Thursday, May 23, 2019

Eastern kingbird feeding chicks

This is one of my favouite photos from last year.
I photographed this last year at the start of our summer holiday.  We were visiting Creston, BC and had gone to visit the bird sanctuary west of the town.  There were lots of birds, but the thing that really caught my attention was the number of nests I found.  The one that stood out the most, in my mind, was the nesting site of the western kingbird pair.  I accidentally discovered the nest by paying attention to a pair of kingbirds.  I noticed that they did not stray far from a certain tree and only later saw the nest.

The nest was empty of chicks; eggs were the only inhabitants.  I got a couple of shots of the mating couple and returned to my explorations.  I came back a few days later and discovered that the nestlings had emerged.  They were very small and vulnerable, hardly able to raise their heads.  No shots of any value were captured on that day.  My next visit was going to produce dramatic results.

The third trip to the sanctuary was awesome.  I arrived early in the morning while the light was still very good.  Approaching the nest with the sun at my back, I had an excellent view of the now stronger chicks.  The bonus was the lack of shadows on my subjects.  I stayed still for quite a while and the birds became acclimated to my presence.  Patience paid off and I got the above photo.  It is the same shot that I use on the cover of my book, Photography for Birders (and other wildlife enthusiasts).  Go to this website to see it. 

I wrote this blog today because I heard faint cheeping noises coming from the nest box in my bird garden.  The breeding pair of chickadees successfully hatched their young in spite of the annoying behaviour of local cats.  I am going to put some chicken wire behind the birdhouse to keep the predators at bay.  As the young get larger I hope to have a few photos of them poking their hungry heads out of the hole to be the first ones to devour whatever delicacies are brought to them.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, May 20, 2019

What's for dinner?

Chickadee and pussycat - what could go wrong?
I love birds. 

In fact, I love them so much that I have built a bird garden in my back yard for them.  Three birdhouses are available as nest sites.  Then there is the arbor, the plants, and the numerous bird feeders.  I thought I had made a small habitat where neighbourhood birds could come and enjoy the bounty, beauty, and boxes designed for them.  I didn't know that, unwittingly, I also designed an entertainment and buffet center for cats.

Every year I have at least one or two pair of birds taking up the hospitality offered and begin raising a family in a birdhouse.  This year a have one pair of chickadees for sure, and possibly a second pair, that have begun the process.  We were out in the garden last night marveling at them coming and going from the nest cavity.  As evening fell they nestled down for the night and we took to our own beds as well.

My dogs are early risers.  The older of the two, Rookie, is motivated by food and is often up at the break of dawn.  The younger one, now just over 7 months, is all about playing with his fuzzy, food-orientated buddy.  At 5:15 this morning (45 minutes ago) they were both up plying me for what their hearts yearned for.  "I want food."  "Play with me."  "I won't play with you until I've had food."  "Play with me."  And so goes the first few minutes of each day.

The rule is, and they know it, that their business had to be attended to first.  We go out, they take care of that, we come in, and breakfast ummies are served.  So, I plodded over to the door and let them out.  As I exited my back door, which exits directly upon my bird garden, I made a horrifying discovery.  A black cat, much like the one in the above photo, was perched atop my arbor.  Immediately in front of it was the same next box which we were watching last night.  It was waiting for something, and it didn't take much imagination to figure what that was.

At that moment I felt a bristling up my back and found my neck hairs standing erect.  If I was a dog, I would have looked like a razorback.  A plethora of ideas on how to deal with this intruder came upon me, and I have to admit to favouring the ones which were towards the violent end of the spectrum.  However, such choices are no doubt frowned upon by local SPCA and police authorities; I needed a less pernicious plan of action.

"Scat," I hissed.  Nothing.  Flailing arms.  No effect.  My dogs didn't see it, although the idea of picking Rookie up and pointing her towards the offending target came to mind.  "Too early," I thought; the neighbours would not approve, especially on a holiday Monday.  Then I saw the garden hose.

Perfect.  Cats hate water, I hate cats (at least this one at the moment).  Sounds like a perfect match.  So, I cranked up the pressure and pointed the wet end towards my intended target.  Unfortunately, there was a kink in the hose somewhere and the anticipated rocket of water never materialized.  Instead a pathetically limp smattering of water was brought forth, and I could only hint that the cat was about to take a bath.  It was enough though, and it turned tail and ran.

Last year I had a cat, or perhaps a raccoon, ransack one of my birdhouses and kill off whatever was in there.  I don't want the same thing this year.  I am going to erect something to keep such pests at bay; I wonder if the SPCA would approve of a howitzer?

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Black headed grosbeak

Left:  Female Black-headed Grosbeak      Right:  Male Black-headed Grosbeak
I just love birds.  So, it would only make sense that I would put up a feeder.  But that whole thing seems a little anemic.  If I wanted to attract birds, I should be able to do a lot more than just hanging a feeder in some random location.  That's why I have my bird garden.

My bird garden, for lack of a better term, is simply an area where birds will find food, shelter, water, and nesting opportunity.  I have an arbor made of 2x4 posts and 1x4 cross beams that hold my bird feeders and two nest boxes.  I have grapes growing up one post and honeysuckle up the other one.  I planted holy in behind - in the spring hungry birds will come and eat the berries.  I have hostas growing in front of them, blueberries, and a patch of salal.  There are food and shelter offered by these plants.

I use sunflower seeds in my two big feeders; many birds will eagerly take them.  I have a smaller feeder that I use for niger seed.  That is a favourite of goldfinches and a number of other species.  All feeders are squirrel-proof to keep the little fuzzy beasts from cleaning out the hoppers.  I have had rats which take seeds that have fallen below, but they were nothing a standard rat trap couldn't handle.  The big concern, literally, are bears, as one could easily destroy my fence and take out everything in only a couple of seconds.  So far though, I have been lucky as no bear has bothered to come for a visit.

I put up suet feeders as well.  The fat in them helps birds overwinter better because of the amount of energy it provides.  Woodpeckers, bushtits, and chickadees are fond of it.  There is also a hummingbird feeder which I fill from time to time, although they are mostly interested in the honeysuckle flowers covering my deck arbor. 

The birds above are black-headed grosbeaks.  A strange name to be sure; the grosbeak term comes from their very thick bills which can crack just about any seed or nut they come across.  They appear occasionally.  I hear them far more often than I see them; their trill echos throughout the nearby wooded areas.  The male is probably the most colourful bird that comes calling, although a male rufous hummingbird will give him a run for his money.

I have seen about 20 species of bird come to my feeders.  They include various sparrows, siskin, bushtits, several blackbird species, hummers, chickadees, robin, and tree swallows; admittedly the last ones were only interested in my birdhouses though.  I have a pair of chickadees using one of my birdhouses this year.  Last year a raccoon got into one and took the chicks.  I made it much harder to access this year.

I am looking forward to another year of back yard birding.  And the great thing is, I can do it in the comfort of my own home.