My newest field guide is my oldest...

Birding at moms...

I've been trying to photograph the Red breasted Nuthatch at my parent's house in good light. It's proven to be very difficult! The Red breasted Nuthatch shows up everyday at around 4pm but has been very skittish. A Sharp Shinned Hawk has been visiting hourly to the yard as well.

Old field guide...

I find people start to give you birding-related paraphernalia when they learn you are a birder. I've been given field guides, books, Artwork, Framed Photography... great stuff. My latest gift though is an old Audubon's field guide from 1949.

The coolest thing about this guide is the fact that they have an Ivory-billed Woodpecker included in the woodpecker section. Even in 1949, the write refers to this bird as 'doomed' due to the deforestation of Southern forests. How sad...

Another gift was some huge Audubon's art prints!

I birded Lakeview Marina today and had some pretty good photos. I plan on going back tomorrow after work to hopefully get some better shots.

Good birding,
Dwaynejava

Rough legged Hawk and Ebird Occurrence Maps v2

 

It's funny. I went to Holiday Beach almost every Friday after work during the 2010 fall raptor migration and saw pretty well every migrating raptor with the exception of the Rough Legged Hawk. Then, during the Christmas Bird Count at PPNP, I saw one fly by in the distance and finally lifered the bird at #215. The next day, I see a Dark Morph RLH along sanctuary pond... and today I finally get awesome views at PPNP on the North Dyke road. The onion fields also had several Northern Harriers flying around. I watched one fly about 1m above a ditch at a slow pace. It was probably scanning for rodents.

Small flocks of birds along the North Dyke road included:
BH Cowbirds,
E Starlings,
House and Tree Sparrows.
American Goldfinches
Blackbirds were around as well.

Sadly, I did not see any owls that were recently reported in the area.



Red Breasted Nuthatch Update

The Red Breasted Nuthatch is such cool bird, I can't help but stop by my parents house on a weekly basis and check out if it's there.

Red and White Breasted Nuthatches around on Jan 5th but I did not see the red-breasted this morning

This morning, I stopped by my parent's house because I  wanted to take some better photos of the Red Breasted Nuthatch. But... I did not see him! (*edit: I saw him again but later in the afternoon around 4pm) I heard Nuthatches several times but it/they did not come into view (*until later).  I did however hear the telltale call notes of a Carolina Wren!!!! Breeet-Breeet-Breet..... Wow... I was shocked! I snapped a few photos from 30m away and came up with the ones below.

By the way... what an incredible morning! The sun has hardly been out on a weekend for at least a month!

Shuster Trail? Nope. Mom's House...Click to view full size!

Later, I saw him again drinking water from an icicle hanging from the side of my parents shed! Again, this is from about 30 meters away. Now that's brisk baby!

*This is a follow-up to this posting. I did see the Red breasted Nuthatch in the later part of the afternoon. I seem to see it around 4pm with the most consistency.

Of course, an out-of-focus clothes line runs through this photo.

Also Seen:
Crows
Blue Jays
Cooper's Hawk

I'm blown away!!!! I basically only see this bird (the Carolina Wren) at Point Pelee, Holiday Beach or Ojibway but in Residential South Windsor? I'm pretty convinced the Red Breasted Nuthatch is overwintering near my parent's home. How awesome!


Ebird Occurrence Maps

This is the occurrence map for the Red headed Woodpecker

Using Ebird.org data from birders all over the US, Cornell University made these dynamic maps that show how various birds move from county to county during the various months. You can see how there is an explosive movement of Red headed Woodpeckers towards Ohio as May approaches. Very cool! They have such maps for about 15 other birds as well. Check out this link for occurrence maps for more birds and information.

(right click, open in new tab)
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/occurrence-maps/red-headed-woodpecker

Good birding,
Dwayne

Detroit River CBC & the search for Red Breasted Nuthatch!

I just returned from birding the Ojibway Park area and the Provincial Ojibway Oak Savanah Reserve. This is one of many local areas covered in the Detroit River CBC which covers areas on both sides of the Detroit River. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen but we did hear a Carolina Wren and get good looks at both male and female Hairy Woodpeckers.

I'm sure all the reptile lovers will love this one!

In late December I was visiting my parents and happened to notice a nuthatch hanging around their bird feeder. It was a tiny bird (Kinglet sized), I had no camera or binoculars, but I could tell by its behavior (its gestalt) that it was a nuthatch and it had a greyish - cinnamon colour... a Red Breasted Nuthatch.  On New Year's Eve I had to drop something off at my parents and figured I would bring my camera... Maybe I would get lucky!

I was there at about 4pm ... It seemed really slow with the exception of a few Black Capped Chickadees, a pair of House Sparrows and a Downy Woodpecker.

Then, yes... after about 20 minutes of patiently waiting, my target species arrives (sitta canadensis!). This is a great bird... I still remember the day I lifered this bird back in Feb 2010. More can be read about the Red Breasted Nuthatch here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id .

 Would you identify this as a female? It seems to have a greyer cap than the eyestripe. Males have more dramatic black-white-black colourations if I'm not mistaken.

I can't help but wonder if this bird is just passing through or overwintering at my parent's south Windsor home? They have a nice 5-acre parcel of land with lots of evergreens around. I will check weekly and keep you informed if it stays!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

PS: I sometimes will re-post articles from the local paper that are birding related. These articles discuss what CBC's are, and feature Paul Pratt, an incredible birder and Naturalist that works at Ojibway Park. Paul  has been a huge influence in my birding awareness and knowledge.


Video about Christmas Bird Counts Featuring Paul Pratt:
http://www.windsorstar.com/Video+Paul+Pratt+discusses+Christmas+Bird+Count/4033775/story.html

Article about Christmas Bird Counts Featuring Paul Pratt:

http://www.windsorstar.com/life/Christmas+Bird+Count+sprung+from+shoot+protest/4034101/story.html

Looking back.... A year in Review

Looking Back... 

Wow, I've come so far this year in my birding interests. To go from 80 birds in my first year, to 215 in my second calendar year is awesome. Its funny though... why is it taking me this long ??? Some people get 100 birds easily in the month of May on a typical day. There is a young birder in Ontario that is in his teens that has 300+ birds this year! (Travelling allot doesn't hurt when you get past the 200 mark!)

This posting  contains several short blobs that I have worked on during the month of December. Each blob is of course, separated with a short length of tildes (~).               

Topic Summary:

Blogging... is it worth it?
Best Lifers this year... by month!
New Blog Name?
Trips for 2011?
Birds I missed this year
IBWO Video ... a must-see for any bird lovers!

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Blogging... is it worth it?

I've spent alot of time thinking if Blogging is a good thing to do. Also, why do I blog?  ... After much contemplation, I realize blogging is really a positive experience. It boils down to "Knowledge Networks". Having a blog and reading many excellent blogs from the region (and beyond) vastly increases ones knowledge on so many fronts. Blogging and reading blogs increases my awareness in different ways than books can raise my awareness. It's in real time, its seasonal, its local ... its awesome. Blogging makes Ontario a smaller place. And, I get to share my observations (both exciting and bland) with a small group of people that love birding. My small personal family and friend network is not really interested when I tell them that I saw a Northern Shrike. But my birding circle would be more likely to appreciate these achievements. Blogging, along with Ebird.ca, Ontbirds email listserve, the OFO website,  and a few personal contacts that I've made has made learning about birding a fun, dynamic process.

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Best Lifers this year... by month!

Jan - Hooded Merganser, Eastern Bluebird
Feb-Red Breasted Nuthatch, Lapland Longspur
March - Loggerhead Shrike, Snowy Egret (Florida)
April - White Faced Ibis, Carolina Wren, Red Breasted Merganser
May - Red Headed Woodpecker, Canada Warbler (all the warblers really!)
June - Pileated Woodpecker, Black Bellied Plover
July - Short Billed Dowitcher, Least Bittern
August - Marsh Wren, Bobolink
Sep- Buff breasted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit
Oct - Winter Wren, Northern Pintail
Nov -Golden Eagle, Northern Shrike
Dec- Rough legged Hawk-(my only lifer in December really)

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New Blog Name?
I was wondering if I should change the name of my blog to a better, more mature name. Does Nerdy for Birdy come off as silly? Some names I thought of were...

*Birding in Essex Co. (Birding in and around Essex County)
*Monoculture Birder (Birding in a ravaged ecosystem that is Essex County)

or... should I just stay with what I have already?

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Trips for 2011?  My new-years resolution is to travel more. My birding resolution involves trying to start identifying gulls. Over the last year, I have read about so many great locations in Ontario and beyond that I would love to see. Some are:

Long Point, ON
Algonquin Provincial Park
Napanee & Carden Alvar, ON
Luther Marsh, ON
Rainy River, ON
British Columbia
Churchill Manitoba
Texas & Southwestern US

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Birds I missed this year:
Warblers: Prothnotary, Cerulean, Kentucky, Worm-eating, Yellow Breasted Chat
Rails: All of them (other than Sora)
American Bittern
Sedge Wren
Shorebirds in Breeding Plumage (All of them)
Meadowlarks in Ontario
Bobolinks in breeding plumage
.... and about 160 others that I can't think of right now!

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IBWO Video

I end off my last blog entry for 2010 with a video I posted on my first blog posting back in Jan 2010. If you love birding and nature, this is an excellent video. Its about the extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker, but really, its about so much more. Its about the importance of preserving habitat, and gives a person some insight on how Ornithologists analyze bird related issues scientifically and objectively. I was quickly reminded by IBWO readers that this video is over 5-6 years old, and that sadly, no concrete evidence has been brought forward even with huge financial rewards on the existence of this incredible bird. On the other hand, I have unsubstantiated & heard second hand stories of Ornithology students who believe there may be some remaining.

A special thanks to anyone reading this! Anyone that links to this blog (Blake, Paul & Stuart) anyone that follows the site (both formally and informally). Thanks for the anyone that comments as well! I'm looking forward to continuing and improving in 2011!

Good Birding & Happy New Year!
Dwaynejava