Spring is breaking out all over
April 10th, 2011
All of a sudden spring is here. Out in a sweatshirt, no jacket, with sleeves rolled up half the time. Buds on the trees and bushes. Mud Lake is now largely ice-free and new migrants are coming in one after the other! Killdeers and a Barn Swallow in the east end yesterday; Belted Kingfisher over the Rideau in the morning, all new. Today, my first Flicker of spring, and Tree Swallows swooping over Mud Lake and the Ottawa River, hawking the insects that are now emerging everywhere. Apparently someone saw ten (!) Black-Crowned Night Herons in a tree across the river, in the area where that species typically nests, but my binoculars weren't strong enough to pick them out.
I don't think of Mud Lake as a duck magnet in spring--migrant ducks usually prefer the nearby Ottawa River, which thaws earlier--but today the lake was the duckiest I've ever seen it in April, with small groups of Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers and Ring-Necked Ducks joining the resident waterfowl.
A Cooper's Hawk was making mating calls in the pine woods, suggesting that a pair of them will once again breed there this summer. I find it interesting that they and the raven pair nest so close to each other. Surely neither one is particularly comfortable with the other: a Cooper's Hawk would happily eat a raven nestling and a raven would just as happily eat a baby Cooper's Hawk!
Another week or so and the first Yellow-Rumped Warblers will start trickling in. Then, in May, their many cousins. I've made it my mission to get more warbler photos this spring.
( Migration 2011 )
Gatineau Trip Report
April 6th, 2011
So there was no Golden-Eagle-y excitement (not for lack of trying!), but there was nonetheless excitement. Saw my first Rough-Legged Hawk today. Lifer #244!
The "roughie" is a northern hawk, breeding in tundra and taiga around the globe. Its name is a reference to the fact that its legs are feathered down to the toes, an adaptation to its frigid habitat. It winters in Ottawa in small numbers, generally found in open country. Early April was probably about my last opportunity to see one for awhile. He was very far away, viewable only through scope, and was a puzzler to us at first. But in the end we were sure.
I think it was a Dark-Morph roughie. Perched, the bird was overall very dark except for a white patch on its nape and a second at the base of the tail.
Two new arrivals for my migration list: had a beautiful view of an Eastern Meadowlark singing in a field, and found an American Kestrel perched on a power line.
We went to an area with Wood Duck nest boxes looking for a Screech Owl. Someone had heard that a Screech Owl was habitually roosting in a particular box. So we stood at some distance from it and a woman with an IPod played a recording of the call, trying to draw it out if it was there. What happened next was fascinating and rather funny: 5-6 chickadees immediately flew over to that box--the precise one we'd been told was the right one--to investigate.
This demonstrates two things: one, it was indeed the right box, and two, chickadees ain't dumb! It wasn't just a Pavlovian response of "Screech Owl?! What, where?" It was a reasoned response of, "that's a Screech Owl. We've seen a Screech Owl recently in a particular location. Lets go there and check it out."
I had great fun and look forward to more trips with this group in the future.
Migration 2011
April 5th, 2011
The birding gods are comedians. I take an hour-long hike along the river looking for my first Great Blue Heron of spring. And where I do I finally see my first Great Blue Heron of spring? Flying across Bank Street.
Specifically, flying across Bank Street at Heron.
It's been a slow spring so far. The best action I've seen was on the first. After doing house-related stuff, Mike and I decided to explore the west end, and we ended up at Constance Creek--a well-known birding mecca, but one I'd never been to before. Saw a nice variety of migrant ducks there, plus a Northern Harrier.
Tomorrow I'm off to Eardley-Marsham / Gatineau with a local birding group. We'll see what kind of excitement we can stir up. I'm hoping for the kind that involves Golden Eagles :-)
( Spring Migration 2011 )
Red-Breasted Nuthatch
April 3rd, 2011
Raw Bar
April 2nd, 2011
I was fascinated by the behavior of a pair of Ring-Billed Gulls at Riverain Park. They were foraging on some waterlogged land--where the river had flooded then receded--and picking out what looked at first like shiny black rocks.
The "shiny rocks" turned out to be some sort of small freshwater bivalves (mussels?). The fascinating part was when they picked these up and carried them over to dip them in the river--a behavior that reminded me of raccoons. They would sit the bivalves in shallow water and peck at them. My theory is that they were putting them in the water to encourage them to open. Then they pecked and pried them open wider, picked them back up and feasted on the contents.
There was a fair bit of cooperation and sharing between the two gulls--a mated pair, perhaps?
Sublimely Silly
March 28th, 2011
The courtship of Hooded Mergansers never fails to make me smile.
On the Rideau Friday morning, I watched as two males vied for the attention of a female. It's like this: a male swims along in front of or beside his prospective mate--his white crest expanded to its full unwieldly proportions--then he starts jerking his neck spasmodically. After a second or two of this, all of a sudden (good luck firing the shutter at the right moment!), he pops his head all the way back, and utters a hoarse, soft "bow-bowwww." Some people call it a froggy sound--to me it's like a distant, muted didgeridoo.
As with the goldeneyes, the female just swims along staring straight ahead and showing no apparent interest in all this weirdness. And yet, eventually, she gives in!
Greed
March 25th, 2011
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It's begun
March 15th, 2011
Migration has begun. In fact, it's well underway! Four spring firsts at Mud Lake this morning: Canada Geese by the dozens, several Red-Winged Blackbirds singing on territory, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and last but not least, five Wood Ducks--the earliest I've ever seen that species in Ottawa. These early birds arrive in a land still crusted with snow and ice, still below freezing at night and with precious few natural food sources. They tough it out so they can claim their breeding grounds early.
Ring-Billed Gulls have been reported back in Ottawa as of March 1st--my first sighting was a few days ago. They're everywhere now. Some people turn up their noses at this common, noisy urban species, but I like them. They're quite handsome up close, in their crisp breeding plumage, and their tameness affords the opportunity for excellent photos.
Brant
March 13th, 2011
Another one from the backlog. This is the Brant goose who lingered at Andrew Haydon park a couple years ago.
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Success
March 12th, 2011
I found this one lurking in my backlog. In retrospect it deserved attention long before now! This is a Ring-Billed Gull fishing the rapids near Carleton University--photographed April 2009.
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