Yellow bird

An unusual bird showed up in our cherry tree early this morning. I’m not sure what it was.

It might be a pine warbler.

What do you think?

Wanted: licensed bird bander

The research station at Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park, AKA the Leslie Street Spit, are hiring a licensed Bird Bander.

Hermit thrushes

The cats have brought in three birds in the last week, which I think are hermit thrushes on migration. Out of their territory, the shy birds are easy prey.

You can see field marks for various spotted thrushes here.

The birds might also have been white-breasted nuthatches.

Cloud caught a robin

I was alerted by a chorus of bird alarms this morning. Cloud, one of my grey cats, had caught a just-fledged robin, still with some spots on its breast. He was teasing it in the back yard. First I took him away from it, which made him struggle; then I took it away from him, which made him search frantically. I carried it out to the back lane, looking for a good high place to put it. Unfortunately, it leaped out of my arms and fluttered down to the ground. Rather than chase it, I walked back to the yard.

more funny cat pictures

Cloud was still looking for his prey. Eventually he exhausted the potential of the back yard and ran out into the lane. The alarmed chorus renewed and he was soon back with the robin. This time I let him keep it. He shortly killed it and started nibbling. The next time I looked out, Cloud was sitting and his brother Fog was eating.

They ate part of the robin and I dropped the rest into the compost.

Leslie Street Spit: “Toronto’s accidental treasure”

Or so says Christopher Hume, writing in the Toronto Star: “Toronto’s accidental treasure“

I love the Spit: it’s a bird sanctuary, wilder than most city parks, looks a bit like Scotland with its hills and fjords, I mean lochs. It’s a good place for a walk or a bike ride. Who cares that the park exists only on weekends or that it’s built out of landfill?

Parrots in Irvine Park

Tramping around Irvine Park in Orange County, California, I saw and heard three green parrot-like objects that were flying from one sycamore tree to another. Eventually, one of them roosted where I could see it. I took this picture with my digital camera on maxiumum digital zoom. I presume they are escapers from captivity or perhaps naturalized. But I don’t know the species.

I saw a sora!

This morning I took a walk in the estuary at Newport Beach. The tide was fairly high, and coots and some ducks gathered around the fresh water pouring into Upper Newport Bay, sipping the water and bathing. Further south there were great blue herons and an inconspicuous bird near some tall grass. I wouldn’t have seen it except that it was flipping its pale tail. A trip to the bird book confirmed my guess: it was a sora.

Upper Newport Bay

Back home, the wind chills are -22 C and the storm warnings are out.

In Newport Beach, it’s mild, with hundreds of birds feeding in the estuary. This is one of the three best places to watch birds in California.