Ojibway Prarie Reserve Bluebirds

Ruby Crowned Kinglet in a Pussywillow Tree

The last two days have been so beautiful out weather-wise, I couldn't help but get out there and take some photos. I have a new camera body and I'm still trying to learn its ways before May arrives. There will come a day where I will go birding without my camera but I guess for now, lots of pictures will be taken! :-) I think the reason I take photos was because when I started birding almost 2 years ago, I did not know one bird from another, so I would take photos then post-identify. I didn't even have binoculars or a field guide till about 1 year into the hobby. It started off with just a Camera and www.allaboutbirds.org. Blake Mann's blog as well as Paul Pratt's blog and nature tours really spawned my interest in nature. I thought about this question: "when did I start birding?" recently and the answer is the day I saw a Green Heron at Ojibway on May 2nd, 2009.

Birder or Photographer?
One or two people have told me that I'm a photographer, not a birder! One woman at Pointe Mouillee told me that without even knowing me! I found it odd that she said that because she had a white-bodied Canon "L" lens, and I was rockin' a Sigma! I think I'm a birder that loves to photograph nature. A photo-naturalist? But, I concede, I'm not an ornithologist. I would like to take the Ornithology course at the University of Windsor with Dr Mennill but I don't know if people working 9-5s can have the luxury of taking such courses.

 Tufted Titmouse just singing his heart out. This is one of my favorite birds. Rare in most of Canada but common at Ojibway. Many Carolinian species are slowly having there northern bounds creep further north.

 I really hit a nice pocket of birds in the Ojibway forest on Tuesday. I saw Kinglets, Yellow Rumps, Thrushes, Tufted Titmouse in the span of 20 minutes.

 My first Mourning Cloak butterfly. I did not feel like venturing far off the path. They are easily seen at Black Oak Heritage Park at this time of year. I've also seen many Eastern Comma butterflies this week as well. These two species are the first to appear in early spring, so its easy to ID them. It's funny, I've learn so much about butterflies as well from the many excellent blogs in the area. In mid summer when the breeding birds of May have left for the Boreal Forests, the butterflies get more attention. This spring and summer, I will also make more of an effort to identify trees and plants.

Today I saw three separate pairs of Bluebirds in the park. I typically find them by first hearing them.Listen for a depressing sounding mur-mur like warble.

 

See the above photo in full size!

I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing these wonderful birds. Today, I just leaned against a giant Oak tree for 10 or so minutes watching the above pair sallying and flycatching in a beautiful meadow. I put the camera away and just quietly watched from a safe distance of 30-40m. Very cool!

In the Tallgrass Praire park of Ojibway, I saw/heard some really strange mating behaviors from three treetop Northern Flickers. The photo below shows the Flickers with their tails spread out and they were barking up a storm.(This photo reminds me of John James Audubon's drawings of them). I tried to take video of them, but of course, they were quiet by the time I started recording.

 

 

This was a beautiful Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker but it was foraging Aspen Catkins and difficult to photograph.

 Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen several times on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I had my first Ruby Crowned Kinglet as well (see first photo in this posting).

 Lastly, I finally saw an Eastern Towhee, although he was being shy in a thicket and refused to entertain my vocalizations. I also found a Winter Wren near the Milk Ponds of the Tallgrass area. Almost not worth posting. Almost! The Winter Wren holds a special place in my birding memoirs. I would almost say it is a better bird to see than say, a Painted Bunting. Sure the Painted Bunting is colorful and mind-blowing. But the Winter Wren is understated and tiny. It's local. Canadian. Hard to find unless you understand its habitat.

 

Winter Wren...

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Bonus Video: (sorry, its shaky... its at 500mm x1.6 magnification, handheld)

Point Pelee Birding in Early April

I got out of work early today, so I figured I would go to Point Pelee and see whats happening bird-wise. In short: Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe & Brown Creeper were abundant!

My first stop was  ERCA's Hillman Marsh. When I arrived at mid-afternoon the weather was pretty cold, windy and not very good for birding. I noticed the wetland cell had 10+ Great Blue Herons, as well as many common seasonal ducks.

The shorebird cell had thousands of Canada Geese. A few Tree Swallows were flying around. A Greater Yellowlegs was found as well as about 15 Dunlin (let me know if I've mis-identified these shorebirds).

 Dunlin?

The onion fields. The soil is so rich, so black. You almost want to get out of your car and pick up some soil in your hands. There is an interesting historical connection with these fields and the natural history of the area. I would like to learn more about it. My understanding is that Point Pelee's marsh extended to Hillman marsh but was dyked and drained to create fertile farming fields. I've seen similar onion fields bordering St Clair NWA and Rondeau (at Erieau).

At Point Pelee, I first walked Shuster Trail. I heard Winter Wrens and saw BCCs as well as a few Cardinals. After Shuster Trail, I walked Tildens Trail. Birds seen include: Golden crowned Kinglets (4), Brown Creepers(4), and Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers (6) were pretty easily seen. I heard an Eastern Towhee but was unable to find it.

 

 Habitat for prothonotary Warblers. Lets hope they hang out a little this spring. Last Spring they did not stay very long at Point Pelee or Rondeau.

Later I walked Woodland Nature Trail and saw more of the same birds. Several more Yellow bellied Sapsuckers (6), Golden Crowned Kinglets (3), Brown Creepers(4) as well as a plethora of blackbirds and Robins. I did not see a Hermit Thrush today. I did not see any early Warblers today either, although I was not really looking for them.

Yet another YBSS. I saw many but did not get great photos of them.

The trail on the west beach side of the tip had many Flickers (4) and Wild Turkey (5). There was a male Turkey showing off his feathers to impress the ladies. Many Eastern Phoebes were around... really they were almost everywhere. I also saw Red breasted Mergansers were seen off west beach.

Some misses today were Hermit Thrushes, Scoters, Common Loons and Grebes. I wonder what this weekends warm front will bring in?

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

PS: I met the park interpreter Sara today after my walk and she informed me that they new marsh boardwalk will be ready around mid-April (next week). I hope to find some marsh birds in mid to late April.


Some Good Reading

The Essex County Field Naturalists put together a great publication, and the most recent one includes an Annual Point Pelee Bird Report for 2010.
http://www.ojibway.ca/egret-03-11.pdf (See page 32 for a reference to yours truly)


Point Pelee's May Calendar (right-click, open in New Window)
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/ne/ne5/~/media/pn-np/on/Pelee/pdf/FoB_Calendar2011_en.ashx

Did you know Point Pelee and Ojibway Park are on twitter?

http://twitter.com/#!/PointPeleeNP
http://twitter.com/#!/OjibwayPark

Searching for Northern Shrike at Malden...

Is it just me or do Golden crowned Kinglets always look upset? LOL! Anyway, I read with amazement on Friday night that a Northern Shrike was spotted at Malden Park. Wow! I went as early as I could on Saturday morning, but had no luck finding it!

I will go back and check throughout the Winter. I would love to see a Northern Shrike. I've seen a Loggerhead Shrike in Florida, but they are almost easy to see if you go to Titusville, one hour east of Orlando.

Anyway, on my search, I took some photos of common birds including:
Downy Woodpecker
Golden Crowned Kinglet
House Finch
Tufted Titmouse
American Tree sparrow (first for this Fall)
and some others.

I did not see my Northern Shrike. I will have to continue looking!

Good birding!
Dwayne

PS: Here is a Loggerhead Shrike I saw in Florida in March 2010:

Lincoln's Sparrow at Ojibway?

I have a love/hate relationship with fall birding. It's so hit-and-miss! This week, I did a walk at Ojibway and pretty well saw nothing! At one point in my walk I saw a small downy, then a kinglet, then the Female Red-bellied Woodpecker above. I did not even realize until I got home that a Tufted Titmouse was in the frame! That was the pinnacle of my Thursday night walk.

This morning, it was just gorgeous out. I wanted to join the Ojibway birding group at Point Pelee, but I just could not get out of bed on time. So I slept in and visited Ojibway instead. I saw the usual suspects, a variety of Kinglets (in great light) and also, I think my second Lincoln's Sparrow.  I also heard the murmuring warble of Eastern Bluebirds as well a long, drawn out fight between a sharp shinned hawk and several Blue Jays.

This Golden Crowned Kinglet was itching himself. I hope its not a tick problem!

Could this be a Lincoln's Sparrow? I'm quite sure it is. I must have taken 20+ shots of this but many were out of focus and underexposed... (story of my life!).

Good birding!

Kinglet Bonanza...

Golden Crowned Kinglet showing off its incessant/ acrobatic foraging strategy

I've editted my first copy of this posting. I wrote it too quickly! My writing process should involve a  rough draft, a second and a final third draft before I post it! Basically, on Friday and Saturday this week, I visitied Holiday Beach and Ojibway Park. There were so many Kinglets... Hence the title of this posting.  Last year, I photographed only one of each (ruby & golden crowned) but at the time, I did not really know what I was looking for. I did not really know where to look.  This year, I've "calibarated" my observation skills to look for birds just slightly larger than a Hummingbird!

Speaking of Golden crowned Kinglets, it blows my mind that in the toughest, darkest depths of Winter, this bird overwinters in various woodlots in Windsor / Essex. The Ojibway birding group saw this birds in February this year at Holiday Beach! I don't even think they use feeders either! That's pretty tough for a little fluff of feathers!

Its been a while since I've had a lifer (they really slow down after 200!) but I photographed this bird (below) at the round pond of Ojibway Park. I was unsure if it was a Rusty Blackbird... but after collaborating with Blake, I think its safe to say ... Lifer #203! The Rusty Blackbird is a pretty interesting bird. It has won respect amongst birders because of some of its behaviors. It builds a sturdy nest, it has remained very rare and elusive, it is 'the' birders blackbird!!!  Its 'gestalt' helped identify it from its related blackbird cousins.  For example, I have not seen Common Grackels foraging along ponds, yet this guys was foraging like a sandpiper. Boreal Birds states of the the Rusty Blackbird: " It often searches for its prey along shorelines, much like a sandpiper, often wading, probing in soft sediments, and sometimes even plunging its entire head under water." (http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/bd0329_species.shtml). I wish I would have taken a better photograph, I could have ... with a little more thought and care, but I just assumed it wasn't a Rusty BB.

A weekly tradition I've started this fall is to stop by Holiday Beach after work on Fridays!  This week was no different. But, I noticed there weren't too many raptors moving, so I did a quick walk around the forested and brushy scrub along the water. Not too many surprises. White throated sparrows, field sparrows, both kinglets and Dark eyed Juncos were abundant.  I saw a Bay-Poll Warbler wearing jewelry (banded). Yellow Rumped Warblers were present... but I'm yet to add an Orange Crowned Warbler!!!   Where the heck is this guy? I just have not seen this bird yet!

A quick 30 minute Saturday (today) walk had more Kinglets, and Eastern Towhee, Red bellied Woodpecker, and some close views of a Cooper's hawk. I also saw a Tufted Titmouse as well.... my first in a while. It too seems to be more easily seen during the winter months.


Birds I would like to see (add to my  life list) before years end (that everyone else seems to be seeing):
Orange Crowned Warbler
Wilson's Snipe
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch
Common Redpoll
Winter Wren
Northern Shrike
Saw Whet Owl (late October hopefully!)
Golden Eagle (late October hopefully!)
Rough legged Hawk (late October hopefully!)
Red shouldered Hawk


I end this posting with a few more photos from my birding travails at Ojibway Park in Windsor. This park just keeps giving to me. I love it so much! The Ruby crowned Kinglets are less acrobatic but still extremely difficult to photograph, as anyone reading "nerdy for birdy" already would know. I just feel the need to share these photos because they would otherwise be buried and lost.

Red eared Slider (not Painted Turtles)

Good Birding!
Dwayne

Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, Coopers Hawk and a few other Winter holdouts...

Lifer! Horned Lark and others...

-
Horned Lark hanging out with a Lapland Longspur - Thanks Paul & the Ojibway group for the great afternoon!



I went with a birding group today that is hosted by the Ojibway park naturalists. This week's destination was Holiday Beach.  Even though the weather and light outside was cloudy and cold, it turned out to be a pretty good walk.

As we left the park, the group leader suggested we stop by a farmers field where a farmer had a feeder. Many Horned larks were hanging out, and even a Lapland Longspur!

 

 

At Holiday Beach, I was greeted by the group of four birders who pointed out a raptor in the distance ... An adult Bald Eagle. They joked that we may as well go home now. As we entered the park we saw three woodpeckers: A skylarking Downy, a Red Bellied and Norther Flicker Perched in distant trees. We had several distant run ins with the Northern Flicker.  At one point, Paul, our group leader Pished a Cardinal, Brown Creeper and White Breasted Nuthatch into our views. 

 

 We noticed flotillas of Canada Geese on the water. The photo below shows Fermi in the background.

Soon before we left, a second pishing session attracted a Golden Crowned Kinglet, a White Throated Sparrow and some Black Capped Chickadees. Finally, as we left, a Yellow Rumped Warbler saw us off as we were leaving. A typical winter turnout with a nice mix of birds! The Horned Lark was a lifer. The Lapland Longspur and Coopers Hawk are technically not lifers, but they are better photos then my original ones. Sharp-Shinned and Coopers Hawks are very similar in appearance so I have had a definite ID on a Coopers until today. The photo above is probably a female coopers hawk, because it was huge!

Happy Birding!

Dwayne