American Avocet visits the Greater Stony Lake Area

Local birder Jerry Ball found this beautiful American Avocet on a cattle watering pond in the south end of Peterborough (Greater Stony Lake Area) a couple of days ago. I was in the area today and was very happy to observe the bird dashing about, catching insects in the shallow water.

To my knowledge, this is the first record for Peterborough County. Sadler (1983) makes no mention of the species.

Bohemian Waxwings

I surprised a good sized flock, more than 250 strong, of Bohemian Waxwings along a farm road. Half were on the dirt road, picking up grit and the other half were gleaning fruit from roadside wild grape vines and Eastern Red Cedars. They were very skittish and noisy. The flock picked up and headed east after I'd watched them for a few minutes.

Late migrants

There are a few late migrants still passing through. Among the new birds this week were numerous Blackpoll Warblers singing high up in the treetops. I spotted this Yellow-bellied Flycatcher along a roadside near Nephton.

Winter finch arrivals

Each winter brings a new mix of birds to the feeders outside our windows. A flock of 100+ Common Redpolls, accompanied by Pine Siskins and Common Goldfinches, ate nearly 50 kg of niger seed during the winter of 2005-2006. Last year, we didn't see a single Common Redpoll or Evening Grosbeak. This year is another story altogether.

Evening Grosbeaks first appeared in September and have stayed. Presently, we have two or three flocks totaling about 50 birds.
Common Redpolls now festoon the niger silo and the snow beneath. A few of the paler Redpolls may indeed be Hoary Redpolls but there seem to be intermediately coloured birds as well. Some day soon I will step up to meet Jean Iron's Redpoll Challenge, which involves learning to recognize the four redpoll subspecies presently wintering in Ontario.

This year-to-year variation makes backyard birding all the more interesting. To some, these movements may seem erratic but they're not. The so-called "irruptions" of northern bird species are caused by failures of staple food crops in the boreal forest and beyond. Ron Pittaway has acquired some expertise in predicting the movements of "northern birds". His 2007-2008 Winter Finch Forecast is spot-on.