We've just returned from a trip to the midwest and then through northern Ontario and had a few great times with birds! So, although this blog is supposed to be about Stearns Mill Pond and environs, I am going to take the liberty to digress and share a few cool bird moments. We were not "birding" per se, but we did do some bird WATCHING as we traveled and sat in our campsites.
I think the first cool moment happened along one of the main roads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This may be a main drag, but it goes for miles and miles with no towns and nothing but trees along the road. Gorgeous and not much traffic! We were seeing a lot of crows on the road, not eating carrion, but perhaps picking up sand for their mineral content? I don't know, but it was common. So I wasn't surprised to see a large group of black birds on the road ahead and wasn't really looking too closely at them, but suddenly a bald eagle flew up out of the center, leaving the roadkill behind! Instantly, the ravens moved in to get a bite of the prize while the eagle was gone. Oddly, on the other side of the road, appearing to be watching this bird bash, was a doe. I quickly glanced at the carrion, but it didn't seem to be a deer, so I don't know what she was looking at. I was telling Linda about the sighting and she had just finished writing it in the journal when it happened again, not 6 minutes later down the road!! No deer this time, though.
We had many sightings and hearings of the ravens on this trip; I do enjoy them! I think we saw them at almost all of our Canadian campsites, and some elsewhere.
Probably the most memorable bird watching event came at Finlayson Point Provincial Park in Temagami, Ontario. This is an interesting park, in that it is the jumping off point for wilderness canoe trips into the Temagami region, but at the same time, it is very much "urban camping"! One of the fun things to do is to canoe from the Park into the little village of Temagami and have breakfast or go grocery shopping. (We canoe wilderness all the time! This bit of shopping by canoe tickles us in a different way!)
Being fall, we had our choice of many great campsites (like almost all of them!). We settled into one that was right on the water so that we could canoe easily. First bird we spotted was a yellow-bellied sapsucker! Next, we saw and heard some ravens. Then a ruffed grouse walked through our campsite. But the following morning was the most fun bird event...
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| Red-Breasted Nuthatch having breakfast of a peanut |
We had planned on canoeing into town to have breakfast, but the fog was so thick you couldn't see the other end of the canoe, so we built a campfire and watched the sunrise. We were sitting by the fire, enjoying a cup of camp coffee (coffee always tastes better at a campfire!). There was motion in the tree and we looked up to find a beautiful little Red-breasted Nuthatch! He wasn't sitting there quietly, he was looking right at us and yelling!!! Suddenly he left the branch and flew right at my face, veering off when he was about 8 inches from me! YIKES! I hadn't seen him leave the branch, but I did have a vivid view of the red breast and black eye-stripe. Then he did it again!
Well, obviously this bird was not afraid of people and he obviously was trying to tell us something. It occurred to me that our white-breasted nuthatches, who are year-round callers at our feeder at home, are particularly attracted to peanuts. We only occasionally see the red-breasted nuthatches in the winter, so just seeing one here was a treat, but this little guy was getting quite demanding! Then, I remembered that when we took the 6th graders to Camp Chiwonki, up in Maine, they had an area where there was a stuffed shirt type figure, made to look like a person, where the birds landed on its hand to feed from the seed there. Then when students were there, the child would wear the hat, sit really still in the same place and hold out his/her hand with seed, and the bird would land and take the seed. Hmmm... I put a peanut in my hand and stuck it out. Instantly, the nuthatch landed on my finger and took the peanut!
He took many peanuts from both Linda & I and then his mate showed up. Now we had two nuthatches joining us for breakfast! Pretty soon there were also six Black-capped Chickadees! The chickadees were more shy and cautious, but they too were happy to eat our peanuts. After a while three crows showed up. Now I love crows and the crow is my totem, but this was too much! We closed the restaurant.
Next morning, the nuthatches showed up early, demanding breakfast. We obliged until it was time to fix our own breakfast. They walked all over the picnic table, but after shooing them a way a few times, they left. We had our breakfast, cleaned up, took a canoe ride and packed up the van to leave.
Nuthatch landing and taking a peanut from my hand (3 times - one slow-motion)
Linda was standing by the open van when our friend came back. We said goodbye to him and he promptly flew into the van!! Now earlier, I had invited him to come to Massachusetts this winter and promised that there would be a feeder full of peanuts, but I also told him he had to fly there... He came out of the van, took the peanut we held out for him and flew away with it. We left one more peanut on the picnic table and drove away.
Great fun!
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I am studying French in my retirement, and while we were on vacation, I wrote this story in French (it was written in French before I wrote it out in English!). I've decided to include the French version here. Thanks to Debbie for correcting my errors... French bird names are from a David Sibley website of North American bird names in French.
http://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/french-bird-names/
LES OISEAUX
Nous faisions de camping au Parc Provincial Finlayson Point. C'est un parc qui est camp de base pour les canoteurs dans la region sauvage de Temagami. Il est aussi près de le village de Temagami et on peut faire de canoë au village pour le petit dejeuner or pour aller à l'epicerie. C'est un bon parc, mais c'est un parc urbain! Nous y sommes restées deux nuits.
Pendant notre premier matin, nous nous asseyions près du feu de camp quand un oiseau s'est posé sur la branche et nous a parlé. Puis, l'oiseau s'est envolé et a volé vers mon visage! Il s'est détourné de moi et est retourné à la branche. Il l'a fait deux fois. Nous avons pensé qu'il était très confortable avec les gens et n'avait pas peur. L'oiseau était une settelle à poitrine rousse (Red-breasted nuthatch). À notre maison, nous avons les sittelles à poitrine blanche (White-breasted nuthatch) toute l'année, mais nous ne voyons que une sittelles à poitrine rousse qu'occasionnellement en hiver.
Cet oiseau était très demandant! Nous avons pensé que peut-être il aimerait les arachides, parce que nos sittelles les aiment. Je me suis souvenue que quand nous étions au Chewonki avec les étudiants, il y avait un endroit des oiseaux oú les étudiants s'asseyaient et les oiseux mangaient de leurs mains.
J'ai tenu un archide dans ma main et immédiatement l'oiseau a volé et s'est posé sur mon doigt et a pris l'arachide! Plusieurs fois l'oiseau prenait les arachides de nos mains.
Bientôt, il y avait deux sittelles. Puis, il y avait aussi six mésanges à tête noire! (Black-capped chickadee) Tous les oiseaux mangaient de nos mains, mais les mésanges étaient plus timides. J'aime beaucoup les corneilles d'Amérique (American crow), mais quand trois corneilles sont arrivées, nous avons fermé le restaurant!
Le matin suivant, les oiseaux sont revenus chercher leur petit dejeuner. Encore, ils prenaient les archides de nos mains. Quand nous avons preparé notre petit dejeuner, nous les avons chassé. Nous avons mangé notre petit dejeuner, avons fait du canoë, et avons preparé à sortir. Avant de partir, Linda était debout près de le camping-car et les portes était ouvertes. Une sittelle a volé vers nous et s'est posée près de nous. Nous avons dit au revoir, mais elle a volé dans ll camping-car! Je l'ai invitée de venir au Massachusetts pendant l'hiver, mais je lui ai dit qu'elle doit y voler! Elle est sortie du camping-car, a pris un arachide de ma main, et s'est envolée. Nous avons mis encore une arachide de plus sur la table de pique-nique et nous sommes parties.
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| Temagami Sunrise |
ADDED (10/16) a link to a cool video from Alaska with hummingbirds eating from hands!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUEZkwJulBY#t=222
