Real Birding is More than a Photo

The bottom of a male American Redstart

Spring "sprung" with amazing speed this year. Lilacs are in bloom at least three weeks early and the leaves on the trees opened and grew rapidly. Birding in the spring is often easier when leaves are just emerging, as small, active migrating birds like warblers and vireos are difficult to see in treetops when the leaves are large. "Warbler neck" is a real thing!  A nearby park had an unusually high number of migrating birds this year and many photographers set up their expensive gear to get photos. Photography is a great way to get to know bird species. My interest in nature and birding took off when I got my first digital camera. I studied my pictures and identified the flora and fauna in each shot. Some people just want the best picture and don't care to discover a bird's identification or habits. In my opinion, they are photographers, not birders but many of them are friendly and willing to learn more about nature.

I have resisted getting a better camera with a long lens as I want to travel lightly on trails. My binoculars and point-and-shoot camera are all the gear I need. I have a favourite "sit-spot" log in the bush at this park where I listen and observe. Sometimes I get a good picture but most of my shots are for documentation and identification. Every picture in this post is blurry or the bird is just partially seen. Some birds, like a Hermit Thrush that peeked through the leaf litter near me three times, resist having their photo taken. "Hermit" is a perfect moniker for this species. 

Black and White Warbler

This Black and White Warbler moved quickly down the tree trunk. It acts like a Nuthatch, often descending a tree rather than climbing it. Watching the flight and movement patterns of a bird and listening to its calls helps greatly in making an accurate identification. 

I didn't know what this bird was in the thicket. Looking at the blurry picture later, I realized it was a Blue-headed Vireo, a new species for my list. 

The bottom of a Chestnut-sided Warbler

Modern life has dulled our awareness of the natural world's rhythms, sounds and seasons. I am not a person who would walk outdoors listening to music or a podcast through my Bluetooth earbuds. (I fear I will eventually run over one of these people as they do not hear the warning bell on my bike!) 

I need to figure out where north, south, east and west are, observe the wind speed and direction, listen carefully to my surroundings and enjoy my location whether or not I see a new bird or get a great picture.  I have learned that there is always something unexpected to be seen.

And I did see something unexpected on this day. A Red-bellied Woodpecker was working on its nest in an old tree.  It was trying to carry a plastic juice cup in its beak up the tree. The cup had a broken bottom and the bird was able to release it when it realized this piece of furniture would not fit in its nesting hole. 

This was my most interesting observation of the day, leaving me contemplating how humans have altered the environment we share with many other creatures. I see how adaptable and resilient some species are, knowing others will not survive the rapid changes of our modern world.

Spring birds Past and Present

80 years ago this month

                                         

Grandma D. put this card in a scrapbook, a memory of a picnic birthday party on May 12, 1944. She celebrated her 48th birthday that year. Birthday picnics at the farm on 5th Concession Whitchurch, later the 5th Concession Stouffville, were yearly events. By 1956, when my cousin Sandra was born, we celebrated four family birthdays between May 5th and May 10th. Mom was 12 on May 5th, 1944 and undoubtedly attended this picnic where bird watching was on the agenda for the day. I don't know if it was a group activity or an individual contest. I can see them now with their binoculars and slip-on gum rubber boots walking through the bush, around the quicksand, across the apple orchard, and up to the pines and meadows at the farm. The picnic would be at the log cabin by the barn.

Grandma counted the following species:

1. Song Sparrow*
2. White-throated Sparrow*
3. Vesper Sparrow
4. Chickadee*
5. Wood Thrush
6. Veery
7. Partridge
8. American Redstart
9. Canada Warbler 
10. Northern Parula*
11. Magnolia Warbler
12. Black and white Warbler*
13. Chestnut-sided Warbler*
14. Bay-breasted Warbler
15. Marsh hawk
16. Mourning Dove*
17. Great-crested Flycatcher
18. Blackburnian Warbler
19. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
20. Water Thrush
21. Oven Bird

* on my May 1, 2024 list

I am impressed with the list and know it would be difficult to replicate in the same location today. Since 1970, there has been an estimated loss of 2.9 billion adult birds in all North American biomes including forests and grasslands. Loss of habitat in breeding and migration routes, skyscraper window strikes, pesticides, and climate change are just some of the hazards migrating birds face today. In the past fifteen years, I have noticed decreasing bird numbers. 

There was a "warbler drop" in a nearby park this week after overnight inclement weather landed several species of migrating birds. On my way home from work on the afternoon on May 1, 2024, I got off my bike and saw more warblers in one spot than I had seen in a long time. 

Northern Parula*

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle Warbler)

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Yellow Warbler (breeds locally)

Black and White Warbler *   (breeds locally)

Warbling Vireo- A small, rather plain songbird with a big, beautiful voice

I also saw a Wilson's Warbler and a Chestnut-sided Warbler but did not get photos. Other species counted included Northern Flicker, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Mallard Duck, Canada Goose, Baltimore Oriole, Common Grackle, Grey Catbird, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee.

I counted twenty-eight native bird species in less than two hours. I went back the next morning but many Warblers had moved on overnight as it was clear with a steady south wind to assist their flight north. Grandma did not benefit from improved binoculars, a super-zoom camera and a phone app that identifies birds by sound and picture. Her count in 1944 would have been higher with the technology available today. True birders do not need cameras and apps. It is enough to be outdoors, observing, documenting, and gaining an understanding of the natural world around us.

Painted Turtles- More to see at the park than birds

May Backyard Sparrows

White-crowned Sparrow by the Pulmonaria plant I took from Grandma D's garden in the 1980s

 Migrant birds have travelled north earlier and faster than usual this year. This week I had the pleasure of watching White-throated Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows in our backyard. They rarely arrive together as the White-crowned Sparrows usually appear about two weeks after the White-throated Sparrows. I will clean up the flower beds once they are gone as they love to forage on the ground and eat seeds from last year's flowers. 

White-throated Sparrow by a Flowering Almond shrub. It has yellow lores on its face.

White-throated Sparrows have a beautiful song and share their music during the few weeks they are here each spring and fall. They will continue to move north for the breeding season. 

Chipping Sparrow

Another recent arrival is the Chipping Sparrow. It breeds here and we enjoy the chipping trill all summer. They have a distinctive chestnut cap and are relatively smaller than many sparrows.

Male House Sparrow with nesting material

The House Sparrow is a non-native bird that stays around all year. It came from Europe and has adapted well to urban environments in North America. A pair nest in a cavity in the street light in front of our house and they like to visit the bird bath and feeder. Most people try to ignore their harsh chatter and messy ways but they are resilient and ever-present in parking lots and shopping areas.

Dark-eyed Junco

The Dark-eyed Junco is a sparrow that overwinters in southern Ontario. Most have headed back north but one was still in the garden this week. Their call is similar to the Chipping Sparrow to my ear and they are more vocal in the spring than in the winter. American Tree Sparrows also spend winters here but I haven't seen one since mid-April. Fox Sparrows move through to northern nesting grounds and sometimes stop in our yard for a day or two.

Several other sparrows are found in meadows and woodlands rather than suburban backyards. I will see Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows and more in parks and rural areas throughout the summer. "Little brown birds", like most people, are not flashy but are diverse and interesting when you get to know them.