Rondeau Ric

  Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, April 24, 2025. In our yard at water feature. Such a bland little bird. Spizella pusilla Field Sparrows often breed more than once a season. They build a new nest each time, building them higher and higher off the ground as the season progresses. Early spring nests are often on the ground, where they’re less visible. As leaves and groundcover grow the birds build their nests in bushes and trees, where they’re safer from snakes and other predators.

 This black-capped chickadee had enthusiastic bath in our little eater feature. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, April 2025. Poecile atricapillus Even when temperatures are far below zero, chickadees virtually always sleep in their own individual cavities. In rotten wood, they can excavate nesting and roosting holes entirely on their own.

 In the hedge behind the water feature, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, April 18, 2025. Doing what it does best, thrashing through the leaves looking for things to eat. T oxostoma rufum It can be tricky to glimpse a Brown Thrasher in a tangled mass of shrubbery, and once you do you may wonder how such a boldly patterned, gangly bird could stay so hidden. Brown Thrashers wear a somewhat severe expression thanks to their heavy, slightly downcurved bill and staring yellow eyes, and they are the only thrasher species east of Texas. Brown Thrashers are exuberant singers, with one of the largest repertoires of any North American songbird.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, April 13, 2025. A common winter visitor to the yard and water feature. Junco hyemalis   The oldest recorded Dark-eyed Junco was at least 11 years, 4 months old.  

 Great horned owl chicks in the bottom of a cracked limb .  Heavily cropped, telephoto lens to avoid disturbing the birds. We didn't see an adult in the immediate area, Bubo virginianus When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.

House finches.  April 8, 2025, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. In the hedge in the yard a pair of house finches displaying courting behaviour with the male giving seeds to the female. Haemorhous mexicanus The red of a male House Finch comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can’t make bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or yellowish male House Finches. Females prefer to mate with the reddest male they can find, perhaps raising the chances they get a capable mate who can do his part in feeding the nestlings. House Finches feed their nestlings exclusively plant foods, a fairly rare occurrence in the bird world. Many birds that are vegetarians as adults still find animal foods to keep their fast-growing young supplied with protein.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds, hopefully coming in 2-3 weeks. We have a feeder ready although we had rain/snow then sunshine today.  A few years ago we had up to 19 hummingbirds in the yard. this one has 5 co-operating. July 12, 2019, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Archilochus colubris Ruby-throated Hummingbirds normally place their nest on a branch of a deciduous or coniferous tree; however, these birds are accustomed to human habitation and have been known to nest on loops of chain, wire, and extension cords.

 A new life bird, seen at Erieau, Ontario, Canada, April 5, 2025. Aythya fuligula Tufted Ducks are voracious in winter, eating up to three times their body weight in mussels in a single day, according to a study in the Netherlands. Tufted Duck is a rare but regular visitor to North America, with records from 30 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces. These vagrants are usually single birds that associate with flocks of scaup or Ring-necked Ducks.

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  One of our granddaughters received a bubble making machine a few years back. It was an immediate hit.

 Needed a pop of colour on a grey rainy day. High winds, heavy rain, cold and  miserable. Welcome to spring in Canada. Kirtland's are uncommon in our area and are a treat to see. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 13, 2017. Setophaga kirtlandii Though the Kirtland’s Warbler was described in 1853, the first nest of the species was not discovered until 1903—perhaps because of the species’ restricted range and dense habitat.