Evening Bird Song

Orchard Oriole

When Mom visits from Mexico in the spring, she comments on the bird songs that awaken us in the morning. In Mexico, roosters and braying animals bring a harsh and noisy start to the day before dawn, but song birds are not heard. I love having the bedroom window open a little to hear our birds greet the day.

Song Sparrow

Those who are not morning people can hear an even larger bird song mix in the evening. I never understand why people walk on trails plugged into their MP3 players. When we got our first colour Macintosh Performa computer in 1995 (the girls called it our first real computer), we had a game called Amazon Trail.

Grey Catbird

As you trekked through the rain forest, flashes of colourful birds and bird sounds came from the screen. Last evening I felt like I was in a movie or bird game. The birds and songs were everywhere. I caught a few singers but many more were hidden in the trees.

Yellow Warbler

What a great way to end the day!

Memorial Cup

Young Kitchener Rangers Fan

(All photos courtesy of Andre)

This is the Memorial Day weekend south of the border and the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. One week ago our Victoria Day long weekend was accompanied with rain, snow flurries and cold winds. And they call it the first long weekend of the summer season. Go figure!

Hockey season continues and the finals for this winter sport almost extend into summer. Our city is hosting the Memorial Cup championship in a round robin tournament that started on May 16th and ends tomorrow. The top team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) compete for the championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The host city's team also competes even if they did not earn a berth. Our Kitchener Rangers did win the OHL championship and entered as top team in the league.

Matt Halischuk

My husband is an avid Rangers fan and rarely misses a game. He travels to out of town games when possible including games in Erie PA, Saginaw MI and several Ontario cities. I would be happier if hockey games were two periods long instead of three and I don't know the difference between "offside" and "icing". But I am interested in the history of the tournament. Andre has kindly allowed me to use some of his terrific game photos.

Kitchener Rangers Commemorative Memorial Cup Jersey
Mike Duco

The Memorial Cup was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in 1919 as a memorial to the Canadian dead of World War One. I never knew the history of the cup until our local team introduced special jerseys for the first game of the tournament. Some people think that a memorial to war dead should not be associated with something as trivial as hockey, but I think that any method of respectful remembrance for future generations is a good thing.

Spokane Chiefs' Goalie Dustin Tokarski

The Kitchener Rangers will play in the final tomorrow afternoon against the Spokane Chiefs. Spokane is the only undefeated team in the tournament so the game should be exciting. My niece Jaspenelle lives in Spokane and wrote a short post after she went to one of their games this past season.

Kitchener Rangers Goalie Josh Unice

Junior hockey is very popular in Canada and the fans are very enthusiastic. My husband plays goal in the Old Timer's League and is very proud of the the performance of the young Kitchener goalie Josh Unice. He had a 9-0 shut out in Friday's semi final game.

So who will win tomorrow's championship? Kitchener or Spokane? Check back tomorrow to find out.

And here's wishing our American neighbours and fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Sunday evening update...
Spokane won the Memorial Cup beating Kitchener 4-1.

Friday Flowers: Yellow and Blue

Here are some yellow and blue flowers from my garden. The yellow ones were a gift from a patient's garden, the name unknown to me. The blue Forget-me-nots have seeded themselves everywhere in the flower beds, even in the lawn. They will be pulled out when the blooms are done. I love their delicate colour and shape.


Along the edge of the woods, blue and yellow violets poke through old leaves which cover the ground.


Blue and yellow blend to make green. The Jack-in the-Pulpit grew in a lovely natural arrangement near a stream. The green ferns are opening in my garden amidst the little blue flowers.

Everything is blooming most recklessly;
if it were voices instead of colors,
there would be an unbelievable shrieking
into the heart of the night.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Double-crested Cormorants

Burlington Bay, Lake Ontario

If the Trumpeter Swan is a white angel water bird, the Double-crested Cormorant has become the black demon of the Great Lakes. Both birds were present in Burlington Bay and they mingled together near the shoreline. I have watched large numbers of Cormorants on Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island as they group together on rocky shoals and then take off into the air in a long line. I counted 100 birds flying up from the water together one afternoon last summer.


Fishermen on the Great Lakes dislike these birds for their perceived impact on commercial and sports fishing, especially since their numbers have increased dramatically in the past decade or two. Their population was almost wiped out in the middle of the last century due to the effect of DDT on their eggs, just as the Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon populations were affected.


As the Great Lakes have been cleaned up these birds have increased greatly in number. The details of their decline and resurgence is described on this Environment Canada web page. I had a very close view of a Cormorant as it dove and fished close to the shore of Burlington Bay.


At times I have confused them with Loons from a distance because they sit low in the water. Like Loons, they dive for fish and may come out of the water many metres from the spot they went underwater.

Cormorants at Columbia Lake, Waterloo ON

Cormorants are also present in ponds and rivers in our region. There is a small "lake" by our local university that is really a reservoir for a creek. It is a great area for birding and when I went there early in the morning last week, several Cormorants were perched in the trees.


I still find it odd to see water birds high in the trees whether they are Wood Ducks, Great Blue Herons or Double-crested Cormorants. Three of them flew off as I watched and they landed in the water to begin their day of feeding. Perhaps Cormorants are in the same class as Canada Geese and Brown-headed Cowbirds, birds with appearances and habits that are not particularly endearing, but interesting nevertheless.

The suitcase

I went back to the site of the mystery suitcase. It was still there and someone else had broken the edge of the locked case. (I wouldn't have done that!)

When I looked inside it was empty but a rolled up calendar from 2003 had been in it. Perhaps something else was here as well but taken by the person(s) who opened it.

I think the mystery was more fun than the apparent truth! Are the curious readers satisfied?? (Click picture to enlarge it)

Mystery!

I have mentioned more than once that I enjoy good mystery stories. My personal library has a number of classic "who dunnits" and our video/DVD library has many Poirot, Miss Marple and other BBC mysteries.

Most of the time I can make sense of what I see every day and I am not on the lookout for trouble. Some things do puzzle me and leave me asking questions that may not have obvious answers. Last spring I saw a dark shape in the river from the bridge near the hospital. My first thought was that it was a body. I noted the date and time and then talked myself out of the silly notion when I should have called the police. Two weeks later when the water levels had dropped, a body was found in that exact location. (death by misadventure) But most of the time my mysterious findings are far less concerning. Recent finding include...

...a suitcase beside an aluminum drainage pipe along a river trail. I took a picture of it, listened closely for any ticking, but did not have the courage to open it. I left wondering if a pile of unmarked cash was inside. Or perhaps it contained something else I really didn't want to see.

Along the same trail I noticed an Inuksuk on a rocky shoal in the middle of the river. Who built it and how did they get there? It is too deep to wade there so a canoe or boat must have carried the people who piled the stones up.

I have many pictures of "bird butts" taken from my angle twenty or thirty feet below the tree tops. This mystery bird did not give enough clues from the backside for an identification. Fortunately I did see it with my binoculars another day in the same area and recognized it as a Warbling Vireo. But I have many other underside pictures I do not recognize.


This blurry picture is of a "mystery gull" I pursued for several minutes. It was white with a black tail and it flew out from under the bridge three times as it was chased by another similar bird. When I got home the picture showed three black and white pigeons. What else would fly out from under a bridge? (Cheryl, I was taking this picture when I first noticed you and Roxie on the other side of the creek)

One final question...Would you have opened the suitcase???

Jaspenelle is truly intrigued and posted this response to the suitcase mystery.

Trumpeter Swans

Burlington Bay- Burlington Skyway in the background

My daughters wanted to go to IKEA this weekend so we headed out to the nearest store in Burlington, about 40 minutes from home. The day was rainy and cold but when we came out of the store the clouds were breaking up. The driver (me!) announced a stopover at a local park on Burlington Bay which is part of Lake Ontario. LaSalle Park has an interesting history and now has a marina, recreational facilities, and nature trails along the waterfront. It is an important winter migration area for many waterbirds and local photographers have posted impressive photos of a variety of birds seen last fall and winter. I didn't expect to see anything special as the over-wintering birds returned north a few weeks ago.


From the parking lot I saw a large number of swans in a small cove and was very surprised to find Trumpeter Swans for the first time. They were all tagged and I spoke with a lady who was doing a daily count of the flock. There were 25 swans present today down from the 100 or so that were present in the winter. She told me the mating pairs had already gone and these were young swans who had not yet started breeding. They do not mate until they are 2-3 years old.


Trumpeter Swans came to the verge of extinction in the early 20th century due to over hunting. They have been reintroduced in several areas and their numbers are increasing to the point where they are no longer endangered. They must be taught to migrate and this has been undertaken in some locations by humans in ultralight planes. A group of volunteers buys corn and feeds the flock at LaSalle Park over the winter. The lady I spoke with was in her 70's and she told me the organizer of the group is in his late 80's. He still comes and tags any new birds that show up in the bay. The swans are not being fed right now and have plenty of food available in the natural environment.

Mute Swan (orange bill) with Trumpeter Swans

There were Mute Swans in the bay as well but the Trumpeter Swan is a native bird unlike its introduced European cousin. The Trumpeters were quite vocal and are well named for their call which some compare to the sound of a French Horn.

Observe the speed limit!

LaSalle Park has a variety of habitats including lake front, marshes and Carolinian forest. Signs were posted along the boardwalk with information on the history and natural environment of the area. Apparently the shoreline here was full of rattlesnakes in the past. There are some things about "progress" that are fine with me! I like the posted speed limit at the marina. I am sure the sign could have a variety of meanings in other locations.

I will be a driver again for anyone who wants to go to IKEA if they agree to a stop-over at the bay.

Living like the Stars

Columbia Lake, Waterloo

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin"— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful.

The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and "the lilies of the field"— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.

Excerpt from Oswald Chambers' classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest.

This is part of today's devotional reading from the book, My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald Chambers' wife compiled it from his teachings after his premature death from appendicitis during World War I. Living simply and unaffectedly is contrary to our human tendency to bring attention to ourselves, our opinions, and our desires. I want...

to be wise, not just a smart know-it-all...

to bring peace, not strife...

to bring order rather than confusion...

to let God live through my life.

Another Chance Encounter

Pioneer Tower, Grand River, Kitchener

I have been able to go for a good walk almost every day in the past week and have seen a number of migrating birds. Even if no new birds are to be seen, the trails and woods are fresh, fragrant, green and so beautiful. A young mother was biking with her two young daughters on the trail where I took the picture above. I could hear them coming and the youngest girl said more than once, "Mommy, this is so pretty." She kept stopping to admire the view. (Way to go, Mom! You are doing your girls a big favour)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

On Thursday morning, I went out before work and met another lady in the same area. We chatted and admired a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the tree above. I had just seen my first Indigo Buntings nearby and was showing her my pictures. We exchanged names and I truly hoped my busy brain could retain her name and address as I had no pencil or paper with me. (I need to add a notebook to my camera bag).

My first Indigo Bunting

Well, thanks to Google, I found her quickly and discovered that she and her husband have a house on the river and a most interesting home business. She had been very modest and had not told me about the handcrafted bird feeders they sell at craft shows and online. Here is a YouTube video from their website, Moore Design bird feeders, that is worth watching for three minutes.

The Moores (from their website)

I had great success with my window feeders this year at the hospital, but the squirrels were a nuisance and eventually chewed up the plastic frames. The cost of these hand crafted ones would be offset by the savings on seed consumed by unwanted creatures.

Nice to meet you Carole!

Evening Walk

I met a lady this evening on a trail as she walked her very patient dog and looked at birds with her binoculars. She is a novice birder like myself and was telling me of her recent spring sightings. We walked the last part of the trail to the parking lot and saw a Gray Catbird singing enthusiastically in a tree. I have never heard a Catbird song before. ( I still wish I could find a Mockingbird but this is definitely a Catbird). Anyway, I gave her the link to this blog and told her I would post pictures of this evening's walk. Here they are in a short video clip. Happy birding, neighbour!