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Outdoor Ontario

Recent Posts

71
Backyard Birding / Re: Birding from the Deck
« Last post by Napper on June 06, 2025, 04:43:55 PM »
Yep GCFC it was in the garden then along the edge.
I am thinking they have a nest very close by as they are vocal all day long around the yard.

What you are seeing is the railing of the deck, was trying to sneak up on the bird.



72
Backyard Birding / Re: Birding from the Deck
« Last post by Shortsighted on June 05, 2025, 02:47:08 PM »
Hanging around the yard, eh.  Then you put them to work in the garden.  Well done!  Now on the internet cable ... that one must be the cable guy.  Thought experiment:  Put some syrup on your nose, don a bright red plastic rain coat and a matching red rain hat and then stand absolutely still for a half hour.  See what the hummer does.  As an added incentive ... maybe even hang a sign around your neck ... "FREE".   I guess that it would never work out.  You would need to have validation by way of a picture and who is going to serve that role.  One thing is certain, it's never been done before.
73
Backyard Birding / Re: Birding from the Deck
« Last post by Napper on June 05, 2025, 02:18:32 PM »
The Great Creasted Flycatchers are still hanging around the yard. One was in the garden yesterday.Two today in Lilac and then on Internet cable.Unexpected Yard bird (s).
Male hummingbird is still attracted to my red black oil seed feeder.
Napper :)
74
I headed east on the #401 this morning at about 6:45 in order to visit McLaughlin Bay Reserve in Oshawa in hopes of maybe seeing some shorebirds, even though it is a little late for that.  A couple of turnoffs before mine the highway just stopped.  Big accident (apparently) and all the lanes were closed.  I got off as soon as I could.  I didn't mean that the way it sounded.  Once free of the lock-down I managed to get to the wildlife reserve.
Not much to report.  There were Yellow warblers in numbers, as well as a few Common yellowthroat warblers (males), Eastern kingbirds, House wrens and the usual species.  Greg's Pond had swans and two cignets that stayed very close to their parents.  Also, two Common coots and a Morhen.  Once on the beach I heard nothing, not even killdeer.  By the time I reached Beaton Point there were indeed three killdeer and one Piping plover, although its mate was around somewhere.  A small flock flew around but didn't land.  I thought that they were Ruddy turnstone but now I think that they were too small, probably White-rumped sandpipers.
Cranberry Marsh in Whitby was also quite dead.  Geese and gulls, none of which were unusual species.  An osprey did fly by while being harassed by blackbirds.















75
Non-Ontario Birds / Re: California Central Coast and Santa Cruz Island
« Last post by Dr. John on June 04, 2025, 10:30:23 AM »
The island foxes are quite small - when I first saw it, I had assumed it was someone's puppy that they had illegally brought to the island.  It was about the size of a cat.  So a mini-foxote then.
76
Backyard Birding / Re: Birding from the Deck
« Last post by Napper on June 03, 2025, 06:51:26 PM »
Too smokey to see anything last evening, Moon was orange
re: yesterday
Was trying get an image of the Cardinal and the Goldfinch together, it was too dark
Then the Hummingbird started buzzing around
Napper:)
77
Non-Ontario Birds / Re: California Central Coast and Santa Cruz Island
« Last post by Shortsighted on June 03, 2025, 03:00:20 PM »
The sleeping otters make me think of the lobby of a senior's home where every occupant is grabbing some zee's.  I mean, really, if you walk through one ... this is zee lobby.  The island fox looks like a cross between a fox and a coyote ... a foxote?  Looks like you had a good time in Canada's 11th province.  Let's face it, that's where most of our entertainers end up ... eventually.
78
Non-Ontario Birds / California Central Coast and Santa Cruz Island
« Last post by Dr. John on June 03, 2025, 01:27:51 PM »
We were recently in the Central Coast of California and also took a day trip to Santa Cruz Island.  We saw many birds, though few cooperated for good photographs.  A few firsts for me included a pair of phainopeplas and many island scrub jays.  The wildlife was generally more cooperative.  Here are a few snapshots of a 1) California towhee, 2) two young male northern elephant seals sparring, 3) a young California ground squirrel, 4) sea otters napping, and 5) an island fox (with a radio collar):
79
Nature / Re: Wildflower ID
« Last post by Shortsighted on June 03, 2025, 12:49:22 PM »
Low-level pollinators, such as small animals that use the broad leaf cover to hide and make-out.
80
Nature / Re: Wildflower ID
« Last post by Dr. John on June 03, 2025, 12:13:56 PM »
The position of the flower is also interesting, coming off the stem below the main leaves.