Early in the morning at the Arbo

Well, just as I said I would do, I went to the Arbo early this morning, and once again it was Pine Forest that took center stage. The Hawk was there again, but not for long, and the female Rose-breasted Grosbeak was back. I didn’t hear any Indigos but there were many Chipping Sparrows. I saw a couple of Orioles, a Blue Jay, a few Pine Warblers, the Eastern Kingbirds were there again as well. A lot of Robins (many were juvies), Grackles, Starlings, and of Course, the Crows. There sure seems to be a lot of those. Once again Blossom Corner was quiet. I didn’t quite make it to Pullin’s Pasture because I wanted to hang around Bobolink field to see if the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks would come back, but they didn’t, at least for the time that I was there. No pictures this time around. The birds were just way too active and would not sit still for a second. The lighting was not that great either at that time of day.

Monday, August 4, 2008

The acrobatic Downy

When I arrived at the Arbo it was a bit late, about 10:00 am. I usually head straight for the parking lot, then head out to Blossom Corner and Pullin’s Pasture. This time, however, I decided to stop at Pine Forest to see if there were any Pine Warblers around. Pine Forest was quite busy that morning. There were quite a few American Goldfinches, two Eastern Kingbirds, I heard some Indigo Buntings but couldn’t see them, then a Baltimore Oriole showed up and so did a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. There were also quite a number of Common Grackles, many juveniles in that group. Then the screech of a Red-shouldered Hawk above scared all the little birds away and Pine Forest fell silent. I looked up and saw the hawk, with two small birds chasing and dive-bombing it. I left and headed to my usual destination. The parking lot was full of Sparrows, and chickadees. Blossom Corner was completely silent and the Pasture had a couple of Blue Jays. By that time I didn’t expect to see much as it was kind of late. However, on the way back to the parking, I was greeted by three juvenile Cooper’s Hawks playing. They were chasing each other over the bobolink field. One flew and landed in the top of a tree while the other two flew into the forest. That was it for my entertainment except for a few juvenile Crows hanging around. When I reached the parking lot I looked around the trees and saw a very acrobatic Downy Woodpecker on a bark tree and then I spotted what at first I thought was the Three-toed Woodpecker that I have seen at the Arbo a couple of times, but what it turned out to be was a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Today I will be heading out to the Arbo early in the morning before work, so stay tuned.

A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak at the Arbo's Pine

Juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A very busy day in Pullin’s Pasture

If anybody was wondering where all the birds are at the Arbo, it seems they like the pasture. Today I saw one type of bird that I had never seen at the Arboretum before, a Black & White Warbler. The Cedar Waxwings also seemed to prefer the pasture today as about 5 of them landed in a tree just off the path where the old beat-up wooden shack is. The Blue Jays were also present and so were the House Wrens with the babies jumping around in the trees and bushes. However, what made my day was the sighting of one of my most sought after birds of the season. The Indigo Buntings. Now all I need to do is catch a Scarlet Tanager and I can sit back and wait for the Owl season.

The Bunting of Pullin's Pasture

Common Yellowthroat (male)

This little fella was hanging around Bobolink field. The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is a masked warbler that is more often heard than seen. The male (as seen in photo) has a distinctive black mask. They are common in a wide variety of weedy, brushy, and marshy habitats. This is the second sighting of this bird for me so far this year. My first sighting was in Iles-de-Boucherville, about 2 weeks ago.

Sources: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, Sibley, David Allen

All About Birds: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Yellowthroat.html

A Veery at the Arbo

The Veery is the least spotted of all the American spotted thrushes and one of the easiest to identify. Both sexes look identical. It is common in mature deciduous or mixed woods. Veery’s behavior is similar to Swainson’s Thrush.

This bird is often seen on the red path behind the office.

Source: The Sibley field guide to Birds of Eastern North America

             All About Birds http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Veery.html

Bobolink at stake

In the spring of 2006, the Arboretum northern hay field was restored to support the Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), a long-distance migrant which breeds in open grassy fields across North America and travels as far South as Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay during the winter.

The Bobolink, along with many other grassland species of birds, is in decline throughout its range due to loss of habitat and, whilst common when horses were the primary mode of transportation, requiring larger supplies of hay, it is now considered at risk.  The maintenance of suitable habitat for this species, such as that provided on our territory, is vitally important to the continued breeding success of this bird.  In addition, habitat that will support breeding populations of Bobolinks is also available for other species dependent on the same conditions.  We are fortunate to have this bird in the Arboretum although we know that there are less than even a very few years ago.  During the nesting season it is of paramount importance to their success that the grasslands in which they are found should not be disturbed by walkers or free-running dogs.

The breeding male is easily identified by the black underside and white patches on the upper wing covers, a coloring that stands out as he performs conspicuous flight songs and courting displays. A light yellow nape completes the portrait and you may easily imagine he has a broken egg running down his back. The female and non-breeding male present a drab camouflaged plumage and could easily be mistaken for a number of other species.

In high-quality habitats, males are often polygamous. They will help brood and feed the young of their primary mate. Secondary females are typically on their own, but sometimes get help from the males.

The female builds a loosely woven cup-shaped nest on the ground, well-hidden in dense tall grass. The exterior wall is made out of leaves and grass with a lining of finer grasses inside. 3 to 7 eggs are incubated for 11 to 13 days. The young leave the nest 10 to 11 days after hatching and can make sustained flights by day 16. Conservation measures include cutting hay late in the summer to avoid brood destruction.

Anyone seeing Bobolinks, or other less common bird species, is earnestly asked to report their sightings so that population information can be maintained as up to date as is possible.  Please send any sightings reports to Bird Protection Quebec at birdprotectionquebec@gmail.com

Sources: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobolink;
The Bird Web. Seattle Audubon Society.
http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?value=search&id=437;
All about Birds. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Bobolink.html

 

This photo was taken by Barry Solman who visited bobolink breeding territory on several occasions lately to produce this fine image for your enjoyment.

A male bobolink in his distinctive breeding plumage perched on Wild Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).

Baltimore Oriole

A Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) perched high on a treetop in Pullin’s Pasture.

While strolling through the pasture, I heard the sweetest song coming from the trees. I had to find out what was making that sound. I have seen a Baltimore Oriole before, but I had never heard its song. Today was the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

A Bumblebee in Blossom Corner

Take a walk through Blossom Corner, and you could barely hear the birds over the heavy buzzing coming from the trees. The bees have started pollenizing. Even the little ones got into the act. Bumblebees are superior to honeybees when it comes to complete natural pollinization. They work faster so they can visit more flowers per minute. Due to their larger size, they can carry larger pollen loads. Bumblebees will also work in condtions that other insects find intolerable. They can work in temperatures below 50 degrees farenheit.

 

Spring birding in the Arboretum

Our arboretum is a truly wonderful place to go birding - the checklist is over 180 species of which many, many can be seen during an ordinary walk around the trails.

A small group of people (raising funds for the MBO which is adjacent to the arboretum) spent several hours quartering the Morgan Arboretum today after starting at dawn in the MBO and the seed farm area … and as I cycled up there it counted as a Bigby day for me too. Total species for the day (dawn to 2pm) was 94 while my personal list was a happy 65.  This means that we managed to see 50% OF THE KNOWN POSSIBLE SPECIES FOR THE ARBORETUM IN A SINGLE MORNING.

I will list the birds I saw at the end of this posting … but first of all, the extensive route walked was this:

Which, when superimposed on Google Earth’s satellite imagery becomes:

Anyway - quite a spectacular haul of really nice birds. Spring has been hard going this year, but finally the birds seem to have arrived.

Getting the species counted was the main objective so I didn’t hump around my big lenses, but here are a few images from the round … I will turn these into a “virtual” birding trail for the website later in the month.

Here is the nest of a Baltimore Oriole;

Blossom Corner is magnificent this week:

A lot of bird identification at this time of the year is done by listening to the calls rather than seeing the birds clearly … here we have some serious, attentive, focussed listening going on:

Now - you are burning to know what the birds were that I saw today … and which you could see tomorrow, they’ll still be there:

SPECIES SEEN

Canada Goose, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Merlin, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Black-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird,Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing,House Wren, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Wood Thrush, American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, American Crow, European Starling, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Tennessee Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Pine Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler,Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Canada Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

… So, come on, get out there and do some birding. You must be able to beat our list.

My 1st Hummingbird of the season

Well, I finally got a photo of a Hummingbird (a Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Archilochus colubris). This little fella was buzzing around at the Blossom Corner. He finally settled down on a branch way up high. I took this photo on Sunday May 18, 2008. This is my 1st sighting of a Hummingbird this season.

Hal Trachtenberg