Last week a few Dickcissels were found just west of Underwoood in South Bruce. Dickcissels are sporadic breeders in southern Ontario, nesting in small numbers in some years, but then are completely absent in others. They are mainly a western prairie species, but they are known for wandering and often shown up in weird places.
To recap my DICK sightings;
- I saw my first Bruce Dickcissels in 2017, when over 20 birds were seen around Bruce over the summer.
- In 2018 I found one in Tobermory in early May, but that was my only one of the year.
- In 2019 I missed it completely.
So yeah, it's not a species I see very often ans I've never got good photos of them, so I was tempted to chase...
My mom had to go down to that part of the county anyway this morning, so I talked her into taking me on a slight "detour" to look for the said Dickcissels. I didn't have to spend much time looking and actually heard a singing bird before the car stopped. I spent the next hour walking around the area, taking pictures, getting a few nice recordings (best one Here) and chatting with the local birders (Bob and Anne-marie Taylor). I ended up seeing 3 singing males and 1 female that was carrying nesting material, which was cool...
Anyways it's always nice to break up the summer with a few rare birds and it was certainly fun to spend some time with Dickcissels.
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| - Female DICK |
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| - Male DICK |
On to some yardbirding news..
The old yard has been pretty quiet for the past month.. almost all of my sightings are of local breeders and it's just been too hot for much enjoyable birding (I hate birding in the heat). I do have some nice breeders this year; Eastern Whip-poor-will, Hermit Thrush, Magnolia, Blackburnian and Black-throated Blue Warblers to name a few... so I can't really complain.
My "yard big year" has really stalled and I went through a long dry spell after I added a Purple Martin in late May. I almost went the entirety of June without a new bird, but lucky added a few species in the last few days of the month. Highlights listed below.
June 24 - I was out birding the yard at sunset, listening to a loon calling in the distance, when I had a Black-crowned Night-heron fly overhead. This species is pretty hit or miss here.. I've had it twice in my yard, but it's easy enough to miss in a season so I was happy to get it.
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| - BCNH |
June 27 - I was out in the yard in the early morning when... I sensed something; a presence I had not felt since... well March, when I saw a lot of this species on my Northern Ontario trip. Pardon the Star Wars quote... I just had to...
Anyways yeah, I heard dry, two part "chut-chut" call.. oWhite-winged Crossbill! Totally an unexpected species for my yard in June and a big bonus for the year list. I got my phone out to record it, but I fumbled with it a bit too long and ended up getting a barely IDable recording as it flew away. Link to that here (just after the redstart song).. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/246304631
I've had WWCR once before here, but that was in the expected time of year (November-March). Oddly enough I had another WW crossbill later that day in North Bruce and a few were seen in Tobermory that on June 28th too. Both crossbills wander widely throughout the year and nest whenever food is plentiful, so they can really show up in Bruce any time of year. They have been seen at Cabot Head in August occasionally, so it's not unprecedented, but this bird was still a pleasant surprise.
July 1 - I went out in the evening to listen and heard a Black-billed Cuckoo calling. I've seen this species around my neighbourhood all spring, but it was nice to finally get it in the yard..
What will my next new yardbirds be?! Swallow-tailed Kite would be nice... as would American White Pelican and Neotropic Cormorant... I digress...
That's it for now, more content will be posted next week... maybe
New additions to yard yearlist;
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- White-winged Crossbill
Yard yearlist at July 2 - 154
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