The birds we rarely see
If you’re ambitious and patient, you might spot some amazing avians this winter
Winter is by far my favorite season for birding and can often yield the best surprises. From the couch potato approach of hanging out a feeder full of seed and simply waiting to see what comes, to more ambitious treks through the unbroken snow of wild spaces hoping to turn up something that might not ever appear in the yard, I enjoy it all!
Through the window
A well-maintained feeder can provide a constant flow of birds and every now and then something a little different will show up. Patience is required. For me, encounters with any kind of rarity, be it a common bird rarely seen in the yard, a winter visitor from a distant place, or a decidedly “rare” bird no matter where it is found, these stand out above the rest and are not soon forgotten.
For instance, this winter I had been wondering why I had not yet seen a Red-bellied Woodpecker in the county. So many had been reported at area feeders over the past decade so I made inquiries to Drew Monkman who mentioned a few birds around Peterborough that I could follow up.
Later that same morning, one turned up at my own feeder! He has come sporadically since just before Christmas and is still a thrill to see in the yard pecking away at the suet and stuffing sunflower seeds into the bark of his favorite elm tree.
Through the woods
Traipsing around in a wild area through knee-deep snow might not be for everybody. Those who do it will tell you, however, the pay off can be more than worth the trouble. You might have to wait many years before some of the birds found off the beaten path turn up in the backyard, (if indeed, they ever do at all). You can sift through internet postings of “rare” birds found in popular winter birding hotspots, but depending on the species being reported - northern owls come to mind - have some of these birds not already seen their share of birders? I wonder. Admittedly, I have gone that route before in order to see species (e.g. Northern Hawkowl) that I’ve rarely found myself.
The winter of 2004-05 stands out in my memory and I can not recall another time that I found myself actually out birding on a daily (and nighty) basis during that time of year. As some readers will remember, many regions of southern Ontario became the winter homes of literally hundreds of Great Gray Owls. Here in the Kawarthas, there was an estimated 500+ birds which made studying them an easy routine for me. These wonderful northern visitors were just everywhere. Due to the lure of their appeal, I experienced a few other species of northern birds in my quest to find and document more Great Grays.
I remember well, Feb. 28, 2005 when I was walking a snowmobile trail north of Norwood in search of Great Gray Owls, through one of the densest habitats of tamarack, spruce, cedar and fir that I’ve ever found myself in. My attention was soon diverted off the trail and into the coniferous jungle towards the sounds of a tapping woodpecker. After much struggle to quietly bring myself nearer to the sound, I came upon a very busy Pileated Woodpecker at the base of a large dead tamarack. Not any kind of rarity, really, but still one of those regal birds that is always a pleasure to see up close.
At one point, the woodpecker became still, yet I could hear pecking and watched as bark chips fell from much higher in the same tree. A search through the upper branches revealed a Black-backed Woodpecker - a species I had not encountered in many years - and one that would likely not ever turn up in the yard at my suet feeder! Although this woodpecker is found as a year-rounder less than a half hour drive north, (e.g. Petroglyphs Park and area), it is still a “needlein-the-haystack” bird, very difficult to find, and thus, rarely encountered here. Well worth following that pecking sound through thick, snow-covered conifery!!
The photos I was able to obtain that day had little use beyond showing species clearly enough for identification. Knowing these birds can be creatures of habit, however, I returned a week later with hopes of taking better pictures. Well, I had not even walked to the spot where I would be leaving the trail and a small, brown, round thing caught my eye on a poplar limb high above the trail just ahead of me. “Cool!” I said out loud. There perched a Boreal Owl! This was only the third one I had ever seen. I indirectly credit the experience to the woodpeckers that I had seen the week before. If not for them, I doubt I would have had this owl encounter.
Not only did this little owl move closer to me, but it was actively hunting. During the hour I spent with it, it caught, carried off, and began to eat a portion of a Starnosed Mole. After dozing a while with his meal, the owl ate a little more and then sailed off through the understory of young Balsam Fir, with mole dangling. I didn’t pursue. It wasn’t until I got home that I remembered not having even checked for the woodpeckers that day.
Rare bird sightings
Believing that I might only have one lifetime encounter like that, I had not been expecting the events of Jan. 19, 2011. While in the woods seeking firewood behind where I lived at the time (near Belmont Lake north of Havelock) I heard a group of Blue Jays break into frantic calling. It seemed obvious to me that they had just found themselves an owl to verbally assault. As I walked back towards the noise, I was thinking that the jays had no doubt found one of the resident Barred Owls. (The female of this pair often paid nightly visits to the backyard to hunt rodents that showed up for the fallen birdseed around the feeders).
As I got closer, I could hear that nuthatches and chickadees had joined the blue bullies. Much to my surprise, the object of their disgust was not a Barred Owl at all, but instead... a Boreal Owl!! Upon my arrival the songbird mob dispersed and I stared rather awe-struck at this little, brown beast as it sat with barely opened eyes staring back at me. I returned with cameras a short while later, and found a spot from which to watch, film, and photograph. He had a very spherical shape to him and with his small tail poking out on a diagonal at the bottom, I couldn’t help but think of how much he looked like a capital letter “Q” that had been dipped in brown and white feathers.
During the couple of visits I had with this neat little bird that day, I witnessed him catch a Shorttailed Shrew (which he took elsewhere to eat in private), and later on, a Meadow Vole which he held as he dozed away the late afternoon and early evening. I never saw him again. From what I didn’t hear in the days that followed, perhaps, neither did the Blue Jays! It seems I had walked right under this owl and would have totally missed it had I not paid attention and backtracked when I heard the other birds calling to each other “Look, an OWL!”
On Dec. 14, 2014 Jan Myland had a Boreal Owl turn up in her yard for a day, (Rock Road, near Warsaw). She reported, “It was very nonchalant about the fuss the jays were making over its presence and the chickadees also kept a wary eye on it.” (I am unsure if the mobbing of the other birds is what initially drew Jan’s attention to this little owl).
Either way, it would serve to lend support to the idea that there is often so much more going on around us. If we accept that there are reasons behind all sounds beyond “those birds are just calling” or “making noise”, then our experience potential increases. From the pecking sounds coming from a coniferous forest (might be a Black-backed or even an American Three-toed Woodpecker), to the loud, excited fuss being made by jays, nuthatches, or chickadees... check those out too, you might just find yourself a Boreal Owl or two! Naturalist Tim Dyson is one of the local writers filling in for Drew Monkman over the next few weeks. Look for his next appearance March 22.