Notes From a NW Ontario Backyard – August 2016

Hello again!

It has most definitely been ‘juvenile bird’ season around here.  My yard has been full of an assortment of juveniles:  Hummingbirds, Purple Finches, Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches, Grackles, Starlings, Crows, a few Sparrow types, Eastern Bluebirds, Downy Woodpeckers ……

The Downies surprised me, actually.  I had only been seeing the adult female …… alone … no partner that I knew of.  Suddenly in late July, she shows up with a daughter!  The juvenile female was with her for quite a few weeks.  Still, I never saw the adult male.  One day, a juvenile male shows up but still, to this day, no adult male Downy to be seen.  She certainly had a boyfriend somewhere nearby but I still haven’t seen him.

Juvenile Purple Finch2

Juvenile Purple Finch … could be male or female; at this stage, they look the same.

Juvenile Male Downy

Juvenile male Downy Woodpecker in a sweet pose on my platform feeder

Juvenile Purple Finch 1

Juvenile Purple Finch in an adorable pose … curious about me.

I have to wonder if the juvenile male Downy had different parents ….. I never saw this adult female feeding him at all.

Downy Feeding

Adult female Downy Woodpecker (right) feeding her juvenile daughter in my crabapple tree.

One evening when I was outside, a juvenile Purple Finch was begging ….. and begging ….. and begging some more at an adult female, following her from tree to tree and only getting louder when the adult would give her/him a seed.  That juvie was the cutest thing to watch tho’.  🙂

Adult & Juvie Purple Finch

Adult female Purple Finch (left) not so patiently listening to the juvenile’s constant begging calls.

Possilve Juvie Savannah

Juvenile Savannah Sparrow? I stand to be corrected!

It has been a spectacular summer for Ruby Throated Hummingbirds in my area!  I’ve never had more than 2, maybe 3 Hummers in my yard at once before but this season, it’s common to have 4 and a few times, even 6!  They are in constant motion with juveniles and adults battling over the abundance of flowers in the yard and the 2 feeders.  It’s been an exceptional season for gardening for me so my yard is loaded with things in bloom:  lilies, daylilies, monarda, hosta, heliopsis, maltese cross, rudbeckia, mountain bluet, colmbine, gladiola, purple liatris, dahlias and others …. plus potted plants.  The number #1 favourite flower for the hummers, once again, is the monarda (bee balm).  They go NUTS for this flower!

Hummer 3

Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird at the lily patch

Hummer 2

Juvenile male Hummingbird at Impatiens

Hummer 1

Juvenile male Hummingbird in Monarda patch

Flowers

A portion of the blooms in the yard: heliopsis (front), monarda (red), rudbeckia and more heliopsis in background

I was lucky enough to have an entire family of Eastern Bluebirds in my neighbourhood for most of the summer.  They didn’t nest in my yard but they were coming here daily to catch insects.  They are still around but not coming to my yard so much now.  They successfully raised at least 3 young that I’m sure of.  🙂

Male Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird on light post at the end of my driveway.

Grackles are returning in fair numbers once again.  They are looking pretty rough tho’!  Some, like this fellow, are molting their head feathers so they a.) look partially bald … b.) have a mix of blue & brown on the head … or c.) they are partially leucistic on the head with some white thrown in.  Also, some have dropped their tail feathers during the molt so they have the new short stubs coming in but still have 1 or 2 old tail feathers left.  Messed up!

Molting Grackle

Nearly bald Grackle during its molt.

I haven’t seen too many Common Nighthawks yet this summer.  Last night was the most so far for this summer, with a flock of 35 or so flying about the neighbourhood.

Nighthawk 1

1 of about 35 Common Nighthawks soaring over my neighbourhood.

Common Nighthawk 2

Common Nighthawk

The Hummingbirds aren’t the only ones enjoying then nectar-rich flowers.  My yard has been loaded with bees all summer too.  This one is looking a little beat up with tattered wing tips.

Bee on Monarda

One of hundreds of bees enjoying a Monarda blossom in my backyard

That’s about it from my yard for this month.  Hope you’re all enjoying your summer!  Thanks for reading ….. ‘see’ you next month!

12 Comments

  1. Me too! Thanks, Angie 🙂

  2. Thanks, Rob … If you want Hummers, you need to plant Monarda in particular!

  3. You’re welcome, Jane … you can come see it personally, if you like! 🙂

  4. You’re right, Rosie, it is a type … the plant is a geranium … I was thinking about my friend’s impatiens when I was writing! You can recognize a juvenile male Downy by the red patch on his forehead. An adult male has the red patch on the back of his head. Thanks for your kind comments! T.

  5. Love the assortment of birds that you get in your backyard.

  6. Bluebirds!!!!! I’m blue with envy. Heh heh.

    We need to plant more flowers. Way cool on the hummers. 🙂

  7. Fascinating, as usual. Thanks.

  8. Love the baby pictures..that little Downy is just incredible.. Thank you, Tammie for sharing your garden with us.

  9. I always enjoy your photos and comments about birds in your yard! Looking forward to the bird cam coming on once again.
    I wish I could ID a juvenile downy. How do you know he is juvenile?
    I also had many hummers this year north of Chicago near the lake.
    P.S. I think the juvenile male hummer picture has a typo—geraniums instead of impatiens

  10. Again a great article and photos Tammie

Comments are closed