A flock of Bohemian Waxwings had also been reported recently, and it was these I was looking for. Given the abundance of berries around Hurdman Park I figured they would show up sooner or later, as they had in winters past. I hadn’t seen them at Hurdman all season, however, and I missed them the day after they had been observed by Pat Blake.
Common Redpoll
Last weekend Deb and I spent the morning birding in the east end. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the Frank Kenny area, and as we’ve heard no reports from the east end we thought it would be worth taking a look.
The day started out sunny but cold (-14°C), so we were happy to be in the car driving around. It soon became clear why there have been no reports from the area: there was nothing to see! We drove from Trim Road to Wall Road and the back roads around Frank Kenny and Giroux and didn’t see a single hawk, let alone a Snowy Owl or a shrike. There were no Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, or American Tree Sparrows to be seen either. All we saw were crows, and, close to the farm buildings, pigeons and starlings.
Last weekend Deb and I spent the morning birding the Old Quarry Trail in Kanata. We were hoping to find some deer, porcupines or other mammals as well as some woodland birds for our year list. 2011, at least for me, has been relatively devoid of mammals; so far all I’ve seen are squirrels and deer, and I was looking forward to seeing something different.
It wasn’t too cold, but the sun never came out as promised. Because of all the fresh snow there were many skiers and snowshoers on the trails already. Unfortunately a noisy pair of cross-country skiers startled the first deer we saw near the “Deer John” feeders. Although the doe bounded off into the woods, the birds were not as skittish and remained close to the elaborate feeding area just off the main trail. Species present included a Brown Creeper, a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, a Red-breasted Nuthatch and, of course, chickadees. A small flock of finches flew over – redpolls, perhaps – and kept heading north without stopping.
A year ago I blogged about the The Great Coyote Kill, a coyote-killing contest sponsored by the Osgoode Township Fish Game and Conservation Club in order to eradicate the “infestation” of coyotes in the Osgoode area. I was urged, and urged readers of this blog, to write to Mayor Larry O’Brien asking him to oppose the contest.
Unfortunately neither the City nor the Minister of Natural Resources accepted responsibility for the issue and the contest was allowed to run. They must not have killed enough coyotes during their last contest or over the summer (coyotes may be legally hunted all year round) for this year another “cull” is taking place. And even though it has been brought to the Minister of Natural Resources’ attention that such contests are illegal pursuant to Section 11(1) of the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act, no action is being taken to stop the contests.
Wildlife Ontario and the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre have been active in bringing this issue to the attention of Ottawa city councillors, Ontario’s MPPs, the Minister of Natural Resources, Premier Dalton McGuinty and the local media. Now they are urging the public to write to the Premier and ask him to stop the senseless slaughter. The Wildlife Ontario page provides tips for what to say in your letter, links to the MPPs of Ontario and city councillors of Ottawa, and several informative and thought-provoking links to articles published in various newspapers recently. I have taken points from many of these articles in my own letter to Premier McGuinty.
I visited Hurdman a couple of times last week on my lunch break. Both Monday and Friday were sunny, while Tuesday was mild but cloudy. The temperature has been pleasant during the past week, and the House Finches have been singing up a storm, both at Hurdman and in my neighbourhood. In fact, with the exception of the snowstorm on Wednesday – the largest snowstorm we’ve had so far this season, dumping a whopping 15 cm of snow on the city – the weather has been much nicer lately for going out birding.
Despite the relatively milder temperatures, however, the amount of open water on the Rideau River has continued to decrease; there are now only two pond-sized areas open south of the footbridge and another small open area beneath the 417 bridge. The mallards and black ducks still congregate beneath the highway, while the Common Goldeneyes and the male Barrow’s Goldeneye continue to dive for food in the two “ponds” in the middle of the river.
In defiance of the snow, however, I decided to go out to Jack Pine Trail on Saturday morning. I haven’t been out for a walk in the woods in a while, and this time when I arrived the feeder was humming with activity. Several chickadees, a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers and a single Downy Woodpecker were all visiting the feeders. At least one Dark-eyed Junco was flitting about in the shrubs behind the feeders, and I even saw two Blue Jays and a brilliant male Northern Cardinal patiently waiting in the trees nearby. While I usually see one or two jays hanging around the feeders, the cardinals don’t stop by very often. In fact, the cardinals are more frequently seen – and heard – during the warmer months of year.
The Pathless Wood 