BIRDING WITH BIGFRANK 2007

This link is to an article about birds being the next indicator of climate change. Its a project being done in Africa. Enjoy
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/04/climate_change_africa.html

I also found this story quite amazing:

Migrating birds throwing off weather forecasts Tom Spears, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, April 28, 2007
OTTAWA - Birds are on the move north toward Canada, and this week the flocks have been so dense they're showing up on American weather radar stations as if they were rain showers.

Blue blotches - the colour used to show light rain - have begun to dot weather radar maps from the Mississippi Valley east to the Atlantic as the radar picks up water in the birds' bodies.

Many songbirds weigh only a few dozen grams, but when they travel in the millions, the radar thinks it's seeing rain.

The phenomenon happens at night, since small birds migrate after dark to avoid hawks.

The radar picture accompanying this story shows the U.S. at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday of this week. Each blue splotch is centred on one radar station. They're roughly round because each radar is able to "see" birds only within a limited distance. But there are also birds flying between the splotches.

"I suspect what we're seeing here is a huge proportion of the bird life of the boreal forest coming home. Millions and millions of them," said Ottawa naturalist Dan Brunton.

"At this time of year, depending on weather, you're getting big buildups. It's like the start of the Boston Marathon. They wait for the best possible weather (a tailwind) and then they go."

The migrant birds are largely small birds that live mainly in forests - warblers, vireos and swallows.

"Most of North America is coming across in the next 10 days," he said. "Tens of millions are coming north right now."

The birds show up every year on weather radars, said John W. Nielsen-Gammon, the state climatologist for Texas and a professor at Texas A and M University.

"Migration is more concentrated in time in the spring than the fall, so it shows up best in the springtime," he said. "Radars send out electromagnetic radiation, which is scattered back to the radar by a variety of things, including liquid water. And larger droplets of water give a much stronger return" than small ones.

"A considerable portion of birds being water, they produce a very strong return signal for radar."

It doesn't even take a densely packed flock - just a fairly steady pattern of airborne bird traffic."

Ottawa Citizen(Paper it appeared in)

OK and for my report...today I saw all 5 Swallow species which we normally see in southern Ontario.Tree,Bank,Barn,Cliff and Northern Rough-winged. It was my first Cliff Swallows seen this season. Other first of season birds included Black-crowned Night Heron and Black and White Warbler. Caspian and Common Terns were fishing above and in the lake,tons of Double-crested Cormorants,Red-breasted and Common Mergansers,Common Loons,Red-necked Grebe and Horned Grebe were all seen very well down on the lake also. It was a beautiful day to be out at the park,warm,sunny and several friends came to bird at the park as well. One was someone I turned onto birding. She is really enjoying it,and I was able to show her a few new "Life" birds. I do enjoy sharing the birding bug!

This past week has been ugly grey,overcast most of the time and some rain,but birds are still around with more arriving daily. The Bank Swallow numbers have increased,White-throated Sparrows have arrivved enforce and were singing up a storm today. A few Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were around too. I saw what Im sure was a pair of Osprey fly by together and circle a few times also. This gives me some hope they mite nest nearby in the city,which is pretty unusual. There were plenty of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a few warblers arrived after a rainfall. So far Ive only seen Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Of course there are many more common birds around,providing some of the best photo-ops.

Red-winged Blackbird

For something abit different,I saw a pair of Belted Kingfishers chasing each other..had to do with mating Im sure,Red-breasted Mergansers fought over one female and Northern Flickers called madly for each other. Spring is in the air! We are due for a long spell of sunny weather so Im sure there will be lots to see.
Today as I left,I spotted the male Eastern Screech Owl sitting in a tree. I hadnt seen him all day so was happy to. I didnt notice till I got home that I must have just missed him eating,as there was blood on the tree branch next to him. I will poke around there tomorrow and see what I can see.

A sure sign of spring's arrival is the climbing numbers of our day listing of species. I started out today at Rosetta McClain Gardens,where I did very well,seeing my first Tree,Barn and Bank Swallows of the season. The Bank Swallows will nest in the side of the bluff,will do my best to get some pics. 5 Great Blue Herons flew past,as did several Common Loons. Out over the lake a Herring Gull and an Iceland Gull flew among the many Ring-billed Gulls. Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were seen,many beautifully coloured Goldfinches,Brown Creepers,Hermit Thrushes,Blue Jays,Common Grackles,Brown-headed Cowbirds and Northern Cardinals were seen. I saw Fox,Song,House,Chipping,Tree and Marsh Sparrows,plus many Dark-eyed Juncos. A young Redtailed Hawk landed in a tree posing nicely for me.
Red-tailed Hawk

Including more common birds I saw 32 species at Rosetta.

After 2 hours at Rosetta,I left and headed off to meet friends Mike and Leslie,to head to Cranberry Marsh in Whitby. We had a great day,racking up 18 additional species,including many species of Ducks. We saw Ruddy Ducks(beautiful blue bill),Northern Shovelor,American Wigeon,American Coot(heard them call..that was a first),Blue-winged Teal(saw it take-off from the marsh very near us..beautiful blue colour on tops of wings),Ring-necked Duck and Greater Scaup,Horned Grebe,Bufflehead,Long-tailed Duck,Mallards(of course),Gadwall,Canada Goose and Mute Swans. Raptors? we saw Red-tailed Hawk being dived at by an American Crow,several Turkey Vultures,a Coopers hawk and a Northern Harrier. As we readied to leave,I said suddenly" I heard a Turkey call!". We turned and started to leave,when Mike asked what was on the path ahead. It was near the entrance to the main walkway,a Wild Turkey! Someone was feeding it birdseed. We approached and walked by it. As we enjoyed our sighting of the Turkey,and again readied to leave,Leslie spotted our first warbler of the year,a Yellow-rumped Warbler! We were very happy about that. Just as we watched the warbler,our first Chimney Swift of the season flew over us. We also saw our first of the season Bonapartes Gulls,out on the lake. More and more kept flying in. We only see these Gulls at migration time. Finally on our way,we made Mike stop the car before making it away from the marsh. Across the road are some farm fields and Leslie caught movement in the corn stubble. Eventually I got out to help her,and soon we figured out she'd seen a Horned Lark. A few of them were seen infact,and some very well...they were the first ones she had ever seen,so she was very happy about that! In all a terrific day,with 11 first of season birds!

Oh no! How sad that will be. It is not pleasant when your favourite animal is at the receiving end

Let me start by saying no condolences necessary. Im not happy about the developments that follow,but that's nature. Friday,I caught a brief glimpse of what I thought was a Raccoon in my Owl's nest(hole in the tree),however my view wasnt enough for me to be positive. I returned as the sun was rising,to confirm this unfortunate event. Sure enough,I arrived and found a Raccoon,with head and paws sticking out of the Owl's tree hole. As I am quite certain there were young in the nest(though as yet unseen believed to be about 3 days old),they would have been predated by the Raccoon. We have not seen the female yesterday or today. I dont know whether she would have died trying to save her young and protect the nest,or if by some chance she gave up at some point. If she escaped,then there is still time for the pair to re-clutch. It is a shame,but that's nature. We saw the adult male owl all day yesterday,in his usual perch. The only hint of something wrong was that he did the location call a few more times then usual. The male Screech Owl was also unseen today,despite checking all his known perches. Unfortunately,unless I see both adults,I wont know the fate of the pair.

I set out early on Thursday morning,leaving the house prior to 7am,for Ashbridges Bay. Its only about 30minutes worth of buses and trains away from home,but by getting an early start I could fit Ashbridges in plus go to watch the owls. At first I was a little disappointed,as there wasnt the variety of ducks Id expected,but soon just decided to walkabout and see what was there. In the end I was happy to have seen a Common Loon swimming in the lake,which isnt all that common in the city,a Belted Kingfisher fishing,my first beautiful Wood Ducks of the season and my first Caspian Terns of the season. I saw over 30species of birds by the time I had finished at Ashbridges Bay,including the vibrantly coloured male American Goldfinch below and Common Grackle. One odd thing I saw was a Grackle carrying a small fish in its beak. I had no idea they would eat a fish!
American Goldfinch

Common Grackle

After walking around for about 2hours,I did a reverse trip,and arrived at Rosetta McClain Gardens to find both Screech Owls in the same small Pine Tree,the female again perched above the male(I dont know if thats significant,but whenever they've been together,this has been the case). They were very comfortably enjoying the warmth of the sun.(as was I ..finally we got a temperature above 10c or 50f). Later as I got bored watching them snooze,I decided to try to mimic their trilling call(its a location call) and twice I got one of them to return my call. They also called a few other times during the day. My 86 year old birding buddy Terry dropped by and really enjoyed the owls,later my protege Carol came and she also loved seeing and hearing the owls. As Carol and I sat talking,a Grade 2 class from a local primary school came by. They knew of the owls being in the park,through a mutual friend of the teachers and myself(Chris and Linda also visited later). The kids collected some pine cones,looked for birds,squirrels and in general were there to study nature abit as part of their ciriculum. I was asked by the teacher to speak briefly to the students,so I passed on appropriate level information and then fielded a few questions. I showed the kids a few photos I had with me and then gave their teacher several Peregrine Foundation postcards,and mentioned their website,with currently active webcameras on several Toronto nestsites. Friends,birds and weather made the day very enjoyable. Still havent seen the young owlets,but am every hopeful. The nest cavity is deep,so it takes awhile before they are big enough to show themselves at the entrance.
House Finch

Woohoo...I guestimated pretty good! I determined that sometime between March 12 - March 19th Newfie and Rusty started to incubate.(ok so Rusty does all the incubating) And today I found the pair of adults sitting one above the other in a pine tree,within view of the nest. It is the first time in a month(the incubation period) that Rusty(the mama) has been out of the nest cavity,as she is solely responsible for incubation. Now both adults will feed and care for the young. It will be a few days before they are big enough to show themselves at the hole.

Both Adults In Pine Tree

While I waited to see if I could catch a glimpse of a young one,I didnt want to bother the adults,or make them alter their normal activity,so I sat a distance away,with my back to them,checking the hole now and then over my shoulder for movement. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and it was Rusty flying into the hole to check on the kids. She turned warily checking to see if anyone/thing was watching,then ducked in the hole,head first looking down at the bottom of the nest at the young ones. She disappeared inside for a short period before leaving again to perch with her mate.
Owl Bum

Both adults sat together for the remainder of my time at the park,they were harrassed a few times by Blue Jays,and once by Chickadees and an American Crow. The crow looked like it was going to attack them outright but in the end thankfully flew off.

Beautiful Close-up

Stayed tuned to this space for exciting photos of this years owlets! Last year they had 2.

Ive been over to the park several times lately,but either there wasnt much action,or very poor conditions for photos. Its been unseasonably cold. This has meant Rusty(mama Screech Owl) has been hunkered down on her eggs. They are due to hatch any day now I believe,with every possibility they may have already. Today I saw a small feather hanging right near the entrance of the nest cavity(hole they live in),and I prefer to believe it was that of an owlet. The coming days will tell. More inclimate weather is predicted. This morning when I left the house it was brisk but beautifully sunny and blue skies. I took one photo of the perched Common Grackle and dumb luck allowed me to catch it inflight as before I could snap another of it sitting,it flew.

Common Grackle

Grackle In Flight

Newfie,the daddy Eastern Screech Owl was at his favorite perch,taking little notice of the few watchers,and the ground below being overrun by squirrels,including a brown coloured Black Squirrel(see photo in Wildlife Section of boma).

The usual suspects were around many Red-winged Blackbirds,a few Brown-headed Cowbirds looking for a nest to dump an egg in,many Juncos,Golden-crowned Kinglets and several Brown Creepers. The last 2 days Ive seen the Creepers foraging on the ground (see photo in bird photo section of Birds Photo section on boma). Id not observed this before. Saw several Double-crested Cormorants,a few Canada Geese,a few Long-tailed Ducks,a single female Common Goldeneye,Red-necked Grebes calling and 2 Trumpeter Swans flew by. 3 Turkey Vultures,a Northern Harrier and a 2nd year Redtailed Hawk flew by. Yesterday the young Redtail dove about 10ft from me after some squirrels. I must admit I never saw it until about the same time as the squirrels..no idea where it came from. Daily now more and more should arrive if we ever get spring! We are averaging only 5c this April,and last April this time of year the average temperature was 13c! The coming week isnt looking promising,but neither rain nor snow shall keep me from monitoring the owls!

Around Toronto our 9 urban pairs of Peregrine Falcons are in various stages of "nesting". Several have eggs already and are busy incubating. They are being monitored by CPF volunteers,through visits and monitoring web cameras. Recently a the CPF(Canadian Peregrine Foundation) has put a few new "nest trays" in place in the area of known Peregrine Falcon pairs. The trays have gravel in them and offer protection to stop eggs from coming into either direct contact with excessive moisture or falling right off the chosen structures. The falcons scratch out a sort of bowl and eggs are laid in that. Both nesting trays drew immediate attention,and a pair in the westend of Toronto(see story below) and a pair on the lift bridge beside the Burtlington Skyway in Hamilton area now are active on their new "nests".

Peregrine falcons get new home in Canada
Juliet, a peregrine falcon that hatched in 2005 in Syracuse, got a new home last week on a ledge of the William Osler Health Centre in Etobicoke, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.

Volunteers installed a new nest tray for Juliet and her mate, Hurricane, who hatched in 2004 on the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto. The nest box, which sits on a 10th-story ledge of the hospital, was customized with high sides to protect the birds and any future eggs from a fall.

Juliet is the daughter of Fancy and Groucho, the first peregrine falcons to nest in Syracuse since the birds came close to extinction in the 1970s.

The Lift-bridge Survivor
The new male at the lift bridge in Burlington/Hamilton is a great story. Dundas the one legged Peregrine Falcon has found a mate,and she is now on eggs. Dundas lost the leg in an unknown manner a few months after he fledged. Little hope was held out for Dundas,as Peregrines depend so heavily on their tallons for killing and tearing prey,not to mention mating. Our Dundas is adaptive though,and has thrived.

New Nest Nearest My Home
We got news recently that a pair of Peregrines has relocated. They left a nesting area,not far from my home,becuz of a failed nest and alot of construction going on close by(the lot next to where their nest had been). The pair had been sighted several times further northeast,and their new nesting place has been found. I am fortunate that its still reasonably close to my home,and come fledging time I will help with the watch there,as well as a site in the westend of Toronto.

Happy Easter to all those that celebrate it! It was a miserable overcast cold gusty day,but there were still plenty of birds. I finished having seen 35 species,during my visit to Rosetta McClain Gardens. It had been a few days since I checked on the Screech Owls,so I wanted to see what was going on. There couldnt possibly have been less...the female was tucked away in the nest cavity on her eggs,while the male sat barely conscious in his favorite tree. I saw 4 species of raptor,including 4 Turkey Vultures,a Redtailed Hawk,which perched along the edge of the bluffs,a Sharp-shinned Hawk which scattered local Rock Pigeons and a Northern Harrier which hunted tight to the bluffs. The lake was busy,with sightings of Canada Geese cackling,Red-necked Grebe calling in mating displays,a few Horned Grebe,Common and Red-breasted Mergansers and several calling Long-tailed Ducks. A surprise over the lake was an all white gull,which here means one of 2 species,I later confirmed my initial thought that it was an Iceland Gull. I saw House.Song and one Tree Sparrow. Another first of season surprise was a House Wren,which I saw moving around among leaf debris,under some Cedar trees. Brown Creepers,Brown-headed Cowbirds,Red-winged Blackbirds,Northern Flickers,Downy Woodpeckers,a few Black-capped Chickadees and tons of Juncos were all seen. For such an inclimate day,the birding was good. Also met someone who knew my father. He was there with his 9year old(ish) son,Louey who is a very knowledgable birder. He and his dad will be back often after we chatted and they saw some of the photos I take over with me to show friends. Maybe I'll get somemore help in the fall at my raptor count from Louey..at the least I will have an eager protege.