Dimorphism of the Indigo Bunting

American Goldfinch in a sea of wildflowers at Ojibway Prarie

I did a quick walk at Ojibway this afternoon. I just absolutely love going there and spending time witnessing the beauty of nature. I could seriously spend a full day going to the various parts, like the Black Oak Heritage Park or the Spring Garden area. But, I find I'm constantly looking at my watch thinking, its already been an hour?

Anyway, today I think I've photographed my first female Indigo Bunting. I think I saw one last summer with the first Indigo Bunting I had seen at that point, but I did not get a photograph of it. Below are two shots of the female, followed by a previously taken photo of a male Indigo Bunting. (Post script: The title of this post is a mis-nomer. It should really be 'sexual dimorphism' of the Indigo Bunting. Its not like there are two morphs for Indigo Buntings... as you might find a Red Morph or Grey Morph for Eastern Screech Owls.)

 

More can be read about these wonderful birds at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Indigo_Bunting/id.

I also found out what 'scolding' calls are for House Wrens.  I was walking with my wife in the Ojibway Prarie when we both heard what we thought was a rattle snake! But, as I looked around, I saw no snakes (Mississauga Rattler?) ... I saw a tiny little rust-coloured House Wren.

Scolding House Wren (I actually used flash).

This blog has incredible, extensive listings of bird calls: (http://pjdeye.blogspot.com/2009/03/wren-calls.html).This link would actually let you listen to the rattle-snake like scolding of the House Wren.

I also saw two Green Herons today in the waterway in front of the nature center. This shot below really shows the beauty and texture of its green plumage.

At the risk of self engrandizing, a photo of this site's author with his son. The backback was given to me by my neighbor who was having a garage sale.

Author with his son, amongst the 'weeds' of Ojibway.

 By the way, this image below should compliment/suppliment the "Save Ojibway" posting I recently did.

The red area shows where the Big-Box development would go. Notice also the yellow line on the top of the image. The new DRIC bridge crossing will follow Huron Church (#3) then take a sharp left below the EC Row to the river. This will cut very close into the Black Oak forest area from my understanding.

Good Birding,
Dwayne