Rondeau Ric

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 29, 2020. Molothrus ater Females forgo building nests and instead put all their energy into producing eggs, sometimes more than three dozen a summer. These they lay in the nests of other birds, abandoning their young to foster parents, usually at the expense of at least some of the host’s own chicks. Once confined to the open grasslands of middle North America, cowbirds have surged in numbers and range as humans built towns and cleared woods. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/

Rondeau Provincial Park, May 31, 2012, Rondeau Provincial Park. Toxostoma rufum Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Thrasher/

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 26, 2020. Taken while out on the pontoon boat on Rondeau Bay. Larus marinus This is the largest gull in the world. The Great Black-backed Gull is one of many bird species whose feathers were used for fashionable clothing in the 1800s. After the demise of the feather trade in the early 1900s, Great Black-backed Gull populations increased and spread farther south. Garbage dumps and other sources of human refuse have contributed to their range expansion. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Black-backed_Gull

Hairy woodpecker, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 24, 2020. Just a close up showing the size of the bill compared to its head. Dryobates villosus Hairy Woodpeckers sometimes follow Pileated Woodpeckers, and sometimes appears when it hears the heavy sounds of a pileated excavating. As the pileated moves on, the Hairy Woodpecker investigates the deep holes, taking insects the pileated missed.

First time I captured a Hairy and downy woodpecker side by side. You can see the difference in the body and bill size.

Commonly called a lightning bug in the yard, June 21, 2020. About 1/4 of an inch long. 7.5mm. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.

Carolina wren, June 19, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. We have at least one pair nesting beside the cottage and they come to the suet feeder regularly. I didn't realize just how big their feet are compared to the body. Thryothorus ludovicianus A pair bond may form between a male and a female at any time of the year, and the pair will stay together for life. Members of a pair stay together on their territory year-round, and forage and move around the territory together. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Wren

Hyalophora cecropia, the cecropia  moth , is North America's largest native  moth . It is a member of the family Saturniidae, or giant silk  moths .Females have been documented with a wingspan of five to seven inches (160 mm) or more. These  moths  can be found all across North America as far west as Washington and north into the majority of Canadian provinces. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario. Canada, June 18, 2020.

Baltimore oriole in the water feature, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 16, 2020. Icterus galbula The orioles of the Americas were named after similar-looking birds in the Old World, but the two groups are not closely related. Orioles of the Old World are in the family Oriolidae, whereas American orioles are in the same family as blackbirds and meadowlarks. Both New and Old World orioles are brightly colored with red, yellow, and black; have long tails and long pointed bills; build hanging, woven nests; and prefer tall trees around open areas. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole/

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 18, 2020. Always fun to find one of these. Vermivora cyanoptera The oldest recorded Blue-winged Warbler was a male, and at least 9 years old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New Jersey.

Eastern chipmunk at one of the bird baths in the yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 14, 2020.

Downy Woodpecker, June 13, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Lucky timing on this shot, of course if you take enough images you will get a few like this. Dryobates pubescens Downy Woodpeckers have been discovered nesting inside the walls of buildings. Does anyone know how to change the size of the photo in the new Blogger?

I LOATH, DETEST, HATE, THIS NEW FACEBOOK FORMAT. UGH! Blue jay, June 11, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Came in to the suet log for a breakfast snack. Cyanocitta cristata Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but we don’t know how common this is. In an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of jays had evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue_Jay

Nashville warbler, May 16, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Another of the colourful warblers that pass through on migration. Leiothlypis ruficapilla Most first-year Nashville Warblers migrate south along the Atlantic coast, whereas adults tend to migrate along inland routes. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nashville_Warbler

May 16, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Often heard, harder to see as they like to be high in the trees. Myiarchus crinitus Great Crested Flycatchers weave shed snakeskin into their nest. Where it's readily available, as in Florida, nearly every nest contains snakeskin. They also seem to look for flimsy, crinkly nest materials—they’ve also used onion skins, cellophane, or plastic wrappers. source -https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Crested_Flycatcher

Pine warbler, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, One 8, 2020. Came in for a bath but checked out the action first. Setophaga pinus Most warblers leave the continental U.S. for winter, but the Pine Warbler stays in the Southeast and is one of the first to return northward in spring. It arrives as early as February in areas just north of the wintering range and may begin breeding by late April. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Warbler/

June 7, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A fast moving visitor in the yard. Baeolophus bicolor Tufted Titmice hoard food in fall and winter, a behavior they share with many of their relatives, including the chickadees and tits. Titmice take advantage of a bird feeder’s bounty by storing many of the seeds they get. Usually, the storage sites are within 130 feet of the feeder. The birds take only one seed per trip and usually shell the seeds before hiding them. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/

Red-headed woodpecker in the yard June 5, 2020. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Melanerpes erythrocephalus The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of only four North American woodpeckers known to store food, and it is the only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark. It hides insects and seeds in cracks in wood, under bark, in fenceposts, and under roof shingles. Grasshoppers are regularly stored alive, but wedged into crevices so tightly that they cannot esca pe. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-headed_Woodpecker

Brown thrasher in the yard, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 26, 2020. Toxostoma rufum Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Thrasher/

June 3, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A number of birds were using the water feature in the yard today. Icterus galbula Young male Baltimore Orioles do not molt into bright-orange adult plumage until the fall of their second year. Still, a few first-year males in drab, female-like plumage succeed in attracting a mate and raising young. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole/

I think this is a spiny baskettail, but it could also be, beaver pond baskettaill or common baskettail. I could use some ID help. Whatever it is I like the colour and pattern. Seen in Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 1, 2020. Epitheca spinigera