A Western Visitor
December 26th, 2015
It's been an amazing few months for birders in Ottawa, with rarity after rarity. Many of them should be well south of here by now--the Bullock's Oriole, still hanging out in its favorite apple tree in Pakenham, should be in the tropics! But so far, our exceptionally mild winter has been a blessing to them.
This female Mountain Bluebird has also been around for weeks. Like the Bullock's Oriole, she's a bird of the west, and apparently flew east (or got blown east) when she meant to fly south. She too has a favorite spot: the intersection of Century and Goodstown in Richmond, where she searches for insects in the still-snowless grassy field, and eats berries in the tree across the street. I took this shot from my car to avoid spooking her. (And I can't tell if that's my camera she's tilting her head at, or a potential food item!)
I worry for both of these birds once winter finally happens for real. The oriole is probably stuck, as she will not be able to either survive dead of winter or build up enough energy reserves to travel south. (Though people are doing their best to help her by putting up orange-slice feeders.) However, a Mountain Bluebird is more accustomed to temperate-zone winters than an oriole. They naturally winter as far north as Colorado. It's probably not in her best interests to stay here, so, I hope to hear that she swiftly disappears in the coming snow/cold snap, and I will assume that she has taken the hint and continued on her way.
December 26th, 2015
It's been an amazing few months for birders in Ottawa, with rarity after rarity. Many of them should be well south of here by now--the Bullock's Oriole, still hanging out in its favorite apple tree in Pakenham, should be in the tropics! But so far, our exceptionally mild winter has been a blessing to them.
This female Mountain Bluebird has also been around for weeks. Like the Bullock's Oriole, she's a bird of the west, and apparently flew east (or got blown east) when she meant to fly south. She too has a favorite spot: the intersection of Century and Goodstown in Richmond, where she searches for insects in the still-snowless grassy field, and eats berries in the tree across the street. I took this shot from my car to avoid spooking her. (And I can't tell if that's my camera she's tilting her head at, or a potential food item!)
I worry for both of these birds once winter finally happens for real. The oriole is probably stuck, as she will not be able to either survive dead of winter or build up enough energy reserves to travel south. (Though people are doing their best to help her by putting up orange-slice feeders.) However, a Mountain Bluebird is more accustomed to temperate-zone winters than an oriole. They naturally winter as far north as Colorado. It's probably not in her best interests to stay here, so, I hope to hear that she swiftly disappears in the coming snow/cold snap, and I will assume that she has taken the hint and continued on her way.
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