Rondeau Ric

 Seven of the 13+ waxwings that descended on, and took over, our little water feature this evening. This lasted about 2 minutes and then they were gone. We have has 2-3 at a time before but nothing like this. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 29, 2025 Bombycilla cedrorum The Cedar Waxwing is one of the few North American birds that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit alone for several months. Brown-headed Cowbirds that are raised in Cedar Waxwing nests typically don’t survive, in part because the cowbird chicks can’t develop on such a high-fruit diet. The collective nouns for a flock of Cedar Waxwings are " ear-full " and "museum."

A really odd looking mourning dove came to the water in the yard, had a drink, sat for a minute then flew away. It didn't seem to be in distress. Anyone have an idea why it looked like this - rain all day, all birds were wet but this seemed odd. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 28, 2025.  Are you old enough to get the reference? Zenaida macroura Mourning Doves eat roughly 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per day, or 71 calories on average.

This migrating vireo that breeds in the boreal forest has stayed around long enough for me to suspect it will remain here for the summer. In our yard at Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 26, 2025 Vireo philadelphicus Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos sing very similar songs, with Red-eyed's usually sounding simpler and faster. As if to make matters more confusing, where these two species overlap on the nesting grounds, the Philadelphia Vireo may sing perfect imitations of Red-eyed song. These imitations, scientists speculate, might help the smaller Philadelphia to avoid aggression by the larger, heavier Red-eyed Vireo.

 Probably the darkest cap that I've seen on a Wilson's. Our yard, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 26, 2025. Cardellina pusilla Wilson’s Warblers dance around willow and alder thickets, often near water, to the rapid beat of their chattering song. This bright yellow warbler with a black cap is one of the smallest warblers in the U.S. and among the most recognizable. They rarely slow down, dashing between shrubs, grabbing insects from one leaf after another, and popping up on low perches to sing.

  This beautiful warbler visited our pond today.  Nine species of warbler and a total of 50 species for the yard today . Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 23, 2025. 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.

 The weather has been poor in our yard reducing the number of warblers, so it was a pleasure to see this bay-breasted warbler. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 18, 2025. Setophaga castanea Bay-breasted Warblers are voracious predators of spruce budworms. One study concluded that they consumed over 13,000 budworms per hectare (about 2.5 acres) in just 41 days.

  A pleasant surprise when this female pileated woodpecker visited the yard on May 19, 2025. We often hear and occasionally see a pileated but they are very rare in our yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Dryocopus pileatus The Pileated Woodpecker digs characteristically rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These excavations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 17, 2025. An unusual visitor to our yard. We hear them frequently but rarely see one particularly in the open. Coccyzus americanus Yellow-Billed Cuckoos don’t lay their eggs all at once: the period between one egg to the next can stretch to as long as five days. This “asynchronous” egg laying means the oldest chick can be close to leaving the nest when the youngest is just hatching. When food is in short supply the male may remove the youngest bird from the nest, though unlike their relative the Greater Roadrunner, they don’t feed them to the older siblings.

  Definitely a surprise to have a hummingbird come down to the water, do a dip bah and have a drink. I've seen them hovering around the water getting a bit of water from the spray but not going in. Fun to watch. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 14, 2025. Archilochus colubris The Ruby-throated Hummingbird beats its wings about 53 times a second.

  We see these birds every day, through out the day. Occasionally they will go to the water. Rondeau Provincial Park, May, 11, 2025. Melanerpes carolinus You may occasionally see a Red-bellied Woodpecker flying quickly and erratically through the forest, abruptly changing direction, alighting for an instant and immediately taking off again, keeping up a quick chatter of calls. Scientists categorize this odd behavior as a type of play that probably helps young birds practice the evasive action they may one day need.

  A nice spring visitor to the yard and pond. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 5, 2025. Melospiza lincolnii Sometimes, singing a beautiful song might not be enough to win over a female. In a laboratory study, female Lincoln's Sparrows were more attracted to males that sang during colder mornings more than those singing during warmer mornings. This may be because males singing in the cold showed off more than just their song; singing in the cold requires more energy and could mean that males singing in the cold would make better mates.

 Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 5, 2025. A regular visitor to the yard and an occasional bather. Icterus spurius Orchard Orioles don’t visit seed feeders, but they may drink nectar from hummingbird feeders or visit slices of oranges or offerings of fruit jelly (although provide small amounts at a time so it doesn’t get too messy). They are also insectivores, so a shrubby backyard may provide enough insects and spiders to attract them. During fall migration they are attracted to fruits such as mulberries and chokecherries.

 Recently we were invited to visit Manitoulin Island to see a sharp tailed grouse lek. What a great time. We saw the birds up close from a blind and saw about 40 birds. Tympanuchus phasianellus Scientists place Sharp-tailed Grouse in genus  Tympanuchus , the prairie-chickens. The word means “drum nape” and refers to the purple air sacs (extensions of the esophagus) that displaying males inflate at the side of the neck. These sacs are not simply adornments. They amplify the male’s cooing courtship call and may help to show off his overall health.