Author: Peter T

Long Point, Norfolk Co. ON. March 12^th. 2021. Last summer I was asked to be the guest expert in a sort of, well let’s call it, phone-in programme. I hesitated to call it that it lest you get the idea that it had a wide audience, which it didn’t. But it was moderated and the unseen and anonymous audience phoned in with questions. I was billed as the Birdman – hardly surprising.

One of the callers, Colleen, asked, “What can I do to scare away the Grackles? I hate them. They’re in and out of my cedar hedge all the time and they’re so aggressive, ugly bullies.  I don’t want them, they scare off all the nice birds. How can I get rid of them?”  It was a sincere plea, and I was no help at all. Actually, I laughed; perhaps not what our hosts had expected of me.

My response was something like this. “You can’t. They probably have nests in the hedge, so, they’re with you until they’ve finished breeding.  They’ll probably leave when they’ve had enough of your place, maybe mid-August if you’re lucky. In September they congregate in big flocks, getting ready to head south. But until then…. I can’t think of anything you can do – except stand outside all day and wave your arms. Well, or you could move. No, I’m afraid, it’s Grackles one – Colleen zero.”

Despondent Colleen was a good sport; at least she was back for subsequent phone-ins.

I thought of her yesterday as I watched this animated group of Common Grackles who had just arrived having flown across Lake Erie from points further south. They were picking away around the wet margins of a meltwater pond searching to refuel.  I think they’re rather handsome, I like the way they show a bronze and/or purple iridescent sheen when the light is right. That long tail adds a demonstrative flair to an already strutting deportment.

I understand why some, like Colleen, dislike them. They are assertive, increasing in numbers, a significant agricultural pest, and predatory (they eat other birds’ eggs and nestlings). They’re also black and we seem to dislike black birds: Crows, Ravens, Starlings, Jackdaws, Rooks and more.

Still, these Common Grackles were my Birds of the Day for all of those endearing points above and, it must be said, I also like their scientific name Quiscalus quiscula. Say it aloud a couple of times.

There were other great birds here today. Among them, some irrepressibly handsome Northern Pintails

LaSalle Marina, Burlington, ON. March 10^th. 2021.  The retreat of the harbour ice is interesting to watch. It happens quite quickly; two weeks ago it was a thick, unmoving, white sheet; maybe safe to walk on. Although, who would?  In the past 3 or 4 days as the air temperature has eased, bands of open blue water have started to appear in streaks edged with rows of rotten ice. 

Waterfowl know all about this open water, it is a staging area for birds on the move northwards for the spring and summer ahead. I’ve been watching marked increases in numbers of Red-breasted, Hooded and Common Mergansers, Canvasbacks, Redheads, Greater and Lesser Scaups, Ruddy Ducks and Goldeneyes.

This is also time for the reappearance of Tundra Swans, back from their winter on the Atlantic coast.  I don’t think there is any other event in the avian year quite like the Tundra Swans’ stylish return in March and I would hate to miss what can sometimes be a brief fly-by. Most pass overhead on their way to the shores and inlets of Lake Erie where they’ll rest for a few days or weeks. Then, when conditions are right, they will continue on towards the Hudson Bay lowlands to nest.  Some, not many, will rest here on Lake Ontario briefly. I went out hoping to see some today.

From a rough breakwater I scanned the harbour and spotted a group of swans floating together about 200M away. Tundras, I thought and peered harder. I should take a moment here to say that there is room for confusion, the harbour is home to two other swan species: Mute Swans (an introduction from Eurasia) and Trumpeter Swans a native species that overwinters here. But the group in my sights was acting a little differently from the locals and I quickly concluded that yes, these were indeed Tundra Swans, fifteen of them.

As I watched, they paddled slowly to a nearby ice pan and eased themselves up onto it.  I think they had only just landed, probably after an overnight flight of some five or six hundred kilometres. They were tired, I could see that and it wasn’t long before they settled down, heads tucked underwing, to whatever kind of sleep swans get.

As I was contemplating, with satisfaction, that I’d got my swan fix for this spring, a soft-calling V of another 20 Tundra Swans passed fairly low overhead. They seemed to hesitate as if thinking of joining those resting on the ice below and banked left flashing bright white sunlit backs. But then thought better of it and kept on going westward, gradually swallowed up in the bright sky.

Setting aside Tundra Swans who were My Birds of the Day without question, and just to round this out, below are a few photos of those ‘other’ swans photographed today. Swans on Ice.

RBG. Hendrie Valley, Burlington ON. March 8^th.2021. On this date last year, I walked a circuit of familiar trails and came up rather empty handed. I decided to walk it again today partly for the exercise and partly to compare experiences. Well, no surprise, many of my observations of last year were replicated today. I saw probably the same Eastern Screech Owl in precisely the same place, and there were plenty of Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos and Black-capped Chickadees as expected. Some improvements on last year were Song Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows singing, maybe not lustily but singing and that counts for a lot.

 I’m sure there were many more newly arrived, male Red-winged Blackbirds this time and they were more optimistically vocal than last year. I did quite well with raptors starting with the Eastern Screech Owl noted above, then a fast flying and determined Cooper’s Hawk, a high overhead Sharp-shinned Hawk, two Turkey Vultures, two Bald Eagles and, My Bird of the Day, a sudden drop-in Red-tailed Hawk.

The red-tail came right at the end when I was standing talking to another birder, our conversation had drifted back in time and he was describing aspects of WW2 naval battles. Dramatic movement behind him caught my eye.  I yelled and pointed to this Red-tailed Hawk which had suddenly swooped in low to land on a fallen log just two metres off the path. It gathered its thoughts, hopped down, looked hopefully at the snow around it, hopped back up and left. I can only think it had a squirrel in its sights (unseen by us), swept in for the grab, and missed.

The faint barring on its tail indicates it is an immature bird, hatched last year and not yet a year old; perhaps that’s why it missed the squirrel.

Bronte Creek campgrounds, Oakville. ON. March 7th. 2021. I always pick away at the calendar in March looking for signs of winter’s release. It’s worth a try but it doesn’t give way easily and I know we’ll still be getting vengeful, cold reminders in May.

A couple of friends and I went looking for wintering birds today but with an attentive eye for signs of spring. Trudging through crusty snow or sliding on slippery packed ice made it hard work at times.   Wherever we went we could hear Downy Woodpeckers drumming loudly, it’s their way of claiming territory.  There were just as many Northern Cardinals in full song and a couple of House Finches too; all signs of spring but really, if that was what you wanted, you had to look pretty hard.

I lost contact with my friends for a few minutes as I pushed my way through the interlocking thickness of a pine plantation. There was no snow in there and perhaps it was the clear ground and the chance of food that attracted a furtive Hermit Thrush. It caught my eye as it worked busily staying low to the ground. I didn’t get much in the way of prolonged views, it was moving quite rapidly, but when I did have the luxury of a clear sight I was able to confirm the identification – not that it could be confused with much else at this time of year. There are always a few Hermit Thrushes overwintering here, quite unlike their cousins the Gray-cheeked, Wood, and Swainson’s Thrushes, who all head to tropical forests anywhere from Southern Mexico to the Amazon Basin. Somewhere along the way, evolution has convinced the Hermit Thrush that staying put and making a go of it in the northern winter presents fewer risks than the journey to Brazil and back.

It was a welcome sight, heartwarming I think is the word, Hermit Thrush – My Bird of the Day.

Plains Rd. Burlington. ON. March 1^st. 2021. I spent a couple of hours following a familiar but treacherously icy woodland trail on this wintery day. Not a bird did I see, not that it mattered, I always enjoy the variety of this walk along a valley edge and through a mature hardwood forest.

On my way home, I made a point of visiting that busy corner of town where I met the Suburban Turkey just a month ago. It was still there.

Suburban Turkey, how you have found your place in suburbia. This is a busy intersection with Esso on one corner and Royal Bank on another. There are traffic lights to control the flow of traffic, traffic that flows straight through, turns left and turns right in the familiar ballet that makes things orderly. Orderly until the turkey decides it’s time to take part.

I arrived today just as the turkey decided to come down from its roosting spot on the Esso sign,  time for a little drink and a bit to eat. It found a trickle of melt water at the roadside and there was plenty of grain thoughtfully left for it by other residents. I watched as it sipped quietly, flicked at a few kernels of corn and decided to use the pedestrian crosswalk to cross the road, perhaps to go to the bank. Turkeys using crosswalks without heeding the ‘walk’ signal can cause difficulties. Cars stopped mid-turn, some moved ahead but could only wait, traffic lights changed as programmed but still no one moved. A driver got out of his car, walked towards the Turkey and gently ushered it back to the gas station, and then everything went back to the way it was.

After that, well…

I don’t often digress very far from the familiar My Bird of the Day track, but I want to share a discovery with you. It would take too long to explain our connection, but my friend Chris Taylor is someone you should know about, he lives in Norfolk, England. Although he spends some of his time as coxswain on a lifeboat rescuing mariners in distress he is also making a series of masterful videos, A Year on the Wild North Norfolk Coast, is about the seasons of life and wildlife in his little corner of England. The link above will take you to his most recent production, Winter. If nothing else enjoy it for his eye for a picture, it’ll enrich 15 minutes of your valuable time.