading in the park, basking in the 23-degree summery sun in my shorts. It was heat packs and tuques weather...it was ‘I wish I wore long johns and brought thicker gloves’ weather. Not complaining though - it was invigorating, and of course that sweet boreal wind really refreshes the soul.

  The day ended with 20-ish species, but quality trumps quantity when it comes to boreal bird lists. We got two highlights soon after disembarking. Several American Pipits and Horned Larks were found on the beach, but mostly didn’t stay for long. There were also a few summer stragglers lingering in the area, such as Eastern Bluebird, American Redstart, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and later a Chipping Sparrow.

  While exploring a trail around the lake, we encountered several Ruffed Grouse, and had a thrilling close brush with a Black-backed Woodpecker. Besides those birds, much of the trail was oddly devoid of bird life. I'm a bit out of shape when it comes to walking - feels like my knees are filled with bone dust.

  Once again, we dipped on the target species, Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadee. I think George may have been messing around with a monkey’s paw or something. He’s snake-bit when it comes to those two species. Feels like he’s been striving to see a Boreal Chickadee for as long as I’ve known him. The salt in the wound comes in the form of stunning images of both species posted to eBird for the location in recent days. Shakes fist at sky. Next time we’ll see ‘em for sure!

  In other news, I saw a pretty crazy bird in NDG a few days ago, but I dare not speak its name unless I can relocate and properly document it.

Stops along the way

Three shades of rain squall...

Chillin' in the wind-break woods

Lake Erie on the horizon

Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens

Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata

White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys

Somewhere on the endless 401

Tourist trap? Surprisingly birdy!

The sacred texts!

Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

  I was able to sneak in some roadside birding at some ‘non-birding’ stops along the way to and from Pelee.


”A Farm,” Wheatley, Ontario, September 25, 2022
  I hung out in and around a little woods, on a farm just north of Lake Erie. There was a respectable cross-section of migrants in the tiny patch, with 19 species logged in two hours. Highlights were a Gray-cheeked Thrush, and ripples of Blue Jays percolating through the treetops.


Big Apple Tourist Trap, Colborne, Ontario, September 27, 2022
  At an apple-shaped tourist trap in Colborne, I headed down a little hill to the “The Big Apple Tranquillity Trail.” The little wooded bit below the fake pond was shockingly birdy, with 19 species spotted in 30 minutes, including a decent sprinkling of warblers, and four species of sparrow. It would be hilarious if someone found a mega there someday.