FOAM LAKE
BIRDING
No. 163
I just got
a phone call from Weslaco, TX where we have spent the last six
winters. At 10:30 AM the temperature
there was 24C compared to the -18C it was here at the same time. I have to admit to being a little
envious. Not only did I miss the nice
temperatures but I also missed the local birds that go with it. Oh well, maybe next year.
Texas birds
notwithstanding, we do have quite a nice variety of birds here even in the
winter time that are every bit as colourful and enjoyable as the more southern
ones. This year we have had quite a wide
variety of regulars as mentioned in previous articles. Our most recent arrivals, an irruptive
(visits sporadically) species, have been the Redpolls that some winters do not
show up at all. Usually when we have
Redpolls at our feeders we have about two dozen birds or so; this year only six
or seven show up. Maybe more will come as
the winter progresses. As always they
prefer Canola seed something that other birds avoid. The upside to eating Canola is that the
smallish Redpolls do not have to compete with larger birds for food. There is a definite "pecking order"
among birds that in human terms we would label as "bullying".
All
irruptive birds are not irruptive to the same degree. Some like the Evening Grosbeak appear once in
several years or even decades; others like the Bohemian Waxwing appear several
times in a winter. Most irruptive
species like the Redpolls and Pine Grosbeaks often become regulars at our
feeders if everything is to their liking.
Others like the Bohemian Waxwings never become regulars. The
only hope is to have some fruit trees with fruit still hanging on over winter
to attract them from time to time. A
side benefit is that an occasional summer resident that stays here for the
winter instead of migrating south has something to eat. We have had Robins well into November this
year feeding on the fruit of ornamental crab apples.
One of the
most popular trees for irruptive fruit eating birds is the Mountain Ash or its
very similar European cousin the Rowan Tree.
In most years both produce massive amounts of bright red edible berries
that birds seem "to die for".
The only noticeable difference between the two trees is that the Ash
grow to about 5 - 6 metres while the Rowan Tree grows to about twice that. I have seen both species in Foam Lake.
This week's
picture is of a flock of Bohemian Waxwings taking a break between feeding
sessions at our neighbour's Mountain Ash trees.
They were sitting in our Poplar Tree like little soldiers all at the
same angle facing in the same direction except for the odd nonconformist. A flock of Bohemian Waxwings can be safely
identified by the way the flock lands and sits in a tree. This week's picture is of a flock of Bohemian
Waxwings in a Poplar in our backyard.
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