Orchard Oriole

Orchard Oriole - Our Smallest Oriole

Orchard Oriole Male

The Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) is our smallest oriole.  The only other oriole species we regularly have is the Baltimore Oriole which is 22cm/8.7" long compared to the 18 cm/7" of the Orchard Oriole.  The Orchard Oriole is a very rare spring visitor usually to the southern part of the province, mainly to the Fundy coast.  The number of visitors each year varies from none to several.  One banner year (1997) brought more than 30 records.

Orioles are members of the blackbird family, Icteridae.  Other members of this family include bobolinks, blackbirds, meadowlarks, grackles, and cowbirds.  The normal summer range of the Orchard Oriole is the eastern half of the US north to the Great Lakes and the southern prairies.  In the east it normally is found north to New York State and Massachusetts.  It winters in Central America and northwestern South America.  It prefers open woodlands, orchards, and suburban gardens.

Orchard Oriole - Male  [Internet Photo]

The male Orchard Oriole is not as striking in appearance as the Baltimore Oriole.  It is black on the head and back and shows a chestnut brown on its breast, flanks and rump.   The bill is black with blue on the lower mandible.  There is a white wing bar and the flight feathers show white edges.  The tail is all black unlike that of the Baltimore Oriole which is black and orange.  

Orchard Oriole - Female  [Internet Photo]

The female Orchard Oriole is difficult to identify.  She can be confused with female Scarlet or Summer Tanagers.  The tanagers, however, have large light-coloured bills and no wing bars.  The female Orchard Oriole is olive green above and bright yellow below and shows two white wing bars.  I have never seen a female Orchard Oriole but look forward to finding one here some summer.  See the photo above.

The immature male Orchard Oriole looks much like the female but shows a black bib and lores (area in front of the eye).  Sometimes by summer it shows some chestnut on the breast.  The photo below shows an immature Orchard Oriole which I photographed in Grand Manan recently.

Orchard Oriole - Immature Male

The Orchard Oriole normally eats insects, nectar, flowers and fruits.  It builds its nest in trees or bushes and out of grass and lines it with plant down.  It weaves its nest just like the Baltimore Oriole does.  It normally lays 3 to 7 pale blue or gray eggs with gray, purple or brown spots.  The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days.  The song of the Orchard Oriole is a long series of rich whistles, just as pretty as the song of the Baltimore Oriole but different.  Its call note is a distinctive 'chuck'.  

Orchard Oriole - Male

The male Orchard Oriole shown above was photographed in the Fredericton area.  It is interesting to note that this is the second year this individual has come to this location.  Last year he was in immature plumage.  This species is a loyal feeder species.  They readily eat sugar solution, oranges, suet, jelly and raisins.  This individual has found a wonderful place to spend the summer.  We all hope it can find a mate.  

Orchard Orioles usually appear late in the spring, after their cousins, the Baltimore Oriole.  They also leave very early for the south, sometimes as early as mid-July.  They have a long way to go!

The Latin name for this oriole, 'spurius', which means spurious or illegitimate was given because it was confused in the early days with the Baltimore Oriole.  That is interesting because it is easier to tell the Orchard Oriole from the Baltimore than it is to differentiate the many other species of orioles which don't occur here.

I hope the Orchard Oriole becomes numerous enough here so there is no longer any confusion!

Fields of Green

Fluffy clouds in blue skies

Overhanging boughs

Country paths 

and fields of green.

I should get into the country much more often

and it isn't so very far away from where I live.

So lovely here to see the yellow dandelions in full bloom.

Beautiful buttercups everywhere too!

To get up here, I need to walk up the hill from where I live to the nearest metro station,

only three stops away 

and then I need to take a country bus which leaves every fifteen minutes from the metro.

One bus goes all around small villages and it takes about fifteen minutes,

the other one is more direct and it takes only seven minutes to get to this beautiful area.

When I had a car, I came here several times a week in all weathers,

even with my snow-shoes in the winter!

I even saw butterflies!

A wooden cabin in the woods.

I love how we can see the forest and trees through the windows.

This place is called Chalet-à-Gobet

and not too far from the town of Lausanne.

Another lovely place in the country to visit is Apples.

This is further away and I need another country train to get here.

It's also great for walks, especially in the autumn when the trees change colour.

On a clear day, there is an excellent view on the mountains from the top of the hill.

It was a little misty on this particular day.

I do love shutters, especially the old ones.

With roses growing on the wall against a trellis.

The village had colourful pots of flowers

The rapeseed fields were past their most colourful, but still looked pretty in contrast to all the green.

Waiting at the station of Apples

to catch the country town back down to the nearest town of Morges.

Only one train per hour, so it's best not to miss it!

Michigan revisited

A male Brewer's blackbird sings from an old jack pine snag. I found a small colony of about ten birds breeding in Kirtland's warbler country, in northern Montmorency County, Michigan.

I'm up here for about my tenth year in a row, leading natural history trips from NettieBay Lodge in the incredibly biodiverse Presque Isle County, Michigan. We've got a great group and have been having lots of fabulous observations. Yesterday we explored Lake Huron habitats, and today it was the jack pine country on the other end of the county. We're over 110 species of birds thus far, and many interesting mammals, plants, insects, and more.

A burly porcupine comes at your narrator. I came up two days before the group, to scout. I had great luck with porkies, and have seen about eight so far. This one was very approachable.

Last night's excursion was epic, with common nighthawks doing their booming display over the young jack pine country, several close range eastern whip-poor-wills singing, and displaying American woodcock, all in earshot of each other.

I'll probably have some more posts and pics from northern Michigan.

White Slantline: The "Mayapple Moth"

A colony of mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, in an Ohio woodland in mid-April. This common wildflower is easily distinguished, in flower or not, by its distinctive deeply cleft umbrella-like leaves. A patch such as in this photo is likely a clone. The plant quite successfully spreads by rhizomes, forming extensive colonies.

When at rest on a wall near a nightlight, this moth cannot be missed. Its ivory coloration makes it stick out like a sore thumb. The white slantline, Tetracis cachexiata, derives its name from its pair of conspicuous orangish-yellow lines that adorn the wings. A common enough species, the caterpillars of white slantline feed on a wide variety of woody plants common to eastern forests. The adult moth has an interesting relationship with mayapple flowers.

Come May, the curious waxy-white flowers of mayapple open. They're held on an elongate pedicel below the overarching leaves, and although of notable size, can be missed due to the leafy canopy that overarches them.

Mayapple flowers do not produce nectar, and savvy pollinators apparently quickly catch on that no rewards are to be reaped by visits. It has been shown that mayapples that grow near or among a profusion of other spring wildflowers up their chances of pollinator visits. The other nectiferous flowers lure plenty of bees, beetles, wasps and other nectar-seeking insects, some of which are likely to investigate the mayapple flowers.

The white slantline moth also visits mayapple flowers, but without expectation of any reward other than a camouflaged environment. I first saw these moths roosting on mayapple flowers in May 2007 in southern Ohio, and have been looking for them on flowers ever since. No luck, until yesterday...

While hiking a trail in the Hocking Hills, I glanced over at a mayapple flower, and Voila! There it was, a beautiful white slantline tented around the stamens of a mayapple flower. I found three moths similarly situated, all in a small area. The mayapple flowers were mostly past, and that may have upped my chances as the moths' floral hiding spots were few and far between. I'm told white slantlines also roost on flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, flowers, but given the profusion of blossoms on one of these trees, finding a moth would be quite the needle-in-a-haystack search.

Selection of these flowers as a daytime hiding spot could largely be attributed to camouflage, but I have to wonder if the moths do provide some pollination services. It's reasonable to assume that some pollen might adhere to their fuzzy bodies, and could be transferred to other plants. Whatever the case, it is a very cool spectacle to encounter, and keep an eye on those mayapple flowers.

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES: Shooting these moths was tough. Overcast skies, vigorous breezes, and deep woods conspired to reduce light tremendously and create movement of the subject. Flash would be an obvious solution, and I made a number of shots using artificial light. I wasn't particularly happy with any of the latter. While the flash-aided shots were sharp, and mostly blacked out the background, they created a harshness and sharp-edged look to the soft white subjects. Even muting the light's intensity to soft fill-flash levels didn't render much that I liked, but I should go revisit these and see what can be done. Anyway, the moth shot above was made with the Canon 5DSR and Canon's 180mm macro lens, with no flash, at f/11, 1/25, and ISO 1600 (way too high for my tastes). The rig was stabilized on a tripod and I shot in Live View so there was no mirror movement. I also used high speed burst, and when the plant would stop moving for a second I'd fire off a bunch of rounds. Some of the results were fairly sharp.

Summer Tanager

A Very Rare Tanager - Summer Tanager

Summer Tanager Male

The Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) is a very rare species to find in New Brunswick.  However, this year we seem to be having a minor incursion of this species.  There have been reports of at least 10 individuals, sometimes 2 in one place.  How exciting that is for bird enthusiasts!

The Summer Tanager is a member of the Cardinalidae family, which it shares with other tanagers, cardinals and grosbeaks.  It is a large tanager, larger than the Scarlet Tanager which is more common here; (20cm [7.8"] compared to 18 cm [7"] for the Scarlet Tanager.  

The Summer Tanager is a most spectacular breeding bird.  The male shows a uniform blood-red plumage with wings slightly darker.  The female is a deep yellow, often with an orangish tinge.  The female plumage colour is variable though, often making identification difficult.  The bill of both genders is large and light grayish to a straw colour.  There are no wing bars and the wings of both genders contrast with the body by being just a bit darker.  The wings are not black like in the Scarlet Tanager.  The young tanagers take 2 years to acquire adult plumage and young males usually show very streaked  red and yellow plumage.

The female is sometimes difficult to tell from the female Scarlet Tanager but the wings of the Summer Tanager are dark yellow, not black like in the Scarlet Tanager.  The under-surface of the tail of the Summer Tanager is yellow compared to gray in the Scarlet Tanager.  

Birding is often not easy and there is a trait of the Summer Tanager which can make identification difficult.  There sometimes is a red morph female in this species.  She is often an orange-red but never-the-less, red.  The photo at the top of this post is labelled as a male and it probably is but since it has an orange cast to its red pigment and not blood-red, it could be a red morph female.  This form is very rare, however, so the bird shown at the top is likely a young male.

Summer Tanager Female

The Summer Tanager is mainly a species of the southern US, spending its summers from the central US (east to west) to the south.  It winters in the tropics from central Mexico south  and in the Caribbean Islands.  This species prefers hardwood habitats along streams and rivers.  It feeds on insects and prefers bees and wasps.  It is interesting how it handles feeding on these stinging insects.  It catches a bee in flight and kills it by beating it on a branch.  Note the large bill.  It then removes the stinger by rubbing it on the branch before eating it.  

Summer Tanager Male

The male Summer Tanagers shown here were photographed in New Brunswick, in Gagetown, just recently.  The song of this species is pure and melodious.  It is a series of whistles or warbles and can be confused with the song of the American Robin or the Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  It is beautiful to hear I wish we heard it more often here.  

Shown below is a visual delight I was privy to recently.  This particular family had many birds coming to their back yard feeders.  I was able to capture the male Baltimore Oriole feeding at the same time as the male Summer Tanager.  Feast your eyes!  Nature produces such marvellous beauty.

Summer Tanager Sharing Feeder with Baltimore Oriole

The Wisdom of Birthdays

I have always loved the fact that I was born in the beautiful month of May.

Spring is my favourite time of the year.

Nature is in all her beauty and usually it is not yet too hot!

Here are my cards and a new recipe for a delicious flourless chocolate cake.

which is made with 250 grams of high quality dark chocolate

3 eggs

50 grams of butter and 50 grams of raw cane sugar.

That is all.

The secret is to bake it for only 15 minutes so that it remains soft and very moist.

I received three beautiful red roses from my son and his wife.

They came with that lovely red rose card on my table above.

My daughter's gift is yet to come a little later.

It's a surprise, so I cannot talk about it here!

Isn't this card fun?

It came from a good friend.

The words were the best wisdom for this year's birthday!

Our 'bounce', or our resilience in life,

is what allows us to deal with the more difficult events that we may encounter.

Peonies continue to bring me joy all through this beautiful month

Their detailed centres are amazing.

I love notebooks and received this one

with a particularly beautiful cover designed by the British textile designer,

William Morris.

You can read about him 

here

The first entry in my notebook is the one from the card I received.

That's true!

These last two messages were inside my daughter's birthday card!

May so far this year, has not been the warmest nor the sunniest month.

We have had gale force winds and rainy days.

I find rainy days can be calming when the rain is gentle

and I love walking with my red umbrella in and around my neighbourhood.

enjoying the freshened greenery and listening

to the pitter-patter on my umbrella. 

A quiet birthday this year,

but filled with love and gentleness.

Nature: Spread of humanity taking toll on songbirds

A male chestnut-sided warbler forages in new oak foliage/Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

May 19, 2019

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Each spring, a migration of epic proportions takes place. Songbirds of many species return to nest in Ohio, or pass through on a long journey to points north. Their ranks include many favorites such as orioles, swallows, tanagers and warblers.

Most of our highly migratory songbirds are neotropical — species that breed at northerly latitudes but winter in tropical haunts. That Baltimore oriole whose flashy orange-and-black plumage and cheery flutelike whistling you enjoy wintered in Costa Rica or elsewhere in Central America. If you’re lucky enough to lock eyes on a neon-red scarlet tanager, marvel in the knowledge that it likely travels more air miles annually than you do. Tanagers mostly winter in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Long-distance travelers such as these make up a big chunk of our songbird diversity. There are about 135 species of songbirds that occur annually in Ohio (this excludes many species of non-songbirds, or nonpasserines). Of them, 70 species, or just over half, spent the winter south of the U.S. border.

About 100 species of songbirds nest in Ohio. More than half of them, about 55 species, are neotropical migrants. It would be unfair to think of such birds as “Ohio” birds. They belong to the Americas, as their passage takes them through potentially many countries and numerous states. Some birds occupy their wintering grounds far longer than the breeding grounds. For instance, orchard orioles and prairie warblers arrive to nest in mid- to late April. The males, who depart before females, start reappearing in the Caribbean and Central America by the end of July.

Our largest family of songbirds is the warblers, and they are the most popular group among birders. Thirty-seven species pass through Ohio or remain to nest every year. Collectively, all these warbler species wintered in nearly every country south of the U.S., with the lion’s share in Central America — the locus of their evolutionary origin.

Warblers, in general, are not faring well. The chestnut-sided warbler pictured with this column is an exception. John James Audubon, the energetic naturalist/ornithologist who roved widely throughout eastern North America, encountered this species only once. He shot five chestnut-sided warblers in May 1808 near Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, but never saw another.

Today this bird is far more common, a beneficiary of clearing of primeval forests, which created lots of scruffy woodlands that the bird favors.

A more typical trajectory is that of the cerulean warbler, the totem of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Its numbers have plummeted by 80% over the past five decades. Mass cutting of the old-growth woodlands that it favors is a major cause of decline.

Burgeoning human populations have made life much more difficult for migratory songbirds. In 1800, only about 1 billion people occupied the planet. Today, there are more than 7.7 billion of us, and much of that growth has been in the Americas. We’ve destroyed habitat, erected a gauntlet of skyscrapers, wind turbines and transmission towers that many birds strike, and unleashed hordes of feral cats. All of these things and more have taken a big toll on songbirds.

I penned this column last Sunday, International Migratory Bird Day. Magee Marsh Wildlife Area on Lake Erie, near Toledo, is a hub of birding activity. Tens of thousands of birders descend on Magee’s fabled “Bird Trail” during April and May.

Birds are environmental barometers, and as they fare, so probably shall we, eventually. The more people watching birds the better, as birds are a great catalyst to promote environmental protection.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Winter Wren

Winter Wren - Small Bird with a Mighty Song

Winter Wren [R d'Entremont Photo]

 The Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) is a small reclusive bird which is seldom seen but often heard.  Its song is long and melodious. Up to 8 seconds long, it is a mixture of high-pitched trills and warbles with many changes in tempo and pitch.  It is for this song that people often ask, 'What bird is that?'  The bird, however, is seldom seen.

The Winter Wren is our tiniest wren.  We don't have many wren species but occasionally have the House Wren, which is larger.  The Carolina Wren and the Marsh Wren are rarer.  The Winter Wren is just 10 cm (4") long.  It is a dark brownish-gray colour with a short, pale eyebrow, a dark brownish belly and with dark barring on its belly, flanks, wings and tail.  It holds its short tail straight up like most wrens.

The Winter Wren spends most of its time in dense shrubbery and tangled roots and prefers boreal or mixed forest.  In our forest it frequents the roots of upturned trees, fallen logs and thick vegetation.  It often goes into holes and cavities looking for food.  No wonder it is hard to see.  When you hear one singing near you, it is often difficult to actually locate the bird.  This species breeds throughout most of the Canadian provinces and is a permanent resident in British Columbia.  It winters in the eastern US mostly from New York State southward.

Winter Wren [Holland Photo]

The Winter Wren conceals its nest among the upturned roots of a fallen tree.  It builds it from twigs and moss and constructs a side entrance.  Four to 7 white eggs with brown flecks are laid and incubated 12 to 16 days by the female.  The normal diet of this species consists of insects and small invertebrates.

The song of this species has been studied and its nuances are used to differentiate it from the Pacific Wren which looks very similar.  Per unit weight, the Winter Wren sings its song with 10 times the power of a crowing rooster! (iBirdPro)  This species was first described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus.  Its Latin name, 'troglodytes' is from the Greek words, 'trogle' meaning 'a hole' and 'dyein' meaning cave-dweller.  These words appropriately describe this species.

Cedar Bog macro/rare flora and fauna photo workshop!

Debbie DiCarlo and I will be repeating last year's one-day Cedar Bog photo workshop on June 3. This is a Monday, but we chose that day as the center is closed to the public and we'll pretty much have the bog to ourselves. We'll start with a PowerPoint overview of the finer points of macrophotography, then head out of the visitor's center and onto the boardwalk where numerous floral and faunal riches await. Chief among them is the spectacular showy lady's-slipper, Cypripedium reginae, which should be in peak bloom. We'll not only learn more about photographic techniques, but also lots about rare fen habitats and the species that occur in these specialized peatlands. We have space for a few more participants. Read on for a brief blurb about the workshop, and a link to register.

Orchids and More!
June 3, 2019

The amazing Cedar Bog harbors some of the richest botanical diversity in Ohio. There is probably a greater density of rare plants there than any other site in the state. While the name is Cedar “Bog”, this interesting wetland is actually a fen, which is a type of wetland fed by cold artesian springs. A mile long boardwalk traverses the best of Cedar Bog’s 400+ acres, making exploration easy. The botanical highlight will be showy lady’s-slipper, a huge spectacular orchid with pink and white flowers. We will see much more, though: scads of other beautiful plants, many of them rare, unusual dragonflies, butterflies, and interesting birds, all in scenery reminiscent of northern Michigan or Canada. Jim is an expert on “the bog”, having formally studied its flora and published a scientific paper on the plants. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn about the natural history of one of Ohio’s most unusual ecosystems.

Register RIGHT HERE

Rosy Maple Moth, in hiding

Just returned from a fabulous photography workshop led by Debbie DiCarlo and yours truly, in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia. Our group was wonderful, and we were confronted with numerous excellent photo ops at nearly every turn.

Hard to beat this one for its Seuss-like fantasy, though. A rosy maple moth, Dryocampa rubicunda, hides among fresh red maple samaras (seeds). These moths, when seen in the open, cannot be missed. When among maple samaras, their bold pink and yellow coloration and samara-like shape render them nearly invisible. Hint: lower right corner of the image.

Our workshops produce treasure troves of natural history, and are a great way to learn more about natural history, in addition to honing your photography skills. This year's slate of workshops is RIGHT HERE, and we'd love to have you join our Focus on Photography Facebook page, HERE.

May Flowers

The blossoms have been wonderful since the end of April,

but May has brought a profusion of delicate flowers against deep blue skies.

Like this curtain of flowers.

The dark pink centres are a lovely contrast to the white petals of this ornamental cherry.

This one was taken just after a rain shower.

This little tree is in my street and I look forward to the blossom every single year.

These white Narcissus with the yellow centres was taken on an evening walk

in my neighbourhood.

Layers of pink petals so wonderful to see after the winter months.

More rain showers on this beautiful Iris growing in the planter

alongside the building I live in.

The Lilac bushes are still blooming

I managed to capture this Apple Blossom before the wind

blew away the gorgeous chunky petals.

I wonder if this will be a good year for apples?

How fresh the new spring green leaves are as they appear on all of the trees.

The Queen of queens for this month

has to be the luscious Peony.

I like to have them in a vase in my home during the whole of the month of May.

Aren't the petals just wonderful?

They start off  in a lovely deep, vibrant shade which  changes every day.

until they becomes a beautiful luminous creamy colour

and then finally white, before the petals start dropping.

A fallen petal and stamens on the tabletop.

Ruffles of peachy petals

and the last peony standing in the vase.

It will soon be time to get some more of these wondrous blooms.

Soft curves and colour create an abstract quality to the flowers

that bring me such joy all through the month of May.

We have had our fair share of rain this month with polar air blowing our way,

luckily there have been blue skies too!

The rain is needed as the level of the rivers and lakes was getting really low.

A beautiful basket of Hydrangeas arrived today

They have been sent by my thoughtful son in Canada

for Mother's Day this Sunday.

It always falls on the second Sunday during the month of May.

You can see the pretty accompanying card.

This lovely plant will be planted in a big pot on my balcony on Sunday!

Hydrangeas are my favourite plants to have on my balcony.

They flower the whole summer through.