Eastern Meadowlark

Bayview Park, Burlington ON. June 29 ^.2021. One of my Breeding Bird Atlas challenges is to complete a 5-minute point-count in an expanse of grassland.(Point-count: A tally of all birds seen and heard in a short period of time.) We don’t have much grassland here, not in the sense of wide-open and un-mown as might have existed before European settlement. What we do have is urban sprawl lapping up against a mix of deciduous woodlands and cash-crop farmland.

Luckily, many years ago, the city created a large park which now accommodates a leash-free dog park, a model airplane clubhouse with airstrip and little else except lots of deep un-mowed grass; certain grassland birds like it.

In the past two or three weeks I have spent many early morning hours here. It’s quieter then, certainly better before anxious dogs or model airplanes start to unsettle things and I like to think I have the birds to myself. Sitting alone and watching, I’ve got the measure of a Brown Thrasher’s territory and located the nests of Orchard Orioles, Baltimore Orioles, Barn Swallows and Killdeers.

I have also observed and counted a few strictly grassland birds.  Savannah Sparrows are everywhere and readily pop up out of the grass to show their anxiety. I confirmed them as a breeding species after watching one carry a beak-full of insects to its nestlings.

Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks, unlike the sparrows, are much more secretive.  I hear them frequently but they take flight quickly and disappear into the grass long before anyone gets close. I’m certain they have partners and nests in there somewhere.

Something was different today, perhaps I was less conspicuous sitting in the shade; whatever the reason, an Eastern Meadowlark was my lucky-find Bird of the Day. It landed not twenty metres from me and spent a few minutes walking stiffly on the short-mown grass of the model airplane landing zone, picking for food and stopping every few paces to sing its melodic ‘spring-of-the-year’ song, a way of asserting his territorial rights. I was able to busy my camera and managed a few shots.

The deep yellow of its throat and breast and the dagger beak make a striking looking bird.

I view these meadowlarks and Bobolinks as incomplete stories: I wait and hope to see confirmation of breeding.  It won’t be by finding their nests, it would be destructive and unethical to try, but one of these days I’ll glimpse them carrying food to their young or perhaps see those youngsters developing their first flight skills.