Thanksgiving Birds

Wood Duck (male)

On September 27th, a rare Western Kingbird was found at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. Although it was found on a Sunday, I didn’t feel like making the drive out there (it’s a good half hour away from me through the city) and joining a mob of people surrounding the bird. The Fletcher Wildlife Garden, although beautiful, is also one of my least favourite places to go birding in Ottawa as it’s usually full of off-leash dogs. However, as the week wore on, the kingbird continued to be reported every day. It was still there on Friday, so I began planning an early morning visit to the FWG the following day. I left just after it had gotten light enough to see, and arrived at the FWG at about 8:15 am. There was a cold, blustery wind blowing, and this change in the weather made my heart sink as I realized that the kingbird might have blown out with the winds.

Small Frogs

Wood Frog

During the warmer months Ontario’s wetlands come alive with the music of nature. Birds are not the only creatures that sing or call in order to attract a mate; frogs do, too! In the spring and early summer large numbers of frogs migrate to bodies of water to find a mate. Some frogs, such as the Wood Frog and Spring Peeper, prefer temporary woodland pools, while others, such as the Green Frog, use any permanent water body from lakes to ponds to streams. Western Chorus Frogs breed in fishless pools of water that are at least 10 centimetres deep, such as rain-flooded meadows and ditches, while Bullfrogs prefer large, permanent bodies of water.

There are three general types of frogs and toads in Ontario: true toads, treefrogs and true frogs. Most people are familiar with true frogs such as Bullfrogs, Green Frogs and Leopard Frogs. These are the ones that can be seen sunning themselves on logs and lily pads or lurking among the emergent vegetation along the shore with just their eyes visible above the water’s surface. These frogs are large and conspicuous and impossible not to notice if you spend any time near the water during the summer.

Migration Summary: Late April/Early May

Red-tailed Hawk

Migration finally started picking up toward the end of April, though the only interesting bird that showed up in my yard this year was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet on two occasions. Hurdman Park turned out to be great spot to take in migration this year. On one occasion I spotted 40 or 50 swallows flitting over the fields and river; they were probably mostly Tree Swallows, though I did spot a brown swallow and what was likely a Barn Swallow among them. On the first day of May I spotted a different flock of birds soaring over the area – a large kettle of Broad-winged Hawks! I had seen them fly over Hurdman before, though the most I had seen together was three. This time I spotted a large flock of over 20 birds, with another flock of 11 following behind it. As the birds were constantly moving in and out of the main group, I didn’t want to double-count any; it is likely that there were as  many as 50 hawks altogether – the most I had ever seen at one time!

Moth Night at the FWG

On Friday, June 22nd, Diane Lepage and I spent a few hours mothing in the ash woods of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. We spent some time watering the seedlings before it got dark, and I was thrilled to see six Chimney Swifts hawking for insects over the garden, endlessly searching for food. Chimney Swift populations have declined rapidly in recent decades, and these birds are becoming harder and harder to find. There were no Green Herons by the pond, although a Yellow Warbler posed briefly for us in a bare tree as we made our way to the woods.

It was a warm, humid night, with no moon. Although the air was still at first, a slight breeze came up later on, just enough to disturb the big white sheet we had set up in the woods. Only after it became fully dark did the moths start to appear, along with spiders, beetles, a stink bug, and a few Green Lacewings. Here are some of the more striking moths that we saw.

The Family Day Long Weekend

Gray Partridge

The sun came out for the Family Day long weekend, and as luck would have it, I was sick. The scratchy throat that plagued me on Friday turned into a full-blown sinus cold by Sunday, but that didn’t prevent me from going out birding for a few hours each day. There are only two weekends left in February, and with my winter list standing at 66 species – my highest total ever – I decided to follow up on a few reports to see if I could reach 70.

My first target was the Northern Pintail spending the winter on the Rideau River in Manotick. On the way I stopped by Rushmore Road, where I encountered two Horned Larks – one of which was singing – and about two dozen Snow Buntings. There were no birds at the Moodie Drive quarry, and only the usual suspects along Trail Road. I checked the informal feeder area at the dump to see what was around, but the tree beneath which people used to scatter seed had been chopped down. A single Blue Jay was the only bird around.