January 27, 2012 Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Florida

After reading a number of posts about a Fork-tailed Flycatcher near Ruskin, Florida I decided to take a quick run over to look for it since I was in the area for a few days. We arrived at 3:00pm and after a short while spotted the flycatcher at a distance sitting on a fence line. Had good views through the scope before it disappeared. At around 3:45pm it reappeared at the end of Lost River Trail and sat in one of its favorite trees and put on a wonderful display fly-catching. At that point we noticed that one of its outer tail feathers was missing. This was a first for my North America list, #715.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Fork-tailed flycatcher missing outer tail feather. 

Coming in for a landing. 

Perched in one of its favorite trees, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher would sit for a while before fly catching. 

The Fork-tailed flycatcher is a casual visitor to eastern North America. Most records are from the spring and fall season but a few occur during winter in Florida and Texas. 

Innis Point Bird Observatory 30th Anniversary Dinner

 Innis Point Bird Observatory 30th Anniversary Dinner and Silent Auction

February 28th 2012 @ 6PM

at the Marconi Centre, 1062 Baseline Rd.

Ottawa, ON

With a Special Guest Speaker

MICHAEL RUNTZ

“Lovers, Killers, Hoarders and Thieves: the

Untold Story of Birds"

Michael has been an enthusiastic birdwatcher since the age of five. He

has worked as an interpretive naturalist in provincial and national parks,

conducted biological surveys across Ontario, hosted an international

television series Wild by Nature, published 10 books on natural history

(the latest is titled Natural History), written more than 1,000 newspaper

and magazine natural history articles, and currently teaches Natural

History and Ornithology at Carleton University. Through the years,

Michael has received numerous awards including the Council of Canadian

University Biology Chairs Public Science Education Award, and the

Carleton University Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tickets: $40 (or $300 for an eight‐person table)

Cash Bar

Free Parking

Purchase tickets by February 18.

No tickets sold at the door.

For tickets call/email: 613‐725‐2362, e.slump@rogers.com

613‐255‐7584, procorvus@hotmail.com

For more details and updates, check out our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/InnisPointBirdObservatory

Introduction

Founded in 1982 as the Ottawa

Banding Group, the Innis Point Bird

Observatory (IPBO) is located along

the Ottawa River, near Shirley's Bay,

in Ontario, Canada (just 16 km west

of Parliament). IPBO is a registered

Canadian charity dedicated to the

study of birds and natural history.

IPBO members/volunteers participate

in projects year-round at Innis Point

and Ottawa area.

Projects

• Spring Migration Monitoring

Program (SMMP)

• Monitoring Aviation Productivity

and Survivorship (MAPS)

• Bluebird Trail

• Tree Swallow Nesting Boxes

• Purple Martin Colony

• Winter Bird Feeders

• Osprey Nesting Platforms

• Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding

• Snow Bunting Banding

• Butterfly Garden

IPBO is a member of the Canadian

Migration Monitoring Network:

www.bsc-eoc.org/volunteer/cmmn/ IPBO

http://www.ipbo.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/InnisPointBirdObservatory

info@ipbo.ca

January 25, 2012 More backyard birding

After yesterdays excitement my feeders were back in action with many of usual visitors. The American Goldfinch were busy with the niger feeders while Mourning Doves fed below picking up any seeds that fell. A European Starling almost back in spring plumage devoured the suet as both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers waited. Unfortunately no Saw-whet today, likely a "one day wonder".

American Goldfinch enjoying niger seed. 

A European Starling sits on top of the suet feeder. Note the lack of spots now and bill colour  turning yellow. 

Once a rare winter visitor the Mourning Dove is now a regular feeder  bird during the winter months. 

January 24, 2012 New backyard bird, #172

After spending 4 days birding/owling on Amherst Island in search of Northern Saw-whet and other owls, I find one in my backyard! A new species for the yard list, #172. Fortunately, I heard a Black-capped Chickadee giving a soft scolding dee-dee-dee call from our cedar hedge and I investigated. Sitting about 7 feeet up in a white cedar was the owl.   I've now recorded 5 species of owls on my property including Great Gray (during the invasion winter of 2004-05), Barred Owl, Great Horned Owl and Eastern Screech-Owl. The owl struck around long enough that Ben got to see it after school. Anything is possible!
Good Birding, Bruce

Northern Saw-whet Owl #172 for my yard list! 

January 21-23, 2012 More Amherst Island birding

 The island raptor numbers continued to change by the day. Over a 3-day tour we managed to find everything that was in the "Owl woods" on my Friday tour but if took a lot of searching! With a very low number of owls it takes longer to locate them and we never had the same owls the following day. On Saturday, January 21st, a late afternoon visit produced both Snowy owl and Short-eared owl but no owls in the "Owl Woods". On January 22nd our first run out we found a Northern Saw-whet Owl, different from Friday's. It made me wonder if there was a movement of saw-whets either north or south? A late afternoon visit to the island produced "0" owls. Not sure if everything is just moving around the island. Our final visit on January 23rd to the "Owl Woods" was again different. No saw-whets but I finally located 1 very  cooperative Long-eared Owl which made the day! We did a quick run around the island and found a small number of hawks, total 20, with the high count coming from Northern Harrier 8, Red-tailed Hawk 6, and Rough-legged Hawk 6. There is very little snow on the island and it appears that there are few rodents. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

good birding, Bruce

A Short-eared Owl  roosting in a White Spruce.  

I've observed Short-eared Owls roosting numerous times but this was my first time to actually see one sitting and able to photograph it.  

A Northern Saw-whet Owl sitting with prey. 

So far, very few Northern Saw-whet Owls have been observed this winter. 

Even Long-eared Owls has been very scarce this winter. 

Sunset on Amherst Island. 

January 20, 2012 Amherst Island birding

The bird activity on Amherst Island continues to change daily. The "Owl Woods" was somewhat quiet but we managed to find 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl, my first since checking in late October. There have been very few reports of any owls  from the "Owl Woods"  this season. The feeders were active with 30+ House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, American Tree sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco. Both Short-eared and Long-eared Owls, one of each were found roosting in the woods. A drive around the island netted a few Snowy Owl and still low numbers of hawks, including Red-tailed, Rough-legged, American Kestrel, and Northern Harrier.

Good birding, Bruce

Directions: Amherst Island: Located 18 km. west of Kingston. Exit off Hwy. 401 at exit 593 (County Rd. 4, Camden East) and drive south to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 100 metres until you see the sign for the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry (20 minute trip) leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $9.00 Canadian round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. There are restrooms on the ferry, and at the island ferry dock. The East End K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island on the east side of the Lower Forty Foot Road.

Because of liability issues, visitors to the Kingston Field Naturalists' property at the east end of Amherst Island MUST be accompanied by a KFN member. For KFN contact information or how to become a member, please visit http://kingstonfieldnaturalists.org/ ."

A Common Redpoll feeding on White Cedar cones. 

First recorded in Ontario during the early 70's the House Finch is now a regular sight in south Ontario. 

A Snowy Owl sits quietly. 

 

Easy to overlook at the best of times as they roost during the day. This Northern Saw-whet Owl was sitting 15-20 feet up a Jack Pine.  

January 18, 2012 Birding Amherst Island

Made a quick trip to Amherst Island and found no snow on the island and no ice on the water. It looked more like late fall. I check the usual spots and found 3 Snowy Owls at the east end, KFN property and 1 along the South Shore Road. The Short-eared Owls starting flying at 4:14pm both east and west of Stella. A small number of hawks were observed including Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks along with American Kestrel. With the wide of waters I counted late 7 Common Loons and 1 Red-necked Grebe off the South Shore Road.

Good birding, Bruce

Directions: Amherst Island: Located 18 km. west of Kingston. Exit off Hwy. 401 at exit 593 (County Rd. 4, Camden East) and drive south to the very end (Millhaven). Turn right on Hwy. 33 and drive 100 metres until you see the sign for the Amherst Island ferry. The ferry (20 minute trip) leaves the mainland on the half hour and leaves the island on the hour. Cost is $9.00 Canadian round trip. There are no gas stations on the island. There are restrooms on the ferry, and at the island ferry dock. The East End K.F.N. property is at the easternmost part of the island on the east side of the Lower Forty Foot Road.

Because of liability issues, visitors to the Kingston Field Naturalists' property at the east end of Amherst Island MUST be accompanied by a KFN member. For KFN contact information or how to become a member, please visit  http://kingstonfieldnaturalists.org/ ."

Amherst Island Ferry

Icy road conditions to the Owl Woods.

With no snow cover,  Snowy Owls were easy to pick out. 

Short-eared Owls were already hunting at 4:15pm. 

The Short-eared Owl is a regular winter resident on Amherst Island in small numbers.