BIRD PHOTOS OF THE DAY: TRIP TO ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS, HAMILTON, ON

   Sharon and I travelled to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, ON.  Neither of us had been there before.  We mostly did birding, but we also enjoyed the beautiful and spectacular Lillac Garden.  We sighted and photographed the following birds:

• Blue Jay
• Female Northern Cardinal
• Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
• Juvenile Ring-billed Gull
• Trumpeter Swan
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Mute Swan
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Caspian Tern
• Canada Goose

We also saw and photographed Chipmunks.

   Today was our first sighting and photograph of a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.  We added it to our Life List, which now stands at 115, after about 1/2 year of serious birding.

   Today we took several interesting photos:

• A juvenile Ring-billed Gull eating a fish.  It seemed almost too big for him to swallow, but he managed to get it down.
• The Trumpeter Swan had a marker on its wings on both sides.  We reported this auxiliary marker to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory.   The Trumpeter Swan's neck had reddish-brown markings on it.  After some research we determined that these are stains from the tanin and minerals in the water.  The swan feeds on aquatic vegetation, tipping its bottom up to get deep plants and roots.  In doing this, its neck gets continually soaked and stained from the water.

   The Lillac Garden is absolutely beautiful.  There are over 600 varieties of Lillacs in the garden.  The Lillacs come in many different colors: purple, violet, pale violet (lillac), white, etc.  It seems the holy grail of Lillac hybridization is to obtain pure yellow lillacs.  This has not been acheived yet, but some of the white lillacs did have some yellow in them.

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: BLUE JAY

FEMALE NORTHERN CARDINAL

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER

ABOVE 4 PHOTOS: JUVENILE RING- BILLED
GULL EATING A FISH

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS : TRUMPETER SWAN
WITH WING TAGS & STAINED NECK

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

MUTE SWAN

ABOVE 4 PHOTOS: SANDBAR IN COOTES
PARADISE MARSH-DOUBLE- CRESTED
CORMORANTS,  CASPIAN TERNS &
RING-BILLED GULLS

CANADA GOOSE

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: CHIPMUNK

LILAC GARDEN AT ROYAL BOTANICAL

GARDENS ARBORETUM

BIRD PHOTOS OF THE DAY: CANADA GEESE & THEIR GOSLINGS

   This afternoon Sharon and I were in Unionville, ON to help set up a juried art show being put on by Bayview Watercolour Society,  to which we both belong.  We each have three paintings in the show.  After finishing with the show we went to Toogood Park in Unionville to see what birds might be there.  We came across several pairs of Canada Geese with there newly hatched goslings.

   Canada Geese mate for life and pairs remain together throughout the year. Generally the female builds the nest and incubates the eggs, while the male stands guard.  Baby geese or goslings begin communicating with their parents while still in the egg.   Once the goslings hatch, both parents raise them.  They usually stay with the parents for a year after they hatch.

                                    

BIRD PHOTOS OF THE DAY: FEMALE MALLARD & HER CHICKS

   Sharon and I took our dog Kenya for a walk in Richmond Green Park this afternoon

and came across this female Mallard leading her brood of six chicks across the pond. Mallard chicks are precocial, that is they are covered with down when they hatch. Thus, they are ready to leave the nest almost right away.  The chicks are also able to swim immediately.

   Mallard chicks will remain with their mother until they are ready to fly.  This generally occurs within 42 - 50 days from birth.  During this time they do become gradually more independent. 

BIRDING IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY & PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK

   This past weekend Sharon and I went to the birding festivals at Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory (on Saturday) and at Presqu'ile Provincial Park (on Sunday).

We had a great time and sighted and photographed many birds we had not seen before.  Also, at the bird observatory we were able to watch all the different phases of bird banding.  This was really fascinating. 

   Here are the birds in the wild we sighted and photographed:

• Indigo Bunting
• Baltimorr Oriole
• Yellow Warbler
• Killdeer
• Brown-Headed Cowbird
• Cliff Swallow
• Turkey Vulture
• Herring Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Canada Goose
• White-crowned Sparrow
• American Redstart
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Downy Woodpecker
• Common Grackle
• Song Sparrow
• Gray Catbird
• Long-tailed Duck
• Caspian Tern
• Bonaparte's Gull

We also sighted and photographed a beaver swimming. 

   The bird banding process is fascinating.  First the birds must be captured.  The main method used at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory is the "mist net".  A fine nylon net is stretched between poles where birds are likely to fly.  When a bird flies into the net it becomes entangled; it is unharmed but cannot escape.  The bird observatory had qute a few nets strung up.  About every 20 minutes volunteers from the bird obervatory check each net and disentangle the birds caught.  They are brought back to the bird observatory where they are measured, weighed, sex determined, age estimated and banded.  A record is kept of all this.  The bird is then freed.

   The following birds were photographed caught in the net, being banded or after banding:

• Lincoln Sparrow
• Downy Woodpecker
• Magnolia Warbler
• American Redstart
• Great Crested Flycatcher

   Here are the photos we took.

   

MALE INDIGO BUNTING

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: FEMALE
 BALTIMORE ORIOLE

YELLOW WARBLER

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS: KILLDEER
FIRST TWO PHOTOS: IT FLATTENS ITSELF
ON GROUND & SPREADS ITS WINGS SHOWING
OFF IT BEAUTIFUL COLOR; BELIEVED TO BE
A SEXUAL DISPLAY TO ATTRACT A MATE.
3rd PHOTO: KILDEER WALKING AFTER DISPLAY

MALE BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD

CLIFF SWALLOW IN MUD NEST BUILT
IN EAVES OF A BUILDING

TURKEY VULTURES

TURKEY VULTURES & HERRING GULL

RING-BILLED GULL & CANADA GOOSE

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: MALE AMERICAN
REDSTART

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: MALE ROSE-BREASTED
GROSBEAK IN BREEDING PLUMAGE

DOWNY WOODPECKER

COMMON GRACKLE

SONG SPARROW

GRAY CATBIRD

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: LONG-TAILED DUCK
MALE IS HAS LONG TAIL, FEMALE HAS
SHORT TAIL

MOSTLY CASPIAN TERNS; SMALLER BIRD
IN CENTER IS PROBABLY A BONAPARTE'S
GULL; SAME SIZE BIRD TO RIGHT OF IT
CAN'T IDENTIFY

VARIOUS GULLS & TERNS; BLACK BIRD
FLYING IS PROBABLY A DOUBLE - CRESTED
CORMORANT

BEAVER


BIRD BANDING AT PRINCE EDWARD
POINT BIRD OBSERVATORY



MIST NET

LINCOLN SPARROW CAUGHT IN NET 





DOWNY WOODPECKER CAUGHT
IN NET

MAGNOLIA WARBLER CAUGHT IN NET

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS: VOLUNTEERS
REMOVING BIRDS FROM NET

BIRDS ARE BROUGHT TO BIRD
OBSERVATORY FOR BANDING
SHARON IN FRONT OF BUILDING

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS: FEMALE AMERICAN
REDSTART BEING BANDED

ABOVE 3 PHOTOS: MAGNOLIA
WARBLER BEING BANDED

ABOVE 2 PHOTOS: LINCOLN SPARROW
AFTER BANDING

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER
AFTER BANDING

VIEWS AT PRINCE EDWARD POINT

VIEWS AT PRESQUE'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK