RBG Hendrie Valley, Burlington. ON. September 25, 2024. Sometimes while birding, I’ll find or see something just a little bit different or special, enough that it kickstarts writing in my head. Often an assemblage of ideas, phrases and half-baked stories finds their way into these posts.
It doesn’t always happen, most days, like today, are just another day’s birding, a nice day in the country. Things happen, birds appear, are noted but not necessarily celebrated. I walked the valley today and even though the species count wasn’t high there was plenty to savour against a backdrop of early colour changes.
Two birds whose behavior didn’t quite fit the surroundings caught my eye. I was pleased to pick them out as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, here is one of them. Not the eye-arresting black, white and crimson of a spring male grosbeak, but a tidy pair of buff, cream, and brown youngsters. At this time of year they have an unmistakable squeaky-toy contact note to give away their presence when otherwise they tend to move slowly among thick bushes. It’s been too long since I last saw grosbeaks like these and they were instant Birds of the Day for me.
The day was far from over and dealt more noteworthy sighting. A Peregrine Falcon and a Red–tailed Hawk in a brief and vocal skirmish, the falcon protesting and taking close swipes at the much larger and slower red-tail. What it was all about is anyone’s guess.
A Bald Eagle drifted high overhead, sliding easily along on an unseen path, while at treetop level, a Cooper’s Hawk– or was it a Sharp–shinned Hawk, they’re hard to tell apart, sat stolidly in an old Red Ash. A trio of young Northern Flickers taunted the hawk until it gave futile chase. I’ve seen this sort of play before, where a hunter is drawn reluctantly into a catch-me-if-you-can game by a group of flickers or jays. I speculate that there is some mutual benefit: the hunter practices or sharpens its chase skills while the teasers know they have enough of a head start to out-run and out-wit the hawk, learning despite the risk that it just may not work out well.