Extreme Weather Condidtions in Durham Region

Yesterday, as some of you may already know, tornados hit land all across Durham Region, Ontario. I apoligize for the lack of pictures because I did not expect this, here is the story on how it affected us. It started when I was about to call my friends, the weather got extremely hot and humid, with temperatures over 30 degress celcius and a humidex of over 90 %. Although we still decided to met them to go fishing. As we started driving the temperatures droped but the humidex stayed high and it started to get windy, so we listened to the radio for the weather. The sky started to get darker and the radio said there was a tornado watch. We called our friends we were about to meet and apparently the weather there was even worse, so we told them we would meet another time which I don't regret because as soon as we turned around, the sky turned nearly pitch-black behind us. Half way back to our house we heard tornados were hitting ground not far from us and then the sky did turn completely black behind us and it started to thunder loudly. We quickly pulled in the driveway and went inside, it started to poor and lightning flashed everywhere! Our friends called and they said tornados near them were destroying houses! We took the necessary safety precautions and got some flash lights. The power suddenly went out and about an hour later the sky turned green, orange and red but the thunder and lightning stopped. Unfortunately for us the power stayed out until morning so we had trouble getting to bed.

Have you ever experienced a tornado or any other severe storm?

If so, please share your information about it in the comment box, thank you.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Bronta Creek Provincial Park/Lake Simcoe

Me holding a Largemouth Bass that I caught at Lake Simcoe
My friends and I telling jokes

My family and friends enjoying shade

Last week, our friends booked us a campsite beside their own in Bronta Creek Provincial Park. On Friday we all met and unpacked and in the evening my friends Zack, Noah, my brother Jesse and I did some stunts on our bicycles and watched a evening show about wildlife in the forest. On Saturday my friend's dad gave me some very useful tips on playing baseball, which is going to help me allot for next year when baseball season starts again. Then we took the Queen Elizabeth Highway to a 1.8 acre pool and played catch in the water with a football. After a few hours of this we went back to our campsites and relaxed, roosting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate by a campfire. On Sunday we met some other friends of ours and went to their place to go swimming and fishing. Swimming was fun but fishing was even more exciting. We bought some worms and dropped our fishing lines in by a small cruise liner, apparently it was a great fishing spot. We used a size 8 hook with a live worm, jigging near the bottom. My friends caught about a dozen Pumkinseeds, but they released them because they were too small to keep. We were about to move when suddenly, I felt a strong pull on my fishing rod! I quickly set the hook and adjusted my drag appropriately, since I didn't cast very far from shore the fight didn't last long. Although it was fairly difficult to land it was worth it because it was about 2 kg. This Largemouth Bass was so strong I also had a difficult time holding it. I didn't fish as much after that, instead I examined it for parasites, diseases, etc. Fortunately it had none of these except a scare on its caudal, but it didn't matter because we probably aren't going to eat it, we're probably going to mount it on my bedroom wall for remembrance. How did you spend your weekend?

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Canada Goose

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Dove

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

American Crow

Total Number of Birds Seen: 8 species of birds

Manitoulin Island: Cup & Saucer Trail Pictures

Staghorn Sumac
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Adult Male Foraging

Bracted Honeysuckle?

Manitoulin Island: Bridal Veil Falls

My brother, Jesse and I admiring Bridal Veil Falls, Major Waterfall from below
Jesse standing under Bridal Veil Falls Major Waterfall

Me walking along Kagawong River

I found Bridal Veil Falls very interesting, in fact many of the locals at Manitoulin Island consider it to be one of the "7 wonders of Manitoulin". This falls is actually part of the Kagawong River, (connected to Lake Kagawong.) During the day this water can be comfortably warm and great for swimming, attracting tourists from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, from southern U. S. A. to northern Canada, this place brings people from all over North America. Also, not just a swimming area but a great view from both above and below, many tourists just enjoy standing there and admiring for perhaps hours. This is indeed a "must stop" for anyone that comes to Manitoulin Island.

Our Cottage Trip

Solitary Sandpiper Juvenile Foraging
Bridal Veil Falls Minor Waterfall

Bridal Veil Falls Major Waterfall

Yellow Perch(left), Smallmouth Bass(right)

Left View From Outside of our Cottage

Right View From Outside of our Cottage

Dinning Room

Friend's "Bat House"

Sandhill Crane Lesser (Northern) Summer Adult Seeking Cover

Campfire

Common Tern Adult Breeding Plunge-Diving

Abandoned House in Open Field

Last Saturday morning we woke up, finished packing and drove off to our rented cottage by Lake Kagawong, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. Our cottage was among the "family cottages" located near the bay of Lake Kagawong. It took us about seven hours to arrive there, we crossed the Swing Bridge and payed our rent fees at the Entrance Office. My brother, Jesse and I rode our bicycles the rest of the way, while our parents drove. When we were finished unpacking, we were greeted by our neighbours. Fortunately, it wasn't windy at the time so we started fishing off our dock. We caught lots of Smallmouth and Rock Bass. After a good fishing day we drove around the island sight seeing, it was a very rural place, some of the cities only had a population of approximately 1 500 persons. On our drive back to our rented cottage I spotted cranes foraging on a grassland. We stopped, got out and identified them to be Sandhill Cranes. This was very exciting for me because I never have seen this species for a few years, possibly never before. The next day, my dad and I went birding at the Cup & Saucer Trail. As we parked, we saw Turkey Vultures scavenging the savanna near us. The we started hiking, I heard "rolling call" and pointed it out to my dad, he identified it to be a Wild Turkey. We tried to see them, but they were concealed by the tall, dense trees around us. Then we continued hiking up the trail, the habitat quickly changed into a mixed forest, consisting of tall broad leaf and spruce trees. This place seemed to be very quiet at first but then as we went further, little by little more species of birds started becoming interested in our presence, both negatively and positively (territorially and following us for food.) But some just ignored us and continued what they were doing, like the many wood-warblers, but probably because we tried to make it less obvious we were here by talking less, this worked almost immediately, and the forest seemed to come alive with birds, so lesson learned, try to talk as less as possible when birding. Unfortunately this was more of a hiking trail than a birding trail so more persons came and the trail came closer to a construction site. We turned back and went to our rented cottage. We didn't do much more that day but relax, so I will skip to the next day... All of us woke up early but unfortunately the wind was blowing toward our rented cottage, and we needed a way to get to the other side of the bay of Lake Kagawong if we were likely to catch fish. We visited the Entrance Office and rented pedal boats. Although these we very uncomfortable so we got a motor boat instead. My dad drove us to an island, the trees there seemed to shelter us from the wind fortunately. We didn't catch anything here so we went to a cove nearby. The trees there also sheltered us from the wind and we watched somebody land a Northern Pike successfully onto their boat, so we stayed and fished some more. Later on, my mom almost landed a large fish (about 30 cm., but there was too much slack on the line and it got off the hook just before I could get our fishing net. After that my dad had a bite but he didn't set the hook in time so it got off the hook as well. It started to get dark but the sunset was beautiful. That evening we all sat by our campfire and roosted marshmallows, enjoying the peaceful, calm lake directly beside us. The next morning we rented the motor boat for the rest of the week and once again drove to the cove we were the day before. It went similar to our last trip there so I will skip to later that day... My mom found out some of her friends were on the other side of Lake Kagawong, so we visited them and I saw a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds drink sugar water from their hummingbird feeder. Of course they were females because if more than one male drinks from the same hummingbird feeder, it will turn into a territorial fight, even during non-breeding season usually. The next day was our last day at Manitoulin Island so we tried to do the rest of fun activities there that we could... The day started with driving our boat up the Kagawong River to another part of the island. The river had many bird species, some very common and some I never saw or heard before, including sandpipers, kingfishers, kingbirds, etc. Then we docked our rented boat at the end of the river and went to chocolate factory, Bridal Veil Falls, had lunch and other fun stuff. Then we went to another friend's cottage of my mom's and had a campfire there. That night we went fishing for the last time, we decided to go to the cove...and we came back with a stringer of fish making 42 fish that whole week!

The End

Total Name of Birds Seen:

Common Loon

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Canada Goose

Mallard

Surf Scoter (Check for Life List)

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye (Check for 2009)

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Broad-winged Hawk (Check for 2009)

Ring-necked Pheasant (Check for 2009)

Ruffed Grouse

Wild Turkey

Sandhill Crane (Check for 2009)

Solitary Sandpiper (Check for Life List)

Ring-billed Gull

Caspian Tern

Common Tern (Check for 2009)

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher (Check for 2009)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Check for 2009)

Downy Woodpecker

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Check for 2009)

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Kingbird

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven (Check for 2009)

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Marsh Wren (Check for 2009)

American Robin

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Blue-winged Warbler (Check for 2009)

Bay-breasted Warbler (Check for Life List)

Cerulean Warbler (Check for 2009)

Ovenbird

Red-winged Blackbird

Rusty Blackbird (Check for 2009)

Common Grackle

Baltimore Oriole

Purple Finch

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Total Number of Birds Seen: 52 Species of Birds

Neighbourhoud Garden

Northern Bedstraw
American Goldfinch Adult Female Breeding

Jesse planting Cucumbers

me planting Pumpkins

Jesse raking

Jesse raking

dad shoveling

A few weeks ago we found a neighbourhood garden and we were welcomed to join, so we went shopping today at "Walmart". We bought several seeds and a few plants; consisting of mostly vegetables and some wildflowers and fruit. Although most packages of seeds are usually only $1.79 we spent about $50.00 including tax just on seeds alone! When we came home, we brought all of our gardening tools and rode our bicycles to our garden. We moved the grass, tilled the dirt, leveled it out and planted the seeds for about 3 hours and we got almost half the amount of work done! Despite the time, we got a lot done.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Point Pelee National Park

Painted Turtle
Canada Goose Common Goslings (left) Adult Male (center) Adult Female (right)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Adult Male Breeding

Magnolia Warbler Adult Female Breeding

Canada Anemone

Chestnut-sided Warbler 1st Summer Male

Yellow Warbler Adult Male Eastern

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Adult Male Breeding

Common Yellowthroat Adult Male

Painted Turtle

Barn Swallow Adult Female

Yellow Warbler Adult Female

Wild Turkey Adult Male Eastern In Display

Wild Turkey Adult Male Eastern

Indigo Bunting Adult Male Breeding

Last Saturday we packed our supplies and started driving to Leamington, Ontario. We arrived there after four hours, unpacked at Pelee Days Inn and drove to Point Pelee National Park. We paid and stopped at the lookout. There was seven Great Blue Herons stalking the shallow marsh. We drove a little bit further and saw a bright flash of blue. We quickly stopped and heard a descending gobble from ahead. We turned around to see a Wild Turkey displaying at the vehicles. Then I saw the Indigo Bunting foraging on the tall grass. We then drove to the visitor center and took the "train" to the Tip Trail. It was about a fifteen minute drive, but it was worth it because we were welcomed by Barn Swallows in the ceiling of the gazebo. We started walking and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird flew by me. Then my mom spotted a Eastern Kingbird perched in the tree. Then various warblers filled the rest of the trail until we came to the tip. There I saw Double-crested Cormorants flying across Lake Erie. I also noticed various gulls and terns in the background, but they were to far away even with binoculars to identify. We took the "train" back and drove to the Marsh Boardwalk. There Jesse and I climbed a tree and got our picture taken. Then we saw Barn Swallows building nests and a pair of Canada Geese defending their goslings. Soon we came to the boardwalk, but we didn't see anything unusual until we came to the middle. There it was filled with common wetland-animals such as Black Terns, Common Yellowthroats, Painted Turtles, Bluegill Sunfish, etc. Although we didn't see and Wood Ducks or Northern Watersnakes. It was late evening we we finished the boardwalk so we ate dinner and went swimming, played pool, air hockey and arcade games. The next morning we woke up early, went swimming, ate breakfast and went back to Point Pelee National Park. We drove in and we were welcomed by the sound of warblers, tanagers and orioles singing proudly. We stopped at one of the trails and saw a Scarlet Tanager singing, in the treetop. Unfortunately the Visitor Center parking lot was full so parked at the West Beach Footpath. We got out, brought our cameras, binoculars and snacks and started hiking. We accidentally flushed a Yellow Warbler from its nest but it was back a few minutes later. The footpath was directly beside Lake Erie there were constant flocks of cormorants flying over head. After hiking for about 2 kilometers the trail started to lead away from lake Erie and there was less bird activity so we turned back. I noticed a unfamiliar warbler for me so I took a photo of it and remembered the song it was singing. We walked to the Visitor Center and I showed the manager my photo, described the the appearance and song and after about 10 minutes of researching we discovered it was a Magnolia Warbler. Then we went into the gift shop and bought Ruth (Body, soul and spirit) a Checklist of Birds of Point Pelee National Park. Then we checked the sightings map and the most current bird activity was in the Tilden Woods Trail. (I was still repeating the song from the Magnolia Warbler in my head, in case I heard it again.) Sure enough I did and as soon as we entered the trail too, along with our wood-warblers, icterids and mimids. I identified most of them but it was very difficult since very few of them were visible. Anyway the habitat changed from a dense canopy to a wooded swamp along with the bird species (grosbeaks, cardinals and vireos.) Then we finished the trail at about noon so we went to the Marsh Boardwalk again in search for the Wood Duck. Lots of fish were resting under lily pads and the wetland-birds were becoming more active. We spotted much more such as; sparrows, wrens and martins. Although we didn't see Wood Ducks we did see some species we'd never seen before. Then we drove home and edited our pictures on the way. Despite we didn't break our record of sixty-four species on this annual trip we still had lots of fun. Thank you mom and dad for making this possible and for your time and money.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Canada Goose

Mallard

Wild Turkey

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture (Check for 2009)

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Caspian Tern (Check for Life List)

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Check for 2009)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

White-eyed Vireo (Check for Life List)

Red-eyed Vireo (Check for 2009)

Blue Jay

American Crow

Purple Martin (Check for 2009)

Tree Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Check for 2009)

Bank Swallow (Check for 2009)

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

House Wren

Sedge Wren (Check for 2009)

Marsh Wren

Veery (Check for 2009)

American Robin

Gray Catbird (Check for 2009)

European Starling

Nashville Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Check for 2009)

Magnolia Warbler (Check for Life List)

Cape May Warbler (Check for Life List)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Check for 2009)

American Redstart

Prothonatary Warbler (Check for 2009)

Common Yellowthroat (Check for 2009)

Canada Warbler (Check for Life List)

Scarlet Tanager (Check for 2009)

Swamp Sparrow (Check for Life List)

Northern Cardinal

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting (Check for 2009)

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Orchard Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

House Sparrow

Total Number of Birds Seen: 51 species

Goodbye,

Birdman

Thickson Woods

Last Saturday I went birding with my dad at Thickson Woods. We saw many cars parked beside the conservation area. They were all birders, we got excited thinking they were here because of a rare, recent sighting, but they came because they thought it was a great place to bird. Everyone had the same field guide: A Field Guide to Birds East of the Rockies By: Roger Tory Peterson. First we went to the open field part, there we heard an extremely fast song, I soon recognized as the same bird I saw at my house recently, a House Wren. Also, Tree Swallows filled the area; catching bugs, mating and building nests. The last time I saw Tree Swallows was probably last autumn. Anyway, we walked on to the forest and a group of birders had their binoculars up, pointed at a tree. I looked and saw a small orange figure singing a fimiliar song to a robin. It was a Baltimore Oriole, when the group left an Orchard Oriole came! They have one of the most variable songs, but all birds are unique for something. I soon heard a kinglet in a nearby tree, so I aimed my binoculars and spotted it gleaning insects of branches (common behaviour of kinglets.) The trail lead to another group of birders watching a small thrush, so I came closer and identified it was an Ovenbird. It appeared to be flushed not knowing where to go as it was cornered, not singing just perched on a log. Is this common behaviour of under-leaf scavengers, or was it frightened, submit your ideas in the comment box (below this post.) I walked to the next part of the trail while my dad searched for the Ovenbird. The part of the trail I was now in was filled with warbler songs, they all song at the same time so all I could identify was a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Nashville Warbler. Both very secretive birds always high up in trees. I then met up with dad and we went to the marsh, there we watched a Short-tailed Weasel feed its young, baby rats. Soon other birders came still following the same Baltimore Oriole, but a small brown figure caught my eye in the cattails. I soon recognized the; brown crown, white supercillium (eyeline,) and off white breast from our previous, annual trip to Point Pelee National Park. It was a Marsh Wren and there was also Gadwalls, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds in the background, mixed between a marsh with dead trees and forest-floor-like habitat. This evening I went birding to the same spot with my mom, we parked got and we heard Cooper's Hawks, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Tennessee Warbler and everything on Saturday too. We didn't stay for long because it was getting dark so we left.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown Creeper

American Crow

Mourning Dove

Gadwall (Check for 2009)

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Check for 2009)

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Cooper's Hawk

Blue Jay

Dark-eyed Junco

Killdeer

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mallard

Baltimore Oriole

Orchard Oriole (Check for 2009)

Ovenbird (Check for 2009)

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

Chipping Sparrow

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

European Starling

Tree Swallow (Check for 2009)

Mute Swan

Nashville Warbler (Check for 2009)

Tennessee Warbler (Check for Life List)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Check for 2009)

Hairy Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

House Wren

Marsh Wren (Check for 2009)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 42 species

I will show you prof of some of my sighting tomorrow.

Dyngus Day Dinner

Dyngus Day, also known as Easter Monday is the day after Easter. To celebrate it we went to my cousins house. Aunt Lori, Uncle Bruce, Cousins Michael, Jason, Kira, Tyler, friend Jamal, Michael's wife Lacy, Jason's girlfriend Charyl and our family all had a family dinner together. Thank you Aunt Lori for preparing that delicious meal. Next we played baseball with some of Tyler's friends and then we went home. Then my dad and I went birding and heard a Ruffed Grouse for the first time this year.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

American Crow

Mourning Dove

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Ruffed Grouse (Check for 2009)

Ring-billed Gull

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Check for 2009)

Blue Jay

Dark-eyed Junco

Killdeer

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

European Starling

American Woodcock

Total Number of Birds Seen: 19 species of birds

Easter

On Maundy Thursday, Paul, one of Jesus' disciples made a deal to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver the next day. On Good Friday Jesus had his last feast with His disciples and said "This is My last feast with you, one of you will betray Me". Peter asked "Will it be me?", Jesus replied "No". Then Paul tricked Jesus to coming outside and several soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross, dissing Him and put Him in a tomb. Peter came and an angel told him "Do not be afraid, He will return". While Jesus was dead, He took the keys of **** from the devil. On Easter Day, the tomb opened and Jesus came back alive. He visited all of His disciples, then went to Heaven. Jesus died on the cross for us, and therefor we should thank him.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Lynde Shores Conservation Area

White-throated Sparrow White-striped Adult
Eastern Towhee Adult Male Red-eyed
Song Sparrow Adult Eastern

Blue Jay Dark Adult x Pale Adult Intermediate

Mute Swan Adult in Display Posture

Canada Goose Common Adult Laying Eggs

This morning I went birding with my dad at Lynde Shores Conservation Area. As we drove there we saw a Great Blue Heron and a small white bird flying over a pond. Then we parked, paid and started birding. First I saw a Blue Jay and a Northern Cardinal, then we walked to the pond. That "small white bird" was a Bufflehead, it was away from the rest of the waterfowl, foraging by itself. Then a Canada Goose came begging us for food, of course we didn't give it any, but it was funny! The place was filled with Red-winged Blackbirds singing "ok-a-reeeee" and displaying, but I still haven't seen a female Red-winged Blackbird this year, interesting. Anyway, next we went to the "Cranberry Marsh", there I heard a loud "chip" from a Least Chipmunk. Next Black-capped Chickadees came begging us for food, but we didn't have any seeds so we walked on. When we came to the marsh habitat I heard a bird singing "drink your teeeeeeeeee" from a low bush, then the bird came out, it was a Eastern Towhee. Then robins, sparrows and goldfinches filled the place with music for about 30 minutes. Then we saw an injured White-tailed Deer on the trail in front of us walk away. It appeared to be starving and shot several times. Then we went back through the field to the forest and we saw Swainson's Thrushes go in a brush pile, I was very excited because I never saw them before. Although I may have in New Brunswick when we went camping there last July. Mom, said she would prepare a breakfast soon, so we went home and discussed all the birds we saw.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Canada Goose (5)

Mute Swan (2)

Mallard (9)

Bufflehead (1, Check for 2009)

Great Blue Heron (1)

Killdeer (1)

Ring-billed Gull (17)

Mourning Dove (3)

Downy Woodpecker (1)

Blue Jay (16)

American Crow (2)

Black-capped Chickadee (52)

White-breasted Nuthatch (3)

Brown Creeper (2)

Swainson's Thrush (3, Check for Life List)

American Robin (23)

European Starling (29)

Eastern Towhee (5, Check for 2009)

American Tree Sparrow (2)

Field Sparrow (1, Check for 2009)

Fox Sparrow (4, Check for 2009)

Song Sparrow (17)

White-throated Sparrow (1)

Dark-eyed Junco (2)

Northern Cardinal (11)

Red-wined Blackbird (78)

Common Grackle (50)

American Goldfinch (6)

House Sparrow (1)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 29 species

Goodbye,

Birdman

Toronto Zoo

2nd Year Anniversary!

I have now been posting for two years!

Check out my other blog at http://birdman-nature.blogspot.com

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern
Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern
Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

Northern Cardinal Adult Male Eastern

This evening, as I was finishing my dinner, I noticed something red in the Cedar hedge behind our back yard. I quickly put my dishes in the dishwater and got my camera. Unfortunately the glass back door was poorly affecting the photos, so I very slowly and carefully opened the door. It started singing it's familiar song pichew pichew tiw tiw tiw tiw tiw tiw. Max, my dog has very sensitive ears and he didn't know what this sound was so he barked. Very surprisingly it didn't fly away, it just moved to a branch inside the tree (cardinals are usually very timid.) But I wasn't complaining about this daring cardinal because I was able to get many clear photos and videos of it. Then I went upstairs to write a blog post about it.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Northern Cardinal

Ring-billed Gull

Dark-eyed Junco

Total Number of Birds Seen: 3 specie(s) of birds

Goodbye,

Birdman

Check out my other blog http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com

Rare Winter Birds

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Interior Adult Female Nonbreeding Dark-eyed Junco Slate-colored Adult Male
This morning I woke up very late and went downstairs. I was about to go outside, but then I noticed about 5 centimeters of snow! So I sat down and had breakfast by the window, soon a flock of small birds came. I got my camera and took some photographs of them, they were Dark-eyed Juncos! They were in a mixed flock of various finches. I was about to finish my breakfast but then a bird came that I've never seen before, a rosy-finch and a different type of chickadee! I was very excited, what else will this unusual day bring; snow, rosy-finches, juncos, what next!? I finished my breakfast and was putting my dishes in the dishwater, but then my mom saw a heron! I've never seen one yet this year, finally! What a day! I was about to get The Sibley Guide to Birds to confirm my observations, but when I found it, it was in a very poor condition; missing pages, cover gone, split in three pieces and it had stains all over it from coffee. The result of studying it everyday for a few years, I'm going to have to start saving $53.00. When I found rosy-finches in the book, I was correct! Rosy-finches are here, they must be confused because the closest they come here is Michigan, United States and Quebec, Canada.
Total Names of Birds Seen:
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee (Check for Life List)
Cassin's Finch (Check for 2009)
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Check for Life List)
House Finch
Purple Finch
Ring-billed Gull
Great Blue Heron (Check for 2009)
Dark-eyed Junco
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin
House Sparrow
Total Number of Birds Seen: 12 species of birds
Goodbye,
Birdman
Check out my other blog at http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com/

Extinct Species, Rediscovered

Four, thought to be extinct species of birds, have been rediscovered with prof from DNA tests; Eskimo Curlew, thought to be extinct in 1963 has been rediscovered in 1999 (Kenn Kaufman's Guide to Birds of North America), Carolina Parakeet, thought to be extinct in 1905 has been rediscovered a 2004 in Honduras (Bird Chick http://birdchick.com/wp/), Ivory-billed Woodpecker, thought to be extinct in 1987 has been rediscovered in 2001 in Louisiana, United States (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology http://birds.cornell.edu/) Bachman's Warbler, thought to be extinct in 1962, has been rediscovered in 2002 (Birds of North America Online.) How could these birds have been here all this time without us knowing, because they adapted to live away from their predators and problems such as hunting. These birds have made a unbelievable adaption, now we should protect them with all our power so they make a recovery and become common again. Perhaps we've learned a valuable lesson here, and we all should learn from it, before they actually become extinct! Now we should also protect any endangered species like the Whooping or Hooping Crane, who once only had a very small population in Northwest Territory, of about 100 birds and now lives in Florida too, because of us! If we all "pitch in" we can do this for the rest of them like Hancanith Macaw, who's numbers are declining because of the pet trade. Now we can and should protect these precious birds before its too late.

Goodbye,

Birdman

PLEASE COMMENT ON MY OTHER BLOG AT http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com/ IF YOU DON'T, I WILL DELETE IT.

Northern Harrier

This evening a large bird of prey came flying down and caught a bird by a wetland with a field beside it. It was a Northern Harrier!

Check out my other blog at http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com/

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Northern Harrier (Check for 2009)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 1 specie of bird

Darlington Park

Today I woke up at 5:50am and was ready to go birding by 6:00am. Then I went downstairs to go wake my dad up. We were about to go outside but then we noticed the weather (10mm of rain, snow and wind speed of 53km/h), I watched the Weather Network until it "cleared up". At 7:00am, the storm went away and my dad and I went birding. After helping my dad unload some of his working supplies, we went to Darlington Park. At first I didn't remember going birding there before with my dad, but as soon as I saw the place I remembered. We were just about to park then a woodpecker-shaped bird flew. I got out of the truck and followed it, it was a Downy Woodpecker, then my dad parked. We started walking on the trail but it was very muddy. "Good call on the rubber boots dad". Soon we watched a flock of American Crows mob a Great Gray Owl. Most of you probably don't believe me but we have pictures of it from the last time we went to Darlington Park. The trail was leading to an open field and it was still very windy, so we went to a trail by the creek. We had some difficulty walking down the steep hill to the creek but despite the beginning of the trail, it was quite enjoyable afterwards. First we watched a Barred Owl fly over the top of the forest, then dad claimed he saw a Chipping Sparrow but it was actually a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It came very close to us and gleaned insects of the tip of a branch then flew to the next coniferous tree. Then I heard the Barred Owl call: "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" a familiar sound to a somewhat experienced birder. It was soon 10:00am and no phone call from mom!? So we went home and she was making breakfast, then we all sat down and enjoyed the delicious meal mom prepared.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

American Crow

Mourning Dove

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Ring-billed Gull

Killdeer

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Check for 2009)

Mallard

Northern Mockingbird (Check for 2009)

White-breasted Nuthatch

Barred Owl (Check for 2009)

Great Gray Owl (Check for 2009)

Eastern Phoebe

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

European Starling

Turkey Vulture

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker (Check for 2009)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 24 species of birds

Goodbye,

Birdman

(edited by mom)

Check out my other blog at http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com/

Another Blog

Today I've created another blog, I'm going to update it about every day too. Current one: http://birdman-nature.blogspot.com/ New One: http://birdman-birdquiz.blogspot.com/ Be sure to check them out. Also please become a follower of my blogs (refer to right side.)

Why We Should Enjoy Rainy Days

Before
After

1. The Sun and rain give plants chemical energy. Animals eat plants, storing the chemical energy. Then we eat animals and we get the chemical energy. Without rain with wouldn't be alive!

2. Rain falls in oceans, lakes and other bodies of water. We collect the water from there, next its filtered and we drink it. Without rain we wouldn't be alive!

3. Rain helps nature grow! Without rain we wouldn't have the beauty of nature to enjoy and blog about.

So next time you bring your umbrella outside and say "Rain, rain go away" or "Man, I wish it never rained!" think again about this post. The images above were copied from a website that they are purposed to be copied.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Back Yard Birding

This morning I helped my dad set up set up beds. Then at about 8:30am I went outside and sat down with Max. Soon I heard a long, uneven rattle coming from a moderate-sized bird with a thick bill, perched on a tree above the an open marsh beside our house. I looked at all the sounds of woodpeckers in North America but none of the sounds compared to what I heard. I heard that same sound but this time I noticed it was a harsh, unsteady clatter. I remembered what a kingfisher sounded like, from a camping trip last year to Cedar Beach. Once again I looked in the Sibley Guide to Birds and found kingfishers. The silhouette I saw in the tree and the sound it made, obviously made it a Belted Kingfisher. Just to be 100% sure it was, I researched it in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With all of my information it was for sure a kingfisher. Next I heard a call similar to a Song Sparrow but it was clearly different. I looked in Sibley's Book and searched all the similar species for Song Sparrows. There I found the Winter Wren, but as I was reading that page, a sparrow caught my eye, again it was similar to Song Sparrow but there was something different about it's breast. The only bird that matched up to it was a Black-throated Sparrow, but they only live in the Sonoran Desert. How could one end up here, I must have made a mistake, but I can't seem to match the bird I saw with any other birds in Sibley's Book. Anyway, back to the wren, Body, Soul and Spirit (Ruth) and Mon@rch (Tom) had recently seen one of these so there was no point of researching, the Winter Wren migrates through here every spring. Up to northern Ontario to southern Northwest Territory and Yukon. I'd heard this sound only once and it was far away so I couldn't figure out what habitat it was in. I came back in with max at about noon, had a snack and helped my dad unpack (we've just moved last Saturday.) From now on when I write total species of birds and the end of a post I will put a question mark beside if I'm not 100% sure, otherwise the bird was seen for sure.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird?

American Crow

Mourning Dove

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle? (Check for 2009)

Herring Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Great-blue Heron? (check for 2009)

Blue Jay?

Dark-eyed Junco

Killdeer

Belted Kingfisher (Check for 2009)

Mallard

White-breasted Nuthatch

Eastern Phoebe? (Check for 2009)

American Robin

Black-throated Sparrow? (Check for Life List)

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

European Starling

Winter Wren (Check for Life List)

Total Number of Birds Seen: 19 species, 7 ? species

Goodbye,

Birdman

Late Night Birding In Damp Forest/Open Field

Yesterday my dad and I decided to go birding in search of the woodcock in display, so we left with a flashlight, a few minutes before it usually gets dark. We walked down the block to a damp, brushy forest with a open field beside it. It was still late evening so many songbirds were making their last song for the day. We kept walking until we found where the forest and field met. There we turned on the flashlight and listened very carefully. Standing there a female Canada Goose came which sounded very similar to the woodcock. We stood there for about ten minutes and then, as soon as the sun had completely gone down we heard a nasal PEENT! Followed by one of them flying up high in the air making twittery whistles and then a loud chirping sound. Then it dived so fast I thought it disappeared. Then both the male and female did their courtship display, covering so much area that I had a difficult time trying to track were the sound was coming. They both did that same thing over again until we left the field. Then we heard a single hoot, which was a Long-eared Owl. We didn't hear it every few seconds because we were talking for the rest of the jog. Then we saw them fly in front of us again, at first we had mistaken them for swallows because of their small size, but then when the second one came, I noticed a completely different flight pattern. On our way back home we found out where a museum was. Maybe that will be my next blog post topic, maybe. Anyway, I think that the mystery bird from my last post is a hybrid between two grebes but I'm still trying to identify it. Thank you for any help you may have given me (I only look at the comments from before, after I do my next post)

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Crow

Mourning Dove

House Finch

Northern Flicker (Check for 2009)

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Ring-billed Gull

Blue Jay

Killdeer

Mallard

White-breasted Nuthatch

Long-eared Owl (Check for 2009)

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

European Starling

American Woodcock

Downy Woodpecker

Total Number of Birds Seen:24 species

Goodbye,

Birdman

Loon or Grebe

This picture was taken at the edge of Lake Ontario in Hamilton on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at about 1 0'clock pm. For elevation ask Ruth (Body, soul and spirit.) I previously said it was a Western Grebe, but it also may have been a Red-throated Loon. I'm still comparing the two species but because it was continually diving, I could only get one, slightly poor photograph of this mystery bird. If any of can are able to contact a experienced birder (preferably David Allen Sibley) and ask him to check this out it would be greatly appreciated. I've narrowed it down to the Red-throated Loon and the Western Grebe because it had a; yellow-black, slightly upturned long bill, gray-black crown, bright red eye, black eye-ring, gray supercillium, brown-rufos neck, brown back, white undertail. It may have been a hybrid but that would be unlikely, but if it was the female would have to be a Western Grebe and the male, a Red-throated Loon because it had more grebe plumage features than a loon. It dived for about 1-2 minutes at a time without looking down first and always came up a different spot then would go in alert posture and dive again, repeatedly. It was solitary and away from any other waterfowl, very close to shore and it was silent. Any bird that considered flying where it was would leave immediately as soon as it saw this mystery bird.

If you or anyone you know may have an idea what this is, please comment ON THIS POST or e-mail me at swpsnook@live.ca .

Goodbye,

Birdman

Bird of The Week: Blackburnian Warbler

ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM "BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA"
Common Name: Blackburnian Warbler
Scientific Name: Dendroica fusca
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Juvenile Perched: N/A
Juvenile Flight: N/A
Imature Perched: N/A
Imature Flight: N/A
Adult Female Nonbreeding Perched: more subdued facial pattern, orange throat and breast, white wing bars, black streaks on flanks
Adult Female Nonbreeding Flight: N/A
Adult Female Breeding Perched: more subdued facial pattern, orange throat and breast, white wing bars, black streaks on flanks
Adult Female Breeding Flight: N/A
Adult Male Nonbreeding Perched: pale orange line center of crown, complex black and-orange face pattern, white streaks on black back, white patch on wing, brilliant orange throat, black streaks on breast and belly, white belly
Adult Male Nonbreeding Flight: white edges to outer tail feathers, bold white wing patches
Adult Male Breeding Perched: pale orange line in center of crown, complex black-and-orange face pattern, white streaks on black back, brilliant orange throat, black streaks on breast and belly, white belly
Adult Male Breeding Flight: white edges to outer tail feathers, bold white wing patches
Voice: Call a slightly husky chik; flight-call a high, thin zzee; song variable, but always high-pitched; swirling series of lisps, spiraling upward to end in an almost inaudible trill.
Nesting: Fine cup in conifer on horizontal branch away from trunk, usually high in tree; 4-5 eggs; 1 brood; May-July.
Feeding: Gleans arthropods, such as spiders, worms, and beetles; also friut.
Occurrence: Breeds in coniferous and mixed forests from Alberta east through the North Great Lakes to Newfoundland and south into the Appalachians of Georgia; migrants found in wooded, shrubby, or forest edge habitats. Winters in wet forests in Costa Rica and Panama, and southward as far as Peru.
Length: 13cm
Wingspan: 21cm
Weight: 9-12g
Social: Winter flocks
Lifespan: Up to 8 years
Status: Secure
Flight: fast, slightly undulating, and direct with rapid wing beats.
Other: This fiery beacon of the treetops is considered one of the most beautiful mambers of its family; its orange throat is unique among the North American warblers. The Blackburnian Warbler co-exists with many other Dendroica warblers in the coniferous and mixed woods of the north and east, but is able to do so by exploiting a slightly different niche for foraging-in this case the treetops. It also seeks the highest trees for nesting
Distinguishing Features: The female is like a dull adult male, but with two wing bars and no black on the face.
Avian Firefly: This male in breeding plumage glows when seen against a dark forest background.
ALL OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS FROM "BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA"
For more information about the Blackburian Warbler go to birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/Blackburnian_Warbler.html/

Preparing for Move

We're packing so I'm unable to write a blog post for a few days. Also the Bird of the Week post (I'm starting it every Monday) will be postponed.

Update

March 28th-Moving back to Oshawa, Ontario

April 18-25th-Setting Up New Bird Garden

April 11th-Trip to Ottawa, Ontario

Possible Wing Injury

Today, unfortunately as my dad was driving me to school, he had hit a hawk. He had slammed the breaks but we still hit it. It was very young so it was a weak flier, so it couldn't fly over the car fast enough. We pray that it wasn't injured or killed, as we came home we looked around but there was no sign of it. We both feel horrible for our accident, hopefully it only got hit on the edge of it's wing so it wont be injured as severely as it would if we hit a different part of it's body.

Goodbye,

Birdman

River Bank Trail

Fresh Adult Eastern Black-capped Chickadee Eating Seeds of Cattail
Adult Male Eastern Northern Cardinal Searching for Seeds

Fresh Adult Eastern Black-capped Chickadee Being Territorial

Pair of Purple Finches Perched

This morning I woke up and found sparrows feeding on my platform feeder, then my dad came down and we went to River Bank Trail. On the way there my dad had drove into a dead end and was just about to turn around until I said "Stop, look". A silhouette of a bird that had a plump body and a short tail was perched in a tree nearby, so I got the binoculars and looked at it. It was a meadowlark, I had realised that I had seen that same silhouette earlier before so that wasn't the only one I saw. There must a lot of meadowlarks in the neighbourhood. My dad and I were very excited but it flew away before I could get a picture of it and it didn't sing so it is was very difficult to identify what type it was, it was an eastern because of the white malar. Anyway my dad kept driving and as soon as we arrived there someone started walking their dog. They didn't even clean up after it! We let them walk ahead of us. We sat down preparing for a hike, we entered the meadow part, there was a Purple Finch and a Brown Thrasher which was of course "thrashing" leaves under a bush. Next we walked under a canopy forest, Northern Parulas and Black-throated Blue Warblers were singing. Also, when we came out from under the canopy forest I heard an American Woodcock repeating it's call, but there was something else calling in the background. I got the binoculars and searched, it was a gull-like bird with brownish wings. Now that I've identified it, it was a Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid 1st winter. Next my dad pointed out than a birder behind us was trying to get pictures to get a picture of the woodcock I spotted, I mumbled sarcastically "good luck with that". Of course he didn't get a picture of it. Next I heard a B-bee gun shot, and a goose flew up in a tree! Then I heard it again and flew away. Later I saw a goose NOT walking properly, someone had shot it's wing! WHY DO PEOPLE SHOT BIRDS FOR NO REASON!!! Anyway, we moved on because there was nothing we could do about it. The same birder from before was feeding chickadees and cardinals. That was the end of the trail so we hiked back and drove home.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Crow

Mourning Dove

Purple Finch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Glaucous x Herring Gull (Check for Life List)

Ring-billed Gull

Cooper's Hawk (Check for 2009)

Blue Jay

Mallard

Eastern Meadowlark (Check for 2009)

Northern Parula (Check for 2009)

Feral Pigeon

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

Chipping sparrow

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

European Starling

Brown Thrasher (Check for 2009)

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Check for 2009)

American Wodcock

Downy Woodpecker

Total Number of Birds Seen: 28 species

Goodbye,

Birdman

Victoria Park/Wings of Paradise: Butterfly Conservatory

Zebra Finch in Alert Posture
Blue Morpho Sunbathing
Zebra Finch Perched

Ring-billed Gull, Canada Geese, Mallard

Mallards

Chipper Feeding

Mallards

Today my mom asked if we could go birding. She drove to Victoria Park, there were only a few waterfowl species but I watched an Adult Female Domestic Mallard and an Adult Male Mallard x Domestic Mallard hybrid or intergrade court and mate. We soon got a little bored just watching ducks and geese so we went to Wings of Paradise Museum. We paid and went in the Butterfly Conservatory. At first it was very humid, and my camera took very poor pictures because to camera lens had fogged up. But after a few moments it was clear. After that we realised there was several other animals other than butterflies in the conservatory such as birds, fish and turtles. We had a great time, thank you mom for taking me.

Total Names of Birds Seen:

Mallard

Canada Goose

Ring-billed Gull

Zebra Finch

Chinese Painted Quail (Check for Life List)

Zebra Dove

Java Finch

Total Number of Birds Seen: 7 species

Goodbye,

Birdman

First Day of Spring

Spring is the best time of year for both nature and the many people that love it. From buds blooming, to birds building their nest, mid-May is the best time of Spring. That's why we go to Point Pelee National Park on the May long weekend to enjoy nature and Pelee at its best. This late march we're moving to Oshawa in a beautiful house with a bare back yard, perfect for starting a bird garden. Our next door neighbours and also very fond of birds, maybe we can have permission to take photos of birs in each others yards. Maybe, we can also "connect" bird gardens. A swampy forest habitat is nearby our house and hopefully my dad and I we be able to bird in it. The photos above are from the cruise we went to last November. Anyway, I'm trying to make this last week in Breslau last by scattering mixed seed on our deck railing, but few birds are coming to check it out, oh well. Lately I've been getting fewer comments so if you read my blog, please comment and spread the word, I love to answer any questions you may have relating to nature. After all that is my blog title.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Major Birding Trip

Adult Male Breeding Greater Scaup Swimming

Trumpeter Swans

Ring-billed Gulls

Red-breasted Mergansers

Adult Male Downy Woodpecker Drumming

Eastern Adult Male White-breasted Nuthatch Storing Seeds

Adult Male Breeding American Wigeon Courting

Adult Male Breeding Ring-necked Duck Swimming

Adult Male Winter Long-tailed Duck Diving

Canada Geese

Yesterday Ruth called me because her leg had an infection and couldn't go to work today, so she asked if she could go birding with me today, I said yes at 11:00am. Today I got ready and Ruth picked me up at 10:49am, we left to Hamilton to go birding by Lake Ontario. We arrived there at 11:47am and many waterfowl were begging for food. We walked to the trail and Trumpeter Swans were begging us for food and if I raised my hand it would lift its bill and if I lowered my hand it lowered its bill. We saw many rare waterfowl there but whenever I told anyone , they didn't seem to care so they must not be rare. Anyway next we went to the forest trail beside the lake and saw woodpeckers and nuthatches, also some chickadees feed out of our hands. Most of them picked peanuts kearnels over black sunflower seeds, interesting. Next we went to a lift bridge that had a recent sighting of a Peregrine Falcon nest, but we didn't see itself or it's nest unfortunately. Then we went to Grindstone Creek, we got out and grackles, blackbirds, sparrows, robins and dove were chearfuly singing. It actually sounded silly with a mixture of chack, put and oooahhh all at the same time. We walked down farther and we saw many birds feathers laying on the ground and a Red-tailed Hawk soaring above. It had obviously captured this unfortunate pigeon. Oh well, hawks have to eat too y'know. It was soon reaching 3 o'clock and Ruth had to put her daughter Rebecca from work so we left.

Total Names of Birds Seem:

Red-winged Blackbird

Canvasback (Check for 2009)

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped chickadee

American Coot (Check for 2009)

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Crow

Mourning Dove

American Black Duck (Check for 2009)

Long-tailed Duck (Check for Life List)

Ring-necked Duck (Check for 2009)

Tufted Duck (Check for 2009)

House Finch

Common Goldeneye (Check for 2009)

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Pied-billed Grebe (Check for 2009)

Western Grebe (Check for Life List)

Great Black-backed Gull (Check for 2009)

Herring Gull (Check for 2009)

Ring-billed Gull

Red-tailed Hawk

Dark-eyed Junco

American Kestrel (Check for 2009)

Killdeer

Mallard

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Total Number of Birds Seen:31 species

Grand River Trail

Red-breasted Mergansers

Adult Male American Robin Courting

Today at 12:00pm, my dad took me to "Tim Hortons". We got 10 "Sour Cream Glazed Timbits" and ate them on the way to a grand river trail. We got out and a European Starling was mimicking various other birds. Notice that they open their beak when they mimic, but they only move their throat feathers when they sing their own calls. Anyway next Canada Geese flew over us honking, followed by robins preparing to court by the male chasing the female robin until she decides to stop. Although I don't know the purpose of flying away. Well, next my dad and I saw our first Song Sparrow and Mallard for 2009. We then went to another part of the trail but there wasn't many birds there so we turned around. Chickadees and goldfinches were fluttering about in a nearby brush pile, and a hawk soaring by the roadside, but what really stunned me was mergansers! Finally, mergansers have come, I've been waiting for a long time. I took a few pictures and just as my dad was about to view them with his binoculars, they dived. I showed him my pictures. Next we discussed the Western Bluebirds we previously saw in Sedona. It was a very exciting moment for both of us. The same year we also saw another new bird for our life list, Eastern Bluebirds. Then we left to pick up Jesse from a friend's house.

Total Species of Birds Seen:

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown Creeper (Check for 2009)

Mourning Dove

Long-billed Dowitcher (Check for Life List)

House Finch (Check for 2009)

American Goldfinch

Canada Goose

Common Grackle

Ring-billed Gull

Red-tailed Hawk

Killdeer

Mallard (Check for 2009)

Song Sparrow

European Starling

Total:17 Birds

Spring Break

"Spring Break" is a week long recess in most schools, it is most commonly from March 16-20th. Most teenagers spend their "Spring Break" in Panama City Beach, Florida or South Padre Island, Texas. Some Universities in Japan have their "Spring Break" begin in April. "Spring Break" is also referred to "March Break", "Study Week" or 'Reading "Week.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Horned Larks!

Adult Male Northeast Horned Lark Singing

Today I've seen my second Horned Lark for 2009, when I decided to go birding in my backyard. I grabbed my camera and jacket to go outside, as soon as I opened the back door I heard "reek trik treet tritilititi treet". I'd never heard anything like it. Whatever it was it continuously repeated that phrase several times until I located where the sound was coming from. I put my camera screen on EVF and searched that particular brush pile. I took a picture of it and zoomed in, it was a Horned Lark! Soon I realized it had been calling another lark, so I was a about to get my spotting scope for a better view but I soon heard it's familiar flight call "see tu" and it flew away. Anyway, I still got a good picture of it. "Tune in" tomorrow for a blog post about "March break", unless I'm unable to post tomorrow.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Guelph Lake Nature Center/Riverside Park

Typical Adult Male Red-winged Blackbird Displaying
Adult Male Eastern Northern Cardinal Perched

Adult Female Red-breasted Nuthatch Feeding

Canada Geese

Adult Male Eastern Downy Woodpecker Feeding

Southern Adult Female Common Redpoll Feeding

Today at noon Ruth picked me up and we drove to Guelph Lake Nature Center, we discussed birds we have recently seen. When we arrived there, there was a feeding area with many species of birds feeding like siskins and sparrows and a Red Squirrel. We stayed there for about an hour studying the behaviour of each particular bird. Next we went to Riverside Park, there was also many birds. We brought some seed with us as many birds there are very tame and will feed out of your hand. We started walking on the boardwalk but there weren't many birds there, so we turned around and many birds came. We sat down by a feeding station and watched chickadees, nuthatches and sparrows feed which was very interesting. Anyway it was soon afternoon so Ruth drove me home.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Sleepover

On Saturday morning we packed and left for Oshawa. On the way there I watched "Sandlot: Heading Home". When we arrived in Oshawa, we looked at a few houses for sale and picked one, we will be moving there in late March. Anyway, next we went to my friends house. Lucas had bought "Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force" for his "Nintendo DS Lite". Of course I had bought this a few months ago so we connected using download play and competed in several "Club Penguin" games like snowboarding. After a few hours we went in their basement and played "Rock Band" I played the guitar and completed 89% notes in the song I was playing, soon it got late so we went to bed. The next morning we went to church and had lunch at "Swiss Chalet". We went home late and went right to bed.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Chicopee Field Trip/Lobster

Today at 9:30am my school left for Chicopee to go skiing/snowboarding. We got on the bus and it was about a 30 minute drive. When we got out a instructor told us all the rules of skiing/snowboarding, I chose snowboarding so I went with my group and we got our snowboarding boots, snowboard and helmet. Then our instructor taught us how to snowboard on one of the easiest terrain, although snowboarding is not as easy as it looks. After she left I had a lot of trouble and could only stay up about 10 seconds, so I experimented with different terrain. At about 2:00pm I had lunch and bought some hockey cards. Then I went out again and stayed up about half the way down and I was going extremely fast and I couldn't stop so I did a triple flip and "face plant". My friends moved on to the advanced hills so I had to snowboard by myself. Although my frustration grew I didn't give up. Then it was time to go but the chair lift didn't permit going down, so I had to go down the intermediate hill. I crashed several times but I still had fun. At 4:00pm my dad picked me up and I went to swimming lessons. Anyway, no web page has information on this strange thing that is having to my lobster (read previous post.) Again if you know anything about this please leave all you know in the comments.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Pregnant Lobster?

Blue Lobster Foraging

It appears that my Blue Lobster is carrying something with its tail curled, possibly young lobsters? It has been cleaning and putting food under its tail. Please let me know in the comments if you know what this is and why my lobster is acting strangely, thank you. I'll be researching to find out what this is and let you know what I find out later.

Goodbye,

Birdman

My Dog, Max

Max is a 1 year, 340 days old Pug. His favourite things to do are go for walks and take long naps. His favourite toys are his blanket, rope and "bouncy ball". Max sleeps on his bed, our sofa and our couch, during the night he sleeps with me in my bed. He is very active, entertaining us when somebody has just entered our front door. Pugs are known as "big dogs in small bodies" for his big personality behaviour. When visitors leave he is sleeping quietly on his bed only "rolling" his eyes at people when they call "Max, come!" When are quite privileged to have such a friendly, entertaining dog in our home, thank you mom and dad for adopting Max, our Pug.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Family Day

Family Day is not a official holiday, it was made by a lower group than the government party so most people have to work on this day. Only a few schools consider this day a holiday so most people still have to go to school on this day. The only people that celebrate this day are people in Saskatewhan, Manitoba, Ontario, Arizona and Australia. Anyway, we may be going swimming today.
Goodbye,
Birdman

New Classroom

In a few weeks we will have new classrooms.

New E-mail Address

If any of you are uninformed, I have a new e-mail address. It is swpsnook@hotmail.com its also my new Messenger address. Please pass this on so I can get all my contacts back. Thank you.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Ice Fishing Trip

Me Ice Fishing

Today at 11:00am we checked the weather which was -26 degrees Celsius, so we tried to rent a hut a Belwood Lake but they were all rented, so we dressed warmly and packed all our ice fishing supplies. Then we went to the tackle shop and bought some live minnows and drove to Belwood Lake, the ice was 26 cm thick so we paid and parked by the lake. Apparently nobody had caught anything, but we still went on the lake and drilled 4 holes. Then we started fishing, first I used a small weighted jig tipped with waxies for 40 minutes, starting at 125 cm deep and raising it 12.5 cm every 10 minutes. Then I used the same technique but with the jig tipped with live minnows instead of waxies for 40 minutes. Unfortunately while I was doing this I had helped my dad drill another hole and missed a bite. Everyone was starting to get inpatient so we all switched holes and techniques. Then it got even worse, my fishing rod broke, it got even colder and my brother had to go to the washroom, so we left. We went to Tim Hortons and had a snack and drove around Guelph Lake. A few people were ice fishing there but the rest of the lake looked to be never walked on, so we didn't fish there and went home. Hopefully next time we will have a better time, thank you mom and dad for making this possible.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Ice Fishing Trip Tomorrow

Tomorrow we are going ice fishing at Belwood Lake, my dad said its safe there and it will be about -15 degress Celcius so we can go for sure. This is going to be a family trip, we have all researched ice fishing and we have all our gear. I can't wait!
Goodbye,
Birdman

Ice Fishing Trip Soon

This Saturday we are going to Belwood Lake to ice fish for Panfish. Check my blog tomorrow for more details, I will write about our trip on Saturday.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Koinonia Christian Academy

Sorry I haven't done a blog post in a while, it was because I had a lot of homework lately. Anyway after this Christmas break I have been going to KCA because I was being bullied in my old school. My teacher is Mrs. Collard and I've made 5 friends there; Aaron, Jonathan, Josiah, Max and Wolfgang. My birthday was January 12th and I had a party on January 17th. Unfortunately Aaron couldn't come, but we still had fun. The party started at 1:00pm and everyone arrived on time. First we played hockey for about an hour, Wolfgang and Max were very good. Then we went inside and ate, Max made us laugh! Next we played the Nintendo Wii, we played Wii Sports, we all increased our skill level about 50 points. Then we played Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. We unlocked high jump and set some world records. We had a lot of fun, then everyone left accept Josiah so we played the Wii again. We unlocked Archery and played floor hockey and Magnetix. It was a lot of fun, then Josiah left at 8.
Thank you guys for the gifts, they are awesome!
Goodbye,
Birdman

New School

New Year's Eve

I am celebrating New Year's Eve by having a sleepover at my friend Zack's house. I will write about it tomorrow. How do you celebrate New Year's Eve and what are your New Year's Resolutions?

Goodbye,

Birdman

Technical Difficulties

If any of you have a blogger page and know how to fix the problems with signing in? Please, leave any suggestins in the comments.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Christmas Day

Today is Christmas, here is how my day went. This morning I woke up at 8:00am then I woke up the rest of my family. We went downstairs and Jesse and I opened our presents, at 10:30am all the presents under the tree were opened so mom and dad surprised us with the best presents, Jesse got a mini snowmobile and I got a video camera. We had a big family breakfast then at 1:00pm we went to Aunt Lori's and Uncle Bruce's house. We had a great party, then we had another big family meal and partied until late. Then we drove back home and its 11:00pm. How did your Christmas Day go?
Goodbye,
Birdman

Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus. It took place from December 25-January 7. That's how the 12 days of Christmas came to be known. It started when Mary and Joseph were engaged, the Lord gave Mary a child without Joseph knowing she had a baby this way. Joseph didn't want to get married anymore but that night he had a dream. The dream was about a angel telling him that the Lord gave Mary the child spiritually and told him to name the child Jesus, meaning God saves. Mary was about to have the child so God told them to go to Bethlehem to have the baby. They did, but they could not find a place for the baby to be born so they went to a stable. Meanwhile 3 wise men saw the Christmas Star, they knew this meant Jesus was born so they went around Bethlehem asking people where Jesus was born. King Herod heard about this so he sent people out to kill him. The 3 wise men realized the Christmas Star would guide them to where Jesus was born so they followed it and found him. The first wise man gave Jesus, Gold. The second wise man gave Jesus, Frankincense. The third wise man gave Jesus Mirth. Then Joseph had a dream about another angel telling him to get out of Bethlehem because King Herod sent people out to kill the child. They did and that's the true meaning of Christmas.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Hike At Homer Watson Park

Today at 9:00am my dad and I did some Erinn's then we went to Homer Watson Park. We arrived there at 11:00am we started walking in the trail I heard a very quiet bro. I heard it continually until I heard chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and other forest birds. Then the bro started to get louder and finally my dad heard it. Everything went quiet for about ten minutes then all the birds started singing again. This was obviously a male Snowy Owl, I was very excited because I have never seen or heard a Snowy Owl before. Now I can finally say I've seen or heard all the owls in southern Ontario, even the rarest ones! This day will be very remember able for me! Have you seen all the local owls in your area? If no, I hope you do sometime. If your a intermediate birder like me you'll know how great it feels to accomplish this. To find out what level of a birder you are go on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (http://birds.cornell.edu/), go on All About Birds and take the Bird Brain Challenge. I will be posting pictures again once the temperature rises to at least 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit in Kitchener.
Goodbye,
Birdman

New Winter Birds!

Some of you who live in southern Ontario may have seen Common Goldeneyes and Snow Buntings recently. If you have seen these birds or any other birds please make an account on eBird (http://ebird.org.) It is a website where you report your observations and helps orthinologists study birds. These birds have arrived a little late due to the recent fierce storms in southern Ontario, also they had to take a different route due to the storms in New York and other northern states. Anyway, some of you may have neve heard of these birds so here is a few facts about them. Goldeneyes nest in tree cavities near water. They winter in small flocks by water. Best indentified by bill and head. The Common Goldeneye or Bucephala clangula has a length of 18.5 inches. It has a wingspan of 26 inches and a weight of 1.9 pounds. Flies with deep wingbeats. The Snow Bunting

Hanukkah Begins

Today Hanukkah begins, Hanukkah is a Jewish ceremony which is eight days. It all started when Jews were on a journey to see a great lord, they went in a temple and only had canvas olive oil for one day. They needed this for something important, although it lasted for eight days, therefore Hanukkah is eight days long. For more information about this, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hanukkah/.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Solstice

As some of you may know, today is Solstice. Solstice is also the first day of winter. It happens twice a year, once on the first day of summer and once on the first day of winter. In summer it would be a northern solstice, this means the sun reaches its highest arch and the sun is the most high on that day also this is the longest day of the year. In winter it would be a southern solstice, this means the sun reaches its lowest arch and the sun is at its lowest, also its the shortest day of the year. That's about all I learned from research, so I'll move on to a different subject. The bird of the day or in this case the bird of the weekend is the Bald Eagle or Haliaeetus leucocephalus. The fierce aspect of the grand North American raptor, so clearly on display here as it swoops in on an icebound fish, makes this bird a fitting choice for our national symbol. After spending many decades on the endangered species list, it has made a welcome comback in the lower 48 states in the past 20 years. It has always been abundant in Alaska, where this photo was taken. Bald Eagles acquire their adult white-headed plumage after four years. Arthur Morris, USA
Goodbye,
Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 8)

On Friday, December 5, 2008 the cruise ship docked at Freeport, Bahamas. We spent about an hour there trying to get a good deal on a tour, but eventually we did. He was an excellent tour guide, he took us wherever we wanted to go and for only $80.00. Of course we gave him a 25 percent tip! First we went to a nature center but it was closed so we went to a park. Dad and I spotted so many birds and butterflies that we couldn't identify. Then we went to the beach with Mom and Jesse, it was beautiful! Unfortunately it can't show you a picture of it because I deleted my photos from my camera as I thought I was done with them and it filled up my memory card. Anyway, we didn't stay in the beautiful paradise long because the under toe was very, very strong and could pull us in 4 feet of water within seconds in just one wave. Next he brought us to a dolphin conservation, where they were free to swim back out to sea although they didn't because they were feed. That was the end of the tour and there is my cruise trip in eight posts! Hope you enjoyed how I told you it!

Birdman

P.S. I will try to get those beach pictures from Freeport.

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 7)

On Thursday, December 4, 2008 I went to a late night and early morning party for kids on the cruise. It started at 10:30pm and went to 3:30am, I came in early when the normal kids program was going on and they were watching the end of Fried Worms. A few kids left and then we began the party. It started by dancing games then we did face painting. There was two teams, with two designs they were Team Red and Team Blue. After we were done, we played capture the flag and Team Blue won 2 0. Then we went to play video games, I played the wii for a while then I went back to my stateroom.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 6)

Drabber adult Violet-crowned Hummingbird sitting on nest

On Wednesday, December 3, 2008 the cruise ship docked at Isla Ronda, Honduras; a island off the cost of Honduras that Hondurans claimed. We got of the boat and met with the Pirates, Birds and Monkeys group of the Caribbean as with booked a spot for it. They took us on a tour bus to there conservation area. Lets just say it wasn't a pleasant ride! After it was over, our tour guide let us have a washroom break, then we began our tour. First she brought us to a special, endangered tree that had roots that could spread 3-5 miles! Then she brought us to a plant, if you touched it's leaves they would close up and open again a few minutes later. Next she brought us past a cacti garden and in an artificial cave. She teached us about pirates that used to live in Isla Ronda. Then we had to cross a bridge to interact with the birds and monkeys. First we did the birds, all of us had fun, there was lots of parrots that had probably been rescued as though some of them had damaged beaks, faces and feet. We could only hold the healthiest ones which were the Military Macaw and the Scarlet Macaw. Everyone got to hold them and they tasted my hair when I was. See my profile picture for them. Then we went to hold the monkeys, as we walked there I noticed some of the parrots had followed the group and the White Rats that lived in Honduras had no ears or tail and appeared to be large rats. Most people were a little scared of holding the monkeys because they can make you feel uncomfortable the way they sit on your shoulder. After that we went to the beach, although everyone else went in the pool. We had lots of fun although I forgot to bring a towel. Then it started raining so we went back to cruise ship. Of course the rest of the day we relaxed.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 5)

Adult Nonbreeding Elegant Tern Diving

On Tuesday, December 2, 2008 the cruise liner anchored a few miles from Belize City, Belize. First we had breakfast, then we took a boat to Belize City and shopped. I also birded, and saw many gulls, terns and other Diomedeidae, Procellariidae and Laride birds. Including the Elegant Tern which I posted a video of (above.) Anyway we didn't do much because it was dangerous out of the city and tourists weren't recommended to go out of it. Although mom and dad bought me a collection of butterflies and Jesse got a drum made from Bolivians. I think mom regretted it though because he drove us crazy trying to play it! After that we had lunch and went back to the cruise liner. It had to anchor far from Belize because the government of Belize protects the reef by Belize which is the second largest in the world! Uncle Bruce and Aunt Lori went away from the city and had a tour of the the island. By the way they told us it sounded like they had a great time, they saw Herons, Iguanas, Insects and other interesting and rare animals. But I'm glad I didn't go because it was to big of a risk, I really wish Belize and Guatemala could be peaceful. When we got back we just swam for the rest of the day.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 4)

Adult Female Magnificent Hummingbird

On Monday, December 1, 2008 the ship docked at Cozumel, Mexico. We had breakfast then we went into Cozumel and took a tour around the island. First our tour guide stopped at the Mayan Ruins so we could walk around for 30 minutes and explore. Before we entered we had to pay to see the Mayan Ruins, then we started our hike. There was lots of birds, butterflies and nature everywhere. Although, no animal could stay in sight long enough for a picture except a hummingbird that I took a picture of (above.) But we still had a good time exploring all the ancient Ruins that were build by Mayan Cultures. Although some of them seemed pointless like large, deep holes without signs beside them to explain the purpose of them. Anyway, our grandparents were getting tired so I quickly took some pictures of flowers and we walked back to the tour van. Next he took us to a place which was like a plaza or something. As we walked in on the stepping stones, a 10 foot snake was there to greet us! Mom of course was frightened so she left but they asked if I wanted to pet their iguana. I did, although I may have regretted it as I forgot to wash my hands after. I wanted to take a picture of all their animals but they wanted about $10.00 for a single picture! So mom pretended to take a picture of us but she was trying to take a picture of the snake. They caught her and moved the snake. Then we went down to have some fun at the beach but salt was splashing on my camera. Luckily it didn't damage it, mom bought us some fries and we left. On our way to the tour van we saw some grackles and a crab which I got a picture of, it quickly ran away so everyone got back in the van and he drove us to the ship and we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Birding at Riverside Park and Linear Trail

House Finches
Black-capped Chickadee

Grey Squirrel

Herring Gull

Black Scoters (left) and Buffleheads (right)

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Shrike

Cedar Waxwings

Cedar Waxwings

At 10:00am, Ruth picked me up and we went to Riverside Park and went birding. We only walked for about 10 minutes because of Ruth's knee having an infection as you know from her blog. Although we saw, American Crows, Northern Cardinals, House Finches, European Starlings, Rock Doves, Mourning Doves, we got to hand feed Black-capped Chickadees and Grey and Black Squirrels. Then we went to Linear Trail to try to spot the recent Juvenile Bald Eagle sighting. Unfortunately we didn't, although we saw Herring Gulls, Black-capped Chickadees, Black Scoters, Buffleheads, Canada, Geese, Mallards and a Red-tailed Hawk. So we went to a place someone else had spotted an eagle but the river there was frozen so we had no chance of seeing one. Next we went to a road with many Pine Trees because someone spotted White-winged Crossbills there recently. We may have seen them there but I don't have any prof. Anyway we did see Northern Shrikes and Cedar Waxwings roosting and feeding their young. Then we went to Tim Hortons for lunch I had the Chili Combo a Ruth had a Steeped Tea. After having lunch we went to Ruth's house to pick up Becka and drop her off at a friend's birthday party. Then we drove me home at about 3:00pm...seeing more crows! We saw a total of 21 species of birds! Although we didn't see White-winged Crossbills or Bald Eagles I still had a good time, thank you Ruth for taking me birding with you!

Goodbye,

Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 3)

On Sunday, November 30, 2008 we wen to a karioke show a dinner. I can't write much because I only stayed for a bit.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 2)

Atlantic Adult Nonbreeding Brown Pelican Gliding

On Saturday, November 29, 2008 my dad and I went birding again and saw lots Pelicaniformes (pelicans, tropicbirds, cormorants, etc.) In fact that's almost all we saw that day. Here is how it began; after having breakfast and getting ready we took a shuttle to Port Canaveral, Florida where the cruise liner would be setting sail. As soon as we arrived there, I saw albatrosses, frigatebirds, gulls, terns, grackles etc. and the line for the cruise was about a kilometer long! Fortunately my grandparents had a VIP from the suite they booked in the Marriot Hotel so we could cut the line. When we got in, our passports had a B2 stamp on them and they thought that we didn't live in North America. After a while they let us board the ship. We got on the 3rd Deck and we all got our picture taken for an ID for our Sail & Sign Cards. We went to our room, unpacked and explored the ship. On the 10th Deck we decided to stop to go birding. I saw a variety of gulls, gannets, albatrosses, terns, pelicans, anhingas, cormorants, vultures and lots more. Then we set sail out into the Atlantic Ocean. When we had dinner the waiters were excellent and funny. After dinner we had a great time but then we went to bed.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Carnival Glory Cruise Liner Trip (Part 1)

On Thursday November 27, 2008 we drove to the the Toronto Airport and flew to Orlando, Florida then we stayed at the Marriot Hotel. The next morning we had a big breakfast at the hotel while we were eating I spotted many birds out the window, including; bitterns, anis and warblers. After breakfast we went birding at a pond by the hotel and the were domestic and wild waterfowl foraging in the shallow water. Also I spotted a school of large cichlids in the water resting at the surface. Next I saw a Anhinga far in the water swimming in a way that made it look like a snake, this is why its nicknamed the "snakebird". Although everytime I tried to take a picture of it, it would dive underwater for a couple of minutes and come back up in another place so I gave up. Then we went to the mall for Black Friday but it was very busy and we all regreted going there all day but I did see a lizard in the flowers outside the mall. Then we had lunch and we back to the Marriot Hotel and I went birding again in another pond with my dad. We saw egrets, anis and lots of other birds. Unfortunately I accidentaly deleted most of my pictures so we had dinner and went to bed.

Goodbye,

Birdman

4 Days Until Cruise!

Cambridge Pound/Wild Turkey

Adult Nonbreeding Male Wild Turkey

Today we took the cat to the pound but they wouldn't accept it because we lived in Breslau (out of the Cambridge region.) So we made a deal, my mom gave them $5 to drop off the cat. They said he would find a home quickly because of how playful, cute and nice it was. Later, on the way home from Cambridge we noticed a large bird standing by a harvested corn field. We parked by it and my mom took some pictures of it with her iPhone. When we came home I identified it and it was a Adult Nonbreeding Male Wild Turkey.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Stray Cat

Lately, a stray cat has been coming to our deck begging for attention, so now were caring for it until we get a call back from the Camridge Humane Society.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Max

Today after school we visited the vet, for a check-up for Max. Unfortunately he has the same problems but worse

Lazer Quest

Yesterday Scouts was having a party at Lazer Quest from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. My dad and I started driving at 6:30pm and it wasn't until 7:10pm when we found it. When we came in Scout Leader Phil gave me a Lazer Quest Card so I handed it in for a Lazer Quest Gun Activator. Eventually I found my scout group and one of my friend's friend was there with her sister. Her mouth was as wide as a human mouth could open when she saw me! I wasn't that surprised! Anyway the Lazer Quest Mission was just beginning so we followed the Lazer Quest Marshal for instructions, he explained to us how to play Lazer Quest and all the rules. We entered the room and he gave us all vests and a gun. Then we had 30 seconds to hide until we could begin. Then everyone went crazy, every corner I passed about 10 people shot me about 50 times. That put me in 26th place. The next round I made a team to make it easier (although every individual is suppost to be on their own team. Anyway this time was a lot better, we took corner shots at everyone! Until I turned my back, they ditched me. I went looking for them and a lot creepy things happened then but I won't mention them. But as soon as I found them they shot me about 100 times each! It put my score wwwaaayyy dddooowwwnnn!!! In fact I came in 19th place that time. Although it was fun, I don't trust my friends as much. I was sweating like crazy when we were done because they had no AC in there! Neither did I on the way home...Dad!
Goodbye,
Birdman

Re-Fish Feeding Time

A few days ago I failed to publish a video called "Fish Feeding Time". It wouldn't download because it was over 20 seconds long. So here is a shorter, more edited version of "Fish Feeding Time". I hope it will publish this time.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Max

I bet some of you are thinking I haven't done a blog post on Max in a long time so here is an update about him. He has a few miner health issues; he is having a allergic reaction on his ear and belly but we are taking him for surgery on Thursday, he is 1 pound over the maximum weight for his age but we are feeding him special food and walking him everyday. Also we have to risk him running away when we walk him because his collar doesn't fit over his coat but we only walk him around the back of the house and we are keeping close watch on him. Of course once Spring begins he can go for larger walks with a collar and leash.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Snowy Day

SNOWY DAY

http://birdman-nature.blogspot.com/

Share my blog with all your friends and family.

Also. check out these blogs:

http://bodysoulandspirit.blogspot.com/

http://the-becka.blogspot.com/

http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/

http://monarchbfly.com/

Bye,

Birdman

My Day

Rainy Day
Rainy Day

Rainy Day

Fish Feeding Time

Unfortunately the weather today was bad so we canceled the scout trip and I couldn't visit Ruth because she is feeling sick. So I had to find some other ways to keep myself entertained. Here is how my day went so far. I slept in until 10:00am then I looked after the fish and watched Family for 30 minutes then I watched WFN (World Fishing Network.) At 11:00am I went downstairs and had something to eat then I went over to the church to help Grandpa. I went over there and moped the floor, changed the dirty garbage bags with clean ones, took the garbage out of the sanctuary. By 2:00pm I was done so I went on Club Penguin for a bit and there are having a party at the dojo. I came back at 3:00pm and tried to get a video of me cleaning the aquarium but as I finished I realised I forgot to press the record button. Oops, that was a waste of time. Anyway I tried again and this time I did one called Fish Feeding Time (I posted it above.) Anyway now I'm working on a project, read about it tomorrow.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Scout Hike

Tomorrow at noon I am meeting at Scout Leader Phil's house to go on a hike. We will be walking in a trail for a while then we will come back at 6:00pm to his house again, then of course I'll come home and do a blog post about it.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Family Cruise Trip to the Caribbean

On Thursday November 27, 2008 somebody will be driving us to an airport in Toronto and the plane will take us to Florida. For a day, we plan to get a tour guide and go fishing. The next day we are going on a cruise and it will take us to the Caribbean for a week, stopping every day for a couple of hours at an island. Then it will take us back to Florida and we will be driven to the airport, flown to Toronto and will be driven to our house. Wow, that day will be tiring but it will be worth it. And we will be back late on Saturday December 6, 2008 and rested by the next day. Anyway here is everyone who is coming with us; Aunt Lori, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Ruth, Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Jesse and me, all nine of us!
Goodbye,
Birdman

Special Guest

Today at Breslau Public School a scientist and engineer came in our portable after recess. She explained to us about space and nearly everyone asked questions 10 times! She really made my classmates like space when she teached (no offense Ms. Walder.) Anyway after an hour she left and we continued with our next school period. I'll have more time to write about it tomorrow.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Remembrance Day

As you all know today is Remembrance Day. We had a assembly at our gymnasium about it, here is my story of it. At Period 4 our class was called down to the gymnasium for the assembly. We sat down there and waited for the other classes to show up. Once they did we began the assembly. Two people from each class and Mr. Grobe (our principal) carried a reef filled with Poppies. Then the Grade 7's read the poem "In Flanders Fields". Then Ms. Pealcha gave us ideas on what to think about in the two minute moment of silence. Then they played the advertisement about Remembrance Day shown on Television 2006 and 2007. Then we did our moment of silence and Mr. Grobe did a speech and we left. It was Period 5 by the time it was over.
Goodbye,
Birdman

My Weekend (posted on monday)

Major Aquarium Clean-Up

Today I cleaned my aquarium, I did the following changed 20% of the wwater, cleaned the cover and filter. and more.

Stunning Sighting

Today as I was walking Max I saw a snake eating a frog. Read more about it tomorrow.

Centre Island Trip

Yesterday after church we went to Centre Island, Toronto. At the parking lot there, we meet the Panterllesco family (we had planed to meet them there.) I asked them if they brought there DS's because I was hoping to go on via Bark Mode with them on our nintendogs game. Unfortunately, Lucus had broke his and Jacob wasn't interested in it anymore so they didn't bring them. Lucus brought his skateboard and Jacob brought his scooter. We walked while Lucus and Jacob rode their skateboards and scooters. On the way to the fairy our parents talked with Lucus' and Jacob's parents Joe and Heather. There was a long line up to the fairy but we didn't have to wait that long after we got our tickets.

Spectacular Fishing Day

This morning we went to the St. Jacob's Market. Like always it was very hot but the first few minutes we arrived there we spotted Michael, Lacy and Lacy's parents. We went shopping for a while and then grabbed something to eat. After that we went fishing at ______ _____ ___________ ____. It was amazing we got fish from bass to catfish and from sunnies to chubs. It was an amazing day on how many fish we caught. First Jesse caught a small catfish, then a small sunnie but after that we all started catching tons of fish! In fact the biggest fish weighed almost 5 pounds. That's a record for us! At about 7pm we left to go to a Grand River Trail. There the sign said there was pike and crappie and a guy told us there was bass. So we dropped our fishing rods in and my mom caught a bass and I almost caught a very strong fish and I think it was a trout. Anyway it was getting late so we left. All the species we caught were, Mudpud Catfish, Channel Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Bluegill Sunfish, Pumkinseed Sunfish and... you'll have to read tomorrow to find out. For the full inside story read my blog tomorrow. But for now, yawn! I got to get some sleep. Its almost 9:30pm! Anyway, Goodbye until tomorrow.

Fishing

Today we went fishing to the backwater pond again, although this time there was very little fish biting. Possibly it was because we fished in the early afternoon, but I don't know. Anyway here is our story. At 3:45pm we went fishing to a backwater pond. Soon there was a lily pad moving across the pond as if it was doing it by itself. We didn't see anything pushing it so I was a little spooked but curious on what was causing it to do that. About 20 minutes later it happened again but that time I noticed a brown thing pushing it. Few, that's a relief! Ahh, my mom just spoke and I didn't know she was there. Man, bad day for me because I'm getting scared and startled a lot. Anyway back to the story. Lily pads had moved for the second time but that time we knew a otter, beaver or muskrat did it. Then all of a sudden a fish jumped leaving ripples in the water. So, I tried to cast there but it didn't turn out so well. Neither did it when my mom casted there. Oh well, after that my mom caught a sunfish and small bass. Of course we let them go but I wanted to keep the sunfish but my mom says we can't eat sunfish...I know you can its just my mom won't believe me...isn't that right mom? Ha ha. Oops, my mom me type that. Ahh, stop tickling me mom! Sorry, but I still ain't deleting that sentence. You know what why don't you tell your side of the fishing story for once. No? OK. Anyway I had a good time which would have been better without the mosquitos though. Thanks anyway mom! Goodbye, Birdman.

Gone Fishin' ... Again!

Yesterday night my mom and I went fishing to a logal backwater pond off the Grand River. I had put a Grasshopper on my hook and my mom put a Nightcrawler on her hook. The fish kept nibbling the Grasshoppers off the hook so eventually I switched to Nightcrawlers. Then I caught a Pumkinseed Sunfish. Then my mom caught many small White Suckers, again I caught a fish but this time it was a small Largemouth Bass. After that my mom caught large White Suckers. Finally after an hour and a half we caught a fish we could eat. Its weird that everytime we go there at 8:30pm we start catching Rock Bass. Wait, at about 7:30pm a heron goes to the exact place and so do the geese. With the Rock Bass at 8:30 comes a night-heron and at 9:00pm bats come. Its like animals have a routine or can tell what time it is by how dark it is...Weird! Anyway, back to the story. Where was I, oh ya my mom finally cau

More Fishing

Yesterday night at 8:00pm we went fishing at a backwater pond. First I caught a sunfish, then my mom caught some suckers but around 8:30pm, everyone accept me caught many bass. Although we only kept 3 because most of what they caught were small. We came home at 9:20pm and I filled our laundry sink with cold water and placed the fish in it. By the next morning they were dead so I weighed and measured them and the largest Rock Bass (the one my mom caught) was 1 kg. and 21 cm. long. Then I cleaned them and placed them in the freezer. Now its evening and I'm typing this post. Even though everyone accept me caught "good fish" I still had a good time helping by putting worms on and taking fish off the hook. Thanks mom and dad!
Goodbye,
Birdman

Fishing, Fishing, Lots of Fishing!

Lately we have been catching lots of catfish, suckers, sunfish, bass and more but I will write about that tomorrow.

Praying Mantis (Video)

Praying Mantis Attacking Camera

Birding With My Mom (Pictures)

7 new species

Two days ago I saw 7 new species including the Northern Rough-winged Swallow and the Eastern Kingbird but I'm still not sure what the exact species of the rest are, all I know is that I've never seen them before.

Harold & Lois Chamberlain's 50th Anniversary: Family Reunion

Chipping Sparrow and Mourning Dove Feeding on Mixed Seed on a Platform Feeder
Jesse Jumping on the Trampoline

Our Family

Tom, Tim and Ruth Taking

Max being silly

Max playing with Tim

Tom playing horseshoes with my mom Michele

Uncle Bruce playing horseshoes with Aunt Ruth

My dad and Uncle Bruce at the BBQ

Becka and Mellisa being silly

This morning I woke to find Chipping Sparrows feeding young Brown-headed Cowbirds. Unfortunately, its just another bird that's been fooled by the cowbird. Anyway at 1:00pm people started coming and everybody got to meet each other and get some pics of each other. Around 6:00pm we started racing our ATVs and Dirt Bugs which was also very fun. We all had a fabulous time! It was a great day but now my dad wants to go birding with me so I got to go.

Goodbye,

Birdman

eBird

Today I have joined ebird to see what its like. Ofcourse it will not show my complete list of birds I've seen because I've been birding for over six years.

Cirque Du Soleil

Yesterday at 4:30pm we left to go to Toronto, while Jesse traveled with our parents I traveled with our grandparents reading books. At 6:00pm we arrived in Toronto and I then found out by my grandpa that people aren't allowed to take cameras inside because it may distract the artists at the Cirque Du Soleil. At the entrance of the Air Canada Center, security guards also didn't let us bring water for safety reasons. Our dad then took the water bottles back in the car and as soon as he came back we went inside showing the security guards our tickets. When we went inside we used the washroom and bought some popcorn, hot dogs, etc. At 7:00pm we went inside the room where the the artists would be preforming and waited until 7:30pm when the show started. The artists were amazing acrobatics and the clowns were hilarious. It was a very good circus although it was in french. They preformed until 9:00pm for a "intermission". During those 10 minutes we went to the washroom until 9:10pm. Then the show started again and they were very funny and agile. Then at 10:30pm the show ended and we drove back to Breslau. By the time we were home it was 12:00am so we all went to bed. Although Cirque Du Soleil was in french I would recommend anyone watching it! Thank you grandpa for buying those tickets!

Goodbye,

Birdman

Circus Du Soleil

Today at 4:00pm we're going to the Circus Du Soleil at the Air Canada Center (ACC.) We are coming back at 12:00am so I will do at blog about it tomorrow. My grandparents bought the tickets and they were very expensive. At the ACC there is thousands of rows or seats, and we got tickets for six (Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Jesse and I.) Even better still we got tickets for the seventh row! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! I've never been to a circus before and this is one of the best circuses in the world! Although I'm going to be very tired because we are going to be back around 1:15am. We are going to be gone for over 10 hours! We are leaving at 3:45pm and coming back at at 12:00am. It also takes an hour and 15 minutes to get there and on the way back. Although I'm going to be very tired its going to be very exciting to go to the Circus Du Soleil. Anyway I will write a blog about tomorrow.

Goodbye,

Birdman

Very Quick Post

Yesterday, I saw a Eastern Cottontail (Check for 2008). Today I saw a Eastern Bluebird (Check for life list).

Working With My Dad

This morning as I was taking Max for a walk I spotted many birds and insects. Including robins, blue jays and monarchs. Around lunch time I went to work with my dad.

Today's Adventures

This morning as a awoke I found myself on Max's side of my bed and Max on my side. Unfortunately he had sneezed and scratched leaving hairs and mucus on my pillow! So I traded pillows, there problem solved. So I got dressed and cared for my fish and my crab. Then went downstairs and fed Max. He wanted outside so I let him out and got myself breakfast. I had Frosted Flakes and Max had dog kibble or chow, whatever you call it. So I let him back in and brushed my teeth and cleaned my face. Then Max and I had free time until 10:30am. I walked to church (its right beside our house) and sat with Grandma until my parents came. They did and the singers began our first morning Praise & Worship. Then they did the thing with thing with the bread and blood (which is really a cracker and grape juice.) Then my Grandpa the leader of the church began preaching until the second morning Praise & Worship. Then my Grandpa dismissed the kids and we walked to the upstairs Connect Kids room. My cousins Lacy and Michael began teaching the story until noon. After church I played with Jamie, Mark and Dave. They went home and I walked back over to our house. I then made Jesse a blog which is http://dogsuperhero.blogspot.com . Check it out. We then had lunch and I wrote for Jesse on his first post. If he could type he would be a pretty good writer. After that we went on the trampoline and then I started taking Max for a walk. My mom followed and all of a sudden the sky got dark. So we had to walk back to the house. Then hundreds of Monarchs surrounded our Spruce trees but it just started hailing and a thunderstorm came. Unfortunately I watched the unsightly sight of hundreds of Monarchs falling to the ground. I could not bare watching the death of these beautiful creatures. After the hail-storm ended, I went on the computer and here I am writing this blog. Anyway, be sure to check out Jesse's blog at http://dogsuperhero.blogspot.com .

Goodbye,

Birdman

Homer Watson Park

Spotted Touch-me-not
Bank Swallows
American Goldfinch and Northern Flicker

Belted Kingfisher

Bumblebee on Bull Thistle

Least Sandpiper

Painted Turtles

Canada Geese

Song Sparrow

Today at 10:00am, Ruth picked me up and drove to Homer Watson Park. First, as we got out we put on bug spray and started walking. As soon as we did Ruth met one of her birding friends with her dog. She said she saw a Great Blue Heron so Ruth took me to where it was. We ended up seeing two herons and one of them was a juvenile. We continued walking and came across many touch-me-nots and Giant Ragweed. She said her daughter Becka was allergic to these when they were in bloom and so am I. Although they weren't in bloom I was sneezing repeatedly. So Ruth took me away from that area and...that felt much better. Next we saw many House Wrens fluttering about in the dense bush. Then we saw juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. OK, lets skip to the part where we saw the flicker because I can't remember what happened before that. OK, so we saw the flicker then a goldfinch came in the tree. Next we saw many Bank Swallows. There was lots of grackles, jays, crows, hawks, etc. the whole time. I can't seem to remember what happened after that, but anyway after a while we left at 11:00am to go to the swamp. We did and as we arrived there, the shrubs were very tall making it hard to bird watch. But in that area of the swamp we spotted two Great Blue Herons, a Belted Kingfisher and a Song Sparrow singing and chirping his little heart out. We moved to another area of the swamp and we saw a kingfisher there too. Including sandpipers, herons, turtles, etc. Then all of a sudden a line of Canada Geese swam towards us looking for food. Anyway hopefully I remember the whole story tomorrow but if want to best version of the story, visit Ruth's blog at http://bodysoulandspirit.blogspot.com/ .

Goodbye,

Birdman

My Day

Today at 8:00am I woke up and cared for the fish and the Hermit Crab. Then made my bed, had a shower, got dressed and went downstairs. There I feed Max and took him outside. Next I had breakfast and watched the Olympics. Then at around 10:00am I went outside again to bird watch. I saw 4 Black-capped Chickadees and 1 Dark-eyed Junco. After they left I went on the trampoline. By 11:00am my friends James and Harry came over to play. So Jesse came out and we played for an hour and it was lunch time and it started to rain. So they left and I went shopping with my grandparents. They took me to have lunch and I had the Angus Burger and we did various shopping. We came back at about 3:00pm and I took Max for a walk. But all of a sudden Max just stopped, I figured something was wrong so I turned back and Max ran to the house! Then it started pouring! Wow, dogs are really smart. So after that I cared for the fish and Hermit Crab again and watched some TV. You should have seen Max on the lazy-boy chair, it was hilarious! That dog follows me everywhere! Then I went outside to exercise a bit more. So I did 100 jumps on the trampoline then helped my mother cook and now its about 5:30pm so that means it super time.
Goodbye,
Birdman

New Dog?

My family is looking on getting another family dog. But we are not sure what breed to get. We need a small dog that has a similar personality to a Pug. Or maybe we should get a Pug. So far we have done a test to see what dog we should get. But the problem is that all of us came with different results. My mom came up with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. My dad came up with a Flat-coated Retriever. My brother came up with a Giant Schnauzer. Now I have to take it, or we could all do it together. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas on a good, small, family dog please let me know either by emailing or calling me, or you could leave the breed name in the comments. My email is samwpsnook@hotmail.com and my phone number is _____________.
Goodbye,
Bird man

Stuff

Last week we went on vacation to New Brunswick. We had lots of fun! We did lots of activities including, visting friends, going to the rocks, going to the beach in Shediac to catch critters. Also, when we came back I noticed some of my fish missing. The following species are missing 1 Columian Tetra, 1 Red Swordtail and our Betta. Unfortunately this means they must be dead, but after years of fishkeeping experience I learned that Bettas can hide in my castle ornament for a week or more. So I'll just have to wait a week to be sure that it is dead. The Tetra that is missing must of been the one that sulks away from the other Tetras. Because all of my Tetras seem to stay in the group. Or it could have been eaten by the lobster, but I would doubt that it died because of poor tank conditions because it seems to be at good water quality. The Swordtail that's missing could have died or eaten alive by my lobster. Altogether I am missing 6 fish including the Zebra Danio and my Mystery Snails, but I know how they died...Lobster!
Goodbye,
Birdman

Back From Vacation In New Brunswick

Sorry, no pictures but here is the story.

Back From Vacation In New Brunswick

Sorry, no pictures but here is the story. We had just finished packing and we were on our way . Jesse and I watched a few movies then played nintendogs on our Nintendo DS's. It was a long drive to the hotel and it was getting late after a whole day of driving. So we unpacked and checked in to the hotel and stayed there for the night. The next morning we started driving and arrived at one of my mom's friend's house. Her name was Leah (previous commenter on my blog). We unpacked there and slept in there upstair spare rooms. The next morning

Plecostomus

The Plec, Pleco or Plecostomus is a fish in the loricariidae (catfish) family. It comes in many diffrent specimens including, Golden Nugget, Zebra and Rhino. It is from South America and some specimens can get 3 feet long! They are very hardy fish which can stand temperatures from 0-30 Celsius but they prefer tropical temperatures from 23-27 Celsius. Also they will eat almost anything including algae. Which is why they are commonly kept in aquariums today. Despite their hardiness, if you want them at best they are not easy to care for. ph=6.5 Temperature=25 Celsius Food=They are omnivores so provide a varied diet, including, zuchini, meat and catfish pellets, etc. How many=Many aquarists say you can get more than one, but with my experience I prefer only getting one. Its best to have 20-50 gallons per pleco (depending on the specimen) Tank size=20 to 100 gallons (depending on the specimen). Tank region=Bottom and sides. Habitat=Provide a large aquarium with lots of caves, driftwood, plants, etc. For more information read my blog tomorrow.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Recent Activities

Two days ago Anette and Eric came over for lunch then Richard came over. When they left my mom went to the hair cutters and my grandparents went out for dinner. While my dad, Jesse and I stayed home to build the trampoline. When my mom and grandparents came back, I didn't know who my mom was with different hair and my grandparents said they saw fish for 99 cents. So, my grandpa took me to the store and we got 1 Pleco and 3 Zebra Danios for $7.19. I introduced them to my aquarium and my Purple Passion Danios were fighting with the Zebra Danios and the Lobster was fighting with the Pleco. Also, Jesse gave me his Crowntail Betta. By the next morning, the quarreling stoped. That evening Zack and Josh came over to race us on the ATV's. After a few laps around the field Noah and Lydia came over and we had lunch. Zack and I had a ketchup contest of who could have the most ketchup. Then we played the Wii and continued racing. We had lots of fun and soon my mom prepared a dessert. We all enjoyed it and we all did different things. Including playing our DS's, staring at my aquarium and holding my Hermit Crab. Then we went on YouTube. After that we gathered around the campfire and told stories. Soon everyone left and we went to bed. But the lobster wounded our Zebra Danio and it died.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Catching Up On Activities, etc.

My Aquarium
Hermy The Crab
Max
Max

Chipping Sparrow

Our Garden

Leah & Jesse

Fred & Leah

My Aquarium

Goodbye,

Birdman

Newborn Eggs

Today at 11:39am a pair of my Purple Passion Danios laid eggs. I put them into another tank with an air pump and some gravel and fairly warm water. They are so small I can barely see if the're reallly there! What do I do with nearly 400 Purple Passion Danio eggs?

More Fish

Today my mom, Jesse and I went to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping but my mom also bought me 3 Purple Passion Danios and 1 Otocinclus. My tetras seem to be very territorial to the Otocinclus, causing him to sulk in the corners. If this continues over the next few days, I will consider returning the Otocinclus to Wal-Mart. Although they have not given to much of a warm welcome to the algae eater, all the fish seem to want to school with my Purple Passions. These danios are very fast and eat any leftover foods. While the alage eater, obviously...eats algae and does it very well. For any more news about how the fish react to eachother and more stuff, continue reading Nature with Birdman.
Goodbye

Orange Lobster?

As you know I bought a Blue Lobster about a month ago and mysterously he is turning or should I say completely orange. Anyone know what caused this?

Problems/Birding Trip/Hermit Crab

Problems
Thank you to the people who have offered me help about the aquarium. But I can't change all my tank water because where would I put my fish while I'm doing it? Also I can't reduce the number of fish I have because the guarantee is over and because I don't and can't get more aquariums. Oh well!

Birding Trip
Today I went birding with my dad at Columbia Lake. We saw my first female Belted Kingfisher for 2008 and my very first female Bullock's Oriole!

Hermit Crab
Yesterday I got a pet Hermit Crab. The cage includes a 4 liter terrarium, Sea Sponge, Water Dish, Food Dish, Coconut Hiding Place, Artificial Palm Tree and Sand. He is still getting familiar with his or her cage. I will post more information about him or her tomorrow. Any ideas on what to name him or her.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Upcoming Events

Jul.10th-Getting a pet Hermit Crab
11th-Vacation Bible Camp Ends
13th-Vacation Bilble Camp Barbeque
14th-Going Birding With Ruth
18th-Friends over for barbeque and bonfire
25th-Camping
26st-Church Barbeque
Aug.1st to 6th-New Brunswick Trip
16th-Family Barbeque Party
17th-Church Picnic
22nd-Camping
29th-Trip to Ottawa
Goodbye,
Birdman

Aquarium in Low Conditions

Unfortunately my aquarium is encountering some even more serious problems. It has levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate which is very bad. Ammonia is fish waste but I think nitrite and nitrate is a harmful chemical. Anyway, any level of ammonia and/or nitrite can be lethal to the fish. I have tried many solutions for curing this but none of them worked, in fact its getting even higher levels. Maybe I used the wrong solution, maybe I overcrowded the tank, I don't know. All I do know is I think this caused some of my fish to have fin rot and I can't find a proper solution for it. Only to add on to the problems, my pH level is 8.2 and every week it gets higher by 1.2. So in just one week my fish developed fin rot, it has moderate levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and my pH is 8.2! It should be 7. Again, any help is needed and would be greatly appreciated. So, whether your a novice or pro at the hobby I ask you for help with this.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Pregnant Fish

My plan for breeding is working out perfectly, the fish I plan to breed is showing signs that in "breeding mode" and as soon as she develops a dark gravid spot near her vent. I can put her in the breeding trap. I would suspect her to be more territorial and quiet, although shes even territorial to her own mate. But with good news comes bad news, several of my fish are showings symptoms of "fin rot" which can erode the fins into the fish's body causing death. It is a very serious disease and not even PetSmart, Big Al's or Wal-Mart has a cure for it. So I could lose four of my fish! Very unfortunately the pregnant fish's mate is showing symptoms of this disease. So if that fish dies, it will cause both the female and their young to die. So altogether I could lose 5 adult swordtails and hundreds of fry swordtails!!! Unless I can find the cure for this, I could lose all of my fish because its contagious! So if anyone who's reading this blog can give me another way to cure this deadly disease, please do. I don't want to lose all my fish.

Goodbye,

Birdman

The Charles J. Whitney Nature Interpretation Trail

I have many other pictures of this trip from Cedar Waxwings to unidentified birds but there is some problems with the computer so I am unable to download them. Although it was a fairly short trip, I still had fun with my dad...Excuse me a moment

Max get of the rocking chair!

"It's his favourite chair to sleep on although he sheds like CRAZY so I don't let him on it"

"He won't get off, oh well back to our morning trip story"

Well, where was I. Oh ya, it was kinda short so expect the story to be short. My dad and I woke up at 6:30 and got in the Volkswagen. First we went to Tim Horton's, my dad had a X-Large cup of coffee and I had 10 Sour Cream Glazed Timbits. By the time we were finished eating our breakfast it was 7 o'clock so that limited our time for birding. First we drove in at the trail and started walking, we saw a large pond full of mosquito's and lily pads. We talked about how mosquito larvae would make a good supplement fish food. Then we moved on to the meadow and saw goldfinches, etc. Then the boardwalk which lead into a semi-dead woods. This had cedar waxwings, herons etc. On the way back we saw Mallards and an unrecognizable bird which was soon scared away by bicycle riders. So we could not gather any valuable information from the bird. But I got one poor picture of it but I'm unable to download it due to computer problems.

Goodbye,

Birdman

My Pets

My Aquarium
My Terrarium
My Little Crab Shack
My Dog
My Aquarium has been setup for two weeks and currently has 6 Columbian Tetras, 6 Red Swordtails, 2 Mystery Snails and 1 Blue Lobster. I look after this by:

Daily: Turn lights on for 12 hrs.

Check temperature

Feed fish flakes and lobster pellets

Check that all fish and invertebrates are present and healthy

Weekly: Wipe algae off front glass

Test aquarium water

Change 10% of the water

Feed plants plant food and fish bloodworms

Monthly: Maintain and replace carbon in filter

Clean hood and light tubes

Vacuum gravel

Prune plants

My terrarium has been setup for three weeks and currently has 3 Garden Snails. I look after this by:

Daily: Mist cage

Feed

Monthly: Change substrate

My little crab shack has been setup for one week and will be getting a hermit crab.

When I get the crab I will look after it by:

Daily: Mist crab

Feed and change water

Interact

Weekly: Bath crab

Monthly: Change substrate

My dog has been with me for a year and 5 months. I look after him by:

Daily: Feed and give water

Walk

Brush

Weekly: Clean face and ears

Monthly: Go to PetSmart and get them to groom him

Buy Max a new toy

Goodbye,

Birdman

Catching Up

Lately we have been doing some exciting things:
We moved
I have a new aquarium set up
We went to Niagra Falls and bingemans park on canada day
Soon to come:
I will be breeding the fish I have
We might be getting another pug
Making new friends

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

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Unfortunate Accident

The scene of the crime!
The scene of the crime!

Of course when I said the scene of the crime I was joking, here is the real story. A few days ago I was playing baseball with my friend Corina. She was batter and I was pitcher and I threw a screwball and she didn't swing and it smashed the window. From outside we heard a loud shattering, from inside my parents heard a loud pop. I didn't get in trouble because it was an accident, although I'm just not allowed to play baseball in our front yard. Unfortunately it will cost about $2000 to repair the window and Corina isn't allowed to play baseball with me because her parents think she'll smash a window too. Goodbye, Birdman

Point Pelee National Park (Part 4)

Common Carp

Koi

Blue Racer Snake

Fox Snakes

Painted Turtles

Mayflies

Wild Daisies

Dense Vegetation

Prickly Pear Cactus

Point Pelee National Park (Part 3)

Yellow Warbler Adult Male Eastern

At Point Pelee this year we saw and/or heard 3 species I've never seen before, Orchhard Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and American Redstart. I've seen 9 new species this year, Ruffed Grouse, Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, Forster's Tern, Black Tern, Cerulean Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Prothonatary Warbler and the Scarlet Tanager. Of course this is just a brief guessing as to I might of seen much more. Like over 50 species in total, although I was hoping to beat my record of bird sightings at Point Pelee (64)...I think. Do you think I should continue to write about Point Pelee or move on to other events. Please submit your entries in the comments. Goodbye,

Birdman

Point Pelee National Park (Part 2)

After waking at 8 we got dressed, comb hair, etc. It took us 'till 9 and we had breakfast and arrived at Point Pelee at 10. Then we parked at White Pine and we saw Orchard Orioles and Baltimore Orioles. We started walking at Chinquapin Oak Trail and there was birds everywhere. Including orioles, robins, warblers etc. Then we finished that trail and moved on to the Tilden Woods Trail. Here there was a group of birders watching Cerulean, Yellow and Prothonatary Warblers. Also American Redstarts, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I saw all of them accept the redstart. Then my dad saw the Scarlet Tanager. So we went to the Visitor Center and took the tour bus to the Tip Trail. Although we didn't get to see the tip because it was hailing heavily. We took the tour bus back and it was past noon so I finally convinced my parents to take me to the Woodland Nature Trail. We did and as soon as we did Jesse was tired, so Jesse and my dad went to find our van while my mom and I walked. We started walking and another group of birders were looking at something. They showed me and it was a pair of Yellow Warblers building their nest. They told my mom where another nest was and we kept walking. There wasn't much but Baltimore Orioles until we came to the Redbud Footpath. We only walked on it for a few minutes and my mom couldn't take it anymore so we turned back on the Woodland Nature Trail. There we heard a sound like a robin singing very fast and it was... a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We kept walking for a few minutes after that and we heard a warbler singing all these tones, notes and calls. We had no idea what it was! About twenty minutes after that we saw a male American Redstart singing its lovely song in the dense bush. But it was soon the afternoon and we had to start heading back. We did, picked up Max and went home. That is our Point Pelee Trip in two blog posts. Thank you mom and dad for taking me to Point Pelee National Park. Goodbye, Birdman

Point Pelee National Park

This long weekend we went to Point Pelee. This is how it began. Last Friday we drove to Kitchener to renovate. We slept overnight there and on Saturday morning we showed our grandparents how to care for Max and left to go to Point Pelee. It took a long time to get there so we watched "The Sandlot". By the time it was over we were near Point Pelee so we got a bite to eat and arrived at Point Pelee. First we drove to the gates paid the required money to visit and drove off to the Marsh Boardwalk trail. We parked got prepared to bird and started walking. First there was a family of Canada Geese and there was seven goslings. Next we saw some carp and Red-winged Blackbirds were everywhere. Then all of a sudden my dad spotted little green birds in the reeds. None of us could identify them so we kept walking. Ahead of us was a group of birders taking photos of something. We asked them and they were watching Black Terns. We got a couple photos of them and kept walking. Then a lady with a transmitter came to tell us she spotted twelve Fox Snakes. So from then we were on the lookout for Fox Snakes. (Red-winged Blackbirds are still everywhere.) Then the Black Terns came again ecept this time they came very closely perched to us. We could not miss this rare moment and got lots of photos of them. Then all of a sudden Forster's Terns came flying everywhere. And the little green birds came back but this time I noticed yellow on one of their bellies. Still we could not identify it. Next we saw twelve fox snakes and a blue racer and painted turtles. By now we were finished the boardwalk and I went on one of the lookouts to see what I could see. As a mater of fact there was lots of nesting Barn Swallows. We left, took a bathroom break and took the tour bus to the tip trail. The tip is the most southern tip of mainland Canada but there is dangerous currents so no swimming or wading is allowed. It started to rain so we didn't get to see the tip and drove to Point Pelee Inn. We had lots of fun on the water slides and played arcade games. It was soon our bedtime so we went to sleep. To be continued tommorow.

Upcoming Avents

May 17 Point Pelee National Park Trip Begins
Armed Forces Day
May 18 Point Pelee National Park Trip Ends
May 19 Victoria Day (Canada)
May 20 Quarter Moon
May 26 Memorial Day Observed
Spring Bank Holiday (United Kingdom)
May 27 Rachel Carson's Birthday
May 28 Half Moon
May 30 Traditional Memorial Day
June 2 Queen's Birthday (New Zealand)
June 3 Full Moon
June 8 Oceans Day
June 9 Queen's Birthday (Australia exc. WA)
June 14 Flag Day
June 15 Father's Day
June 18 Quarter Moon
June 20 Moving Trip To Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
June 21 Solstice
June 24 St. Jean Bapsite Day (Canada)

Unfortunate Inflamed Acident!

Unfortunately the bird had a upnormaly large belly and upnormaly small lungs causing it to have breathing issues. So the weaker it got late this morning it stop breathing while I was at school and died. Although it is both good and bad, good because we gave it love and attention and bad becuase if it didn't die, it would have a very painful life with its imflamed belly and very small lungs. This is probably one of the worst days of my life! Birdman

High Maintenance Bird

We've been caring for the bird until now but were not able to feed it at night. Here is what we do and tell me if we should change our schedule: We keep the young flightless bird under a lamp during the day and a hot water bottle under the basket during the night. From 7:00am to 9:00pm we feed it every hour. Anytime it has droppings in the basket we change the tissues. The basket has a towel and tissues above it then the chick rests on it. We feed it crushed up worms and apple sauce. For water we give it our freshed water. At feeding time we drop the food in and let it swalow then give it fresh water. Goodbye, Birdman

Found Homeless Young Bird

0-3 Day Old Young Bird

After school today my friends found a baby bird so I rushed over to see it. When I found it I looked everywhere for its nest, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I called my mom over to come help me take it home. We carefully toke it home and placed it in a basket (large enough for it to move) with cotton balls. We called the an animal place but none of them could come because they were closed. So we quickly gave it worms and water and now its sleeping. Mon@rch or anyone please tell me what to do with it, I don't know what to do?

Spectacular Adventure at McLaughlin Bay

Pair of Tree Swallows by the sunset
Pine cones

Baltimore Oriole

Flock of Canada Geese

Croaking Frog

Red-winged Blackbird sticking his tongue out

Marching Deer Bottoms Up!

"I'm out of here, these so called "humans" are scaring me!"

Beautiful Flowers

Peeping Frogs by the Marsh in the Evening

Yesterday my dad and I went birding at McLaughlin Bay. As we arrived there we saw a Song Sparrow on a post we got a few photos of it and kept walking. I decided to use my bird whistle and a Fox Sparrow was attracted to it. Check for 2008, we followed it to the marsh and there we heard the sound it made which was simliar to my bird whistle. We kept walking along the marsh to find Tree Swallows at a nesting sight. We wanted to leave them alone because they were courting, mating and building nests. Then along the trail came some White-crowned Sparrows foraging but something perfectly yellow caught my attention and was very curious about it so we followed it and it wasn't a goldfinch. It was something else but we couldn't figure out what it was in the dense hedge until it flew out. Showing its beautiful colors then it perched where we could identify it. It was a Yellow Warbler check for 2008. Then I spotted the coughed up remains of a owl, so after that we were on the lookout for owls at the lookouts. There was no owl but we had evidence there was an owl here the coughed up remains of a small mammal. Then hundreds of frogs were peeping and croaking so I got a video of it. Then in the cedar hedge came a very bright colored bird and after looking closely at it we figured it was a Baltimore Oriole check for 2008. When we were walking to another trail a rabbit came, and we followed it to another trail. Which lead us to a huge White-throated Sparrow almost as big as a Fox Sparrow. We followed the trail to a pond were Canada Geese flocks were flying overhead and a Canada Goose pertecting her nest in the middle of the pond. Then we saw a Red-winged Blackbird stickig his tounge our when he called then it flew to his mate and they both went to drink from the pond. Then both a White-crowned Sparrow came and a frog swam to the surface of the pond. Which at first I thought it was a stick. It was already dark and it was almost my bedtime, so we quickly followed the loop and there was a deer. As soon as it saw us it walked very slowly lifting their legs and tail and left. Then another deer came and did the same thing. By then it was very late and I was very tired but I thought we might see an owl. My dad spotted something even neater a racoon just climbing down his tree to get ready to hunt. My dad started hissing, swaying his arm and other disturbances but I still didn't move. I wanted my dad to stop disturbing it so I prented to take a video of him disturbing it and post it on my blog. Opps, did I say that outloud, uh oh I hope my dad doesn't see this but I for the racoon own good. No offense dad, ha ha ha! Anyway, thanks dad for taking me if you do see this post. Thank you mom too for hoping that I would see a new bird. Goodbye,

Birdman

Book Report

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008 I started a book report on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. It is due Thursday, May 22, 2008 so I might no be able to do a blog until then.

Goodbye,

Birdman

P. S. I might scan and copy my book report and publish it on my blog when I'm finished.