April 14 2013. Ruthven Park, Cayuga ON. There are no obvious explanations for the huge wave of Golden-crowned Kinglets at the bird observatory these past couple of days. On this morning’s census I recorded 62, but actual numbers are certainly way higher; add a zero and it might be just as accurate. On some stretches of the census route my eye would be caught by a flit of movement, invariably a kinglet, then I’d realize there were more, many more. And they kept moving, jumping and fluttering, so by the time I had an approximate count at that particular spot, it had all changed. Perhaps a new group had moved in or maybe I was counting the same birds twice, I could never be sure.
It wasn’t all Golden-crowned Kinglets. Perhaps best, and certainly Bird of the Day, was a Yellow-rumped Warbler that muscled in on a group of kinglets. And then no sooner than I’d finished mentally applauding the warbler, I caught sight of an Osprey circling high overhead and consorting with a territorially minded Red-tailed Hawk. There were plenty of other good sightings too: two Eastern Phoebes, a Brown Creeper and a trio of labouring Great Blue Herons among them. Heard but not seen were an Eastern Bluebird, a House Finch and an Eastern Tufted Titmouse.
I caught sight of my first Northern Ficker of the year, I ‘ve heard them a few times in the past four or five days, but seeing that conspicuous and diagnostic flash of bright white on the rump completed the mental record.
The river that flows through the lands of the bird observatory is one of the largest in Ontario and the heavy rains of three days ago have caused it to overflow its banks. Whenever that happens the shoreline gets reshaped, low-lying fringes drown and all sorts of debris break loose, creating log-jams and floods. The census route was impassable in places and deep in sticky silt in others. Wellington boots were a necessity and I find wearing them very tiring, my still aching calves still remind me of their part in a successful early spring day.
I remember seeing my first northern flicker last year in Whistler and gasping at its spots whilst foraging and noticing its white rump spot upon flying…thereafter trying to get closer…the bird definitely had other ideas.