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