Spring is here!

Update: well the new box is up and the Red-breasted Nuthatches have taken that box over too and evicted the chickadees once more and will not let them enter the box. In fact they chase them all around the yard and will barely let them eat. I will try with another box in the front yard but think it's over for the chickadees this year :(. The nuthatches are super cute but super aggressive. I will miss not having baby chickadees in the yard. Hopefully next year they can both coexist or maybe the nuthatches take a year off from my site... although I love them as well... my heart is aligned with my Chickadees. I do look forward to baby nuthatches though :)

You've probably noticed signs of spring all around you, the birds are singing, the swallows are back, Rufous Hummingbirds and Osprey have returned, men are walking outside with their shirts off...

Yes spring is here and it finally came to my yard today. Today I has my first male Rufous at the feeder. I love these little orange fireballs :). While I was watching my Chickadee nest box I heard the soft cooing of a Red-breasted Nuthatch I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then I saw one male making his cute nasal calls in the apple tree near the feeder so I thought he had just come into feed then I heard a second one coming from the nestbox direction and I turn and see the female poking her head out! I was in shock a week ago I had seen Black-capped Chickadees at it well they had been duly evicted! The nuthatches were fighting and beaking off the chickadees so they couldn't re-enter. Well I love my chickadees everyone who knows me knows that they nest in my year every year and we have been through some tough years with crows eating every single fledged young until last year we had all six babies fledge and healthy. It was fun to be able to see the fledged young grow and be fed outside the box until they looked almost adult. Well I didn't want to lose them as I have a flock of ten chickadees in my yard. So I put up a second box and one Chickadee pair has been entering it and checking it out so fingers crossed!

It would be double the cuteness to have baby Red-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees together! I guess it's a sign of urbanization because I don't leave in a heavily treed or conifer laden area where nuthatches usually are. But with the more construction and the cutting down of trees the less natural cavities there are for these birds. That's why nestboxes are so vital in the city.  I've added a bird bath (thanks Guy for gifting me with that and the extra bird box). Got seed, suet and nyger so they have a buffet.

I look forward to following the lives of these two families. Now if only my Bewick's Wrens would come back to nest.... :)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Dowitcher Identification

Image
Birders notoriously find it difficult to tell Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers apart. I have got a request to do an identification explanation on them so here goes, I hope it will be helpful. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed look so similar. Using their habitat is helpful but not diagnostic. Short-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer Salt water and brackish water and Long-billed Dowitchers tend to prefer fresh water. However, I have OFTEN seen Short-billeds in freshwater and Long-billeds in brackish and salt water. Therefore, DO NOT rely on habitat. Another feature many people will tell you to rely on is spotting on the side of the flanks of Short-billeds and barring on the side of Long-billeds. Usually this is a mark that you can use but it is not always as distinct as you like. I have seen Short-billeds with a barred appearance to the flanks. It is only at the side of the breast where you have to look for this diagnostic feature for the spots on a Short-billed and t...
Read more

Hawk Identification Tips from every angle (Sharpie vs Cooper and Red-tailed Subspecies)

Image
I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you ...
Read more

STINT IDENTIFICATION

Image
As per request, here are some tips that I hope will be helpful in identifying and differentiating Red-necked Stint from Little Stint. I will also do a brief intro on Long-toed and Temminck's Stint... if you build it they will come right?😉 Red-necked and Little Stints look very much alike in worn breeding plumage. The amount of Red on the face, throat and breast in Red-necked Stint is vary variable). They look even more alike in non-breeding plumage, that is why it is essential to learn structural differences to separate the two. They are similar to Semipalmated Sandpipers as well as Sanderlings. Both species are often confused for Red-necked Stints. Little Stints rarely get confused with Sanderling because they have a hind toe which helps differentiate it from this species. Sanderlings in breeding or worn breeding are usually confused with Red-necked Stints but they are much larger than Red-necked Stints. Let's first start with Bills in this complicated ID proces...
Read more

*Updated - The most famous Red-tailed Hawk is eating fish on the ground just like a Bald Eagle!

Image
Update - There are plans in the works to make a documentary film on this young Red-tailed Hawk who thinks he's an Eagle. You can read the latest news about that on CBC HERE . Watch this incredible footage of the little Red-tailed Hawk who grew up in a family of three Eaglets and 2 Bald Eagle Parents. He is imprinted now on Bald Eagles. He looks and acts just like one, as you can see here in the video below. He is standing over a large salmon carcass, just like a Bald Eagle would and he's eating the decaying flesh. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat voles and rabbits etc. not fish! Imprinting is usually irreversible according to raptor expert David Bird. However, I hope it's reversible so that he doesn't attempt to mate with a Bald Eagle, as the Eagle would kill him because it would view him as a Hawk. Eagle expert David Hancock said that the bird will likely starve and get killed by an eagle. He said this possibly can be prevented if someone grabs it and takes it to O...
Read more

1 year since I lost my father

Image
My dad and I whom I miss terribly. One year on since I lost him. Today would have been my mother's bday. Her name was Valerie and it is also the first year anniversary of the death of my beloved father, Arne. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think of them. Now for ever more the day of his death will be connected to her birthday, a very sad day but in a way that connection is beautiful to tie them together. My beautiful family before we lost both parents. I put flowers down at their grave to celebrate them both today. I hate that it is one year since I told him I loved him and hugged him. I miss him so very much. I miss his voice, his love and guidance and support. The ground for me feels shakier without his guidance and safety. I hate I will never see him again or talk to him again. Can't believe how quick time passes. This is why it is so important we treasure every single day to the fullest and tell those we love them. I will never forget the day he passed aw...
Read more