With September ending off with our first Junco appearance to the backyard; I didn’t think we’d be getting Red-winged Blackbird appearances through the first 2 weeks of October. Sure they were sporadic, like 1 among a flock of 100 or so Common Grackles, but they were popping in.
A couple mornings the sounds of the Grackles have been deafening. Check out this short video.
It’s really hard to pick out the other bird calls with all that noise, but we have had some brief but pleasant stop-ins from Golden-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows bouncing through the conifers.
The Hawk activity has dropped off significantly so far. I guess those seen in September were just passing through. We do have a resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks a stone’s throw from the house who occasionally stop in here for a snack. One made the attempt to catch breakfast the other morning. She was unsuccessful this time. Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, House Sparrows and a couple Black-capped Chickadees seem to be our regular visiting species on top of the hordes of Grackles.
The Northern Mockingbird has made a couple appearances to the bird baths in the last 2 weeks. It’s funny because the Mockingbird is not a seed eater but he can be a little territorial of the area. He has put on some great flight displays, showing his aggression to the Grackles. One bird against so many and he does chase those away those in his sights.
Project Feeder Watch starts up in a few weeks. We enjoy participating in it every year. Back in the early days of backyard bird feeding, I would sit by the kitchen window and document all the species showing up to our feeders. Neither of us had any idea there was data being collected about the birds coming to people’s feeders. So doing this just came naturally once we signed up. If you haven’t, you really should. You don’t need a big backyard, you don’t need a lot of bird feeders either. Maybe you have natural food sources that pull the birds in? It’s a lot of fun! And you really start to focus on the world outside your door. I can easily sit back in my chair on the deck, close my eyes, and identify all our regular visitors by their sounds. The whistling wings of the Doves, the swooshing of the Pigeon wings, the screams of the Jays, the familiar peeps of the others. I guess to seasoned birders, this really isn’t that impressive knowing the sounds of all these commoners, but it does impress other friends not so into the birds. If you are not a participant with PFW, maybe consider signing up? Here is a link to check it out.
So as the Grackle invasion continues (and not a lot else) half way through October, we are fortunate enough to have other distractions out back. There are a couple Skunks visiting our garden morning and night. It’s been years since we’ve had such a species coming in, that we’ve seen alive and well, not just smelling the aftermath or finding on the main road.
Two young Raccoons live down at the back of our property. I know it’s either you love them or you hate them. We love them and have learned to co-exist with them. It’s work to ensure they have no access to our roof, cutting branches back from the pines behind the house. We let the feeders run empty through the day so there is nothing for them to get at after dark except what they can find on the ground dumped by the birds. We always ensure fresh water is available for everyone because water is harder for an animal to come by than food.
Seeing a mother Raccoon with her playful babies through the summer months is quite entertaining. I tell you, we don’t need a television, as we have our own nature channel out back.
When things get dull around here, we bird locally to some great parks around our west Toronto home. A half kilometre one way and we can be treated to a lovely Great Horned Owl on occasion. A half kilometre another way and some days we chance upon a little Screech Owl. It’s a blessing to find such birds in our travels. We don’t see them all the time but it’s nice to know such birds are around us.
Can you spot the Screech Owl in the cavity?
Screech Owl hiding in a cedar tree.
Great Horned Owl.
On October 23 we had a massive kettle of Turkey Vultures glide over the backyard, all migrating. I counted at least 65 birds with 1 Red-tailed Hawk in the mix.
I managed to capture 52 of them in this photo.
The same day I spotted a Barred Owl in a park near our home. Thanks to a Cooper’s Hawk for alerting me to his presence. Here is the squabbling capture. It was the Cooper’s acting out his disapproval to the Owl. The Owl stood his ground on that branch.
We don’t see Barred Owls very often in our travels, so it’s always something when the surprise encounter occurs. Here he is some 6 hours later when I had an opportunity to revisit the park.
As I work to finish this in the final days of October, the Red-winged Blackbird activity has gone overboard. Most of the Grackles have left us, we’re down to half a dozen at the moment, but the RWBBs in the last week have been up around 15 or more. It’s been many Autumn seasons since we’ve had this species in such numbers hanging around the feeders this late. I love the noise of these birds, they are the first sign of Spring for us here in Toronto since most Robins do not migrate from here anymore. A Sharp-shinned Hawk just snagged herself some breakfast near the back in way of a House Sparrow. I can hear the call of a White-throated Sparrow. Another surprise this morning.
October 26th we spotted a new species to the backyard, that being a Fox Sparrow. Of course they may have popped in other days over the years but we’ve not seen one visiting.
There is about 8 Juncos staying around us now.
We just experienced the remnants of Hurricane Patricia over last 30 hours. The rain has stopped but the winds are strong. Will something blow in with this last day of October? I guess if there is another paragraph, then yes, if not, see you next month on the 10th!