When a young drake's fancy...
March 22nd, 2009
On the Rideau today, two male Common Mergansers vied for the affections of a female, racing and chasing each other back and forth while she watched:
The phrase "boys, boys, boys" came to mind.
Some days...
March 21st, 2009
Took the camera out to Mud Lake Friday. Unfortunately it was one of those days when my best intentions turned to naught. Saw newly arrived Common Grackles and Song Sparrows, but no decent pictures of either one. Got a picture of a House Finch looking singularly ill-tempered, a chickadee picture that didn't quite work, and a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker with a great honkin' mushroom blocking the view.
But all was not lost. Because I got this chipmunk in glorious hi-res:
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Common Goldeneyes impress the ladies
March 20th, 2009
The goldeneyes on the Rideau are courting in earnest.
Goldeneye courtship generally means a small group of restless drakes swimming with one or two females. The males crane their necks, arch their necks, and occasionally, very suddenly (like a tic), pop their necks all the way back. That last maneuver is often followed by a "squeak-squeak" sound and a splash of water.
Meanwhile, the females mill around looking quite unimpressed by the whole affair. But they eventually choose their mates. The choice is made on the wintering grounds, with each pair migrating back to their breeding grounds together.
Last year, during which hundreds of them wintered on the Rideau, this was a downright extravaganza. I remember walking along the shore at dusk, the water speckled with rafts of ducks, and the air filled with delicate "squeak-squeak" sounds. I could barely see them, but I knew very well what they were up to. I called it the goldeneye nightclub.
It's less of an extravaganza this time but still fun to watch.
Welcome back, Red-Winged Blackbirds
March 18th, 2009
As expected and fondly anticipated, male Red-Winged Blackbirds have once again taken Mud Lake (and doubtless other marshes and wetlands) by storm. They'll be working on establishing their territories over the next few weeks. After that, the females arrive!
Of course, the redwing is one of those birds that anyone in Ottawa who wasn't born blind has seen many times. Nevertheless, such a beautiful creature deserves to have its arrival heralded. So:
Early Spring Waxwings
March 15th, 2009
I went down to Mud Lake yesterday afternoon and was delighted to find nature waking up all over the place. Crows carrying nest material, robins and cardinals singing, chipmunks out of their burrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds freshly arrived from migration, and last but not least, waxwings galore.
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In a brushy area near the outside fence of Mud Lake, a mixed flock of Cedar Waxwings and Bohemian Waxwings, along with a few robins, had staked out some small trees with last year's buckthorn berries. They clustered in taller trees and sallied down by ones or twos to pick the berries. The above was one of the Bohemians.
Another view of him:
Bohemian Waxwings have been here all winter, but these were the first I chanced to see since spring of 2008. The arboretum is often a good place to find them (they like crabapples). They'll be on their way out now, heading back to their breeding grounds in the far north.
Here are a couple of the Cedars:
To me they're even more gorgeous. I love the warm gold of their bellies blending into brown. Fortunately for me, Cedar Waxwings are common breeders in our area!
Waxwings, collectively, are among the gentlest and gentlemanliest of birds. Their social structure is egalitarian. They never squabble. Naturalists have seen them line up on a branch and pass a berry from bird to bird. Each bird patiently passes it along, the last bird eats it, and then the ritual repeats until everyone is fed.
They are also jokingly known as the "party animals" of the avian world. In their eagerness to stuff themselves with berries in spring, they sometimes ingest fermented berries by mistake, and become quite drunk.
Spring migration begins
March 7th, 2009
Spring migration has begun!
The recent warm spell has successfully coaxed a few forerunners of the early-migrating species into Ottawa. In the Britannia Conservation Area today, numerous flyovers of 1-2 Canada Geese near the river, plus three of them standing at the edge of the rapids. In a scrubby field to the southeast was a twittering all-male group of Slate-Colored Juncos. Ring-Billed Gulls are back in force and have begun to colonize the Lincoln Fields parking lot.
Any day now Red-Winged Blackbirds will return. I can't wait.
White-Tailed Deer
March 5th, 2009
Photographed at Old Quarry Trail around sunset. This was one of last year's fawns.
Female Cardinal
February 14th, 2009
Something in the air
February 3rd, 2009
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Three finches at Hurdman
February 2nd, 2009
At the Hurdman feeders this morning, three closely-related species of finches: one common, one a winter specialty, and one I'd never seen before.
Among the winteriest of winter birds, Common Redpolls breed in the subarctic, and wander south only when food gets scarce. Some winters Ottawa is teeming with them; others, we scarcely see a one.
Left: American Goldfinch, Right: Pine Siskin
After several years and nearly two hundred species, new additions to my lifelist (especially in Ottawa, at my usual haunts) have become a rare occurrence. So it often takes me awhile to hoist it in when I get one, even when the identity should be clear as day. So it was with the Pine Siskin. "Hmm. A female House Finch with yellow bits? A redpoll without any red? A goldfinch...wait a minute."
In the first picture above you can see one of the clinchers for Pine Siskin: the yellow markings in the wing. Another field mark, the very sharp, narrow beak (for a finch), shows well in the second photo. These, the goldfinches and the redpolls are all close relatives and often flock together at feeders.
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