The Birds Have It.

Port Bruce is a Good Destination.

[Photo: And 'Under the Bridge' is a Grand Detour.]

My motorcycle knows the way by heart. Head south of Belmont two miles, to Hunter-Crossley Rd. Turn left.

Once dismounted beside the bridge, I prepare for the trek down under. I proceed carefully down a grassy creek bank in motorcycle boots, carrying two cameras. And I hope to see young birds, with their heads at the door of the mud nests, accepting food from parents during a fly-by.

Shortly after I am standing directly under the centre of the bridge, and near the edge of a creek, I realize I am a bit early in the year. The chicks are too small to push their way or step toward the door, so adult birds are not doing fly-bys. They stop to enter the nest to feed young, or they cling to its edge and stretch inwards with food in their mouth or throat.

 An adult swallow plays peek-a-boo with me. Nervous birds.

Soon, heads will be at the door. "Feed me," they'll cry.

I'll return to Hunter-Crossley bridge in the near future. To see heads at every door is my goal.

Next, I land in Port Bruce. First thing I see are gulls sitting on the breakwater near the channel, neatly groomed for photographs.

More photos from along the way:

 Abandon ship!

 Female Martin takes a break, upper right on perch

Gateway to the sea 

The beat goes on

Please link to Motorcycle Skies.

Photos GH

Motorcycle Skies.

Bright Blue over Erie.

[Photo reveals extensive cloud cover, south of Belmont.]

Early yesterday morning the sky was clear over my back deck. Hardly any breeze. Motorcycle time, I thought, still in my PJs. I was on my way south an hour later.

I discovered, while heading toward Port Bruce, a wide band of clouds stretched from London to Lake Erie's north shore. But over the water clear skies prevailed. Goodly numbers of people dotted the pier and rustic beach areas, soaking in a perfect day.

Photos from along the way, with snappy commentary : )

 In ten years I'll be parking in the shade.

 A break in the wall.

 Faint cloud cover several miles south.

 Purple Martins and sparrows share a house near the channel.

 Martins carry on lengthy conversations.

 Swallows feed their young under a bridge.

Within a week, wee heads will be visible at the doors.

I shall return.

Please link to Motorcycle Monday.

Photos GH

A Return to Swallow Cliff.

Crop Tour Planned for Friday.

Cliff swallows fill the air on Erie's north shore.

Last week another motorcyclist and I braved the one km-long gravel road that connects Dexter Line to Hawk Cliff (now aka Swallow Cliff) and immediately noticed the swallows making nests and feeding young on sand banks between Port Bruce and Port Stanley. We didn't bother to count.... the birds dart like bottled lightning.

This coming Friday we will return, along with two more fellows, during a crop tour (leisurely ride in the country) along Highway 59 to Long Point and environs. I expect swallows will rule the air again.

Photos from the first visit:

Last week we travelled via Highway 73 to Port Bruce.

Highway 59 begins one mile north of Tavistock and ends at The Causeway Restaurant in Long Point. Shoreline roads between Long Point and Port Stanley pass through some lovely country. 

I hope everybody likes my Bob Dylan CDs!!

News at 11.

Please link to Swallows Rule the Air.

Photos GH

Swallows Rule the Air.

Hawk Cliff vs Swallow Cliff.

A friend and I motorcycled to Port Bruce on Wednesday but made rewarding stops along the way - there and back.

At Hawk Cliff, access via Dexter Line east of Port Stanley, we spotted so many swallows in cliff-edge nests (and no hawks) a name change to the location was in order. On Hunter-Crossley Line (running east and west, about two miles south of Belmont) we spotted a dozen pairs of nest-building swallows under a bridge, and one pair in a tree cavity.

Sand Swallow Cove:

 Swallows beyond counting

Under Hunter-Crossley Bridge:

 Mud nests are still under construction

An old tree next to Hunter-Crossley Bridge:

Male swallow (left), red-wing blackbird (centre), female swallow (right).

Port Bruce:

Please link to Subtle Link to Port Bruce?

Photos GH

My Morning Smile 4

My Little Wren (?)

Parts of a former chickadee nest litter the perch and porch

I noticed a wee wren (a brown wren, perhaps) in the process of cleaning out a birdhouse on my front porch yesterday morning (above). In the afternoon I heard it singing merrily in a backyard blue spruce and also saw it checking out two or three birdhouses on a rear wall of my house.

Oh, I hope she sets up shop. Wrens are great little singers and nest builders.

I think the middle house is roomier than the top units

She tries to shove a long twig into a small house

Please, please stay and make yourself at home, Dear Jennie.

(I heard her in the backyard when I left for my walk this morning. I have my fingers crossed).

Please link to My Morning Smile 3 

Photos GH

Bird Watching: Hairy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwings

Solo Woodpecker, Waxwings by the Bushel

Hairy is back. Is it pecking at a birdhouse, like last year?

No, it's a step-ladder that he is after!

Lately I have been spotting more hawks and falcons in Old South that in years past. Why, last year a brown-tailed hawk briefly lit atop my neighbour's birdhouse, 50 feet away from where I sat. Wow, I've got to get a better camera!

And a few days ago, after a final sweep of the workshop, I spotted a flock of pale-breasted birds, with a crest, huddled in my same neighbour's maple tree. I placed more seed in the feeder but they didn't budge. By size and shape, my first thought was, they're grosbeaks.

But for the last two days, as the same group huddled in my apricot and Eastern white pine (front yard trees), I've had a chance to snap a few shots, and they are definitely Cedar Waxwings.

"I need a better camera and the apricot tree needs a trim. Branches everywhere!"

Last Photo, from All About Birds (link below):

Cedar Waxwing, Adult, Black mask and chin, Brown head and chest

Yellow wash across belly, White undertail, Yellow tail tip

Photo credit - Kris Rash, Denver, Iowa, March 2007

Keys to identification (At Cornell lab of Ornithology, All About Birds)

Size & Shape

The Cedar Waxwing is a medium-sized, sleek bird with a large head, short neck, and short, wide bill. Waxwings have a crest that often lies flat and droops over the back of the head. The wings are broad and pointed, like a starling’s. The tail is fairly short and square-tipped.

Color Pattern

Cedar Waxwings are pale brown on the head and chest fading to soft gray on the wings. The belly is pale yellow, and the tail is gray with a bright yellow tip. The face has a narrow black mask neatly outlined in white. The red waxy tips to the wing feathers are not always easy to see.

Behavior

Cedar Waxwings are social birds that you’re likely to see in flocks year-round. They sit in fruiting trees swallowing berries whole, or pluck them in mid-air with a brief fluttering hover. They also course over water for insects, flying like tubby, slightly clumsy swallows.

Habitat

Look for Cedar Waxwings in woodlands of all kinds, and at farms, orchards, and suburban gardens where there are fruiting trees or shrubs.

Please link to Hairy Woodpecker - He's Baaack