Rondeau Ric

First summer, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 27, 2021. We didn't know what we had until we got home and asked someone who is a much better birder to identify the bird. Thanks Steve and Josh. Hydrocoloeus minutus The smallest gull in the world, the Little Gull is common across Eurasia. A few pairs have been nesting in North America since the 1960s, and the species is now a rare, but regular, visitor to the East Coast and the Great Lakes. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 19, 2021. Visiting the water feature. For those of you who are old enough it reminds of Howard Cosell with his bad toupee. Cardellina pusilla The majority of Wilson’s Warblers nest on the ground, except for populations in coastal California and Oregon where they nest up to 5 feet off the ground. These birds also tend to lay fewer eggs per nest compared to their ground-nesting relatives. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 18, 2021. A yard visitor, stayed above the water and came for a drink but didn't bathe. Vireo gilvus Brown-headed Cowbirds frequently deposit their own eggs in the nests of Warbling Vireos. In some instances, the vireo pair incubates the alien egg and raises the young cowbird until it fledges. Female vireos in some eastern populations, however, tend to puncture and eject interlopers’ eggs. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 27, 2021. Seen from the pontoon boat along the south beach. Actitis macularius The female Spotted Sandpiper is the one who establishes and defends the territory. She arrives at the breeding grounds earlier than the male. In other species of migratory birds, where the male establishes the territory, he arrives earlier. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 27, 2021. We saw a flock of 28 on the south beach of the park from the pontoon boat. Numenius phaeopus Hope was the name given to a female Whimbrel captured on the coast of Virginia in 2009 and fitted with a satellite transmitter. Over the next three years, researchers tracked Hope for more than 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) traveling back and forth between her breeding area on the Mackenzie River in western Canada and her wintering site, at Great Pond on St. Croix, British Virgin Islands. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

May 22, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Waiting for her turn at the pond. Agelaius phoeniceus Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 22, 2021. A pond visitor. It doesn't bath like most birds but does a splash n' dash. It flies down to the water and glances off the surface then goes and preens. It may do this multiple times. Empidonax flaviventris Yellow-bellied Flycatchers don't stick around on the breeding grounds for long. They have one of the shortest stays of any Neotropical migrant, often less than 70 days. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 21, 2021. Don't get to see many of these little skulkers. Fortunately they do come to our little stream in the yard once in a while. Geothlypis philadelphia Both male and female Mourning Warblers may pretend to have broken wings to distract predators close to their nest.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 20, 2021. A visitor to the little water feature in the yard. Cardellina canadensis Canada Warblers fly more than 3,000 miles from their wintering grounds in South America to their breeding grounds in the United States and Canada.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 22, 2021. A rare visitor to our area and a bonus at our water feature. Piranga rubra The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches these insects in flight and kills them by beating them against a branch. Before eating a bee, the tanager rubs it on the branch to remove the stinger. Summer Tanagers eat larvae, too: first they get rid of the adults, and then they tear open the nest to get the grubs. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

(How dry is it?) It's been so dry I had to make mud so the swallows could build there nests. I thought I was done making mud pies. Barn swallow, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 21, 2021. Hirundo rustica The Barn Swallow is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world. It breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere and winters in much of the Southern Hemisphere.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 20, 2021. While out on the pontoon boat we saw about 20 whimbrel along with black bellied plovers, ruddy turnstones, dunlin, least sandpipers, semi palmated plovers ab clack tern and a Caspian tern. A good day. Numenius phaeopus Numenius, the genus assigned to Whimbrel, means “new moon” in Greek, a reference to the bird’s bill shape, which resembles a crescent moon.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 19, 2021. Visited the pond then, unfortunately, hit a window. Sat still and then begin foraging before flying off. Leiothlypis peregrina The Tennessee Warbler is a common nectar "thief" on its wintering grounds in tropical forests. Most nectar-eating birds, bats, and insects probe a flower from the front to get the nectar, spreading pollen on their faces in the process. But Tennessee warblers pierce the flower tube at the base, lapping up the nectar without helping pollinate the flower. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 18, 2021. At one point I had a breeding pair, doesn't take long. Protonotaria citrea For Prothonotary Warblers it pays to be bright. Males that are brighter yellow gain access to better nest sites than less colorful males, according to a study conducted in Louisiana.

May 15, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A late afternoon visitor to the water feature. Geothlypis trichas Adult Common Yellowthroats sometimes fall prey to carnivorous birds such as Merlins and Loggerhead Shrikes. Occasionally they have more unexpected predators: one migrating yellowthroat was eaten by a Chuck-will's-widow, while another was found in the stomach of a largemouth bass. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

May 16, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Two days in a row we've seen a Kirtland's in the park, a real treat. This one was far away and high in a tree. Setophaga kirtlandii The Kirtland's Warbler requires areas with small jack pines for nesting. The jack pine requires fire to open its cones and spread its seeds. The warbler first appears in an area about six years after a fire when the new growth is dense and is about 1.5 to 2.0 meters (5.0-6.5 feet) high. After about 15 years, when the trees are 3.0 to 5.0 meters (10.0 to 16.5 feet) high, the warbler leaves the area. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 15, 2021. Don't get many indigos in the yard, this one stopped for a drink and bath.. Passerina cyanea Like all other blue birds, Indigo Buntings lack blue pigment. Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in the feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue.

May 13, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. A skulker along the water’s edge in bogs and still water, where they hunt aquatic insects and small salamanders, all the while bobbing the rear of the body. Parkesia noveboracensis The oldest recorded Northern Waterthrush was at least 8 years, 11 months old .

Southwestern Ontario, Canada, May 10, 2021. Play fighting, moments later the adult came back. Vulpes vulpes Young male foxes (dog fox) have been found to travel 250 km to their new territory after leaving their parents.

Southwestern Ontario, May 6, 2021. Starting to move around as it moults out its "baby" feathers. Bubo virginianus Great Horned Owls are covered in extremely soft feathers that insulate them against the cold winter weather and help them fly very quietly in pursuit of prey. Their short, wide wings allow them to maneuver among the trees of the forest. The oldest Great Horned Owl on record was at least 28 years old when it was found in Ohio in 2005. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

May 6, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Gathering nesting material. Vireo griseus The White-eyed Vireo bathes by rubbing its body against dewy foliage in the morning.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 4, 2021. Setophaga caerulescens Male and female Black-throated Blue Warblers look so different that they were originally described as two different species.

May 2, 2021, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Some spring migration colour. Icterus galbula Unlike robins and many other fruit-eating birds, Baltimore Orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit. Orioles seek out the darkest mulberries, the reddest cherries, and the deepest-purple grapes, and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, April 30, 2021. Vireo flavifrons In many North American songbirds, only females incubate and brood, but not vireos. Male Yellow-throated Vireos also incubate eggs and brood young, taking turns with the female throughout the day.