Summer 2008 Nature Log

August 12, 2008

This morning Brenna and I took a couple from California on a long rainy tour and saw more than 35 different species of bird not counting those we didn’t have time to identify. Numbers aside, it was fun to watch the warblers pick about the trees for insects while the kingfishers cackled and the teals hung out on the boards with the yellowlegs. Along with Brenna and I, a Great Blue Heron surveyed the park for the morning from his perch on a Tree Swallow nesting box.

July 29, 2008

Charlotte and I had the pleasure of watching a young grebe dive and catch his/her own fish this morning which was exciting for me to see since everywhere else in the park the young are still mostly stationary and helpless and poking the adults for food every time they surface. I feel sympathy for these very busy adult grebes. They have their lobed toes full! There was one baby that began holding its head under to watch the parent fish and another that even attempted total submersion! For them, I am sure the parents are grateful.

I'd have to say that the exciting discovery of the week though, is the nest of a Red-eyed Vireo hanging directly over the wooded section of the path. It is so quiet and still in the little hanging basket that you can easily miss the profile of its slender beak, head and tail poking out of the top.

July 26, 2008

This afternoon Brenna and I watched many baby Pied-billed Grebes cheeping away on the surface of the water as their parent continually resurfaced with fish to feed them. It seemed to me like quite a fun game to play. The babies quiet down after the parent dives and sit floating and facing different directions, each hoping to spot the fat, striped bill of their mother break the surface clamped around a fish. Then, the zebra-headed baby that spots the parent first gets a head start… but his or her excited cheeps alert the others and the race is on. The winner happily swallows the fish it is handed and the parent gracefully slips back below the surface for the next round. If you didn’t get a chance to see the baby Pied-billed Grebes earlier this summer, now is your chance! You might even catch a glimpse of one riding on its parent’s back, as grebes are known to do.

July 20, 2008

Today’s misty morning made for good bird watching! I saw two separate groups of young Pied-billed Grebes diving for food and as I watched them, the Belted Kingfishers made splashes all around as they fished for breakfast. Many Soras called throughout the park and I finally got to spot one darting right beside the path in the shadow of the bank. Not minutes later I heard a Virginia Rail and crept down the boardwalk to find it calling and running from one patch of vegetation to another. It was an eventful walk for me! I counted four Muskrats chomping away in the cattails as well. Don’t let the weather deter you from a walk in the park today or in the next few rainy days… there might be more out and about on those days!

July 18, 2008

Human and bird visitors alike are enjoying the sunshine and breeze today. On a tour this morning the water was calm enough to identify birds by their reflections. We saw many different broods of American Widgeon and Gadwall enjoying the floating planks, but with the arrival of the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs they now have to share their snoozing spots. And I wish I could join them for a snooze in the sun to rest up before tomorrow’s Wetlands Adventure Day! There will be lots of activities going on including a scavenger hunt, BBQ and puppet show. Hope to see you there!

July 9, 2008

The Brown-headed Cowbirds are still busy chasing around their parent Chipping Sparrow begging for food. The once vibrant green heads on my mallard companions have begun to molt away. However, if there is one bird to take dating tips from, it’s the Mallard. They seem to have no problems with the ladies. Gentlemen, first paint your entire heads green. This woos not only the female Mallards but attracts the female Black Ducks too. The male Black Ducks, being not black at all but a few shades of brown have nothing on the Mallards with their flashy duds. Next, try the head-shake display (stretch your neck out and shake your head while chasing your pretty lady) and if this still fails to impress her try the tail-shake. If this STILL doesn’t work, try spitting on them… what I am referring to is the “water-flick.” This is an apparently effective technique in which the Mallards arch their necks and whistle then lower their bills beneath the water surface and lift them back up while spraying water at the preferred female. Do not worry if this advice isn’t perfectly clear because Mallards begin courting as early as the fall and their displays can be seen throughout the winter and spring. You will have plenty of opportunity to observe these moves and perfect them for yourself. Good luck!

July 4th, 2008

Everything was out enjoying the sunshine today. Some Wilson’s Warblers were belting out their beautiful songs as a Ring-necked Duck rested on a board with her four ducklings asleep in a little heap beside her. Later when she decided to move on, one of the ducklings could barely keep up, so intent he was on zigzagging around frantically trying to catch bugs… I spotted the Canada Geese again, although this time I only counted four young. They are half as big as their parents and sporting the beginnings of the white chinstrap. The neatest event I witnessed in the park today was along the path between the visitor centre and the beginning of the boardwalk loop. There I watched a Chipping Sparrow feed two young Brown-headed Cowbirds. The cowbirds hopped around on the boardwalk, mouths open and crying as the sparrow brought food to them repeatedly and reached up to drop it in the beaks of the considerably larger birds. Brown-headed Cowbirds are known to deposit their eggs in the nests of other species. Some birds then remove the eggs from their nests or cover them with nesting materials to prevent them from incubating but in this case it looks like a successful adoption for the cowbirds!

July 1, 2008

Happy Canada Day! I hope many of you were out enjoying the activities in town today! I was taking care of the desk at the visitor information centre and was unable to visit the park this afternoon, but a woman was kind enough to bring in footage of a Sora that she recorded during her walk today! It was swimming along at quite a good pace emitting its little beeping sound as it went. I’m sorry I didn’t see it myself but quite thankful this visitor thought to share with me!

June 28, 2008

The Grebes have separated from their parents at last. Charlotte and I took a family of four on a tour this afternoon and saw one of the young, head still zebra-striped, alone but looking quite comfortable out in the open water.

June 24, 2008

On a morning tour out in the park I watched two muskrats swim with their heads bent sideways dragging large cattail shoots near the main curve in the long boardwalk section building a hut under the tufts of grass along the edge of the water. I think they have chosen a good site! You cannot tell its location from the path.

June 21, 2008

I began today by shoveling goose excrement from the covered bridge in hopes of saving some soles from getting messy during our Community Walk event. Although the day called for thundershowers, other than a bit of rain in the morning the day was bright and sunny. Within minutes of setting up the scope at my station and scanning the edge of the cattails in hopes of seeing the young grebes, I spotted a Sora preening in a little sun patch. I was very excited for the chance to watch it because I so often hear their call but don’t always manage to catch a glimpse let alone extended observation like this. Brenna finds they resemble dinosaurs with their funny walk and weird bright beak. Minutes later the hovering flight of a Belted Kingfisher caught my eye and I watched as he swooped down to the water’s surface and caught a fish. Once he settled back on the top of a Tree Swallow’s nesting box I discovered that the top of his beak had pierced through the fish, while the bottom part of the beak held the fish in place. He whipped the fish against the wooden post a few times and sat waiting for his lunch to stop struggling...

June 17, 2008

I was lucky to get to watch the Pied-billed Grebe young with an adult today. It seems they are still getting some help being fed. It was great watching the adult swim across the water with a fish in its mouth.

June 14, 2008

I saw three pairs of Northern Shovelers today for the first time. The males and females of most of the other species of duck are spending less and less time together. The wind has been crazy and I haven’t seen the Pied-billed Grebes in days… methinks they have taken shelter deeper within the cattails.

June 13, 2008

In the mid-afternoon shining sun today there was a lot of different species out and about. I came across a groundhog along the trans-Canada trail and another in the more forested part of the park, both which seemed to pay me no mind as I approached, letting me get within a meter of them before lumbering off. The pair of Canada Geese have 5 goslings that resemble fuzzy beige bicycle helmets. Only weeks ago they were only as big as baseballs!