Small Things

May was a good month for local birding, and I saw a couple of new birds for me. Warblers are tiny, fast movers who love tree tops. This makes them more difficult to find after the trees leaf out in the spring. While finding a new bird is exciting, I love relocating the regular migrants I expect to find year after year. Here are some of my highlights, plus one lowlight!

Yellow Rumped Warbler- a common yearly visitor

Yellow Warbler- another common migrant

Red-breasted Nuthatch- common year-round

Black-throated Green Warbler- A life bird for me

Palm Warbler- on its way north

Another shot of the Blackburnian Warbler- my second sighting ever

Cape May Warbler- another life bird for me

House Wren- common, tiny and very, very loud!

Brown Dog Tick- possible vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

The variety of Warblers is extravagant, and I have only seen a few of the many species that pass through Ontario twice a year. Sadly, many die during migration in high-rise building window strikes. Our local paper featured pictures of several warbler species found dead this year in our relatively low downtown skyline. 

I was surprised by the Red-breasted Nuthatch's friendliness. I was sitting on a rock by a woodland trail, the bird landed on my bike helmet and then on my camera lens. It must be used to humans who have put seeds on the rocks in the past. All these birds were found within three kilometres of our home.

The brown tick was crawling down my light-coloured sleeve after I got home from birding by bike. With climate change, ticks are becoming more prevalent in Southern Ontario. I cover my arms, legs and neck when I am in natural areas. I might have missed the tick if my sun jacket had been a dark colour. Our dog takes a monthly tick repellent, and finding this tick reminded me to keep insect repellent in my bag in warm seasons. The likelihood of this tick being a carrier of disease is small, but there is no way to tell which tick would make you sick. I showed the tick to our grandchildren before I killed it, but my grandson wanted to keep it alive with the other spring bugs he was collecting. His wish was not granted.

The trees are now in full leaf, and the bird migration has slowed. Local birds are busy with nesting activities. An ideal year in my imagination would have two months of May and two Octobers.