Tree Sparrow flocks are arriving
Mute Swans
Driving along near Markdale… this white swan with the dark back ground looked pretty, so I took a photo. Is it wild? Likely.
Snowy Owl
It’s owl season and there are lots of them, watch the top of posts when your driving past flat pastures!
Mourning Dove
Another bird drawn in for an easy meal below the feeders, waiting patiently in the icy branches.
Chick-a-dee
I moved the feeder today, put up some perches including the Christmas tree, they were landing on me impatient for the feeder to be put back up, they make me laugh.
Nuthatch
Always entertaining and right behind the chick-a-dees in line for a meal.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Look what arrived at the feeder today! In 20 years I have not seen on here on the farm until today. The ice storm seems to have had made shy birds hungry enough to risk the feeders. Put out some food, the critters appreciate it!
Beaver Valley fall colours
Slurping up the fish!
In just a few minutes, this Heron slurped up 7 fish, have a look at the photos, one after another, down the hatch they went … the last victim was drinking at the waters edge had a narrow escape
Fish 1
Fish 2
Fish 3
Fish 4
Fish 5
Fish 6
This was almost the 7th victim, a narrow escape!
Rough-legged Hawk
So hard to see in the fall leaves. I missed this one and only saw it when it moved to another perch a little further from me. If it didn’t move, I would have passed right by it. The name refers to it’s feathered legs right to it’s toes, the only others that also have feathered legs are the Golden Eagle and Ferruginous Hawk.
Flocking Sandhill Cranes
The Sandhills are plentiful these days, this flock in the Stayner area is well over 1000 birds. Daily, smaller flocks are passing over our farm in the Beaver Valley, we can usually hear them before we see them as they are very noisy when flying … they sound like a litter of young racoons at war. I literally look around for racoons, then noticed the sound is coming from the sky.
Rusty Blackbird #176
These birds have declined 85%-98% in the past 40 years and are listed as a “species of concern” or “vulnerable”. Their song has been compared to the grating of a rusty hinge. They have been documented feeding on sparrows, robins, and Snipe … interesting since I found this one watching a flock of Sparrows and Juncos in a hedge row.
Slow Motion Video – Fish jumping at Slabtown Dam
Hello… who is there? Red-shouldered Hawk
This raptors breeding grounds are as far north as Ontario, some migrating south to Mexico for the winters. It’s a stout hawk compared to the Red-tailed.
Fall in the Beaver Valley
Slabtown Dam – spawning run of Trout and Salmon
There is still action on the Beaver River, the fish are becoming more colourful as the run continues and they reach the end of their journey.
Chinook Salmon spawning run upstream
Introduced from the west coast, these fish have made themselves at home in Georgian Bay, swimming up rivers like the Beaver River to spawn. They made it to the second their falls at Slabtown, where 50 or 60 sat under the falls with tails too long to fit, then they attempted to swim up the falls which were entirely the wrong angle for their efforts, most faded due to exhaustion and floated back down stream. In some of the photos you can see how the heavy fish would jump the first tier just to land heavily into the cement. It was kinda sad to watch, this dam could easily be re-engineered to help the fish.
Rainbow Trout swimming up the Beaver River
Fish were moving up the Beaver River during the fall spawning Run to get to the nesting areas. Rarely do I see so many jumping, so tonight was special. There seemed to be Chinook Salmon and Rainbow Trout. Why are the Rainbow Trout with the Salmon? Because they are actually wrongly named Salmon! These fish were jumping at the Slabtown Dam, so they had already made it through the Thornbury Fish Ladder, and Clendenam Dam. In the calm eddies you could see many larger fish resting.
This photo above is one of the very few that made it 🙁
Above: Chinook and a Trout leap at the same time, the heavier fish landed with a thud on the cement and the trout made it to the second stage of the falls.
Northern Harrier Hawk Juvenile
We were so excited to see this different looking raptor, usually the adults we see are grey. The white band above the tail is the telling sign that this is a juvenile Northern Harrier Hawk hunting the hay fields. They are known for the way they hover in place while they watch or look for rodents.
House Sparrows
This was a busy little flock in downtown Toronto, the seemed infatuated with some loose feathers, I’m not sure why as it in October!
