Pine Siskins swarm the garden

Nature Notes for October 26, 2012

For several days now, my garden has been alive with Pine Siskins. There has been constant activity there tod (Oct. 23), in the rain, as between 50 and 100 birds feed furiously at the niger feeder and on black oil sunflowers seeds. Even the local chickadees could scarcely find a spot at the feeder to grab a sunflower seed.

Many have also been feeding on the ground under the feeders. Some are foraging on the seed heads of the purple coneflowers and the wild evening primrose. This latter is a rather straggly looking plant, but the seeds are very popular with finches, so I leave a few plants for them.

These small finches could be heard passing over since late September. By Thanksgiving weekend, some appeared at the feeder. Late last week, they appeared in a large numbers and have been there ever since.

Unlike last year, the siskins are coming to feeders. They were in the area last winter, but natural food was abundant so they didn’t come into gardens with feeders. This past summer’s dry weather resulted in a poor seed crop both in the boreal forest and locally. This has meant a shortage of food for the siskins, which feed primarily on seeds. Now they are taking full advantage of the seed provided in backyard feeders. The seed vanishes very quickly. One observer reports having to fill the feeders twice a day.

Pine Siskin are about the same size as the American Goldfinch, although the beak is much finer and very pointed. Their plumage is a streaky brown with a few splashes of yellow. They can be quite difficult to see against a background of leaf-covered grass.

Big flocks of Pine Siskin are being reported throughout Ontario. Some have made it to southeastern New York State. These huge flocks are unlikely to remain in Ontario. They usually continue south, although I doubt that they will find much more food further south. It was a dry summer everywhere in the east.

Along with the siskin a few other finches have been reported – American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, House Finch and, from out of town feeders, a few Evening Grosbeaks. Probably in a few weeks, the siskin will move on and be replaced by Common Redpolls. Redpolls, when they come, usually stay for the winter.

In addition to finches, there has been a noticeable movement of Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches and White-breasted Nuthatches. These species also rely on seeds for winter food.  The first indication of this irruption was back in July when Red-breasted Nuthatches could be heard in our neighbourhood in Port Hope.

In my garden, there are still a few White-throated Sparrows hanging on. Most will probably leave before winter sets in. Although none have appeared in my yard, Fox Sparrows have been reported by other observers. Dark-eyed Juncos have just arrived here in numbers during the past two weeks. Many of these will stay around for the winter.

In the country, the first American Tree Sparrows have arrived. This is a sure sign that winter will soon be here.

A new Project FeederWatch season begins on November 10. The finch movement should certainly give us something to count!

Blue Jays on the Move

Nature Notes for September 28, 2012

After the last column was published about the incredibly rare (for this part of the world) sighting of a Thick-billed Kingbird at Presqu’ile, an additional record for this species for Canada came to my attention. In August 2009, one was found and well-documented in Grand Manan, New Brunswick. The Presqu’ile bird would, therefore, be the third record for Canada and the first for this species in Ontario. The kingbird was present from August 28 to 31. Alas, for all the birders who descended on the park on Labor Day weekend, it was never found again.

After such an amazing start to fall landbird migration, things have quieted down.

There have been no more great rarities. There have been no days with massive fall-outs of birds. Many migrating birds are passing over on clear days and nights undetected by observers on the ground.

Observers may have noticed quite a few Turkey Vultures passing over. They are patrolling the Lake Ontario shore and the GanaraskaRiver looking for salmon carcasses. These large birds seems to like to move on very windy days, of which there have been many over the past couple of weeks.

The other species that is moving in large numbers this month is Blue Jays. Blue Jays migrate during the day and are large enough to see without the aid of binoculars. On September 14, I stood on the observations platform at the A.K. Sculthorpe Woodland Marsh in east end Port Hope and counted about 2400 passing in only half an hour. On a walk this morning (Sept. 25), I counted about 500 fighting into the west wind. This movement is probably in response to a poor crop of acorns and beechnuts in the north. These birds will winter in the continental U.S.

Some readers may have noticed an abundance of birders in the area over the weekend of September 14-16. The Ontario Field Ornithologists were holding their Annual General Meeting in Northumberland County.

The business meeting and a banquet with guest speaker was held at the Cobourg Best Western, but most of the activity was outside, in the field. Field trips were held to Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Brighton Constructed Wetland, Brighton Provincial Wildlife Area, Northumberland Forest, the Port Hope/Cobourg waterfront, Peter’s Woods and as far afield as PrinceEdward County and Second Marsh in Oshawa.

Over the three days of the convention, 173 species were seen by the group. This number reflects the rich diversity of habitats in the area. The species total seemed to be a surprise to the organizers. This meeting is usually held in southwestern Ontario in areas known to be very “birdy”. Previous convention high species counts were 176 at Point Pelee in 2009 and 177 at Long Point in 2010.

Attendance at this convention was an all-time high of 254 participants. Many of these people were being introduced to the birding areas of Northumberland for the first time. Many also said that they would come back again to visit and search for birds.