A Big Year of Small Encounters 2 & 3: Reds in the Wind

After a casual challenge from a friend, I've decided to take on a Big Year challenge my way, and not check off a bird species just for seeing it, but rather only once I've taken my time and recorded an anecdote or observation abut an individual member of the species. I've already spotted many birds this year who haven't yet made the list - chickadees, crows, starlings, juncos, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, mallards, sparrows, gulls, geese and more - so I'm really going to have to pick up the pace by slowing down more often if I want a respectable count before the year is out!

#2: Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) - Jan 3

I saw her long before I reached the Arboretum. It was a cold, still day but bright, so the large swooping figure stood out against the vibrant blue sky. She seemed too large at first to be a red-tailed hawk, but as I got closer and pulled out my pocket binoculars I could see the tell-tale-tail itself. As I stood in the cold just fifty metres from the front door of the Centre for Urban Ecology, I saw my second red-tail of 2019. He was smaller, and was spending a lot more time swooping and diving and showing off than she did. Getting courtship off to an earlier start? I can't be certain, but later that same day we saw two red-tails swooping and circling and diving far across the grounds, and they've been been spotted riding the wind around the Centre every day since.

#3: Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) - Jan 10

I took the long way into work, passing by the bird feeders in the Humber Arboretum's Tranquility Bird Garden. From a distance, I saw a woodpecker that was the wrong size and shape for a downy or a hairy; I was "sure" it was (one of?) the red-bellied woodpecker(s) we see there from time to time, but it was backlit by the morning sun and I couldn't see any markings before it flew off towards the woodlands.

That didn't feel like enough to make this list, which was a disappointment. But the Arb was offering a free tour in the afternoon, and I tagged along in case any nice photo opportunities presented themselves. My co-worker decided to lead the walk past the bird garden and as we approached I heard a few cha chas that I don't hear everyday. The red-bellied was back, and while it worked its way up a nearby tree my co-worker told the story of an international student who was recently delighted by spotting a red-bellied as one of her first sights at the bird garden, and thought it a truly beautiful bird (to which we all agreed).

As he was talking, the red-bellied suddenly took to the air form the top of the tree it had been climbing, but it was caught by the strong wind and seemed to be thrown towards the woodlands for a moment before it took back control. The bird that recently swept a newcomer off her feet was just about swept off its wings!

Publicado el enero 11, 2019 03:54 MAÑANA por