Birding!

[jjohnwm]

Between setting up my stock tanks and generally cleaning up the yard for the coming nice weather, I've been pretty busy...so I took advantage of two days' worth of solid rain to take a break and build some birdhouses. I have boxes already that target particular species...Kestrels, Saw-what Owl, Purple Martin, Northern Flicker, House Wren...but probably my favourites are Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows.

These two species utilize the same type of nestbox; the Tree Swallows are far more common and somewhat more aggressive, and can sometimes usurp a box from a hopeful pair of Bluebirds. But the swallows, while nesting in loose colonies, won't tolerate another of their species within about 20 or 30 yards of their nests, whereas they ignore a nearby Bluebird nest...so by placing the boxes in pairs at fairly close distances, Bluebirds (which won't tolerate others of their own species within about 100 yards of their nests) receive protection from their neighbouring Swallows from other nest competitors.

I had terrific success on my property in Ontario with Bluebird nestboxes, but none so far here in Manitoba. I've had 18 boxes set up for several years now, and have multiple successful nestings of Tree Swallows each year, but Bluebirds remain aloof. I see them every spring...and I watch them inspecting my proffered nestboxes...but they never quite commit. So...I assembled another 14 nestboxes and installed them this morning, taking pains to site them correctly for maximum attractiveness. I even saw a beautiful male Eastern Bluebird while doing so...but he wasn't taking the bait and soon moved on. Fingers crossed!

No Tree Swallows this year yet, but I am confident they will be back soon and will be setting up house.

Some of the new offerings:

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Today we birded along the San Luis Rey River, which my mom worked on for like 8 years. We got 45 birds, including one new species (muscovy x mallard, I don’t care that hybrids don’t officially count as lifers, im counting it as a new species), and some cool escapees including Greylag Geese and…what…a Peacock?! We heard a Peacock probably from someone’s house, but super fun to hear anyway. Also saw a White breasted Nuthatch, which really remind me of the mountains, but they seem to be staying around here year-round, or longer.

Anyway, my mom specializes mostly in vireos, specifically the endangered subspecies of Bell’s Vireo, Least Bells Vireo. She told me that 10 or so years ago she was working for USGS, and while surveyingn Least Bell’s Vireo nests, she and her field partner at the time came across a nest being built by a male Least Bell’s Vireo and a female White-eyes Vireo. To put that in context, White-eyes Vireo range is from Massachussets to Texas, hugging the coast line. The female was very off her normal range - 3 states. Only 8 have been seen in San Diego county since 1969. Anyways, they built their nest, had eggs and babies, and the babies fledged. Heres the full article for people interested.

Unusual Hybrid Mating of Least Bell's Vireo in San Diego | U.S. Geological Survey

Researchers from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center have reported a rare case of two songbird species cross-breeding in San Diego County -- an odd couple which raised four chicks to maturity.

www.usgs.gov

 

[jjohnwm]

That is an interesting article; a naturally-occurring hybrid is fascinating, as opposed to one created by throwing together two critters that would never meet in nature.

In Ontario, we had areas that were semi-reliable for locating Lawrence's Warbler, which is a naturally-occurring hybrid between the Blue-winged Warbler and the much rarer Golden-winged Warbler. The Lawrence's was quite variable, but all the best-known forms definitely showed characteristics of both parent species. Apparently the Blue-winged is gradually breeding the Golden-winged out of existence and replacing it. Try as I might, I never did manage to locate and see a Lawrence's...but I once came very close, arriving at a site where the bird had been reported earlier that day, the incomparable Point Pelee National Park.

As I stepped onto the trail leading to the reported spot, I encountered two of the archetypal Blue Haired Little Old Ladies, who were returning to their car having just seen The Bird. They were embroiled in an argument of such venom, such ferocity, such deadly serious intent that I almost feared for my own life.

One of them had seen a Lawrence's once before; the other had just experienced her first sighting. The former had entered the sighting on her Life List, while the latter was vehemently opposed to that; against the rules, don'tcha know...and they were going at it like two male Bettas in a bare 3-gallon tank. I knew them both slightly, having met them several times before at The Point, and one of them spotted me and pointed excitedly down the trail. "Three hundred yards down, take the left fork, go to the big downed tree trunk and then check the left side of the trail, up high" I thanked her and scurried away, but she called after me "Will this be a Lifer for you?"

I nodded and confirmed "It sure will..." and kept going, but she called out "Are you going to count it on your List?"

I definitely didn't want to get caught in that argument...and I fully intended to count the bird if I saw it...so I muttered something without turning or slowing. But I was safe; the other BHLOL piped up "Of course, you must count it! Don't listen to this spiteful Harpy..."

I never saw the bird, but I saw the two of them a couple hours later; they were behaving like close, life-long friends...which of course they were.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Today at work. Quothe the raven: "I'm a crow"

 

[krichardson]

.....spotted a Bluejay gathering twigs out in the front yard earlier today,guess it'll be building a nest in one of my surrounding trees.

 

[Bottomfeeder]

Wow, logging onto here is a real blast from the past, and then to find a thread about my current interest… I’ve been bird watching my whole life but started birding pretty seriously in 2019, and have birded much of the eastern US as well as northeastern Minnesota, southeastern Arizona, southern Florida, and western Ireland. Bird migration and the cyclical movements of birds fascinate me. I’ve always been especially interested in raptors but my main focus has been seabirds, especially charadriiformes. Pomarine jaeger for tax - eating a common tern chick!

 

[jjohnwm]

That's one of my favourite things about birding: it adds a new dimension to just about any trip you take, regardless of where it may be. Any vacation trip, to literally anywhere in the world, offers the chance to see something new.

I've never actually gone more than a couple hours' drive away from home for the sole purpose of birding, but any trip, anywhere, involves (for me) some research on what particular species may be found in that locale. The further from home I go, the more possibilities there will be; if I am going somewhere distant and especially "birdy" I make sure that I know the basic field marks of the main "target birds" that I might see, along with behaviour, habitat preference, etc. A fishing trip to British Columbia or a family vacation to the Florida Keys or the Caribbean might offer me the possibility of a half-dozen or more new "lifers" that I will research ahead of time. When I visited Panama with my family, I studied the gigantic field guide for many months before the trip. While travelling I always...always...have a binocular handy, and my bookshelf has a long string of location-specific field guides and bird-finding guides from trips past.

A hunting or fishing trip to some far-off locale typically has a target species of fish or animal...but the list of lifers seen on those trips is always an important secondary "trophy" to add to my enjoyment.

Oh! Big News (to me, at least...)! On Monday, 21May, I added species #144 to my backyard bird list; a trio of Red Crossbills. This was during a 2-day stretch in which we were inundated with huge numbers of migrants...sparrows, finches, early warblers and hummingbirds, orioles and many others. Our sunflower feeders were being refilled several times daily, and we used up almost an entire 1-litre jar of strawberry jam within only a couple days in the oriole feeders. For the Crossbills to show up then was the icing on the birding cake; they are not so much migratory as simply nomadic, going here, there and everywhere with little regard for the season. My area simply doesn't have enough of the conifers they prefer to be very attractive to them, but the maples are budding and seeding and these three were chowing down on maples right next to the house. Not a lifer, but a new Yard Bird is almost as nice.

 

[RD.]

For the Crossbills to show up then was the icing on the birding cake; they are not so much migratory as simply nomadic, going here, there and everywhere with little regard for the season. My area simply doesn't have enough of the conifers they prefer to be very attractive to them, but the maples are budding and seeding and these three were chowing down on maples right next to the house

I had a male Red Crossbill show up at one of our feeders a few yrs back, 1st one that I have seen in person, and have not seen one since. Beautiful bird.

 

[jjohnwm]

I had a male Red Crossbill show up at one of our feeders a few yrs back, 1st one that I have seen in person, and have not seen one since. Beautiful bird.

Yes, they are beautiful, and just about the most unpredictable birds we have. In Ontario, I usually had to travel to Algonquin Park to see them, but one year a single female showed up in our yard in the middle of August (!), and spent an hour or so at a feeder that I had out for Goldfinches. That was the only time, in over a decade, that I saw one in the yard. Weird.

They also nest at any time during the year, laying eggs in even the dead of winter as long as they have discovered a reliable food source (a good crop of cones) that allows them to stay put long enough to raise a brood. Even weirder.

 

[Bottomfeeder]

Yes, they are beautiful, and just about the most unpredictable birds we have. In Ontario, I usually had to travel to Algonquin Park to see them, but one year a single female showed up in our yard in the middle of August (!), and spent an hour or so at a feeder that I had out for Goldfinches. That was the only time, in over a decade, that I saw one in the yard. Weird.

They also nest at any time during the year, laying eggs in even the dead of winter as long as they have discovered a reliable food source (a good crop of cones) that allows them to stay put long enough to raise a brood. Even weirder.

Red crossbills are fascinating. Their reproductive and irruptive biology are incredibly complex. The Finch Research Network headed by Matt Young and company have done some awesome work in documenting occurrences of the various different regional types of red crossbills across the US and Canada - I always recommend taking recordings of the flight calls should you encounter red crossbills and sending them to Matt Young for ID. You never know what will be discovered. Last year, from late summer into fall, red crossbills from the interior west were turning up all over the northeastern US, likely as a result of the catastrophic wildfires in the Canadian boreal forest. Lots of places got their first records for those interior west type RECR during that irruption, and it paints an interesting picture of how these birds deal with severe environmental disturbances.