I hope you all have had a great Canada Day holiday weekend ,that your birds have kept you occupied as well, and that they have managed to avoid what the Wren did in one of my past articles, have a window strike! My article garnered some response and one of my readers gave me some very good information which I thought that I would pass on to you all.
(a) Regarding window strike prevention, there is a UV Liquid product available locally (Bank St, Ottawa) that is applied to the window and appears clear to us, but not to the birds.
(b) This concerns injured, or orphaned, birds that you might come across and are not sure where to take them. A good relatively local option, that is open 365 days of the year, is the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, 613-854-2849, 822 Cedarview Rd. Unit C Nepean, ON. K2R 1J1 ( call for directions).
Whilst much of the nesting activity has ceased in our garden, some feeding of infants is still evident, such as the young Grackle being demanding of Mum in one of my pictures, whilst Dad happily “fills his face”, in the feeder above them! Good old Dad,– nothing changes does it!?
The Bluebirds put in momentary appearances in their old nesting box, but I am not sure if one is an adult bird or just one of the young visiting his old home! They pop in and then soon pop out and don’t return until another day even. Their behaviour is very much like our House Wren’s which we can hear at the top of the back garden and see occasionally on one of the nesting boxes, but there seems to be no real intent on starting another family and who could blame them in this heat!?
Evening time in our back garden, especially around our water feature, attracts a number of different types of bird who are seeking a cooler area just before going to roost, or appearing to, in a Mungo Pine and a Domed Cedar bush close by. I have spotted Goldfinches, Chickadees and Nuthatches in that area just before dusk. A Hummingbird has also taken to perching for very long periods of time, very high in a Pine tree near to the ones already mentioned at this time. It is also at this time of day that it will regularly appear at the feeder at the front of the house, so I suspect when it disappears for a while and then returns to the tree that it has just popped away for a pre-roosting stock up drink. I hope that you too are able to enjoy the birds as they start to drift away from your feeders and disappear for the night and hopefully return the next morning. Stay safe and well.
Cheers,
John Baldwin
