Return of An Unwelcomed Guest(s)

The day before I was set to leave for a vacation in Sudbury, I discovered my yard had a visitor. In fact, quite a number of visitors. Insects from the order Coleoptera had decided to feed on the leaves of the Corkscrew Hazel, Sand Cherry and hedge in my yard. These beetles are native to Japan and were first recorded in Canada in 1939. Since then, the Japanese Beetle has caused problems for farmers, nurseries and home owners in many states and provinces.



Last year, Jean and I found only a few of the invasive pests in our garden. This year however, the numbers have increased greatly and they have acquired a taste for the leaves of a Corkscrew Hazel tree in the backyard. At first, I tried to pick them off of the tree but for every 1-2 I removed, another 8-10 would emerge from the inner branches and leaves to escape placement into an empty yogourt tub. Knowing I could not win this battle, I took the garden hose and sprayed the entire tree with a good dose of H2O. With travel plans the next day, my options were limited and spraying the tree would help temporarily.


A grape vine that has crept over the fence from the neighbour's yard was also harbouring some Japanese Beetles. When searching for additional Popillia japonica, I came across this large orange beetle. It appears to be from the Scarabaeidae family, the same family that contains the Japanese Beetle and the Asiatic Garden Beetle. After a little searching, I identified this large insect to be a Grapevine Beetle.

A few years ago, this beetle caused heavy damage to my mother-in-law's ornamental grapevine. So, I quickly disposed of this specimen as well.

The next day, Jean and I left for Sudbury. Taking action to prevent further damage would have to wait. I had some Big Nickel birding to do.

Big Nickel Birding

Ahhh, vacation time! It's always satisfying to have some time off from work and during the week of July 18, Jean and I spent a few days in Sudbury visiting my brother and his family.



This was our first visit to Sudbury, Ontario since Jean and I committed ourselves to a life of birding and if we did not observe any lifers while birding the region of Greater Sudbury, at least we would start three new county (regional) lists. Let the ticks begin.

The Perils of Nesting Killdeer: Raising Young in a Parking Lot

It was the holiday weekend. Despite the distraction of three days of beautiful weather and the start of the 2011 Tour de France, I still managed to find time to inspect the nesting Killdeer on the property of my employer.

On Canada Day, Jean and I checked on the progress of the two clutches after completing our third and final survey for the Marsh Monitoring Program. The adult was still incubating the eggs.

Over on the other side of the building, the second breeding pair had momentarily left their eggs unattended.

No emergence on Saturday either but on Sunday afternoon Jean and I made a quick inspection on the way home after visiting friends. As we watched the adult rise from the spot it has tended the last few weeks, two chicks popped out and ran a short distance. Finally! After an incubation of approximately 27 days, two of the eggs had hatched. The other half of the clutch still sat in the gravel. Since they were not laid until two days after the first two, it appeared there was still some incubation time required.

Walking into work Monday morning I noticed the gravel area was empty and there was hardly any evidence that Killdeer had nested near the entrance to the building. All that was left was a shallow depression created by the shorebird. Jean and I returned Monday evening with our scope to capture some digiscoped images. We found both adults but only two young. It's possible the other two eggs were preyed upon.

We kept a safe distance from the family and though it was not easy, Jean snapped a few pictures. The young are quite small and the camera preferred to focus on the nearby rocks and clumps of grass.

The second pair still had some incubating to do.

I'll continue to monitor the development of the young and will look forward to the day they can finally fly. Until then, it's best they stay as close as possible to their mum.

A Squeezerless Wine Festival

Say it ain't so! Ce n'est pas possible! The 2011 Liberty! Bicycles Off-Road Squeezer has been cancelled. Though I've heard rumblings of the Niagara Wine Festivals organizing the race (yet to be listed on the events calendar), it is certainly a sad day knowing that Kurt and the rest of the Squeezer organizing group are not involved. I have yet to get on a bike this season and any plans I had of riding in this truly memorable citizen race have been stomped on.

As demonstrated in this video, the past 16 years have been fantastic and like any fine Niagara wine, it just gets better with every passing year.

Up until last year (there was a conflict with a birding convention) , I had ridden in every Squeezer since 1999. No matter the conditions and the flats encountered, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this fine event. Starting and finishing near Montebello Park fits so well with the final day of festivities held in the municipal park. With this change, the mountain bike race as we know it, will be corked. I, for one, hope that Liberty! Bicycles will return in the near future to re-establish, what was, a damn-good mountain bike event!

The Perils of Nesting Killdeer x2

The four Killdeer eggs I've observed every morning since early June will soon hatch, so I thought Jean and I should return for one last chance of digiscoping the Killdeer while it sat motionless on the eggs.

Even with its back turned to us, the Killdeer kept a close eye on our movements.

The breeding pair watching over their clutch have demonstrated great care and dedication while incubating the eggs. Whether it was a hot and humid afternoon or a thundering down-pour of rain, the adult Killdeer have held their position over the eggs.

It was recently brought to my attention that there is a second Killdeer nest on the property. Another reason for returning with the spotting scope and digital camera on Tuesday evening.

It's a holiday weekend, so somewhere between a final survey for the Marsh Monitoring Program and visiting family, I'll be at work, running from one side of the property to the other, in order to determine which clutch hatches first.

Stay tuned. The next posting of The Perils of Nesting Killdeer, may contain baby Killdeer.

May Birding:After the Storm

Summer has arrived and firsts of the year have not been observed for over two weeks but it won't be long before I'm out looking for shorebirds, especially a lifer Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Until then, it seems a suitable time to reflect on the May ticks as I never did get around to posting last month.


On May 1, Jean and I searched for spring migrants at a St. Catharines 'hot spot'. It was mid-day and it soon became apparent that Malcomson Eco-Park was not spared from the recent storm that passed through the region. On Thursday April 28, very strong winds toppled down trees in our neighbourhood, some falling on power lines and leaving us without hydro for a couple of days. This pales in comparison to the extreme weather and tragic events that occurred in the southern United States.


At the eco-park, tall trees that once sustained migrating warblers in their boughs were now stretched across walking-trails in the park.





The tree that we spotted a male Cape May Warbler in last year was now reduced to logs.

If not for hearing a Gray Catbird (#111), we would not have had any firsts of the year.

We returned to the eco-park the following weekend and added a few more species to the year list. Earlier in the week, Chimney Swifts (#113) were observed flying above our backyard. The swifts are a daily sight during the summer and Jean and I plan on participating in the annual swift count this year.

A light rain was falling the morning of May 7. We spent a couple of hours walking through the park, at times using fallen tree trunks as bridges when searching for migratory birds. Despite the rain, we observed 36 species and added Baltimore Oriole, Green Heron, Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Nashville Warbler and Palm Warbler to the year list. Where were the other warbler species? At this time last year we ticked, Cape May, Black and White, Blackburnian and Black-throated Green.

The next day we birded on the west bank of 12 Mile Creek. The Merritt Trail has been productive in the past and it was possible that there would be some warblers spotted, may be even a waterthrush creeping in the brush. Only the ubiquitous Yellow Warbler (ticked earlier in the week) singing its sweet sweet sweet I'm so sweet song was seen in a number of locations along the creek. Though we added Warbling Vireo and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to the year list, it seemed that warbler species were not in St. Catharines.

Mid-may was only a week away and warbler migration would be at its peak. The ticks had been slow over the past week and I was eagerly looking for a change of pace. A change of scenery might help as well because the rain certainly was not helping.

Niagara Digiscoping: The Perils of Nesting Killdeer

At the start of my work week last week, the perils of nesting Killdeer near the employee parking area began and by Thursday June 9 there were 4 eggs resting in a small depression in the gravel.

There was no point lamenting the fact that I would be unable to attend the Darlington ptarmigan viewing on Sunday morning. So instead, I placed the scope in the car and after dropping Jean off at work, I went to observe the progress of the nesting pair of Killdeer and try a bit of digiscoping.

One of the Killdeers was sitting on the eggs when I arrived and did not raise a fuss as I walked by to enter the building. After checking on a few things I emerged from the building and the Killdeer left the nest as I started to setup the scope. The main reason I was there was to capture images of the bird sitting on the nest. Now I would have to wait as the Killdeer strolled the area near the eggs.

Eventually the Killdeer returned to the nest and resumed its position on top of the eggs.

Its mate was on sentry duty and remained alert while I stood in the parking area deciding on the best location from which to capture additional digiscoped images.

I was mindful of ethical birding practices and kept my disturbance of the birds to a minimum.

After capturing a sufficient amount of images, I left the Killdeer pair to enjoy the quiet of an empty parking area and loading dock.

Incubation will take 24-26 days so we should see the first of the young emerging at the end of the month and then the parental duties of both adults will increase greatly. Until then, check out these other images of birds from around the world that were recently posted for World Bird Wednesday 30 at The Pine River Review.