2017 Waterfowl Migration underway; Landbird migration just beginning

Nature Notes for March 31, 2017

Changes in the avian population of this area are happening so rapidly that it is hard to know just what to write about.

The most noticeable birds are still the waterfowl – ducks, geese and swans.

Last weekend (March 25 and 26) was the annual Waterfowl Weekend at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. Throughout the month, waterfowl have come and gone in Presqu’ile Bay and in Lake Ontario. Their populations have fluctuated as the ice melted, then refroze, then melted again. My husband and I volunteered on Sunday and were assigned a viewing overlook on the bay. The majority of birds at this spot were Redhead. The males are a handsome gray with a red head. These birds winter off the eastern seaboard and along the Gulf of Mexico. They usually only visit us in migration when they are traveling to and from breeding territories in the middle of the continent. Since there has been little ice in Presqu’ile Bay this winter, large flocks of Redhead have stayed throughout the winter.

Scattered amongst the Redhead were many American Wigeon. The wigeons, marsh ducks, were stealing the vegetation brought to the surface by the diving Redheads. Some wigeon may nest locally, but most of them, too, are traveling further north.

Also off our overlook were four Canvasback (another red-headed duck, but with white back and flanks), Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards, American Black Ducks, Gadwall, Common Goldeneye and Common Mergansers.

Most of these ducks, along with a few other species, might also be found in Cobourg Harbour and any other ice-free place along the lakeshore.

Large flocks of Canada Geese are still to be found feeding in local agricultural fields. A close study will probably turn up a few Cackling Geese amongst them. One lucky observer found two Ross’s Geese in a flock north of Port Hope. These are a small white goose that winter mostly on the U.S. Gulf coast and nest in the high Arctic. Only rarely do a few make an appearance in Northumberland.

While at Presqu’ile, we noticed a large flock of Snow Geese migrating past the lighthouse. Snow Geese, although not as rare at Ross’s, are never abundant locally and only appear in migration. Most Snow Geese migrate through eastern Ontario in the spring and follow the Ottawa River valley. They, too, winter on the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts and nest in Arctic.

 A Greater White-fronted Goose can be difficult to pick out from large flocks of Canada Geese

Photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

A few Greater White-fronted Geese have been seen in the past week amongst the Canada Geese. Because their backs are almost the same colour as a Canada Goose, they can be very difficult to pick out in a flock of thousands of Canadas. They winter mainly in the western part of North America but are becoming increasingly common in Ontario. They, too, are headed to the Arctic.

Among the non-native Mute Swans, both the native Trumpeter Swan and Tundra Swan have been seen at Presqu’ile. The Tundras are on their way to the Arctic. The Trumpeters have been the subject of a successful reintroduction program and now there is a breeding population in southern Ontario. Both these latter two species have black beaks, so observers have to study the birds carefully to identify one from the other.

Turkey Vultures are arriving back. They aren’t as noticeable as they are in the fall, since they don’t follow the Lake Ontario shore. There also seem to be more Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels along roadsides as these birds return.

Some of the bigger land birds, such as Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, have been around for a few weeks, but their migration continues.

The small land birds are beginning to arrive in only the past couple of days. On Monday (March 27), the first Song Sparrow visited my garden. Today (March 28), a couple of Eastern Phoebe and an Eastern Meadowlark were found.

Over the next two months, the small land birds will arrive back in numbers to take advantage of the abundant insect food available to feed their young. Watch for these new arrivals on the next gentle south wind.

Canada Geese on the move?

Nature Notes for February 24, 2017

“Why are so many Canada Geese flying over my house these days? Sometimes they are flying south, sometimes north. Are they confused?”

I’ve been asked a variation on this query several times in the past couple of weeks. These birds are probably the locally wintering Canada Geese. They make several feeding trips per day into harvested agricultural fields and then return to larger bodies of water to rest and digest. In an open winter such as this one, they can get to the waste grain in the fields and they can also graze on the herbaceous vegetation since it’s not buried under snow. Earlier this week, I saw several geese grazing in the park along the Ganaraska.

A few if the many Canada Geese obvious recently.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

The history of Canada Geese in southern Ontario is an interesting one. Prior to European settlement, they likely nested in southern Ontario. They were quickly hunted out by the early settlers.

In the 1920s and 1930s, waterfowl fanciers started raising and releasing Canada Geese in Ontario. By the 1960s, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources was actively releasing geese.

Wintering Canada Geese are a relatively recent phenomenon. Willow Beach Field Naturalists have been holding a Christmas Bird Census since 1954. The first time that a Canada Goose was recorded on this count was in 1976, when a single goose was seen. It was another three years until more Canadas were found, when an astonishing (for the time) 543 were counted. By the mid-1980s, Canada Geese had become an annual occurrence on this count. The first year that over 1000 geese were counted was 1997. The count has not been less than that since, with the high count recorded in 2012, when 5977 were tallied.

The Northumberland Summer Bird Count, held in June, has somewhat different geographic boundaries and a shorter history than the Christmas Count. However, it, too, has recorded a steady increase in the numbers of Canada Geese. In 1997, the first year of this count, 40 geese were counted. The highest total to date was 819 in 2013. In most of past 10 years, the numbers of Canada Geese have hovered between 200 and 300.

In July 1950, naturalists Orval Kelly, who wrote for the Brighton Ensign, reports on a birding expedition to the Port Britain area, west of Port Hope. “There were plenty of birds such as one would expect to see in such an environment, but I was surprised and thrilled to see a Canada goose swimming among the rushes.” Imagine! Being “surprised and thrilled” to see a Canada Goose! Only today, I was asked if anything could be done to discourage the many Canada Geese that collect on the beach in that same location.

Today, Canada Geese nest in almost every wetland in the county.

March is the time when migrant geese can be seen. These are the birds that nest in the Arctic and winter off the eastern seaboard of the U.S. At this time, birds from further south join the wintering flocks. Amongst the Canadas, there are sometimes other geese. The most frequent of these are Cackling Geese. This is a small version of the Canada Goose that has recently been split into a separate species. Other goose species mixing with the Canadas are Snow Geese and White-fronted Geese. Very rarely, Ross’s Geese are sometimes found amongst the local Canada Geese.

On another note, reports of many wintering American Robins continue. Despite a substantial snow fall a week ago, there is still abundant fruit above the snow for these birds. I fear in spring 2017, robins will not be a sign of spring, since they have been around all winter.

Many Wintering Birds Difficult to Find

Nature Notes for January 27, 2017

The winter of 2016/17 continues to be the year of the American Robin. I have received several e-mails and had many conversations with people in the grocery store about flocks of robins. In the past week, they have found the mountain ash tree in my front yard and have proceeded to strip it of fruit.

The weather has been very peculiar so far this winter. Two species of caterpillars have been found crawling around and snow drops have emerged, unusual natural events for January in Ontario.

Many expected birds have not been around in this mild winter with little snow. Until today (Jan. 24), there has not been a substantial snowfall since December 17, the day of the Port Hope-Cobourg Christmas Bird Count. There has been some freezing rain, but the ice didn’t persist long enough to be a problem for fruit-eating birds. In addition to robins, there have been large flocks of European Starlings, smaller flocks of Cedar Waxwings, and, in some places, flocks of Eastern Bluebirds. All of these eat fruit in the winter.

In Port Hope, there is a Northern Mockingbird guarding its food supply in a multi-flora rose hedge. This species is becoming a bit more regular in Northumberland County in some places along the lakeshore, but it is not common.

Because there is little snow, all of the birds that feed on the ground are widely dispersed. They can reach the ground anywhere. This makes them difficult to find. Sparrows and even Wild Turkeys are much easier to detect against a snowy background.

The flocks of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks that were found on the Christmas counts have dispersed. They are probably still around, but they, too, are much harder to detect without snow.

There have been few large flocks of diving ducks on Lake Ontario this winter. Perhaps they are widely dispersed, since the lake is ice free. Perhaps there is little food for them. Many of the divers eat the invasive zebra mussels. When an new species first invades an area, the population usually skyrockets. After some time has passed, the new species comes to an equilibrium in the new ecosystem and the population levels out. Perhaps the zebra mussels have reached this equilibrium in Lake Ontario, thus there is not as much food for the ducks as there was a few years ago.

Drake Long-tailed Duck, one of the Arctic nesting ducks that often winter on Lake Ontario.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

Last Sunday (Jan. 22), the ducks in Cobourg Harbour were mostly Mallards – hundreds of them. Many were roosting on the breakwall, something I have not seen before. Usually, in January, this breakwall is covered in ice, but it was completely bare. The only other dabbling ducks present were a few American Black Ducks. Diving duck species were present in only very small numbers. These included Long-tailed Ducks, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead. There was a single American Coot, which was a challenge to find in amongst the Mallards. The same day, many Canada Geese were in Port Hope Harbour. The geese have been able to graze on lawns, since there is no snow.

Earlier in the month, a female Harlequin Duck was found feeding off the west jetty in Port Hope. This may be the same bird that was found as early as last November in Port Hope and also in Cobourg Harbour.

With no ice in the harbours, there are very few gulls. They may be somewhere on the lake, but not anywhere that it is easy to see them. There is some ice in Presqu’ile Bay, so this is probably the best place to look for gulls. Several Bald Eagles have also been seen patrolling Presqu’ile Bay.

My backyard feeders seem to have been abandoned by the Mourning Doves. The presence of a hunting Cooper’s Hawk has probably encouraged them to leave. Cooper’s Hawks are bird-eating hawks and Mourning Doves make the perfect sized meal.

On one of the few sunny days this month, a Carolina Wren was singing from the ravine at the end of my street in Port Hope. One had been seen a month earlier at a feeder in the same general area. Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees have been singing as well. Breeding season, the usual trigger for bird song, for all these species is still three months away.

Who knows what the weather may bring during the remainder of the winter and what effect it may have on the birds.

Record number of American Robins on 2016 CBC

Nature Notes for December 30, 2016

“Why are there so many robins around? Don’t they go south in the winter?”

“I have many robins around my yard. Is there something I can put on my bird feeder for them? They must be having difficulty finding food in the snow.”

In the past couple of weeks, I have been asked variations on this theme by a number of people from all over the area.

Not all American Robins go south in the winter. There are usually a few found on the Port Hope-Cobourg Christmas Bird Count, which this year was held on December 17. The tally of robins on the count was 3,409, almost three times the previous high of 1,193, counted in 1998. It was not people’s imaginations. They were everywhere.

An American Robin feeding on some the abundant fruit, such as is available this winter.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

The most likely explanation for these record high numbers is an abundant fruit crop. Despite last summer’s drought, many fruit bearing plants had a good crop. The wild grape especially had a bumper crop. Several trees and shrubs, including mountain ash, flowering crab trees and European buckthorn also had a lot of fruit.

When robins are raising young in the spring and summer, they feed mostly on insects, earthworms and some snails. However, robins also eat a large variety of fruit. In addition to the plants mentioned above, they eat juniper berries, chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood berries and sumac fruit.

In the non-breeding season, American Robins gather in large flocks to search out the fruit supply. They will swoop into a fruit laden mountain ash tree and feed furiously until the fruit is all gone. They are sometimes joined by other fruit eating birds such as Cedar Waxwings, European Starlings, Eastern Bluebirds, and Bohemian Waxwings.

Ground feeding flocks could be found on the day of the Christmas Count along the sides of roads where the snow plows had scraped the snow away. The birds were searching for any insects that might be present, as well as fallen fruit.

They will survive the cold weather as long as fruit is available to them. A few years ago, there were many fruit eating species around until a late April ice storm locked up the fruit for several days. After that date the fruit eaters were decidedly less common. If they had not had the energy to leave, they probably died of starvation.

Although robins do not usually visit bird feeders, they can sometimes be attracted to dried fruit such as raisins and currents.

Several other species were counted in recorded numbers on the Christmas Bird Count. European Starlings posted a record high total of 4076, eclipsing the previous high of 3101, set also in 1998.

Other species tallied in record high numbers were: Mute Swan – 21 (previous high 10 in 2009); Mourning Dove – 1897 (previous high 1573 in 2012); Red-bellied Woodpecker – 33 (previous high 16 in 2012); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 4 (previous high 1 several times); Hermit Thrush – 3 (previous high 2, twice);  Eastern Towhee – 4 (previous high 2, twice); Fox Sparrow – 10 (previous high 1, twice); Swamp Sparrow – 3 (tied 3 other years); White-throated Sparrow – 58 (previous high 29 in 2005); White-crowned Sparrow – 2 (tied 3 other years).

Even after 46 years, two species observed were new to the count. Three Tundra Swans were found in Port Hope Harbour. A Lincoln’s Sparrow was found north of Port Hope in the company of a Swamp Sparrow.

The New Year will start off with the last of Northumberland County’s Christmas Bird Counts, the Rice Lake Plains, on January 1. This count is centred south of Burnley and includes all of the Northumberland Forest. Who knows what surprises await observers.