Rondeau Ric

 Stuck in the middle with you. A mixed bag of birds in the water feature. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 27, 2925.

The house sparrow is another bird with the hard ridge in its mouth to assist in cracking seeds. The white object is its tongue. Lots of birds coming in for water these days. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. July 27, 2025  Finches, sparrows, cardinals, grosbeaks and others have muscular, conical bills. The.upper jaw's hard palate (roof of the mouth) is heavily keratinized—with ridges or bumps—that works like a cracking surface against the lower jaw to shell seeds efficiently Many granivores possess specialized  tomial structures—the cutting edges of the mandibles—with ridges or serrations that slice through seed hulls. Passer domesticus House Sparrows in flocks have a pecking order much the way chickens in a farmyard do. You can begin to decipher the standings by paying attention to the black throats of the males. Males with larger patches of black tend to be older and dominant over males with less black. By wearing this information on their feathers, sparrows can...

  We were really pleased to see the titmouse. We haven't had one in the yard for two or three years. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 27, 2025 Baeolophus bicolor  Unlike many chickadees, Tufted Titmouse pairs do not gather into larger flocks outside the breeding season. Instead, most remain on the territory as a pair. Frequently one of their young from that year remains with them, and occasionally other juveniles from other places will join them. Rarely a young titmouse remains with its parents into the breeding season and will help them raise the next year's brood.

This yellow throated vireo dropped by on July 26, 2025. Not supper rare, just rare at our water. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada Vireo flavifrons The Yellow-throated Vireo is one of the most colorful member of its family. Not only does this bird have a bright yellow throat, it looks as if it’s wearing bright yellow spectacles.

Northern house wren, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 24, 2025. Troglodytes aedon Wrens love brush piles for cover, protection, and a source of insects. If you need to prune trees or cut brush in your yard, consider heaping the cuttings into a pile as a safe place for birds to gather.

Two ruby-throated hummingbirds quietly sharing a feeder. Come mid August we can have as many as 17 hummingbirds at the various feeder inn the yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 21, 2025.  Archilochus colubris Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are eastern North America’s only breeding hummingbird. But in terms of area, this species occupies the largest breeding range of any North American hummingbird.

  This warbler turned up at the water today. Rare for this time of year in our area. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 22, 2025. 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.

 Ever wonder where movie directors get their ideas for aliens? How about this monster mouth. The inside of a young grackles mouth  as it panted in the heat. The ridge inside the mouth is for sawing the tops off acorns to help crack open the nut. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 15, 2025. 

A new pond visitor.  I was photographing birds that were coming into our water feature and things had slowed down. Rather than packing it in, I stayed and just watched the area. The longer I watch the luckier I get. Northern short-tailed shrew,Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 15, 2025. Blarina brevicauda It is notable in that it is one of the few venomous mammals . The venom secreted from the salivary glands of northern short-tailed shrews can cause pain that lasts for several days in a human who is bitten. However, bites are rare, and usually occur when someone attempts to handle a shrew. Northern short-tailed shrews are 75 to 105 mm long from their head to the base of their tail. The tail length ranges from 17 to 30 mm. Males are slightly larger than females, especially in the skulls. The fur is velvety and soft, and the color almost uniformly slate gray, with the underparts being only slightly paler. Summer fur color is a shade paler than winter fur. Northern short...

  Red-headed woodpecker visiting the yard this afternoon, I think they are one of the most elegant bids we see. Rondeau Provincial Park. Ontario, Canada, July 13, 2025. Melanerpes erythrocephalus The Red-headed Woodpecker benefited from the chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease outbreaks of the twentieth century. Though these diseases devastated trees they provided many nest sites and foraging opportunities for the woodpeckers.

Every time I seen an immature male orchard oriole it makes me think of a hooded oriole from way down south.  Our yard, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 12, 2025. Icterus spurius. Orchard Orioles migrate north late in the spring and head southward early, with some returning to their wintering grounds as early as mid-July. Because of the short breeding season, researchers have trouble distinguishing between breeding orioles and migrating ones in any given location.

 More often heard than seen this visitor to the eater feature is always a treat to see. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 10, 2025 .Pipilo erythrophthalmus A strikingly marked, oversized sparrow of the East, feathered in bold black and warm reddish-browns – if you can get a clear look at it. Eastern Towhees are birds of the undergrowth, where their rummaging makes far more noise than you would expect for their size. Their  chewink  calls let you know how common they are, but many of your sightings end up mere glimpses through tangles of little stems.

  This common grackle had a mouth full of insects. Not sure if they. were for it or if there was a chick nearby. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 8, 2025. Quiscalus quiscula Those raggedy figures out in cornfields may be called scare- crows , but grackles are the #1 threat to corn.

  Our cactus are in bloom just now, odd to have cactus in Ontario. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 7, 2025. Opuntia humifusa. The Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) is one of only two cacti native to Ontario, and it is considered an endangered species in the province.  It is found in Point Pelee National Park, and Rondeau Provincial Park.     These areas, known as the Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannas, provide the dry, sandy habitats that the cactus needs to thrive.

  We were unable to identify this young bird. Our various field guides don't show immature birds and the Merlin app couldn't identify it either. Thanks to a lot of people responding to an enquiry on Ontario Birds we found out it is an immature scarlet tanager. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 6, 2025. Piranga olivacea The oldest Scarlet Tanager on record was a male, and at least 11 years, 11 months old. He was banded in Pennsylvania in 1990 and found in Texas in 2001.

Lots of birds coming into the water in the yard during this  heat including, grackles, redwings, cedar waxwings, robins, woodpeckers and many others. This grackle had its mouth open wide. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 5, 2025. Quiscalus quiscula Grackles have a hard keel on the inside of the upper mandible that they use for sawing open acorns. Typically they score the outside of the narrow end, then bite the acorn open.

This yellow warbler was feeding a cowbird chick.  The yellow had been a victim of   “brood parasite” by a brown headed cowbird. The Brown-headed Cowbird is North America’s most common “brood parasite.” A female cowbird makes no nest of her own, but instead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 4, 2025.

  The suet feeder was empty so this red bellied went to the nectar feeder. If you look closely you can see the tongue lapping up the nectar. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 3, 2025. Melanerpes carolinus A Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick out its tongue nearly 2 inches past the end of its beak. The tip is barbed and the bird’s spit is sticky, making it easier to snatch prey from deep crevices. Males have longer, wider-tipped tongues than females, possibly allowing a breeding pair to forage in slightly different places on their territory and maximize their use of available food.