June 29 / the feeding

I watched two female red-wings on the feeder earlier, and fed the vegetables this afternoon.  Aside from the birds and plants, it's been a chores day. 

Common birds: house sparrow, starling, cardinal (pair), robin, grackle, downy woodpecker, goldfinch (pair?)

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (female)

the skipper / June 28

I found a little skipper butterfly in the lawn today, and at one point the robin perched on the top of our patio umbrella.  It's been overcast and rainy, which is good for the garden. 

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, grackle, goldfinch (female), starling, downy woodpecker, mourning dove

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (male)

Overhead: gull

June 27 / the peas

My little peas, which I kept in a pot on the deck this year, are blooming, and forming their first few peas.  Last year I got some to grow, but something(s), I think the starlings, ate nearly all of them.  The arugula lettuce is also blooming.  Among the birds today, I saw the woodpecker, and pair of red-wings.

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, starling, grackle, cardinal (male), downy woodpecker (female)

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair)

the nest / June 26

There is a robin nesting in the maple tree.  Our peonies are nearly finished blooming, but the day lilies are just starting. 

Common birds: mourning dove, robin, grackle, house sparrow, starling, blue jay

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

June 25 / the blue butterfly

I saw at least four butterflies today - the cabbage white, which is common, the swallowtail that I have been seeing often this spring, something orange, but it was so quick I can't tell what sort, and a tiny little pale blue one.  I saw one like it last summer, this is the first time this season.  This evening I ate my dinner outside, since it was so nice out.  A hawk was circling overhead, and after I brought out the binoculars for a look at it, I also saw two cedar waxwings up in the tall evergreen. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), starling, grackle, robin, goldfinch (male)

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), cedar waxwing

Overhead: red-tailed hawk

Heard: mourning dove

the red-wings / June 24

There were two female red-wing blackbirds at the feeder at one time today.  I watered the tomatoes and other bits of the garden in the early evening. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), mourning dove, robin, starling

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair)

June 23 / the heat wave

It was very hot and humid today, and is forecast to be the same, with some rain, for the next few days. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (female), robin

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

the thunder / June 22

I haven't been outside or at the window for long today.  Earlier the weather was lovely, but it rained at least once during the afternoon, and again this evening, and it's been thundering too. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, mourning dove

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair)

Heard: blue jay

June 21 / the summer

It's the first day of summer, and the first day I've skipped writing.  I was off doing other things, but I did spend a little time in my backyard.

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, starling

Summer visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair), brown headed cowbird (male)

the birds & the bees / June 20

It was a busy day in the garden!  I saw two hawks overhead earlier, and thought I saw one again this afternoon, but when I took the binoculars outside, I realized that it was a heron.  I fed & watered my vegetables, and checked out what the carpenter bees are up to.  They are  in our roof overhang - they don't eat the wood, but they make holes and create 'sawdust'. 

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, cardinal (pair), goldfinch (pair), grackle, mourning dove

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (pair)

Overhead: red-tailed hawk, great blue heron

Heard: gull

Previous Years' Birds - April 2012

I thought it would be good to compare my daily notes this year with some of the notable birds I've seen in the past couple of years.  In 2011 & 2012, I was not taking notes daily, or of all the common birds, but of some of the uncommon and migrating ones.  I wrote notes about them into a little book at the time; and I will say that I may have misidentified some along the way.  I will share them month by month, since putting it all in one post would be very long.  Where possible, I'm including what I thought the bird could be at the time, and what it is more likely to have been, in cases where my ID was uncertain. 

April 2012

golden crowned kinglet
common flicker
rufous-sided towhee
savannah sparrows? (more likely song sparrows)
white throated sparrow
red-tailed hawk

Next 'previous years' post will include May 2011 & 2012.

June 19 / the tree trimming

This morning included trimming overgrown and dead branches from some of the trees.  The viburnum pieces smelled awful!  After the noise had stopped, the birds went about their day. The cowbird flew from the neighbour's spruce to our feeder again, and a grackle on the grass fed its young one.  I watched a great TV program about Point Pelee National Park last night.  The park is known for its spring and fall bird migrations, which I knew, but it reminded me about it. 

Common birds: starling, house sparrow, robin, grackle, cardinal (pair)

Spring visitors: brown headed cowbird (male), red-wing blackbird (pair)

Heard: mourning dove

the robin / June 18

The birds have returned to the garden today, the female goldfinch sat in the tree out front for several minutes, and the female red-wing came to the feeder a few times.  Unhappily, I found a dead young robin.  It was out in the open, so I put it under the shrubs. 

Common birds: grackle, house sparrow, cardinal (pair), house finch (pair), robin, starling, downy woodpecker, goldfinch (pair)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair)

June 17 / hide and seek

The swallowtail visited again today, as well as a little orange butterfly.  It might have been a skipper, or possibly the question mark or comma.  I also saw a mourning cloak butterfly when I was out shopping.  There were two or more robins outside this evening chirping to each other.  I could hear the red-wing, but it seems to be hiding from me. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), grackle, robin, house sparrow, house finch (female)

Heard: red-wing blackbird

the peonies / June 16

I brought a few peonies indoors today, the stems had bent with the weight of the bloom, and the rain the night before.  It was raining this morning, but cleared up and turned into a breezy, warm, and sunny afternoon.  The birds were scarce, or just were not around when I happened to be looking. 

Common birds: robin, cardinal (pair)

Heard: red-wing blackbird

June 15 / the perch

Another gorgeous day outside.  I sat with my coffee and binoculars, looking at a spruce tree, or, more particularly, the bird at the top of it, a couple of gardens over.  It turned out to be a male cowbird, and he was joined by a bright goldfinch.  The cowbird flew over and landed on our feeder. 

Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay, robin, starling, goldfinch (male), cardinal (pair)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (male)

the blue jay / June 14

Today I was doing some paperwork, but did spend some time out in the lovely weather.  The blue jay was around, feeding a fledgling.  There was a bird overhead I think was a tern of some sort, it just didn't look quite like a gull, even though it was a quick sighting.  We are near a marsh, and lake Ontario, and we have seen terns a number of times.  If it was in fact a tern and not a gull, it was most likely either a black tern or a common tern.  Whatever it was, it was making a high, clear call.  The other call today was the male cardinal, which was sitting on top of the bird feeder at the time.

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), starling, blue jay

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

Overhead: tern?

June 13 / the orange butterfly

Today I saw a little orange butterfly.  I wasn't close enough to identify it, but I would say it was either a 'comma' or a 'question mark', which look similar, are orange with brown and white markings, and brown under-wings.  They are named for little white marks on the under-wings, which somewhat resemble the. 

Common birds: house sparrow, starling, grackle, robin, mourning dove, cardinal (male)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

the photos / June 12

The other day, I spent a little time going back through various photos on my computer, and came across some fun backyard wildlife and bird ones, so I'll look for complimentary future posts in which to share some of them. Today, I briefly saw the hawk flying, as well as the swallowtail butterfly. 

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, grackle, blue jay, starling, house finch (female), cardinal (pair)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (male)

Heard: gull

Overhead: red-tailed hawk

Probable: mourning dove, goldfinch (male)

June 11 / the geese

Another swallowtail butterfly was around today.  The weather was nicer - warmer, a little humid, mostly sunny.  We saw a V formation of Canada geese fly over, our peonies are starting to bloom, and the carrot sprouts are growing their first leaves that actually look like carrots (as opposed to nondescript seedlings).  I heard the blue jay again, but didn't see it. 

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, grackle, cardinal (pair), goldfinch (pair), house finch (pair)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

Overhead: gull, Canada geese

Heard: blue jay

the gutters / June 10

In stark contrast to yesterday, it has been grey and raining steadily since the wee hours of the morning.  Some work has been done today clearing out leaf litter from the gutters, which should stop the birds from flicking lumps of that litter onto the front porch for a while, and of course let the water drain as it ought to.

Common birds: house sparrow, robin, starling, grackle, cardinal (pair)

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (male)

June 9 / the adventure

My cat was very 'brave' today, and decided to go for a walk around the garden.  She likes hiding among the plants in the beds, even though she isn't really 'hunting' anything like some cats.  Later this afternoon, the red-wing blackbird perched on the top of one of the spruce trees, but only for a minute.  We have a burr-like weed growing in a couple of places, which I have identified - I think - as yellow avens (Geum aleppicum), a native wild plant. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), robin, starling

Spring visitors: brown headed cowbird (male), red-wing blackbird (male)

the balancing act / June 8

I may have seen a goldfinch, but it flew by so fast.  The male cowbird was on the feeder today, and I saw him do the same thing the red-wing has been doing, counter-balancing the perch. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), robin, mourning dove, starling, grackle

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (pair)

Overhead: gull

Heard: blue jay

June 7 / the bird seedlings & the clever bird

Our bird feeders stand in among flowerbeds.  This means that when the birds drop seed, and they do, some of it sprouts.  Every few weeks the soil has to get turned to remove these seedlings, which is one of the things I did today.  Most of it is millet, which looks grasslike when it sprouts, but the mix also contains sunflower seeds.  I decided to save a few of what I am pretty sure are baby sunflowers, let them keep growing and see what happens.

The red-wings, or at least one of them, have figured out that the perch lever on the feeder sticks.  It's designed so that when a squirrel, a heavy bird, or too many little ones, land on it, it closes.  It doesn't always spring open again right away as it should when the weight is lifted.  The red-wing sees this, lands on the back side of the lever, which counter-balances it and opens the feeder, then flies round the front, where he can land and eat without causing it to close again. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, starling, robin, grackle, blue jay

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair), brown  headed cowbird (female)

the dance / June 6

A pair of cardinals have been chasing off, or facing off with, a red-wing.  They chirp and fly at each other, jumping up from the top of the fence a couple of feet into the air and back. It's overcast, mid-teens, and has been raining steadily this afternoon.  There have also been some juvenile birds around again, including a starling or two, and at least one red-wing blackbird.  A dark, sort of ratty looking sparrow has been around, too, I can't tell if it is a young bird, or just wet. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, grackle, robin, starling

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair), brown headed cowbird (female)

June 5 / the road trip

As you may have guessed from today's title, I didn't spend a lot of the day at home, looking out my own windows.  We took a trip up to Craighurst, ON where a gallery shop is taking some of my textile work over the summer.  So, I was here first thing and back in late afternoon/early evening.  That said, the gallery has a lovely green space around it, grass bordered by mixed trees, and flower beds along the building - a great habitat for birds.  Although our attention was on the work, and I was without my binoculars and bird book, we did see a swallowtail butterfly, some large crows, a tiny warbler (or warbler like?), which was collecting dandelion clocks, presumably for nesting material, and a phoebe or flycatcher.  Granted in the case of the warbler it was a short look, and of the flycatcher it was from some distance without binoculars, so being specific would be guessing.  The warbler was probably female, grey brown, lighter belly.  The flycatcher had a creamy belly/chest, dark sooty head, lighter grey back.  It was difficult to get a sense of size or any more detail, but it may have been an eastern kingbird, or the eastern phoebe (smaller).

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, grackle, robin

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male)

the ice cream / June 4th

 Another nice day outside - we even stopped for an ice cream this afternoon.  While in the area, which is near river and lake, we saw a cormorant, and I think I saw a swallow, but it's hard to say for sure.  The patch of the garden under the bird feeder is again growing bird seed, including what looks like sunflowers, so I'm going to leave a few to grow and see what they are. 

Common birds: house finch (male), house sparrow, cardinal (pair), goldfinch (pair), blue jay, robin, mouring dove, starling

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), song sparrow

Overhead: gull

June 3 / the swallowtail

I was standing just a few feet in front of our irises earlier, and watched a swallowtail butterfly land on them.  It didn't stay long, but it was lovely. It's been sunny, breezy, and cooler.  I haven't been outside as much either, but it did seem the bird activity was a little quieter. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house finch, robin, house sparrow

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (female)

Images / June 2

In the amount of time it took for me to have a cup of coffee this morning, a half hour or a little more, I had already seen several of the birds I saw today.  Again, a hawk was being chased off by a couple of other birds today.  For some reason, the hawk seemed smaller than the red-tailed hawk I usually see, but it was really hard to tell with it flying so high and quickly, and being unable to see the top side of the tail feathers - which, in the red-tailed hawk, are reddish brown and useful to identify this bird. 

I've set up a Pinterest board to compliment the blog, with pictures of various Ontario birds, including most of the ones I see, and some I haven't.  It's hard to take good pictures of my own of the birds, though I will try to occasionally.

Common birds: mourning dove, grackle, house sparrow, cardinal (pair), house finch (pair), robin

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (male), brown headed cowbird (female)

Overhead: gull, red-tailed hawk

Heard: blue jay

June 1 / the sprouts

Another warm day.  The snails have been liking the rain - I watched one crawl over my hand this afternoon.  I'm also seeing some sprouts where I recently planted some carrots and other things.

Common birds: starling, house sparrow, cardinal (pair), house finch (male), robin, grackle, blue jay, mourning dove

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird, brown headed cowbird (male), chipping sparrow

Overhead: red-tailed hawk

Heard: gull

the flycatcher debate

I have been looking at web images, and re-visiting my bird book, and am beginning to think it more likely that the bird I called the least flycatcher in my post 'Previously Spotted' was actually an eastern phoebe, or maybe eastern pewee, the latter being similar but with clear wing bars. The least flycatcher is too small, more warbler sized. 

I've seen what I have called the flycatcher twice this season to date, once just a couple of weeks ago while gardening, and once some weeks earlier.  On the earlier occasion, the juncos were still around and that is what I thought it was at first - dark on top, light under, but looking longer, it was a bit bigger, longer, and had a black beak.  The second sighting, my attention was split between things, so I am assuming that it was the same type again, but did not have as good a look.