This morning, Thursday, October 4th, is heavy with sparrows, mostly
WHITE THROATED SPARROWS.
There's also a bunch of FLICKERS, a few GRAY CATBIRDS, ROBINS and
HERMIT THRUSHS, all overnight arrivals.
2 HARRIERS, 1 EAGLE, 4 PEREGRINES and 1 SHARP SHINNED HAWK have been
actively hunting.
The periodic heavy rain and heavy fog over the weekend kept most birds
hunkered down.
Two OSPREY elected to wait out the weather.
One perched from Saturday afternoon through the next morning on an
antenna about 5 feet above our kitchen door.
The second fish hawk perched in the front door railing next door for
about 40 hours, until I could no longer avoid disturbing it. It then
relocated for the remainder of Sunday night, departing the island
Monday morning.
I see these fellows stop over and just perch for 24 hours or more
nearly every fall, less often in the spring.
While the Ospreys were having down time the island was the playground
for KESTRELS. There were over 20 on the island throughout the weekend.
(I'm assuming that I was seeing the same birds. Otherwise, there were
hundreds of Kestrels moving through the storms and that seems
unlikely.)
Anyway, migrating or stopping over, the little raptors were
everywhere. At one point there were 3 sitting on the patio railing
while the GOLDFINCHES & SPARROWS feed directly under them, at times
barely a metre away.
Things changed with the weather on Monday. The Kestrels were
completely gone by afternoon. The PEREGRINES were back in control
although a scattering Osprey & Harrier passed throughout the day. From
about mid-day there was also a number of SHARP SHINNED HAWKS moving.
It's interesting that only afternoon Sharpies make any attempt to gain
soaring altitude. All the other raptors arrive and depart in powered
flight. I suspect that the island is too small to generate any
significant up-drafts.
Wednesday morning I decided to check out the Peregrines again.
Arriving before sunrise, I was barely into my blind when the first
Peregrine touched down. It proved to be an apparent male. Although it
was a decent size, the difference between genders was shown clearly a
quarter hour later when a female decided that she wanted that perch.
Over a couple hours I had 5 distinct individuals drop by. At one point
there were 3 sitting within 50 feet.
I took way too many photos over a couple hours but never saw any prey.
That's not surprising since this location is almost exclusively used
for perching.
Station activity precluded most birding until mid-afternoon but it was
apparent that there were changes overnight.
A HERMIT THRUSH under the boardwalk; a BROWN CREEPER climbing the
light tower; PINE SISKINS nearly doubled in number to about 40; an
exceptionally large tribe of 30+ BLUEJAYS; a GRAY CATBIRD sulking near
the well; a new cadre of RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES.
Among the other casual sightings was a strange-looking sparrow, an
INDIGO BUNTING (adult female) and a HOODED WARBLER.
When I got a chance, I decided to check out the Hoodie since the
Indigo seemed quite spooked. (Helicopters can cause that.)
I found a nice male Hooded Warbler within minutes and over a couple
hours I managed a few decent photos, including one with a fly in beak.
Eventually it developed that there were at least 2 adult males and 1
juvenile female. Only the males would pose for pictures.
Just before dark I got a chance to photograph the strange sparrow. I
posted 3 pictures, (#s 1, 2 & 3 ? Sparrow) at http://www.pbase.com/lightrae/naturenb
I believe that it may be an exceptionally pale Chipping Sparrow but I
invite opinions.
Also posted there are a Peregrine, a Sharpie and a Hooded Warbler, all
recent visitors.
Still a fair number of butterflies around but the food is quickly
disappearing. MONARCHS yesterday showed a lurching movement between
flowers. It looks almost as if they were throwing themselves at the
blooms rather than the usual delicate, fluttering landings. Also, no
wing movements while feeding.
I have the impression that they are all weak only finding limited food.
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