Notes From a Northwestern Ontario Backyard – October 2019

Hello again!

I’m finally back with a post after a very busy summer with no time to write.

It’s actually a really good thing I took lots of photos this past summer because bird activity in my yard this fall has come to a screaching halt. It’s so incredibly quiet right now!  In the past month, all I’m seeing in my yard is mostly Blackbirds: Grackles, Red Winged Blackbirds, Starlings & Crows. Every once in a while, a small flock of Chickadees will come through. I got very excited a few days ago when a flock of about 30 Pine Siskins graced my neighbourhood. They never did come down to my feeders but they were in my trees a few times. So nice to hear their chatter.

So … since I missed posting for most of the summer, here are some snapshots of what was going through my yard from July to early October.

Let’s start with bathtime!

 

 

 

 

 

Along with the young Grackle, I had a few other young birds visit the yard, including:

 

 

 

 

 

Another leucistic visitor to my yard was this pretty female Purple Finch. She is noticeably paler than normal.

 

 

I had a wonderful Hummingbird season! Some days, I had 6 Hummers out in the yard with me. No idea just how many were actually coming around but it was constantly busy with territory battles throughout the yard, some days crazy enough to make me duck as 3 at a time would whiz over my head! 🙂

 

I have a family of Crows visiting almost daily. I got a kick out this shot, with a Crow showing some flexibility to get some peanuts out of the feeder.

 

Cedar Waxwings had been around my neighbourhood for much of the summer and into September. My neighbour and I have quite a few fruiting trees, shrubs & berry bushes between us, certainly enough to make Waxwings very happy.

 

On the route my husband takes to work every week (the same road that leads to our camp), we discovered 2 families of Trumpeter Swans this summer! This one below had at least one youngster with it that it tucked into the grasses as soon as we pulled up. The other pair had no young that we know of but my husband saw them near this spot right up until last weekend! They are definitely extending their range well into this area.

 

 

Between early August and late September, I had a number of Nashville Warblers come through. I have had years where I saw 9 or 10 Warbler species come through my yard but not this year. Aside from these, the only other Warbler I saw was a Yellow Rumped. Very odd season!!

 

My husband & I went for a drive in the woods one day about a month ago. This handsome White Winged Crossbill was actually the only bird we saw that day aside from a couple of Flickers. Such a stunning little bird!

 

In September, I finally had my year’s first Mourning Dove visit my yard. I normally see a few in early summer but not this year. This one came around for just a few days before disappearing for the season.

 

Grackles have been around for about a month or so now. Sometimes they are joined by Red Winged Blackbirds and Starlings. I’ve been watching closely for my favourite Blackbird to arrive, the Rusty Blackbird, but no luck yet.

 

 

I finally caught a glimpse of some of my favourite fall migrating birds last week: American Pipits! They are adorable little ground dwellers that have a lovely high pitched chatter/whistle. As they walk along lawns & roadsides, they bob their tails whenever they stop walking. They have white outer tail feathers like Juncos do. Very sweet birds that I normally only ever see during fall migration.

 

Birds aren’t the only ones who love the Mountain Ash berries. This little chipmunk was quite the acrobat last week, stuffing his cheeks with the berries!

 

I saved one of my most exciting visitors for last. 🙂  Every September, I look so forward to visits from the White Lined Sphinx Moths and this year, they certainly did not disappoint. I can usually catch them in my flowerbeds, going to the phlox or monarda blossoms mostly, about 8:30 or 9:00 pm. This year was extra special as I counted at least *5* of them in my various flowerbeds at the same time one evening! They are about 3 to 4 inches across their wings with a body about 2 1/2 inches long. Big moths and they are not shy. I can usually walk up to within 5 feet of them for photos like this. They are stunning!

 

As an end note, the web cam in my yard will be back up and running for this year’s Project FeederWatch and we have a new high definition camera from Cornell too, that will even have night vision! Project FeederWatch starts in mid November so keep checking their webcam page for the return of the Ontario Feeder Cam!

As always, thanks for reading. 🙂