Rondeau Ric

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 26, 2021. Not as impressive as the spring plumage, but still recognizable. Setophaga virens Black-throated Green Warblers are often thought of as birds of mountain forests, but a disjunct population nests in cypress swamps along the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas. Called “Wayne’s” Black-throated Green Warbler, this subspecies averages smaller than other populations. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 27, 2021. Expressing its displeasure with another intruder. Vireo olivaceus The Red-eyed Vireo's magnetic compass guides migration between continents. But fat stores seem to influence migration paths when the birds encounter the Gulf of Mexico. Fatter birds head across the Gulf, while leaner birds hug the coastline or travel inland around the Gulf. Cloud cover also makes routes near land more likely. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Toe hold. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada,Aug 26, 2021. This Nashville was just hanging around the yard snagging insects. Unusal pose. Leiothlypis ruficapilla Nashville Warblers have been known to use porcupine quills as nest material.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 23, 2021. We are having a good fall migration of warblers this year. This is another one that came to the water feature in the yard. 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.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 23, 2021. Fall migration is picking up. We had 7 species of warbler, including this chestnut-sided warbler in the yard on Monday. Setophaga pensylvanica On the wintering grounds in Central America the Chestnut-sided Warbler joins in mixed-species foraging flocks with the resident antwrens and tropical warblers. Individual warblers return to the same areas year after year, joining back up with the same foraging flock it associated with the year before. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 25, 2021. Worked the hedge for food but didn't come down to the water. Vermivora cyanoptera Blue-winged Warblers have expanded northward as landscapes changed to shrubbier habitats. This northward expansion increased contact and hybridization with Golden-winged Warblers. This hybridization and competition contributes to Golden-winged population declines. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 22, 2021. Another fall migrant that stopped in the yard long enough to be photographed. An entirely different look from the spring plumage. Setophaga castanea In contrast to the more stable populations of other warblers, Bay-breasted Warbler numbers go up and down depending on outbreaks of the spruce budworm. The birds are abundant during infestations, but decline or even disappear from some areas a few years later. A similar relationship with spruce budworm exists for Tennessee and Cape May Warblers. Blackburnian and Blackpoll Warblers also readily consume budworms but are not as specialized in their diets. source- Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 22, 2021. The fall warbler migratiion is under way with a number of species stopping in the yard. We also had Cape May, Bay breasted and yellow warblers. The hedge is full of insects and the water seems to be appreciated during this heat. Setophaga fusca Tiny Blackburnian Warblers are strong fliers that travel between North and South America twice each year, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that they’re occasionally found very far off course. At times, “vagrants” have been recorded in Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, and the Azores off western Africa.

Seen in Scotland, 2007. Not sure if the machine is free or the money. Hope it is the money.

Hummingbirds don't play well with others.  We have at least 12 ruby-throated hummingbirds in the front yard and 4 nectar feeders. Sharing seems to be a foreign concept as evidenced by this hummer standing gaurd over one of the feeders. it will dive bomb any intruders. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 18, 2021. Archilochus colubris The oldest known Ruby-throated Hummingbird was a female, and at least 9 years, 1 month old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in West Virginia. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Erieau, Ontario, Canada, Aug 17, 2021. Seen for the pontoon boat. Sterna hirundo Just like adding sandbags to prevent your home from flooding, Common Terns quickly add vegetation, bones, shell fragments, and anything else they can collect to raise their nest if it is threatened by high water. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 14, 2021. Just the one cedar waxwing visiting the pond these days, not sure were the others have gone. Bombycilla cedrorum Because they eat so much fruit, Cedar Waxwings occasionally become intoxicated or even die when they run across overripe berries that have started to ferment and produce alcohol. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

We came across a 100 acres of sunflowers, such a mass of colour. Sunflower crop is an extraordinary oil seed crop, which was grown firstly in India. It is grown as unbaked plant crop to meet the market demand for vegetable oil, all over the globe. This crop was firstly introduced in the form of a peg harvest in 1969. Southwestern Ontario, August 14, 2021.

This is about half of the ruby-throated hummingbirds in the front yard today. We counted 16 at one time and we know there were others. They gather each August around the flowers and feeders. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 11 2021. Archilochus colubris Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t stick around long. Pairs are together long enough for courtship and mating – just a matter of days to weeks. Then he’s off on his own, and may begin migration by early August.

Great Blue Heron, Clearville, Ontario, Canada, Aug 7, 2021. Went looking for a rare bird, missed it but got a nice low level fly by of a great blue. Ardea herodias Along the Pacific coast, it’s not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron poised atop a floating bed of kelp waiting for a meal to swim by.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 6, 2021. Taken just a few hours before all the chicks left the nest. if you look closely you will see another chick on the far left peeking out through the bent in the eve. Troglodytes aedon House Wrens nest inside tree holes and nest boxes. As the season progresses their nests can become infested with mites and other parasites that feed on the wren nestlings. Perhaps to fight this problem, wrens often add spider egg sacs into the materials they build their nests from. In lab studies, once the spiders hatched, they helped the wrens by devouring the nest parasites. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 26, 2021. In the yard at the little water feature. They have a nest near our bedroom window and the chattering of the young starts at 5.00 a.m. each morning. Troglodytes aedon A House Wren weighs about as much as two quarters, but it’s a fierce competitor for nest holes. Wrens will harass and peck at much larger birds, sometimes dragging eggs and young out of a nest site they want – even occasionally killing adult birds. In some areas they are the main source of nest failure for bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Prothonotary Warblers, and chickadees. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Ruby throated hummingbird, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 2, 2021. Archilochus colubris The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping. The best it can do is shuffle along a perch. Nevertheless, it scratches its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Eastern Towhee having an enthusiatic bath at our little water feature. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 1, 2021. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhees tend to be pretty solitary, and they use a number of threat displays to tell other towhees they’re not welcome. You may see contentious males lift, spread, or droop one or both wings, fan their tails, or flick their tails to show off the white spots at the corners. Studies have shown that male towhees tend to defend territories many times larger than needed simply to provide food. Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

Found this unusual, for us, dragonfly in the front garden. It was perched and sat for several minutes. It had been cool overnight. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 31, 2021. Tramea lacerata The black skimmer saddlebags is a species of skimmer dragonfly found throughout North America. It has distinctive wings with characteristic black blotches at their proximal ends, which make the dragonfly look as though it is wearing saddlebags. The black saddlebags is a relatively large dragonfly at about 5 centimeters in length. The body is thin and black, and the female may have lighter spotting or mottling dorsally. The head is much wider than the rest of the body and is dark brown in color. The insect can be found at bodies of stagnant water, such as ponds and ditches. Wikipedia.