Rondeau Ric

Erieau, Ontario, Canada, Oct 27, 2020. Sitting on the dock beside our pontoon boat. Phalacrocorax auritus The double crest of the Double-crested Cormorant is only visible on adults during breeding season. The crests are white in cormorants from Alaska and black in other regions.

One snow goose in a large flock of Canada geese at a Conservation area near our house on Oct 23, 2020. In Eastern Ontario they see them by the thousands. Anser caerulescens Food passes through the Snow Goose’s digestive tract in only an hour or two, generating 6 to 15 droppings per hour. The defecation rate is highest when a goose is grubbing for rhizomes, because such food is very high in fiber and the goose inevitably swallows mud.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Oct 23, 2020. Slowed down long enough for a close up. Sitta canadensis Red-breasted Nuthatches sometimes steal nest-lining material from the nests of other birds, including Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees.

Golden-crowned kinglet, Oct 23, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Trying to get a good photo of a kinglet is like trying to get an image of popcorn popping. They seem to be in constant motion. Regulus satrapa The tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet is hardier than it looks, routinely wintering in areas where nighttime temperatures can fall below –40° Fahrenheit.

Oct 20, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A season dip in the pond. Zonotrichia albicollis White-throated Sparrows typically nest on or near the ground. Occasional nests are built up to 15 feet off the ground in conifers. Usually, these nests are second attempts after a pair has had a ground nest robbed by a predator.

House sparrow, Oct 18, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Maybe this is its halloween costume. Passer domesticus The House Sparrow was introduced into Brooklyn, New York, in 1851. By 1900 it had spread to the Rocky Mountains. Two more introductions in the early 1870s, in San Francisco and Salt Lake City, aided the bird’s spread throughout the West. House Sparrows are now common across all of North America except Alaska and far northern Canada.

House sparrow, Oct 18, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Maybe this is its halloween costume. Passer domesticus The House Sparrow was introduced into Brooklyn, New York, in 1851. By 1900 it had spread to the Rocky Mountains. Two more introductions in the early 1870s, in San Francisco and Salt Lake City, aided the bird’s spread throughout the West. House Sparrows are now common across all of North America except Alaska and far northern Canada.

Oct 9, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Another of the visitors to the pond. There is a number of different sparrow species passing through the yard just now. Zonotrichia leucophrys A migrating White-crowned Sparrow was once tracked moving 300 miles in a single night. Alaskan White-crowned Sparrows migrate about 2,600 miles to winter in Southern California.

Oct 8, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Out on the pontoon boat, fairly good species day but hard to get photos. Both the hawk and us were cruising along the marsh edge. Circus hudsonius Northern Harriers hunt mostly small mammals and small birds, but they are capable of taking bigger prey like rabbits and ducks. They sometimes subdue larger animals by drowning them.

Sept 27, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A pond visitor. I don't think I've seen one where the black extends so far down the sides. We are wondering if it might be a cross breed. It seems to have the dark wide bib and sides of a golden-cheeked but the face is wrong. Any suggestions? Setophaga virens Black-throated Green Warblers are the easternmost representative of a quartet of closely related warblers including Townsend’s, Hermit, and Golden-cheeked.

Wearing the latest fashion - Camo. American coot, Oct 8, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. While out on the pontoon boat we came across this coot, don't know if it was trying to hide from the waterfowl hunters. Fulica americana Although it swims like a duck, the American Coot does not have webbed feet like a duck. Instead, each one of the coot’s long toes has broad lobes of skin that help it kick through the water. The broad lobes fold back each time the bird lifts its foot, so it doesn’t impede walking on dry land, though it supports the bird’s weight on mucky ground.

Oct 6, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. They can be a nuisance when flocks decent on the feeders and empty them and chase off the smaller birds but they are a pretty bird, one at a time. Quiscalus quiscula Those raggedy figures out in cornfields may be called scare- crows , but grackles are the #1 threat to corn. They eat ripening corn as well as corn sprouts, and their habit of foraging in big flocks means they have a multimillion dollar impact.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Oct 4. 2020. This red-breasted nuthatch got knocked off the peanut feeder by a tufted titmouse but it immediately returned to hover at the bottom of the feeder before landing again. After a little dancing the shared the feeder. Sitta canadensis The Red-breasted Nuthatch collects resin globules from coniferous trees and plasters them around the entrance of its nest hole. It may carry the resin in its bill or on pieces of bark that it uses as an applicator. The male puts the resin primarily around the outside of the hole while the female puts it around the inside. The resin may help to keep out predators or competitors. The nuthatch avoids the resin by diving directly through the hole.

Sept 28, 2020, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A pond visitor, probably the darkest face and throat I've seen. Setophaga caerulescens During migration, they forage in all types of woodlands, parks, and gardens, still keeping to lower levels compared to some warblers. Unlike other warblers that molt into "confusing fall plumage," male Black-throated Blue Warblers keep their distinctive black-and-blue plumage year-round. The distinctive white square on the wing also helps ID females.