Birding in June and July

My last four posts were about insects and other creatures  ... mostly because the birds were not as accessible. This is a sort of 'cop out' as there are always birds to be seen, one just has to work a little harder and have a little more skill. The easiest birding possible is a fallout at Prince Edward Point in May when you can point you binoculars or camera at any moving object and get a different bird. Birding in a spring migration hotspot also has the advantage of leafless (or lightly leafed) trees  providing clear shots when the calling birds expose themselves on the open branches.
This spring was somewhat different as the much warmer weather caused the trees to leaf at least 2 weeks early so that at the peak of the Passerine migration in mid may, most trees were in full leaf making the birds more difficult to see.
Once the migrants move on, we are left with the nesting species to entertain us during the summer.
This is where those who bird by ear have a advantage. Walking through the tall pines an Bon Echo Provincial Park there was lot's of calling but nothing to be seen. The persistent and unmistakable calls of the Red-eyed Vireo was all through the woods, but I was never able to see photograph one.
One of the most common and often overlooked birds of summer is the Red-winged Blackbird. The males arrive in the spring before the females to set up and defend their territories. The sound of the male Red-winged Blackbird in the marsh reeds are to me is the characteristic and unmistakable sound of summer.

Male Red-winged Blackbird - Frink Centre

The females arrive later and look nothing like the males. After mating the females build and tend to the nest with no help from the males. In fact the males are polygamous and will mate with any female that enters it's territory. The females will also mate with multiple males and a clutch of eggs are likely to have the genes of more than one male.

Female Red-winged Blackbird (Frink Centre)

Large birds of course cannot hide in the leaves. The Great Blue Heron is everywhere, one even flies into my backyard occasionally to check out my small pond.

This one peeked out from the bushes in Bon Echo Provincial Park.

Great Blue Heron (Bon Echo Provincial Park)

Mute Swans of course have no need to hide. They are an introduced species to North America and dare I put them in the same category as other invasive species like the European Starling and House Sparrow? Mute Swans are beautiful and for many they are one of the few birds that they notice and Photograph. There is another side to it's personality as it can be very aggressive.Here I came too close to a mother and her Cygnet.

Angry Mute Swan (Presqu'ile Provincial Park)

While walking the trails in Bon Echo I spied a little bird in the trees overhanging the water. It turned out to be a Northern Waterthrush. The Northern Waterthrush is actually a Warbler that has eluded me for several years so I was happy to get this picture.

Northern Waterthrush (Bon Echo Provincial Park).

On a hike on Main Duck Island, an Eastern Wood Peewee showed itself briefly. Main Duck Island is situated in lake Ontario about 19km from the migration hotspot of Prince Edward Point. One can only speculate that this would be a convenient stopover for migrating birds although there doesn't appear to be much exploitation by the birding community.

Eastern Wood Pewee (Main Duck Island)

The Eastern Wood Pewee is easily recognized by its call which is one of the simplest and easiest to recognize by a novice birder. It is pee-weee - just like it's name.

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a flycatcher and flycatchers are some of the most visible in summer. They often sit on branches looking for insects. The Great Crested Flycatcher and the Eastern Kingbird are two of the larger flycatchers that present themselves in to open.

Great Crested Flycatcher (Presqu'ile Provincial Park).

Eastern Kingbird (Presqu'ile Provincial Park)

Swallows are summer birds that are easy to see but difficult to photograph as they always seem to be on the wing and moving very quickly. They do perch however and provide beautiful photo opportunities when they do.

Barn Swallow (Presqu'ile Provincial Park)

Here is a pair of Tree Swallows nesting.

Tree Swallows nesting (Presqu'ile Provincial Park)

One of the reasons that birds hide in summer is that they are nesting and therefore need to be invisible to predators. Once the nesting is complete one can see many examples of the juveniles.

Here are some mothers and babies.

Hairy Woodpecker mother and baby.

Swamp Sparrow mother and baby.

Canada Goose Family

Finding those Warblers that were so visible during migration is not easy in summer. Most are headed north to the massive boreal forest where they are widely dispersed. Some do hang around where that can be heard calling from high in the treetops and occasionally making themselves visible.

Nesting Common Yellowthroat Warbler (Frink Cenre)

It's unusual to see Warblers this open in summer. In fact the Yellowthroat immediately flew off as soon as I approached and I never saw it again. Typically the view is more like this female American Redstart that peeked through the leaves along a trail in Presqu'ile Provincial Park.

Female American Redstart (Presqu'ile Provincial Park)

At Presqu'ile Provincial Park, the most recognizable and obvious creatures are the Caspian Terns. They can be seen hunting over the water with their heads pointing downward. The most remarkable feature is the sound that they make, described by some campers as the sound that they would expect a prehistoric Pterodactyl to make. Take a walk along the Owen Point Trail and you can see and hear these noisy birds nesting on the gravel bars.

Caspian Terns with a Ring-billed Gull

Finally, the most iconic summer bird, the American Robin.

American Robin

It's still only July so we have another month of Summer. These are some of my observations so far, stand by for birds of summer Part 2.

See my website www.photobirding.net for details on these birds.