Some Canadian Goodies

Saturday 23rd February - Thursday 21st March, 2012

Once again, it's taken a while to get back to the blog. I guess things have been relatively slow in terms of new pictures and that has held me back. However, the birding has been pretty good and signs of Spring are definitely here, even though the last week has seen a further cold spell and more snow. Ironically, as I look at my choices for new photos, I find I may actually have more than I thought, so here goes...

...starting back in February with an improved variety and number of birds on my feeders. White-breasted Nuthatch has always been regular, but I now get the occasional Red-breasted Nuthatch as well. These two are clearly different but you may be surprised to know the Red-breasted Nuthatch is only the size of a chickadee. Both these birds are males, showing black rather than grey crowns.




White-breasted Nuthatch (male), Kingston, ON




Red-breasted Nuthatch (male)

Likewise, Downy Woodpecker is occasional, with the odd Hairy Woodpecker putting in an appearance too. I talked about woodpecker ID in the last post, so to see them both on the feeders has been great. House Finch (actually a type of Carpodacus 'rosefinch') is here most days too, along with Dark-eyed Junco and, of course, Black-capped Chickadee. The male House Finch has vivid red on its head and upper chest. The female lacks this colouration and is quite heavily streaked on the flanks. Juncos are easily the commonest seed-eater in the garden. They have distinctive dark grey (male) or brown (female) upperparts, white bellies, white bills, and white outer-tail feathers that are easily seen in flight.



House Finch (male), Kingston

Dark-eyed Junco (male), Kingston

At the end of February, I was informed that the roads around 'DuPont Lagoons', now owned by Invista, are actually accessible to birders and dog walkers despite all the 'no entry' signs. This was good news for me as the site is only half an hour's walk from the house and the water stays open all winter due to, I assume, warm water coming out of the factory. My first trip there provided a lifer in the form of Redhead, a duck species superficially very similar to the European Pochard. As well as many other common wintering ducks, I picked up an immature White-crowned Sparrow and a cracking pair of American Kestrel - both new for the year. Since this first visit, the lagoons have yielded other goodies such as Wood Duck, Greater Scaup and Hooded Merganser, though now that Lake Ontario is mainly unfrozen, the typically high concentration of Mallard, American Black Duck and American Coot has dropped right off.


American Kestrel (male), Invista, Kingston

I have also started seeing a few mammals, though these have been much harder to photograph. Invista has yielded Musk Rat and a mating pair of River Otter. A Red Fox was seen near its den in Lake Ontario Park chased, unfortunately, by a dog let off its lead by an irresponsible owner. I certainly shared my views with that particular dog walker. I have also seen a few Eastern Chipmunks, as well as two 'new' mammals, North American Porcupine and Raccoon - the latter in my garden. However, the only mammal I managed to photograph is this White-tailed Deer, seen at another new location for me, Lemoine Point Conservation Area.

White-tailed Deer (female), Lemoine Point Conservation Area, Kingston

Lemoine Point Conservation Area is a large 136 hectare area of forest, marsh and grassland near the airport, just west of the city. I first visited it on a Kingston Field Naturalists meeting in early March where I finally got to meet some of the local birders. The time of year didn't help with bird sightings but I have managed to get back once more and picked up my first 'true' Spring migrants, Common Grackle and Red-winged Blackbird. These two species now seem to be in every bush and garden and have even been investigating my feeders. The following two pictures were actually taken at another location, the Old Davis Tannery in Kingston's Inner Harbour. The grackle has a white stain on its tail - a gift from another bird.



Red-winged Blackbird - Old Davis Tannery, Kingston



Common Grackle - Old Davis Tannery, Kingston

My second trip to Lemoine Point also allowed further sightings of White-tailed Deer, which it turns out are quite tame. I guess they either get fed or have taken to foraging around the bins and car parks. I was also lucky enough to see this female Ruffed Grouse pretending to be a dead twig high up in a bush. Fortunately it's disguise didn't fool me and I got a couple of interesting shots before it gave up and noisily flew off through the undergrowth.



Ruffed Grouse (female) - Lemoine Point CA, Kingston

I have been doing a fair bit of birding in Kingston's Inner Harbour, particularly since the ice has melted. My first returning ducks were Green-winged Teal, spotted on the only open patch of water in early March. Since then American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe and Hooded Mergansers have all returned. Large numbers of Lesser and Greater Scaup have also been present, with a fair number of Common Goldeneye, Long-tailed Duck and a few Bufflehead. These birds normally seek more open waters but the scaup have been putting on quite a show at both the Inner Harbour and my local patch, Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.



Green-winged Teal (male) - Old Davis Tannery, Kingston

Long-tailed Duck (male) - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston

Tundra Swan - Old Davis Tannery, Kingston

The Tundra Swans pictured above are the same species as Europe's Bewick's Swan. This Nearctic subspecies is often called Whistling Swan (Tundra Swan covers them both) and shows very little, if any, yellow at the base of the bill, whereas the Bewick's shows quite a large round patch. In fact, on these birds, I could barely pick out anything more than the slightest hint.

It has been fantastic to see so many scaup lately, and often close to shore. Apparently Greater Scaup is the commoner of the two species in this area, but earlier in the month this was reversed and I was seeing between 150-200 Lesser Scaup in the Inner Harbour, with just a handful of Greaters. Since then the number of Greater Scaup has increased - a couple of days ago I had over 500 at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, with only 30 or so Lessers in with them. Head shape is one of the key features to separating the two species, along with Lesser's smaller size (tricky), a noticeable greyish wash to the white flanks and according to some a more purplish, rather than green, iridescence to the head. I didn't find this latter feature to be very helpful at all, and at times even head shape was difficult to judge. In flight, Lesser Scaup can be told from Greater Scaup by a much shorter wing bar that does not extend into the primaries. Can you see the difference?

Greater Scaup (male and female) - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston



Greater Scaup (male and female) - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston

Lesser Scaup (male) - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston

This Lesser Scaup shows a more peaked crown that is flat at the back of the head, a small black tip to the bill (slightly larger in Greater) and distinctly greyish flanks (compared to the crisp white of Greater). While seeing these birds so close has been great, it does highlight the challenge of more distant birds, which may have to be left as simply 'scaup sp.'

To speed things up a little, here are a couple of the 700 Bohemian Waxwings that showed up for a day early in the month...



Bohemian Waxwing - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston

...one of the many Ring-billed Gulls that grace the harbour walls,


Ring-billed Gull - Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston

and two shots of American Robin. I can see why 'robin' springs to mind, but just get over it - they're thrushes, and real cracking ones at that too.

American Robin - Marshlands Conservation Area, Kingston

American Robin - Marshlands Conservation Area, Kingston

Finally, I come to the end with a brief account of a very enjoyable morning over on Wolfe Island earlier in the week. I went with a fellow birder, Paul, who kindly picked me up at home. His main goal was Lapland Longspur (Lapland Bunting) and, good on him, we found a male coming into breeding plumage within minutes of being on the island. It was associating with a flock of 20 or so Horned Larks (Shore Larks) but unfortunately didn't hang around for long. Horned Larks turned out to be quite numerous as we progressed around the island and we also got to see perhaps 45 Snow Buntings too. We later found another flock of 8 Lapland Longspur. Here are four of them for you, with a closer shot of the male just below.



Lapland Longspur, Wolfe Island



Lapland Longspur (male), Wolfe Island

And so to the subject of this post - a Canadian Goodie. At long last I've seen a Snowy Owl. Yes, I did see one on Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms, Scotland back in the 1987 but that is some time ago! This one was also much easier; it was sitting on a telegraph pole right beside the road!



Snowy Owl, Wolfe Island

Other highlights and additions to my year list included a male Northern Harrier, Northern Shrike, and the year's first Killdeer. Back on the mainland, at Violet Dump, we also had three Iceland Gulls, a first winter, a second winter and adult winter. For the gull watchers out there, this was actually Kumlien's Gull, a subspecies new to me and therefore very agreeable despite the bitterly cold northerly wind whipping across the open landfill. Thanks Paul for a great morning.

Till next time...

Mark.
 

More Vultures.

UPDATE: Sunday 3rd Feb 2013

Unfortunately, I didn't get as much feedback as I'd hoped for, illustrating, I assume, the complexities of identification. However, general opinion did seem to support (Eurasian) Griffon Vulture for the first set of 3 photos (all the same bird), although this was by no means unanimous. This was based upon the strongly rufous colouration on the chest and underwing, distinct whitish bar on median underwing coverts, less defined but still clearly visible patagial bar and clear pale streaks on chest and belly. However, no opinions were given for the second bird. The shots of this second bird are not as clear as those of the first but I would still be tempted to go with Griffon Vulture for much the same reasons, even though the bar on the median underwing coverts is not as distinct.

I have renamed the first set of photos, but have left the second set unchanged.

Wednesday, 18th April 2012

Two weeks ago I was seeing quite a few vultures passing over the house on a daily basis, with a maximum count of 36 on the 9th. They were mainly White-rumped Vultures with a few others mixed in for good measure. These last few days have been much quieter for some reason, so it was a pleasure to see them back today. Six of the 14 I saw today were White-rumped. The others were a little more tricky...

Here is one individual. If you click on the picture (the first is sharpest), you'll see a larger version. This individual came in very low right over the house. Please comment on the ID. I'm going to suggest Eurasian to get the ball rolling.




(Eurasian) Griffon Vulture, Dhangadhi



(Eurasian) Griffon Vulture, Dhangadhi

(Eurasian) Griffon Vulture, Dhangadhi

Here are 2 shots of another bird taken here in Dhangadhi a couple of weeks ago. I would suggest it's probably the same, though the detail isn't anything like so good. However, this bird appears to have a yellow tip to the bill and the whitish central bar is not so broad.



Another (Eurasian) Griffon Vulture?



Another (Eurasian) Griffon Vulture?

Comments are most welcome (and necessary)!

Mark.

Honeyguide Update and a little Toilet Humour!

Monday, 23rd January, 2012

Finally a "confession" or two.

Well, remember that unexpected honeyguide I said I saw last week? After throwing it out to the Oriental Bird Club forum, it looks far more likely that it was actually a female Scarlet Finch - still a very interesting record in itself, being far lower than expected. I must say thanks to all those who helped on this one. First rule of birding - don't claim unless 100% certain, and even then seek advice. Advice sought and mistake corrected!

Now for the toilet humour, so if this is not for you, just skip till next time!

After getting back from the woods the other day, I needed the loo. It's rare in this part of the world to have anything other than a squat toilet, and this is exactly what we have in our house. So, I was squatting there doing as one does, and I just slightly lost my balance. Reaching out for support I grabbed a tap (that fills a bucket to flush the toilet). Of course it snaps off at the wall and water jets out at a surprisingly high pressure for a roof-top storage tank. PANIC. Unfinished business, water going everywhere, and all alone in the house. So, as all Brits are taught about the Dutch, I put my finger to good use and stemmed the flow of gushing water (the broken pipe that is). Single-handedly I finish up my primary business - not easy I tell you - and was then left with a more serious problem - how to fix the leak, without getting soaked in the process.

All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, call for help, give up and let the tank drain dry (there are no stop cocks out here either), or come up with something entirely more ingenious? Of course the problem solver in me decided on the latter and stretching across the bathroom with my left foot (finger in hole remember), I managed to tip over the rubbish bin and roll it towards me, extract some old plastic and replace my finger with that. Not much good I can tell you, with jets of high-pressure water shooting off all over the place. And then it struck me; my good-ol' British hanky - suitably soiled of course - would be perfect! With some cramming, and using the nozzle of a toilet-duck bottle to do so, it worked!

Of course, there's more to this, i.e. today I did something very similar to the kitchen tap, but seeing as this blog is supposed to be about birds, I'll leave that to another time.

Mark.

A Good Result

Thursday, 19th January, 2012

So, I finally managed to get out Thursday morning for a bit of birding - and it was certainly very rewarding, with not just birds but a good mammal sighting too. The following photos were taken at Bardia NP last October, not here in Dhangadhi.

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Bardia NP

I headed out to the usual spot within my local Sal Forest but on the way I came across a fruiting fig and although I didn't stay for long (it's on the main track and quite busy), half a dozen Yellow-footed Green Pigeon were putting away the just-ripe fruit, with White-bellied and Greater Racket-tailed Drongos providing a supporting cast. A couple of minutes later, a couple of Black-naped Oriole flew in giving themselves away with their fluting calls, together with a noisy flock of Jungle Babblers and a number of Rufous Treepies. Deeper within the forest, I decided to follow the edge of 'my' clearing and work my way slowly around, rather than stick at the stream like usual. Covering an area of approximately 300m x 100m, this clearing provides a mixed habitat from grassland, through secondary regeneration, back to mature forest. Immediately, I was onto both Hume's and Greenish Warbler, as well as a calling Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker that was desperately trying to attract my attention. Nearby, a small group of confiding Grey-breasted Prinia revealed a couple of individuals coming into breeding plumage - another indication of the changing season.

A quieter spell followed, with highlights being 3-4 very inquisitive Grey-sided Bush Warblers, a pair of Large Cuckooshrike, 20+ Oriental White-eye and a few Olive-backed Pipits. It was shortly after this that I had a really unexpected Yellow-rumped Honeyguide. Flushed from the ground (or low bush), it flew directly into low undergrowth within the forest, but failed to provide good views before being lost. I tried hard to persuade myself I was wrong (400m lower than ever recorded and in completely the wrong habitat) but try as I might I kept coming up with the same conclusion - a displaced bird, caused perhaps by the recent bad weather up in the hills. This was followed by a woodpecker frenzy with superb comparative views of Himalayan and Lesser Goldenbacks (males and females) all in the the same tree, followed shortly after by a female Streak-throated Woodpecker to round off the woodpecker fest. The Lesser Goldenback is regular in these woods but the Himalayan is less frequent, so greatly enjoyed.

Things were quietening down by now but as I strolled back towards my bike, Taiga (Red-throated) Flycatcher, Scarlet Minivet, Hair-crested Drongo, and Alexandrine Parakeet were all ticked off. A pair of Common Woodshrike also gave themselves up, tagging slowly along behind the minivets. This was my first sighting of this species in these woods.

White-browed Wagtail, Bardia NP

I then popped down to the river, but it was a hive of human activity with a couple of tractors extracting sand and blaring out Nepali music to all those in the vicinity. Hoping for River Lapwing, all I managed here today was a single Common Sandpiper and 2 White-browed Wagtails. Disappointing and unfortunately something that appears to have become regular.

So the show was over and I set off back home, pleased with the break from work and conference. To round off a satisfactory day, a pair of Asian (Golden) Jackals leisurely crossed the track right in front of me, providing one of the best views of this species I've ever had - cracking animals!

Mark.

What a week so far!

Wednesday, 11th January 2012

Well, I've certainly had an interesting start to the week.

Sunday 8th Jan: Went to visit some schools as part of work but found them all closed due to either cold weather or exams. Not too disheartened though because I had 2 Slender-billed Vultures and 6 Himalayan Griffon perched in trees beside the main road, just west of Attariya - eyeing up a stinky dead cow by the looks of it. Can't grumble at the birds - with cracking views too. Shame I forgot the camera.

Monday 9th Jan: Resigned from work - effective March 31st - but will stay out here after that date to support Terri.

Tuesday 10th Jan: Visited 'Dhangadhi Woods', my local Sal Forest. The unseasonal rain of the last couple of days made the track a challenge but it was still passable. Visited 'the glade', to get away from it all. Not a great deal of major interest, though the Yellow-bellied Fantail, and now several Grey-sided Bush Warblers, is still there. My woods are only 180 metres above sea level, so I guess these two species are just about as low as they go. Lots of Greenish Warblers and Oriental White-eye flitting about, as well as a couple of Blyth's Leaf Warblers. Got a frustratingly brief glimpse of a 'blue flycatcher' - just the blue back and part of the rather orange upper chest. Most probably Tickell's. Also Streak-throated Woodpecker and Lesser Goldenback - both performing rather well. Had a surprise female Grey Bushchat on the way home too, but like I say, rather quiet today.

Mark.