New Life Bird: Ruff

On Monday night I was watching an extra-innings baseball game and decided to check my email. A report for a rare bird came through that is reasonably close to where I work. The bird is a male Ruff in breeding plumage, a very interesting bird - and an extremely rare bird for this area.

The Ruff in question is currently residing in a flooded field with a large group of Lesser Yellowlegs and Greater Yellowlegs. The field is just over 20 minutes from where I work so yesterday I went to look at the bird on my lunch break.

With the assistance of other birders I located the Ruff on a small spit of dry land where he appeared to be sleeping. I could see he had a buff-coloured breast, but not much more than that as he was about 30 feet from me, and quite small. After a little while he got up and waded around, and I could better see how much he stood out among the Yellowlegs. I took some photos, but more for record purposes than trying to get one to post here.

I told Ron and Lynda about my sighting, and Ron looked up his only Ruff sighting - 19 years ago here in Hamilton. From what I have been able to gather, Ruffs are quite rare - though no infrequent - in this area. Every few years an individual shows up and causes a stir. It is nice that it is a breeding male this time, because winter males and females are very similar to the common Yellowlegs.

This morning I popped by the field on the way to work and spoke with a gentleman who said the Ruff was seen that morning before he arrived. Just as I had made up my mind not to wait to see if he came back, a large flock of Yellowlegs flew into the field. Quickly scanning the flock I located the Ruff, and in the morning light he stood out distinctly. I hope to have gotten some slightly better photos this time around.

A Ruff is an excellent life bird for me, and I doubt I will get a more rare bird this year. Maybe I will have a photo to add to this post later on today.

Edit: Added photo

New Life Birds: Three Sparrows!

Swamp Sparrow

In yesterdays post I wrote about some of the warblers I had seen at Shell Park. I made a second excursion to attempt to see a Lark Sparrow, with mixed results as you will see.

After I came home from work I wanted to see a Lark Sparrow that had been reported in the Caledonia area for the last few days. Ron and Lynda and Finn had gone and successfully seen it earlier that day, so I knew it was still around. Ron, Finn and I drove up to Caledonia and stopped at the farm that it had been hanging around. While Ron read to Finn in the car, I took a pair of binoculars and my camera and walked down the lane.

Swamp Sparrow

The first sparrow I saw was a Vesper Sparrow in a field off to my left. I couldn't get as close as I would have liked, but managed a few photos and a good view through the bins. I could see the white eye ring, which seems to be the only distinguishing feature of these rather plain sparrows.

I saw several Savannah Sparrows, which I thought were on my life list from last fall but were never formally recorded. I corrected that with several sightings and photographs on this occasion. Walking up and down the lane produced numerous sparrows, but not the one I was looking for.

Vesper Sparrow

We drove to a small parkette on the Grand River where a Bald Eagle nest was located. Straight across the river I could see two adults sitting on the nest. While Finn threw sticks in the river one of the adults took off, circled around, and grabbed a fish right out of the water in front of me. It was a spectacular sight, somewhat marred by the fact that the light was waning and I neglected to bump up my ISO and my pictures came out blurry.

After this we went home having not seen the Lark Sparrow at all. What then is my third life sparrow of the day?, and from where do the above Lark Sparrow photos come? At Shell Park earlier in the day I noticed a very conspicuous sparrow rooting around in a bush off the path. I took a few photos of the sparrow and continued on, thinking it was quite different from other sparrow I have seen.

Savannah Sparrow

It turns out this was a Swamp Sparrow.Lark Sparrow, completely unexpected and unlooked for in this location. I hadn't seen any reports of one at Shell Park. If I had identified the sparrow at the time, or looked at the pictures when I first got home from work, I would have never ventured out to Caledonia and would have missed two life species. It was a very serendipitous series of events that allowed me to see three new sparrows in one day.

Edit: Thanks to Mark C. for pointing out that I incorrectly identified my Shell Park sparrow as a Lark Sparrow. I happened to meet Mark at Shell Park about a week ago, and he was rightfully skeptical as one has not been reported in the area. Mark took the time to look at my pictures and help me make the correct identification.

New Life Bird: Orchard Oriole

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Last Monday was an absolutely gorgeous day, so at lunch I decided to see if I could get my first Spring warbler. I headed down to Paletta Park to see if there was any activity there. As I completely expected, my first warbler was a Yellow-rumped Warbler. This happens to be the warbler I see the most (it seems to come early and stay late) and is the only warbler I had already seen this year. I saw one in Florida in February, and they look much the same in breeding and winter plumage.

As I was looking for a second species of warbler so I could actually add to my year list, I saw a flash of yellow streak across the path in front of me. I felt certain this was a Yellow Warbler, but as I didn't get a good enough look I couldn't count it. Further up the path I stood in an area surrounded by trees and bushes and saw quite a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a few Nashville WarblersBlue-headed Vireos, the latter of which I added to my year list.

Blue-headed Vireo

Striking out a little further along the path I cam across an Oriole that I thought was a female Baltimore Oriole. I took some photos and came across some other photographers. I told them about the Oriole and they said they thought it was a first Spring male. I came across the bird again and got a couple more photos then came across another bird watcher who thought it was an Orchard Oriole. It turns out this was the correct identifiation, as in my photos I can clearly see a distinct black bib on the throat, which the Baltimore doesn't possess.

Further along the path I saw some more Kinglets and a Yellow Warbler among the dogwoods off to the side. Beneath the Yellow Warbler in a dense bush was a male Common Yellowthroat, one of my favourite warblers from last season. A White-throated Sparrow flew into a tree directly in front of me, and there were several more Yellow-rumped Warblers overhead. I also saw a warbler I couldn't identify until I got home that turned out to be a Palm Warbler.

White-throated Sparrow

Yesterday was a pretty miserable day with a constant drizzle until early afternoon, so I didn't get out to see any birds. Today was bright and clear, although cool, so I tried Shell Park in Burlington to see what was about. Each of the last four or so times I have visited Shell Park I have seen Eastern Pheobes near a bridge over a stream, and today was no exception. There seem to be a pair constructing a nest right under the bridge.

I saw some more Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Nashville Warblers while walking through the park, and when I got back to the stream there were a pair of Blue-grey Gnatcatchers flitting the the trees above me. After watching them for a while a Palm Warbler flew in and the Phoebes were darting in and out. As I walked out I saw four or so Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying about, then saw two perched on a wire overhead.

Orchard Oriole

After Shell Park I decided to see if there were any Sand Martins starting to nest at Burloak Park. I did see a couple of swallows off in the distance, but nothing was near the bank. The two resident Red-necked Grebes were present, and a Belted Kingfisher flew silently along the shore. I spotted a Spotted Sandpiper on a pile of rocks a little ways off shore, but wasn't able to relocate it when I moved closer.

All-in-all, a very good start to the Spring migration. Hopefully some more warblers turn up in the coming days and weeks and I can expand my life list a little bit more. I am now at 156 birds on my life list, and 90 on the year.

Edit: Thanks to Ron for pointing out what I thought was a Nashville Warbler was actually a Blue-headed Vireo

Capturing a Creeper

Brown Creeper

Yesterday I went to Paletta Mansion and Park here in Burlington for a quick nose about on my lunch break. I wasn't expecting much, maybe a Caspian Tern patrolling the shore line or a Hermit Thrush skulking in the bushes. I didn't see either of those birds, but I did manage to see a bird that eluded me all winter.

Last winter at Paletta I became quite adept at spotting Brown Creepers as they searched a tree for insects. They have a very distinct way of searching for their food, and I was able to spot one or two most days I went. This winter I hadn't seen one at all until yesterday. While at Paletta I stood on a bridge near the shore and looked at the trees for signs of movement. I thought to myself that I would probably have to wait until much later in the year to get a Creeper on my year list. I had only ever seen them in the winter before, although they are apparently permanent residents throughout most of their range.

Brown Creeper

As I got about halfway along the path I spotted three Brown-Headed Cowbirds - my first of the year - on a branch above the path. The two males and a female were sitting close together, and I thought they would be my only year bird for the day. Along the path there were plenty of male Red-Winged Blackbirds, but I didn't spy any females. I saw a flash of a Northern Flicker flying away from me; the white patch on his/her rump and the yellow under his/her wings was quite noticeable.

Coming up to the second bridge (closest to the parking lot) I saw movement off to the side of the path, and looking through the branches saw a Creeper making his way up a tree. I got a few pictures of him as he worked his way up, using manual focus as the camera had difficulty picking out a subject through the layers of branches. I thought these would be my only shots of the Creeper as I have had difficulty approaching them in the past.

Mourning Dove

The distinct feeding behaviour I mentioned earlier is to start at the bottom of a tree and spiral upwards probing the bark for insects. Each time the Creeper is presented with a "fork in the road," so to speak, he unhesitatingly chooses a path. When he gets high enough in the tree for his liking, he flies down to the base of a new tree and starts spiraling upward again. In my - admittedly short - time observing Creepers, I have never seen one search the same tree twice in a row, nor have I seen one move downward on a tree. You can see from the above photos that they have very long claws to grasp the bark and a long down-curved bill to find and devour insects.

I was in luck on this day, however, as the next tree he chose was closer to me and I had a less obstructed view from the path. I had a nice view as he stopped on the trunk to do a bit of grooming, and saw him pick something from the bark and eat it. I noticed the direction he was moving and took a small offshoot from the path and waited for him to come closer. He obliged by searching two trees right in front of me, and my difficulty now was following him through the camera at such close range. He was so close that every time he went around behind the trunk I would have to take my eye from the viewfinder to see where he reemerged to track him again. Both the above pictures are uncropped frames, showing how close I was able to get.

Canada Goose

I have a tendency to ignore common birds in my photography because there are so many of them around all the time. For some reason it seems that an unusual or rare bird is more worthy of a photograph because of the out-of-the-ordinary nature of the bird, when in fact many of the common birds are more lovely. Take the Mourning Dove photo above. I would usually pass up the opportunity to photograph the dove, but this bird seemed so cooperative and the conditions so perfect that I took a few shots. The Canada Goose picture above has a nice feel to it, and as I watched the waves crash in to shore I decided the photo would probably tell a good story.

Mallards, European Starlings, and American Robins are other examples of birds that are so common I tend not to notice them. I think I am going to concentrate more on pictures that tell a good story or have many good elements in my photography from now on. Capturing a rare bird through the camera is still something I will enjoy and do, and I also like to try and get a better picture of a particular bird than I currently have. The pictures I got of the Creeper yesterday are definitely my best of the species.

Sights and Sounds of Spring

In Southern Ontario you always hear about the American Robin being a sure sign of Spring. Depending on the year, it seems these birds can be a bit optimistic - I would say they were a couple of weeks ahead of the Spring weather this year. They have certainly arrived, being seen in every grassy field and heard singing well into the evening. I will concede that they are indeed a sign of Spring, and a welcome sight and sound after a long winter.

Another bird that seems to arrive at about the same time as the Robins is the Killdeer. Hearing the first piping call of a Killdeer in the Spring is quite nice, and each of the locations I have worked at in the last four years have had parking lots that seem to attract them. Killdeer are easily the "wading" bird I see most in this area, although I cannot recall ever seeing one wading.

Red-Winged Blackbirds, at least the males, are another early-Spring migrant around here. Walking through Paletta Park, the calls of the males staking territory and trying to attract a female are both frequent and well distributed. I haven't seen a female around yet, but the males are determined to be in fine voice by the time the females arrive. Seeing a Red-Winged fully display his wings and shoulders while belting out his song is about as iconic a Spring image as can be, for me. I haven't gotten any pictures of this display yet this year, but I hope to get one to post soon.

Speaking of the visual part of a birds song display, one less pronounced but still memorable bird is the Song Sparrow. Seeing a Song Sparrow with his head tipped back and beak open while hearing his complex but distinctive song evokes thoughts of Spring no matter what time of year I see and hear it.

I am still waiting for some Spring firsts for my year list - warbler, flycatcher, swallow, hummingbird - but I got a couple of firsts today that I will detail in my next post.

Not the birds I expected

Female White-winged Crossbill

Despite a rather severe head cold, I decided to take advantage of the very nice weather today (7 C) to do a bit of bird watching at lunch. I gave the Burlington Lift Bridge canal a miss today and try some other local birding spots. I ended up with two nice new winter birds, but didn't see the ones I expected to.

I started off at Paletta Park on the waterfront to see if there were any Brown Creepers this time around. I also saw a Tufted Titmouse there at this time last year, but there hadn't been any reports so far this year. It was pretty overcast at this time, but I was also hoping to have another chance to photograph some Golden-crowned Kinglets. Other than Mallards and Canada Geese the only birds I saw were Black-capped Chickadees and Northern Cardinals. I heard some woodpeckers and nuthatches, but they did not put in an appearance.

Two female White-winged Crossbills

Giving up on Paletta I drove down the street to La Salle Marina. The sun came out while I was driving, and as I was passing the Burlington Golf and Country Club I saw a half dozen birds fly into the top of a pine tree. I should point out (to reassure Lynda) that I was not watching for birds while driving. They passed in front of me and I pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car to see what they were. I do not endorse birding and driving.

The birds in question were in the top of a pine tree across the street from the parking lot I pulled into (I believe it was the Burlington Golf and Country Club parking lot). I could see the birds moving around in the top of the tree calling and generally behaving like finches. With the sun out strongly by this time, the birds were very backlit and hard to identify. They were larger than American Goldfinches, but hanging upside-down on the cones feeding. I was fairly sure they were White-winged Crossbills, which I confirmed looking at the pictures afterwards.

Male White-winged Crossbill

This was my second time seeing Crossbills. The first time was just last Boxing Day, but the conditions were not good for photography. They were too distant for the lens I had available at the time and came out very backlit. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a number of my shots today came out well, and are my first good photographs of these birds.

Male American Wigeon

When I made it to La Salle I was hoping to see a Brown Creeper or a Tundra Swan. Tundra Swans were all over La Salle this time last year, but I didn't see any today. The bay was mostly frozen over close to shore with a couple of small pools of open water. Mallards, Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Trumpeter Swans, American Black Ducks, and Ring-billed Gulls were abundant. A little way down the pathway there was a single male American Wigeon. Last winter several pairs hung out at La Salle last winter, and I seemed compelled to photograph them whenever I saw them. We have a screensaver on our computer that randomly displays a picture for 20 seconds, and Wigeons are very well represented due to the number of photographs they are subject in.

Another life gull

Golden-crowned Kinglet

After coming back from fabulous weather in Florida, I am finding it very hard to go birding in the sub-zero temperatures here at home. I have effectively ruined my cold-tolerance by spending a week is sunny hot weather, but I have managed to get out a couple of times.

First I went to Paletta Park in Burlington and walked around the woodlot. The paths were extremely icy in places, so I spent more time watching my feet than I did watching for birds. I was particularly on the look out for an American Treecreeper, which was abundant there last winter. After getting halfway through the lot and only seeing a few Black-capped Chickadees, I came across a bit of a surprise. Two beautiful Golden-crowned Kinglets were darting about the undergrowth beside the path. These tiny birds are surprisingly unconcerned when approached, so it was possible for me to get a couple of good shots on this dull day, although I had to throw away quite a few shots of empty twigs where only moments ago a kinglet sat.

Iceland Gull

I made it down to the Burlington Lift Bridge canal once last week, and it was windy and cold enough that my cheeks were bright red and tear stained when I got back to my car. There wasn't too much ice left on the bay, and the walkways were almost entirely clear of snow - quite a difference from when I was last there before my vacation. The number of ducks was down quite a bit with good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers and smaller groups of White-winged Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks. I didn't see any eagles on the ice or anything particularly remarkable at the bay end of the canal.

As I was walking to the lake end of the canal and noting how far the wind carried me if I jumped straight up (about 15 cm) I saw the groups of Rock Pigeons were flying about like mad. Chasing after them was a Peregrine Falcon and I got a couple of pictures as he/she flew into the wind above me.

Iceland Gull

Halfway between the bridge and the lake end of the canal was a single gull swimming just off the walkway. Judging by his/her size and lack of black on the tail feathers I guessed that this bird was probably an Iceland Gull, which I confirmed was a first winter when I got home. Down at the very end of the canal the gull flew a couple of circles over me and I was able to get a couple of good shots while he/she was flying into the wind.

It was an overall dull day, and I was decidedly unimpressed with my falcon shots when I got home, but adding another gull to my life list brightened the day considerably. I am fairly sure I saw an Iceland Gull a few weeks prior to this sighting, but I wasn't able to confirm it with the photos I took that day when I got home. This was a much better sighting, and I am just as happy to have waited and made sure before adding the gull to my list.

Disney World Birds

Limpkin

We recently came back from a week-long vacation in Florida. We spent our time at Disney World staying in the All-Star Sports Resort (the only value resort with room available while we were down). The weather was gorgeous, with highs between 25.5 C (78F) and 28 C (82F) each day and only a couple of very light showers on the Friday. Crowds were a different matter, this being our most crowded trip to date, but it didn't overly hamper our vacation.

I wasn't able to do much dedicated birding despite having borrowed an awesome birding lens for the trip. This was partly due to my SLR camera case hanging by a thread by the end of the vacation so we only carried a point-and-shoot for the last couple days. Our days were spent enjoying the parks as a family and swimming at the hotel. I was able to get out early a few mornings to walk around the area near our room, which was more fruitful than I expected as I will explain soon.

A pair of Limpkins

The birding began on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel. My very first Florida bird this year was a Wood Stork at a pond just outside the airport. Wood Storks have eluded my photographs thus far despite seeing many on this trip. I have always been in a moving vehicle (not driving) when I see them. I also spotted Anhingas, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vultures, Great Egrets, and White Ibis on the bus ride.

Great Blue Heron

I was impressed with the location of out hotel room. It wasn't too far from the front desk/concessions/transportation but it was completely surrounded by woods and ponds. On the very first morning at about eight we saw one of my favourite birds right outside our room - a Pileated Woodpecker! I was so busy taking pictures of the unexpected Pileated that I apparently missed my only opportunity at a Redheaded Woodpecker, which would have been a life bird for me.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The very next morning there were two Pileateds outside our room, and I got my best pictures ever of this bird. Strangely, the two birds were males and Pileateds are supposed to be very territorial. Perhaps they were just wintering in Florida and were not territorial because they were not breeding. Pretty much every morning there were Red-bellied Woodpeckers outside our room as well, and once a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The Red-bellieds were all over the campgrounds where my parents were staying as well, along with Downy Woodpeckers and (while I wasn't there) Redheaded Woodpeckers.

Roseate Spoonbill - Not wild

My only life bird came in the form of a foursome of Wild Turkeys seen at the roadside near the campground. I have seen Turkey before, but not while I was listing. This was again from a moving car, so I didn't get any pictures. Not the most impressive life bird on a vacation to Florida, but considering the small amount of birding I did it isn't too surprising that I didn't get anything better.

Ostrich - Not wild

My best birding experience of the vacation came one morning a couple of days before we came home. While Erin and Finn slept I got up at about seven to have a look around the hotel. As sunrise was right around seven at that time it was none too bright, especially using a long lens, but I decided to go anyway. At a pond about 100 m from our room there was a Great Blue Heron walking along the opposite side. I got quite a few blurry pictures but also a couple of clearer ones, including one with his/her reflection in the pond. Erin says this is her favourite bird picture from the vacation. What made this my favourite experience - however - came from a pond 100 m to the other side of our room.

Painted Stork - Not wild

While at this pond looking for an Anhinga I had seen earlier in the week I happened to spot a pair of nondescript wading birds across the pond. I took some photos from right where I was (as is my habit when I see something interesting in case it flies away in the next few seconds or as I try to get closer) and then looked around to see if I could get any closer. They were making their way toward the far end of the pond from where I was standing, but were walking ever closer to my hotel wing. I walked over to my end of the pond and lost sight of them as there was heavy undergrowth around the sides of the pond.

Pileated Woodpecker

As I came to the stairwell right under my hotel room I realized that if I were lying in bed I would be about 10 m from the birds (albeit one floor up). I was pretty sure at this time that the birds were Limpkins and as I photographed they continued to walk toward me. They were making their way through some thick green weeds at the waters edge, and at one point one of them caught something of a considerable size, possibly a large snail. The one that caught the snail walked up onto the bank and the other joined him/her there. After a minute or so the one that caught the snail came back into the water and continued toward me as the other stayed up on the bank for a few more minutes apparently finishing the meal. After I felt I had enough pictures I walked away to look for woodpeckers and heard a crashing and a wailing cry. One of the Limpkin had flown up into a tree beside the pond and was calling out but flew away as I came back. The other Limpkin walked away and up onto the bank across the pond.

Common Moorhen

Animal Kingdom is a good place to take pictures of birds, although not birds you can count on a list of birds seen in the field. It is a challenge to take photographs from the safari ride, since it is on an extremely bumpy (realistic?) track, the car doesn't slow down or stop very often, and it is usually the bigger animals that people want to see. I did got some shots of Helmeted Guineafowl (blurry), Painted Stork, White-breated Cormorant, Pink-baked Pelican, and some other birds that I have little chance to see in the wild.

Pileated Woodpecker

The other odds and sods are: a few Bald Eagles, American Coot, Black Vulture, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Redish Egret, Common Grackle, and Boat-tailed Grackle. Still no Purple Gallinule, but I was so confident I would see a Common Moorhen in the World Showcase Lagoon I said I would not leave Epcot unless I saw one. The entire day I didn't see a single Moorhen until we were about to leave and my dad pointed one out under a bridge. The pictures in the blog entry are in no particular order because I uploaded them in a strange way. Despite having a program and a dedicated "2009 Florida List" to keep track of the birds, I did not list properly during the vacation. It was definitely a family vacation and not a birding vacation, and that is okay with me. The fact that I was able to see so many birds, have a couple of really great birding experiences, and add a life bird are enough for me.

Pomarine Jaeger: New Life Bird

Great Black-backed Gull

It has proved fruitful for me to brave the cold, raw winds at the Burlington Lift Bridge this winter. Last week I again added a life bird at that locale - though I did not realize it right away.

I was watching the ducks and gulls at the canal as I often do on my lunch hour, and was particularly admiring the gulls. I got some of my best shots of a Great Black-backed Gull and was keeping an eye out for the Glaucous Gull or any other unusual gull or duck. The bay was a lot more free of ice than it had been earlier in the week and was no longer pushing ice through the canal and out into the lake.

Great Black-backed Gull

I tend to have more luck at the lake-end of the canal than the bay-end, so I was out by the lighthouse on the Hamilton side. With no ice coming through the canal the ducks and gulls weren't quite as close-at-hand as they had been last time I was there, but I managed to get some goos shots of a Black-backed swimming and flying fairly close by.

I was just looking at a group of gulls floating quite some distance out into the lake, when they all of a sudden flew up and into the canal as a group. The behaviour was different than when the Snowy Owl scattered the gulls earlier this winter - they didn't seem scared but there seemed to be something they didn't like or they just all felt it was time to come in closer. A few seconds later I saw something flying in over where the gulls were. Through my lens the body looked dark - much darker than I had ever seen on a gull, even a juvenile one.

Pomarine Jaeger

At first I thought it might be a juvenile Bald Eagle flying over to the bay to try its luck at fishing, but the beak was all wrong and though its wings were broader than most gulls, they weren't an eagles wings. I watched and photographed as the bird flew a circle over the canal, then flew off over the bay. It came in for one more flight over the canal, then flew off over the bay toward Hamilton.

I watched as it flew off, then looked at the pictures on my camera to see what it was. I was a bit disappointed to see that it looked quite like a gull in my camera and made a note to show it to Ron and Lynda when I got home. I forgot to show it to them that night, and though I meant to show it sometime on the weekend it slipped my mind as well

Pomarine Jaeger

Yesterday a report came in that a Pomarine Jaeger had been sighting off a beach in Hamilton, apparently driven in by East winds on the lake. Ron and Lynda forwarded the email to me, as they do when there is something interesting in the area, and that reminded me of my recent sighting. I sent an email back to the effect of "you won't believe it, but I think I saw this bird last week" and Ron agreed to look at my pictures when I got home.

Unfortunately my photographs were a bit distant, but after zooming in and looking at all the angles we agreed that it was indeed the Pomarine Jaeger, albeit an immature one. Apparently the Parasitic Jaeger (which I haven't seen) is much more common around here, and the Pomarine is relatively rare. I borrowed a lens yesterday that gives me an extra 100mm (which is huge when trying to photograph birds) and add Vibration Reduction to the mix, so I am going to attempt to get some better pictures this week. I am pleased with the pictures from an identification stand point, but it would be nice to some better ones to display.

Backyard Birding

Black-capped Chickadee thinking I have seeds

In our area it is very rewarding to keep a feeder or two in the yard, especially during winter. We have two feeders in the back yard and one at the side and attract quite a few birds. Normally it is just the usual suspects - House Sparrows, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees and the like for us - but once and a while something out of the ordinary comes in.

Ron keeps a backyard list, and I should find out how many species are on it. There have been a number of singularities this winter that keep yard watching interesting. One day soon after New Years I saw a single Blue Jay come to the feeder two times, but it hasn't been back since that we have seen. We have been frequently getting a single Oregon Junco - still counted as a Dark-eyed Junco, but different from the Slate-coloured Junco normally seen in these parts.

Black-capped Chickadee about to fly away

Occasionally we will see a couple of Pine Siskins come to the feeders, which are common enough in the area this winter due to an irruption from the North but usually not much seen down here. Ron saw a single Common Redpoll at the feeders - something I haven't seen before at our house but saw a few days earlier at La Salle Marina.

My parents have a number of feeders at their house, which is not even a 10 minute drive from our house, and the species distribution is startlingly different. They live near a fair-sized woodlot in an older neighbourhood, which probably accounts for the differences. Since the winter began they have been inundated with Siskins, House Finches, and American Goldfinches to a much greater extent than we have. They hardly - if ever - get a House Sparrow, which is our most frequent visitor.

Dark-eyed Junco taking off

For a couple of days last week a roving flock of winter American Robins were feasting on berries in the woods beside their house. How are we supposed to tell when Spring is coming if the Robins never leave? Red-breasted Nuthatches and White-breasted Nuthatches along with Downy Woodpeckers will often times come for the odd seed or to feed on suet, but I don't think we have ever had those in our yard.

The pictures accompanying this post were taken at La Salle Marina last week, but are fairly representative of the types of pictures possible with backyard birds. My issue with photographing birds at feeders are twofold: usually the photos are taken through a window (making it harder to get a nice clear shot), and the pictures don't look quite as natural if the bird is sitting on a feeder. The latter problem can be solved by providing a bush or some sticks for the birds to perch on near the feeders, which also gives the photographer a good idea of where to train the camera while waiting for birds to come in.

Northern Cardinal posing

Northern Cardinals, like Juncos, seem to be more comfortable eating on the ground and will more likely be seen under feeders than on them. Birds like finches and grossbeaks happily oblige them by dumping seeds on the ground while looking for one to their liking. Squirrels will also knock a good number of seeds out jumping on to a feeder.

While it is nice to watch the common birds at a feeder, I think it is the unusual or unexpected birds that keep it interesting. The Redpoll at our feeder had me looking for days to see if it would come back. Earlier in the winter my parents had a Carolina Wren come to the feeder a couple times while I was there that kept me alert for a while. A large group of feeding birds is also a good place to - sadly - see hawks. There is a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk that hang out in the woods at my parents, although the latter is apparently more interested in squirrels.

Birdlist Software

Loading Birdlist

I'm going to talk a bit about my second attempt (out of three) to make a bird list program. This post will be largely technical, but any comments are welcome on ideas how to improve it. I haven't been listing for long, so I'm sure there is information that would be useful for people to record that I am missing in my program, or features that I have overlooked.

I say second attempt of three in my opening sentence, and this is explained a little in my first post to this blog. Briefly, I have created three programs specifically to keep track of my various bird lists. The first was a web application that used mySQL to store the sighting information and PHP to present an interface to the user. I used this program on my Zaurus C1000 pocket computer and home computer, and have set it up for a couple other people as well.

My second program, the one I am going to be talking about now, stores data in XML files and uses GTK to present an interface to the user. I use this program solely on my Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, though it could be compiled for Linux and Windows desktops. This is my most mature application and it has gone through many changes and optimizations. I designed the XML structure to allow speedy data access, and have tried to design the interface to be as usable as possible. I sent a beta copy to an ornithologist in the States to try out, and got some positive comments but also quite a bit of usability issues. I have since made it easier for new users to pick up and start using.

Birdlist main screen

The third program again uses a database for storage, although this time the default database is sqlite. This is a simple, single file database that is simple to set up and maintain, ideal for my purposes. The interface is Qt4, which has the benefit of easily running on my tablet, linux desktops, and windows desktops. Unfortunately, Qt4 for my tablet isn't quite optimized for the form factor so I am waiting for some more improvements before changing over all my development efforts. This version is nearly as complete as the GTK version, but not as polished.

The goal of my bird listing programs is to allow the user to create multiple lists and maintain records of their bird sightings. For example, I have my life list, year lists for 2008 and 2009, and some trip lists. "Birdlist" presents the selected list to the user as a table with headings at the top of each column and sighting information next to each bird name. The user can filter the list to show only the birds he/she has seen (useful for reviewing sightings), or show all the birds available on the list.

Birdlist showing list selection

One of the current limitations is the species associated with the list. Right now when a user creates a list it is automatically populated with the species that have been recorded in North America. This limitation exists because that is all I use right now, but in the future this should be much more flexible. I have been thinking about how to implement this, and it is actually pretty tricky. Having a "master list" for all the species in the world and filtering the list by area would be one way to go about it, but then it is a matter of what is a reasonable area to consider? By continent? I think personally I would like to see State/Province lists, and even a little more fine - such as a Hamilton list.

Continent, Country, and State/Province lists are probably possible to include with the application, but more detail would be up to the user. I am considering an interface that would allow a user to select the closest existing level (for my Hamilton example this would be "Ontario") and filtering the list down by unchecking birds that he/she does not want to include. I will have to look further into the feasibility of this method as this is one of the features I would need to include before releasing the program.

Birdlist viewing photo

The data that is recorded depends on how the list was initially set up. When adding a new list the user has the option displaying photographs. If a user elected to display photographs an "Image" column, and a "Photo taken" column (displayed with a camera icon to save room) are displayed. If the user did not want photos shown, these columns do not display which saves room and reduces clutter. The standard data is "Bird Name," "Date Seen, "Location," and "Notes." "Bird Name" is stored within the list and selected by the user when entering data. "Date Seen" is the date of the sighting and can either be entered as text or selected from a pop-up calendar. "Location" is the location of the sighting, which is entered by the user or selected from a list of previously entered locations. "Notes" is a free text field that the user can record the conditions of the sighting, or any other information.

The user does not enter sighting data into the table itself (which is read-only), but rather through dialogs designed to make entering data as easy as possible. Inserting a sighting, for example, allows the user to start typing into the "Bird Name" entry and will show a list of matches. This list of matches is filtered to be only birds that do not have a sighting recorded already, and can match anywhere in the bird name - not just the start of the name. This makes searching for "duck" more useful, as it always appears at the end of the bird name.

Birdlist insert dialog

Modifying and deleting sightings use similar dialogs, but allow the user to select the bird they want to modify/delete from a list of bird sightings that have already been entered. All dialogs (insert, modify, and delete) require a correct bird to be selected and valid date to be entered before continuing, which keeps the data stored in the list valid at all times.

There are a number of ways to reduce the effort of recording a sighting. If a user is keeping a life list and a year list and sees a new life bird, it follows that the bird must also be a new bird for the year. The user enters the sighting details into either of the appropriate lists, then clicks and holds on the new sighting in the table. This brings up a menu with "Modify" and "Delete" entries (which are useful to quickly modify or delete a specific entry) and also a "Copy" menu that will allow the user to copy the sighting to one of his/her other lists. No duplicate data entry required.

Birdlist insert dialog with bird selection

Another planned feature that will reduce effort is import and export of lists. Import will allow a user to import sighting data into a new list, while export would export a list (or portions of a list) into a different format. There are a number of challenges to implementing import, but first and foremost is the format of the incoming list. Even if the incoming list has the same number of fields, and the fields generally map to one another one-to-one, the problem is identifying which bird a record goes with. Bird name is not a flawless indicator, since birds can have more than one name (ie. White-winged Scoter and Velvet Scoter) and this leaves a problem. I think the best solution would be to use bird name, but when an entry comes up that cannot be matched allow the user to manually select the correct bird.

Exporting lists into different formats would be useful for backup purposes (although the application backs up by default on the N810) or for displaying in HTML on the internet. Allowing the user to select a subset of a list (all the birds that have been seen but not photographed, all the birds that have been photographed but do not have an image, birds seen in a given month, birds seen in a given year, etc) would be interesting for statistical analysis or just curiosity.

Birdlist preferences

If the user clicks on a sighting to select that row, and then clicks on the image portion or the row a dialog will pop up to show a larger image. Zooming and rotation are not currently implemented, but they are on the road map. The entire photo handling/selection portion of the application is due for an overhaul.

If the user has the sighting selected and click on any text portion a dialog will pop up containing identification information. This is like a brief field guide, with juvenile description, differences between sexes, primary identification and alternate form identification, and similar species. This can be very useful in the field, but it is only available for the more common North American species. Currently the data comes from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, but I have not determined whether it is appropriate to be distributed with the program. I will include a web lookup in future versions.

Birdlist statistics

The application has a number of options that can be changed to suit different preferences. Having the application start in fullscreen mode, or only showing birds that have been seen will save a few clicks and a bit of time on each startup. The font option affects the entire interface and can be small enough to show quite a bit of information at a glance yet large enough to read easily. Obviously there is no one setting that is just right for everyone, which is why this is changeable. Column sizing with a stylus on a small screen can be quite challenging, so having an option to select widths where the columns wrap their text is hopefully simpler and only has to be done once.

The program generates a few statistics that I find useful from time to time. Using the total number of birds in the list, the number of bird sightings in the list, and the number of sightings that have been photographed (if the list displays photos) produces three raw numbers and three percentages that can be gratifying to see (15% or North American birds sighted).

Birdlist main view showing non-seen birds

The application now has a "First Time Run Wizard" that takes the user through the steps of setting up a first list and changing the program preferences before starting up for the first time. Changing the program to allow the use of different species lists (mentioned above) is the last hurdle preventing me from releasing this version to the public. This version may never see public release, since the number birders that own an N800 or N810 internet tablet is probably quite limited. The Qt4 version would run on many more platforms, increasing the number of people who would be interested in the program. While there is a bit of limbo waiting to see whether Qt4 will run sufficiently well on the tablet, I am quite happy using this current version. If anyone happens to be reading this blog (unlikely) and owns one of the aforementioned devices (very unlikely) and would like to try this software (extremely unlikely) send me an email and I will send you a copy.

If anyone reading this blog has an idea they think would improve this program and future version (much more likely) please email me or leave a comment.