Mark your calendar! Get your birding ear back in tune – Grab your binos and butterfly nets…the Carden Challenge is upon us!
The Fantastic World of Bird Nicknames
Reading an article on woodpeckers, the author referred to a Pileated woodpecker as a “Logcock”. That was a term I had never heard and it got me thinking. How many birds do I know that have nicknames?
In the News: Wildlife On the Move
A decade ago, we would visit Niagara-on-the-Lake for a glimpse of these species, and marvel that their ranges just barely reached into the southernmost bits of Ontario.
Love Is In The Air – Barred Owls
Barred owls do not migrate, they are year round residents, so there is plenty of opportunity to see and hear them. Learn about these feathered friends.
Migrating Ducks are on the Move
It can really be an exciting time of the year, especially if you live by a lake as we do, for you never know from one day to the next, what species of bird will appear on the lake.
Roosting Boxes: Building a home for the winter
Many bird lovers either purchase or build nest boxes for their favourite wild birds: bluebirds, swallows, chickadees, nuthatches and many more. These boxes vary in size and shapes and in particular, the size of the entrance hole, depending on the desired species. We have had as many as 40 swallow houses on our property, and an equal number of bluebird houses on fence posts along the sides of the roads in our area but only after receiving the permission of the landowner.
Feeding birds during cooler weather
It’s fall again, and for many who do not feed birds all summer, it is now time to get those feeders out. Learn some insights from avid birder, David Homer.
Birding: A Run-in with Double-crested Cormorants
Double-crested Cormorants are anything but a pretty bird. They are prehistoric in looks and age, one of oldest bird species at about two million years. Painted images of them have been found in ancient North American caves and Egyptian tombs. There are about thirty Cormorant species throughout the world, the Double-crested are the only species in North America.
Birding: A Woodpecker Summer
Feeding birds in the summer features a different cast of characters from the usual winter crew. Nuthatches, chickadees and blue jays disappear, distracted by the duties of nest-building and egg-sitting. In their place, local woodpeckers have become regular visitors to the peanut feeder just outside our window.
Birding on the alvar: Wilson’s Snipe
One of the more interesting birds in our region is the Wilson’s Snipe. Classified as a Shorebird, this species inhabits flooded grasslands, bogs and marshes. They are frequently seen, as this one in the accompanying picture, standing on a fence post scanning the surrounding area and uttering a very loud and weird “tuck-a-tuck-a-tuck-a-tuck” call!