BIRDWATCHING

Sheltering at home means a chance to observe the birds of Kawartha Lakes In the company of feathered friends }}

SYLVIA KEESMAAT

The beautiful wood duck can be found in wetlands from Ontario to Florida.

I was out of breath as I burst through the door. “Kids, come quick,” I managed to gasp out. “There’s a couple of sandhill cranes in the neighbour’s field!”

My daughter lazily turned the page of her book and, without looking up, said with the patience of youth, “Mom, calm down; we’ve seen them lots of times before.”

I could feel my lecturing voice come on. “Maybe you don’t realize it, but I was 40 years old before I saw a sandhill crane for the first time …”

They both kept reading, clearly unimpressed.

Sandhill cranes, bobolinks, merlins, hooded mergansers, wood ducks, woodcocks — the birds that populate the dreams of birding enthusiasts — all live here, in our midst, cheek by jowl (or should that be beak by fowl?) with the sparrows, blue jays, and house finches that we commonly find in our yards.

Perhaps you have seen them. Perhaps you have made your way out to the marshes of the Ken Reid or Pigeon River Headwaters conservation areas and seen the common yellowthroat or the belted kingfisher. Perhaps you have climbed the trails of the Windy Ridge or the Fleetwood Creek conservation areas and seen the chickadees come when you call.

Or perhaps you have been to that mecca of birdwatching — the Carden Alvar — in search of the endangered loggerhead shrike. The Carden Alvar, with its unique ecosystem, is a flat limestone landscape. On this vast plain are alvars — places where globally imperilled native grasses and wildflowers grow, and which occur only in southern Sweden and around the Great Lakes Basin.

The Carden Alvar has almost religious overtones for birders in Ontario — birders like Hendrik Hart, who used to come up five or six times every spring when he was younger. He would stay at a local hotel and spend every day from 5 a.m. to dusk watching for the rare birds that make the alvar their home: upland sandpipers, blue-winged warblers, and the snipe that seemed particularly attracted to the deep and wide potholes on Wylie Road.

While city-dwellers like Hart have to make a special trip to enjoy the rich birdwatching opportunities of the Kawartha Lakes, those of us who live here have a privilege that many birders can only dream of. We are able to engage in the slow, patient observation of many species throughout the seasons.

CONT’D FROM PAGE 11 BIRDS OF KAWARTHA LAKES

Farmers are especially well placed: attentiveness to the weather and the needs of farm animals goes hand in hand with attentiveness to happenings in field, treeline and marsh. A trip to the barn at dawn and dusk — when birds are most active — creates opportunities to observe bird behaviour day in and day out.

Take those sandhill cranes that failed to impress my children. Joanne Lindsay, who farms in Cameron, can pinpoint the day when the sandhill cranes return to her farm every year. “Their voice is so loud, and projects so far,” she says, “you can hear them long before you see them. Once you hear them, you need to be patient and you will see them fly over.” They make a series of rattling bugle calls, each lasting a couple of seconds and often threaded together. The sandhill cranes return to nest in the same spot on the edge of the swamp every year, and each year Lindsay knows how many young they have. She also sees them walking amongst the cattle in her pastures.

While the sandhill cranes return each year of their own accord, there are also birds that Lindsay attracts commonly to her feeder: chickadees, house sparrows, downy and hairy woodpeckers, blue jays and cardinals. And there are a few birds that don’t come to the feeder but that she also listens and watches for: the barn swallows and jenny wren (also known as a house wren), beloved of her late partner Graham.

While it might seem as though those who live outside of urban areas have a better chance at seeing a variety of birds, that isn’t necessarily true. In fact, in this time of sheltering in place due to COVID-19, we all have the advantage of being able to pay more attention to the birds that live in and around our neighbourhoods.

With a bird feeder or two, anyone can see some common birds in their own backyard — even in the bustling metropolis of Lindsay. Eric Davis, one of the directors of the Kawartha Field Naturalists, recommends black oil sunflower seed as a good all-round seed that many birds like, including woodpeckers. If you put the feeder on a metal pole, with a metal shield partway up, squirrels will be thwarted from cleaning out your feeder.

Top: Eastern bluebird. Bottom left: Wilson’s snipe. Right: sandpiper. These photos were taken by Hendrik Hart on the Carden Alvar.

(Another option is to feed the squirrels — they are fond of peanuts). Davis has one caution about feeders: it is best not to keep feeding the birds when the trees have leafed out, he suggests. Bears can be attracted to bird feeders, and hawks can hide in the foliage and prey on younger birds.

Davis recommends that you begin by just watching the birds. How do they behave and interact? Note what they look like and see if you can identify them. Birds that are more common in a built-up environment include starlings, blackbirds, robins, blue jays, house sparrows and sometimes cardinals. Davis notes that there are merlins in Lindsay. (Merlins are falcons that need a tall perch.) CONT’D ON PAGE 24

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We also want to thank our amazing Families and communities who have been so supportive and understanding.

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Contact us today and be ready to Do Great Work as part of a dedicated team of healthcare heroes who are passionate about the exceptional care they provide to our Residents every day.

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