Yellow Bellied Sapsucker + Birds, Beer Cans & Burgers

 

I had a great look at a pair of Yellow bellied Sapsuckers today. A sexually dimorphic pair - male and female. 

 

Now - you might be asking about the strange title of this posting. Am I suggesting to drink and bird. Or to birdwatch inebriated? No. I just noted recently that there are beer cans and bottles all over the place and --- I wonder if anyone ever bothers to pick them up.

I have a little box in the trunk of my car, and - (this may be silly) - but I have been picking up littered beer cans and my goal is -- to make a 10x10 grid of beer cans. That would be worth $10! What could you buy with an extra ten dollars every month or so?  A burger perhaps?

This was a camp fire someone left some beers at. These cans, along with others nearby make a loonie when returned to your local beer store. Kids seem to leave beer cans near natural areas. I picked these up. I think I could easily fill up a box with beer cans like this.

Birds and Butterflies of Devonwood Forest

 

This last week or two has been a little quieter bird-wise for me. Since my last major birding trip to Col Sam Smith park, I have tried to bird closer to home. I haven't even been to Pelee! After work, I would go to local parks like Ojibway's Black Oak Heritage Park or Malden Park.  Jeremy Bensette had done a tour at Devonwood ERCA forest in mid-Windsor and mentioned it had tonnes of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and other seasonal migrants. This forest is in the middle of Windsor, and is a major magnet during migration (oasis effect). One local birder birded this forest last May in peak migration season after a midnight rain storm to find one of the best passerine fallouts he had experienced. Devonwood boasts the highest Oak species count of any woodlot in Canada (8 species).

View Larger Map ***

A few days ago at Devonwood, I had 4 or so different Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers, but probably many more were present, it seems like I had heard 10 or so while walking. While walking with my family at one point, I was blasted by the song of a Winter Wren... I had never heard it so clearly in my short birding career. I didn't have my camera that day, so I did not bother to try to pish it into view.

Devonwood has many of the seasonal migrants such as Hermit Thrush, Eastern Phoebe, both Kinglets and more.

Today, after work, I went to Devonwood again, and was greeted not to far from the parking lot with an Eastern Comma (first of season) and then moments later, a Mourning Cloak butterfly... Harbingers of Spring! (A butterfly flew by me on April 7th at Turkey Point, but I did not really get a chance to ID it... Probably a Mourning Cloak as it was 'dark'). I didn't see or hear YBSS today, but I did see several breeding plumaged Yellow-rumped Warblers! It would have been nice to see Louisiana Waterthrush (there is lots of wet mossy flooded areas in this forest).

I actually E-birded a recent walk (http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13734034)... and the weird thing about this posting is that if I look up Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in Essex for this year, this posting does not come up on the map, but a query for Ruby-crowned Kinglets does.

I think if one was to record a species list in a notebook, entering a trip's list into ebird would be less painful. I generally don't keep notes, and really on memory which is probably a bad idea. Any thoughts on improving one's ebird workflow?


Good birding,
Dwaynejava

-------------------
PS: I had a little writeup this week that discussed a recent oil spill in the US and the lack of coverage in the media.  Its a little off topic but I've added it in the Post Script of this posting.


{Start rant} While watching Nightly News with Brian Williams a few days ago, there was a brief mention of an oil spill in Arkansas. I've heard nothing about it since, so tonight I googled "Arkansas oil spill" and was amazed at the lack of media coverage. None of the major media outlets covered this story... The websites that have articles on this story are like: alternet.org, treehugger.com, rt.com ??? CNN.com has a story (one paragraph?!?!) posted one day ago here:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/08/us/arkansas-oil-spill/?hpt=us_c2

Where is the media attention on this? One commenter wrote in the CNN comment stream:

---------------------------------------------------------------

smokinbluebear • a day ago

THREE OIL LEAKS in the U.S. last week and CNN finally squeaks out a PARAGRAPH...Pulitzer-worthy material--deep, probing...asking the questions that need to be answered...thanks for NOTHING, cnn!!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not against oil, but it makes one curious about the lack of media coverage on the matter. These companies make billions in profits yet can't seem to afford to maintain their infrastructure. Fewer and fewer media outlets are corporate owned and may have a conflict of interest in reporting environmental catastrophes, because that may sway the voter base and popular opinions on topics related to say, building a giant oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

I came across this video documentary about the BP Oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. It seems to be well-made and delves into the topic of how these oil corporations are 'influencing' American politics and media. It could be biased or factually incorrect, but its still very interesting. Its a long video, but I recommend skimming through it at least.

Two final thoughts in closing...

1- On occasion, I read in the Canadian media about how "Canada's Keystone XL Pipeline" is being debated in the US etc... Its funny how the media frames this project as "Canada's"...I personally think its a horrible idea to develop this pipeline, and it bothers me that the media tells me that its 'my' project.

2- If gas in Canada costs $1.30/L and in the US, it costs $3.50/Gallon (1gal = 3.785L) ... That would imply (assuming parity of the dollar) that the US would pay $4.92/Gallon of gas. But... I doubt the price of gas would go up in the US as supply is increased, so wouldn't it be ironic selling a natural resource to another country for less than we pay? Its a complicated topic, because Canadian and US governments have different tax policies to help pay for social initiatives like health care  or defense spending and the like. 

... So did the media cover this oil spill as good as it could have? Probably not. Could it have anything to do with the politics and public view of the Keystone XL pipeline that is being pushed on us by big oil? Probably.

{end rant}

American Pipits... Just by chance

Just a short posting tonight. I had gone out to look for Pipits once or twice this month on the advice that they sometimes hang out on compost piles at a landfill just north of Kingsville. After scoping the compost mounds for twenty minutes from the roadside berm, all I had seen was sky-blackening numbers of European Starlings and some doves in the area.  I left, dejected.

Then, while driving home, while still in the 'pleasent valley' area of Essex Co, I noticed four little sparrow-like birds perched on a power line on a gravel side road. I pulled over to see these buffy beauties! Lifer!!! #307! I took a few shots from my car, then walked out in a recently harvested soyabean field to get front lit shots. A nearby raptor flushed them, and I even got a chance to hear their tell-tale chirping flight calls.

American Pipits are also known as Buff-breasted Pipits or Water Pipits. They breed in the arctic north, and migrate to the Southern US for the Winter. My birding field guide lists them as 'common' in migration, but that has not been the case for me. Many birders have told me to listen for them flying over in flocks but, I'm old school, I prefer to see them perched or walking around on the ground. I guess they can be found along beaches, watery areas and fields. I had an impression that they could be seen in the Onion Fields or any birding hotspots along the north shore of Lake Erie.

This yellow rumped Palm Warbler was curious and bounced around in a leafless tree in nice sunlight.

Other birds seen in the area were some Yellow rumped Warblers, and a three separate American Kestrels. The Kestrel below had a huge insect, perhaps a Praying Mantis. Pretty cool!

I'm hoping to see Saw Whet Owls by the end of the month, it would be pretty cool to have three lifers in three blog postings. Any good advice to help me find one would be appreciated! ;^)

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Lifer Summary: American Pipit #307

Hawkfest Birding at Holiday Beach & Pelee

Saturday morning, the family and I headed out to the hawk festival at Holiday Beach.  A few Kestrels flew overhead as we arrived and some kettles of Turkey Vultures and Broad wings (at stratospheric levels) were seen. The Canadian Peregrine Foundation had some captive raptors on display including this Barn Owl above. I find it kinda sad to see any captive bird and was almost reluctant to post this gorgeous bird (he looks so sad!). This weekend was not too great for Hawkwatching. The winds were southerly and little was moving. I guess on Tuesday this week, a huge cold front will push lots of raptors south.

While leaving Holiday Beach, I walked along the scrubby area parallel to the beach with my son and saw a few warblers: Blackpoll, Blackburnian and Nashville Warblers were seen briefly. Nuthatches were heard but not seen. A few flycatchers were around but I did not really have time to really ID them. I think one was an Eastern Pewee, and the other (see below) may be another Olive sided?!?

Audubon Magazine recently had an article which listed out the ten best Hawk-watching places in North America, and Holiday Beach was third in the list!  Pretty cool. See the article here: http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/birds/audubon-guide-hawk-watching

Another Olive sided Flycatcher?

Blackburnian Warbler... Non Cooperative...

Sachem on New England Aster Behind Pelee Inn

Point Pelee Tour with the Family 

A large tree in Sparrow Field always has Hackberry butterflies on it. It may be leaking sap.

Point Pelee was quiet bird-wise until my wife and two sons visited the tip. While leaving the beach and getting onto the west path back to the tram loop, I noticed many birds in the first few trees at the tip of Point Pelee. The trees were crawling with Red-breasted Nuthatches (10+?), Yellow rumped Warblers (6) and Blue grey Gnatcatchers (4).  A single southernmost-Sanderling was trying to avoid tourists walking the beach at the tip of Pelee... the only shorebird. Hundreds of gulls  (some black-backed) and Cormorants were on the three islands that extended out from the tip of Pelee.

Checkered Skipper on Short's Aster

Good birding,
Dwaynejava


PS: A little buzz in Windsor lately about a birding film being shot at various parts of Essex including Ojibway Park.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ2cWzqjnaA&feature=related
http://www.windsorstar.com/entertainment/Cavanagh+soaring+Birder/7246574/story.html
http://www.ctvwindsor.ca/tag/the-birder/

Praying Mantis. On my son's play-house!

Yellow Bellies, Rumps and Throats

New Scope Purchase
My entry into the birding world has been a slow burn from the start. I birded for the first year without binoculars or a field guide (don't laugh!). The second year, I birded without a scope... So for my third year of birding, I treated myself to a scope. I bought a Bushnell Elite 80mm scope even though I was tempted to get the gorgeous Vortex Razor HD 85mm scope or even the Kowa 88mm scope. The Bushnell Elite scope has Bak-4 prisms and some Flourite Lenses, along with a new eyepiece that has twist-out eye cups. I wanted to buy a Kowa or Vortex so bad, but I just have so many upcoming purchases (minivan) , wide angle lens (maybe), my first cell phone and the list goes on and on. With my own budget in consideration, and the amount of usage I will get, the sub $1000 range is where my budgetary equilibrium landed me.  I lined up all three scopes at Pelee Wings and looked at a distant card stapled to a tree across the road from the store. Long story short, I'm quite happy with the performance of the Bushnell, even when compared to the Vortex and the Kowa (77mm)!

Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers
After visiting Pelee Wings, I walked Point Pelee's Delaurier Trail & Woodland Nature trail with hopes of seeing any Mid-April migrants. As you can see above, I had "soul satisfying views" of Yellow bellied Sapsuckers! One was working a tree along the Woodland Nature Trail and swooped right in front of me as I was walking! Another YBSS tried to use this one's sap wells, and this one chased it off, right in front of me. I'm really happy with the way these photos turned out. My first photos of the YBSS were up high, with a cloudy sky in the background, but later, the bird repositioned lower on the same tree (Shagbark Hickory?) with a nicer backdrop.

Inaugural Scope run at Hillman Marsh

Were you expecting a Vireo or Warbler?  :-p

Upon arrival to Hillman Marsh, I bumped into Richard Carr, who quickly pointed out this large turtle in the middle of the shorebird cell at Hillman Marsh. This turtle was looking up, sticking its head up in the air as if he was saying, look at this obvious yellow throat! I'm a Blandings Turtle! (turtle lifer!)

While scoping out the shorebird cell (flooded field) at Hillman, we noticed something was stirring things up. A distant falcon profile was seen and later it flew by us heading north. Richard and I thought it was a Merlin, but maybe it was an American Kestrel. Later on as I was leaving, I saw this Kestrel perched about 500m north of Hillman. 

Thousands, possibly millions of Red Admirals were everywhere today.

Well...Back to work!!!

PS: You have to see this Great Horned Owl nest in S.E. Michigan!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53477149@N02/6932179996/in/photostream

PSS:
I wanted to learn a little about the Exit Pupil concept and other technical specifications of scopes and binoculars a found this good resource: Nikon info guide for choosing binoculars (or Monoculars ie Scopes).

PSS:  Amazing Video of Osprey Catching fish...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA3LtXnNIto&feature=player_embedded

Good birding,
Dwaynejava

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)