Medway Creek

...a trail during January Thaw

“Whose woods are these I think I know
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.”
- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Medway Creek - as seen from a bridge

I was growing impatient for the arrival of spring. This was a month ago, in January – a month considered to be the bleakest of all. Spring is yet far from now. I continued my daily chores of going to school every day, missing the song of the birds and merry squirrels that would scour on the ground. The snow filled the landscape, so much so that I hardly ever saw anything that’s green and not white. The weather was ever in transit – once it was cloudy and windy and sometimes bright and calm. I welcomed the sun every time I saw it thawing the icy mounds.

Then came a week in January, of something unexplained and loved by all – January Thaw. January Thaw is a climatic phenomenon of unseasonably warm temperatures that tend to occur at about the same time every year (usually in the second or third week of January).

The Canadian Encyclopedia writes,

Though the midwinter upsurge in temperature appears consistent enough, the phenomenon is not recognized as real – it is what meteorologists call a “singularity”. A singularity is an annual weather episode, usually an anomalous departure that reoccurs at roughly the same time every year in a majority of years.

It also notes that Toronto only once in 150 Januaries has had no thaw period. This year, Toronto has had far little snow, and London did receive a dose of snow earlier during New Years Eve when the temperatures dropped to below -10C. During the period of January Thaw in the third week, the temperatures rose to about 6C, the snow created pools of water and mud, and the sky shone brightly! It was a break I was looking for during midwinter, to get out of the classroom in the basement and explore the woods.

With such a “singularity” blessing, I wandered to the Medway Creek that runs in front of my house. It’s a blissful place – a nigh fifteen feet from the road alongside. I wrote about Medway Creek during fall, which can be read HERE.
So exploring Medway Creek wasn’t new to me, but surprisingly, it was – very new, very different. The sound of water gushing beneath a crust of ice, the dripping of snow off the bare branches, little plants lying dead in the graveyard of snow – it was a surreal. There wasn’t enough activity of the animals, although their presence was felt everywhere. There were Black-capped Chickadees high in the trees, dancing around merrily – always hiding from me. I haven’t managed a single photograph of these birds yet! And there were other signs of the teeming life during winter – that of White-tailed Deer, Cotton-tail Rabbits and raccoons. None were sighted, unfortunately.

Footprints of a White-tailed Deer

Medway Creek is one of the tributaries of Thames River, and one of the much polluted ones at that. It is unfortunate that the tree cover is thinning in much urbanized parts and the increasing road runoffs adding to the pollution. It is a source of water for the wildlife that lingers around, and a prime habitat for aquatic animals. The UTRCA graded it at D for its forest cover and a C for its water quality. NOT good.

Many footprints on the ice over the creek

After walking around the creek, seeing no animals around – I considered photographing dried plants.

This task is easy but the identification is far from easy. So I took help from Walter Muma, owner of Ontario Wild Flowers website

, one of the best online sources for identification of all kinds of flora of Ontario!

As I walked onto the snow laden ground, searching for signs of life, I recorded a video, which can be seen below,

And took photographs of what I thought was interesting.

Daucus carota

One such dried plant that grabbed my attention was Wild Carrots – Daucus carota. It is a common plant throughout the landscape in Southern Ontario which is edible. The flowers when dry come close together and form an interesting design.

Staphylea sp. (?)

Another plant that I noticed was identified as a Bladdernut – Staphylea sp. The identification is uncertain. It was dead and dripping with melting snow. The flowers are ornamental and possess a bladder-like fruit – hence the name.

Alliaria petiolata

Then it was Garlic Mustard – Alliaria petiolata, a pretty flowering plant of Mustard family. However, as other plants, only the pods were seen attached to it. It is an edible plant. Unfortunately, it was introduced in North America as a culinary herb and has found its way into the woods where it thrives amongst other native plants. It has a status of “invasive species” and is of much concern throughout Thames River Watershed.

Dipsacus sp.

Teasel – Dipsacus sp. was also common throughout the banks of Medway Creek. These too are considered ornamental. The seeds are a good food source during winter for birds and hence grown in natural reserves to attract them.

Viburnum sp.

Another pretty – but dried – plant was Highbush Cranberry – Viburnum sp. This shrub is native to North America and is commonly seen all over. The fruits are sour and rich in Vitamin C.

After exploring some of these dried plants, how much ever boring or exciting you might think it is, I noticed these three mushrooms. It’s not that I saw them for the first time – I have been seeing them since I got here in September. I haven’t identified them yet, never photographed ‘em before, but I felt this was the time to capture them. The three ‘shrooms on a bent tree-trunk, with a backdrop of snow laden riverbank was a beautiful sight! These are probably related to the Bracket Fungi, which, when they die, do not disintegrate easily but leave behind a hard, woody structure. This could be a reason why the three fungi are still intact on the tree.

While walking along the creek, as I photographed the scenery around, I was stuck with a thought of how evolution works. It is one of the processes that cannot be predicted in time. It is either slow, or fast. It can either lead to a successful species, or extinction (survival of the fittest). It is a pure, strong natural force driving life from its very beginning. It will only lead to further evolution; hence it will never stop on its own. Until we interfere. Human interference is termed anthropogenic, something man-made, “artificial”, something that we devised and not nature. But we forget we’re a product of nature – of this evolution. Like non-related species lead to evolution of some other species, we’re but a part of this relationship – where we, the non-related species let other species evolve.

It is in our perception, however, the way we see such evolution – as either constructive or destructive. First thing that comes to my mind when I see us as a reason for evolution is the invasion of exotic species. Be it by an accident – such as introduction of many plants and animals in other environments – such as Garlic Mustard, Crazy Yellow Ants, and rodents on Australian islands and so on. Or be it on purpose, such as introducing exotic ornamental trees such as Delonix regia, or Acacia pycnantha for a greener tree cover and the Giant African Snail in India, or the introduction of biological pest controls such as Cane Toad in Australia, and of domestic animals in the wild. All of this took place in not more than a hundred years – too short to see any signs of evolution, but the effects are already seen.
In case of Medway Creek – or any in the Thames River Watershed, the invasive species such as Zebra Mussel have posed a threat to the native diversity of mussels – this might contribute to evolution or extinction of some, it’s a part of the survival of the fittest. There’s Buckthorn, an invasive plant species posing a threat to the native flora in Thames valley. It is a game of waiting for a thousand or even million years to see the actual effects. But in case of invasive species, it’s always the opposite of evolution. Thus, in order to minimize the extinction rate – which is faster than the rate of evolution, we must act as a responsible part of this biodiversity by eradicating the invasive species (we caused the invasion, we must sort it out, too!).

Harmonia axyridis

All invasive species are pests. Whether accidentally or purposely introduced. Take the example of the Asian Lady beetle – Harmonia axyridis (which can be read HERE). These fellows should be hibernating for winter, but several individuals were out as the temperatures rose during the thaw period. H. axyridis were introduced to protect crops from aphids but ended up being a pest themselves – posing a threat to the native ladybird beetles. Now we see more of H. axyridis than any native beetles in London. All of this also brings to my mind the “survival of the fittest”. Why is it that on an average, the invasive species tend to be more successful in a foreign habitat than the native ones? There are several reasons, such as possessing toxic chemicals, being disease resistant, so on. This is because of the way in which the respective invasive and the native species evolved.

Footprint of a White-tailed Deer on snow

Most of the barriers that existed before, such as mountains, rivers and oceans are no more barriers. Humans have a vast network of transportation, thus accelerating invasion far and wide. Only extensive monitoring can reduce this, and more efforts be made in curing the already persistent invasive species.

Mother Wasp

…think wasp is a stinging machine? Think again.

It was a sultry day in 2008. The October heat had set in. We were in the field taking a break under a small Teak tree, sipping on the little water left with us. The grass was tall and green but the characteristics of a deciduous forest were already showing. There was no wind – which is typical of October and the humidity was at its peak. We were downright exhausted and had decided to sit under the Teak which provided the only little shade around. We’re glad we chose that place, for we observed a very interesting behavior in the big world of little creatures.

I chose to sit in the grass where the area was dense enough for various critters to crawl around. I saw some movement in this undergrowth and for once thought it was a scorpion! I was super excited, a scorpion sharing the shade with us! After a few glimpses of this ground-walking animal, I saw that it was a wasp carrying a huge caterpillar in its mandibles – the prey was double its size and must have weighed more than the wasp itself.

As seen walking in the undergrowth

That very moment I forgot how exhausted I was, how the sun charred my skin and how my throat screamed for water. I took some shots of her walking in a considerably straight line – towards god knows what. The story breaks here.

Let’s have a look at this insect first. It was a wasp, a Hymenopteran. It was carrying a caterpillar in its mandibles, hence a predatory wasp. It had a slender abdomen – much like the thread-waist wasps so it could belong to Sphecidae. The caterpillar was 8 cm in length. It was a semi-looper caterpillar and hence belonged to the moths. I suspect it belonged to Catocalinae – a diverse family of moths, most of which are termed Fruit Piercing Moths that act as pests. Now we have a closely identified wasp, but are unsure if it’s a Mud-dauber or a Digger. We will find that out soon. But we know who the unlucky prey was.

The story commences. So there is this wasp carrying a big caterpillar – walking all the way downhill on a hot October day. That’s some stamina alright. I can only speculate how she captured the prey. Finding such a big caterpillar would not have been difficult since these predatory wasps are experts in finding and capturing prey. What’s surprising is how she managed to lift it and walk all the way here. I emphasize on “walk” because that’s how I saw her at first. She was walking – she perhaps could have been flying before – but considering the bulk of the prey I am not very positive whether she could fly or not. Now the way was close to 10 feet – long distance for a two inch wasp.

Making her way through the obstacles

She made her way through the thickets and often disappeared into the fallen leaves – appearing once in a while. She was non-stop on her trek, did not wait unless something blocked her way and she stuck to her near linear line-of-walk. I can only imagine how she managed to do that. But let’s answer that later.

Where she headed was still a mystery until my friend spotted a little hole in the ground. Yes! A hole in the ground, yes, it is a solitary Digger Wasp. There are three Subfamilies Sphecinae (Digger wasps), Sceliphrinae (mud-dauber wasps) and Ammophilinae. I am surprised there isn’t any info on the last subfamily.

A neatly dug nest of the Digger Wasp

In summary, the Digger Wasps sting their prey – which can be a cricket, a grasshopper, and any other insect, paralyze it and carry it along to the nest – a burrow. The wasp collects enough prey and stacks it into the nest, and then lays eggs. But some species of solitary wasps stack only one prey and lay a single egg. The prey is only paralyzed hence is alive, and as soon as the grubs hatch, the food is served fresh.

This is the sole reason why I decided to title this post as “Mother Wasp”. We often think that only higher animals show motherly care towards their young ones; and forget how hard working these little animals are towards a successful progeny of theirs. This care for the young ones is seen in many insect groups, from social ants, bees and wasps to solitary ones including hemipteran bugs, beetles and flies. It is true that all the “motherly” behavior is inbuilt in their genes, but let’s not forget – it is inbuilt in our genes too but ours is also affected by the environment we live in.

The story resumes. After a long walk through the thickets, the she-wasp was near her destination. This is when I started to wonder, how in this big world did she find her way in? I mentioned she walked in a strict straight line. Had she been flying, she could have easily seen the burrow through some landmark – for instance, the teak tree. Here she was walking with a burden and reaching the target without any effort of searching around for it. She must have used the mid-day sun to navigate. Many insects do it such as bees and ants. But this behavior of using the sun to navigate makes me wonder about a lot of other things.

...reaching the nest site

The story pauses here. Let’s assume she used sun to navigate. Her nest was downhill (on a slope), and the sky was clear. The nest was below a shady tree but was easy to spot. All of this tells me that this wasp is diurnal, which is obvious, but it also gives me an idea of the time when she hunts. It is possible for such a wasp to navigate on ground or in air with the help of sun as the compass. But here I assume that navigating through the thickets during mid-day is easier than at dawn or dusk. I wonder if they have specific times for hunting.

The story resumes. The wasp carried the paralyzed prey and set it beside the nest. She went inside the burrow to inspect it – she spent about 30 seconds inside the nest, throwing out little stones. I stooped over, without disturbing her and photographed whatever movements she made.

Notice the injury on the ventral side of the caterpillar - that's where the wasp stung the prey

She inspected the burrow a several times, often getting some soil off the nest.

Inspecting the burrow and making room for the prey

An interesting observation by Daniel Dennett showed that – when the wasp drops the prey beside the burrow and goes inside to investigate it, and if the prey moves (or is moved), the wasp does locate it, brings it back, drops it beside the burrow and goes inside to investigate again. Every time the prey moves, the wasp does the same act. This mechanical behavior is how he describes as an example of “how seemingly thoughtful behavior can actually be quiet mindless, the opposite of freewill (that is Antisphexishness)". For a more elaborate read – visit HERE.

After inspecting the burrow – possibly adjusting the stack that is already stored inside and clearing tiny stones from the nest site – the wasp grabbed the prey and receded inside the burrow. This did not take very long, and within a few seconds, the large prey was well inside the nest. I am unsure if she laid the eggs before the caterpillar was taken in or after – since she appeared outside very quickly, but I assume she laid one egg each on the paralyzed prey inside.

Three sequence shots taken when the wasp dragged the paralyzed caterpillar in the burrow

Now was the time to cover the nest. The wasp came out after a couple of minutes and started burying the nest. This task was not something very random, but she put in just as much effort in burying the nest as she must have in making one.

Carefully covering the burrow with a layer of lose soil

The wasp carefully shifted only the soft soil into the burrow and occasionally separated large soil particles off the nest entrance. The work was exhaustive and she took several turns to clear the large particles by her mandibles and then turning her back towards the entrance, she would shove soil onto the entrance by her hind appendages. She repeated the steps several times until she was satisfied by the quality of soil on top of her nest. The larger particles (stones, really) were carried in the mandibles – which she did not throw aside but preferred to fly a feet from the nest and drop it. This peculiar behavior also interests me, and I haven’t come across a reason why she chose to through it well away from the nest. Perhaps because it might fall over the nest again - another genetically inbuilt behavior?

Removing any larger soil particles off the burried nest

Following are a few more sequences of her laborous work to cover the nest.

Three sequences showing the wasp covering the nest-site (1st picture), removing larger soil particles (2nd picture) and again covering the nest-site with finer soil

After all the taxing work of a mother, which took several minutes, and after standing in the mid-day sun, bending over and making absolutely no movements – the nest-site looked perfectly neat and clean. It’s as if there was no burrow at all. The task was over. The grubs had enough food to eat. Her motherly duty was completed – she laid eggs, provided food and provided protection. The wasp flew away, never to return.

Here once was the Digger Wasp burrow!

This little natural history has been followed and studied for years. The millions of years of evolution have made these little creatures masters of their skills. I had seen another wasp carry a katydid and fly to her nest in a hurry in the same area. They are there all around us, doing their daily job of looking after their young ones, making sure their species survives. It may seem very mechanical, the way they behave, the way things are, but they are not living without benefiting the ecosystem. They have a purpose that is not mechanical.

In case of the Digger Wasp, they are predatory as we know it and prey on pest populations such as crickets, katydids, grasshoppers and caterpillars. Thus they not only protect a certain plant from being eaten, but also keep their population under control and act as natural pest controllers in agricultural fields.

Thank you for reading.

Recommended:

1. Observations on the Nesting Behavior of the Digger Wasps of the Genus Ammophila by Howard E. Evans
The paper discusses the Ammophila genus in detail along with detailed information on how the wasps carry their prey, the nest size and other observations. A must read if you read this blog article.

2. The Evolution of Prey-carrying mechanisms in Wasps by Howard E. Evans
An in-depth look into the elaborate behavior patterns of Wasps, their ancestry, mandibular and pedal mechanisms.

3. Human Sphexishness: Why We Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over Again by Christopher von Bulow

International Biodiversity Year

“When we become a part of anything, it becomes a part of us.”
- David Harold Fink

Seedlings sprout from the dried fruit that is still clinging to the mother tree during Monsoon

A new year is something everyone looks forward to. 2010, however is not just another year, it is the end of a decade. 2010 is, most importantly, declared as an International Year of Biodiversity. Keeping this in mind, I wonder how many of us have really emphasized on the biodiversity around us. It’s certainly not many, because if many did, we would not lack the knowledge and understand of nature and her ways even today.

Neanotis lancifolia flowers barely measure a centimeter, and these little Danceflies are seen enjoying on this tiny herb in bloom

To acknowledge the year 2010 as the biodiversity year, it’s us as the citizens of this planet who must stand up and face the truth. The truth – had it not been for this biodiversity, we would not exist. Some of us may think, so let’s consider a cockroach or a mosquito into our “biodiversity appreciation” year, and learn to live with them. No. I don’t mean only cockroaches and mosquitoes, I mean every living organism that you can and can’t see. I mean those elephants that are killed for ivory (click HERE to read on the latest news on Global Ivory Trade), and those rhinoceros poached for their horns, I mean those tigers left in the Indian forests, and those Cougars of the northlands. I mean those butterflies and birds poached for their beauty, and those insects that end up in someone’s rare collection. I mean everything and everyone, including us.

Gushing waters during Monsoon is common and a best site for observing biodiversity, but often such sites are teeming with ignorant tourists

So how do we go about this appreciation of biodiversity? I am sure some may ask. Do you want us to pick up every insect and whisper sweet words to it? Or maybe go kill a poacher and be happy? It is not easy, I agree. But there are little things that are easier.

A disheartening landscape - a view of the behind of Bazar of Matheran littering the valley beneath with tonnes of waste

Such easier things are,

• Stop throwing plastic. Oh, you don’t, is it? I know most of us don’t, so do you pick it up? No you don’t. And no one expects you to pick it up either. But when we are in a forest, walking for our visual pleasure, taking photographs and admiring nature, we always come across a piece of plastic ruining that landscape. Pick that up. It’s always relieving to see that piece of plastic in the garbage-bin than in a forest. This drive, which starts from you and I, if spread into everyone’s mind – can make a big difference.

• Stop throwing paper. Now we know it is biodegradable and safe to dispose. I don’t blame you for throwing paper, I know you don’t (and wont) but the paper – a product of the forests itself, is no more a “true” product of the forest. It gets processed in factories that use fuel to drive them; it gets acidic due to heavy bleaching, and hence not quite comparable to its initial environmentally-friendly form. Instead, it is better to recycle all paper and paper products. So dumping the useless papers into recycling-bins is better than letting them decompose in nature.

• Stop using plastic bottles. There was a time, not a decade ago when all of us as school kids used to hang a water-bottle in our necks and drink from it. It has changed, for bad. Now we use the disposable bottles which we use-and-throw. Reusing them does sound like a solution but then it is not good for health either, so we recycle them, but we basically discard them. Recycling is more of “downcycling” where the quality of a recycled product is not as good as the previous. So why not stop using them? Why not carry a water-bottle in your backpack and refill it whenever possible? This will save the evil plastic corrupting our brains and polluting our forests!

• Stop smoking in forests. For nature’s sake, this is not a place to smoke! I have seen people drink and smoke in forests; these kinds are as responsible for causing pollution as the traffic is in forested areas. A small puff is enough to pollute the fresh forest air. Do not expect the huge trees to clean up your dirty work, no plants can clear the toxic compounds released into the air caused by smoking.

• In the lines of polluting the air, stop (or minimize) using personal vehicles as a means of travelling to wild places. A public transport is always available and accessible. More vehicles in a forest lead to obvious pollution, which we do not realize in the sheer excitement of being in a forest. This is the biggest problem when tourists flock to the pristine wilderness. If we use the public transport – owned by the government itself, we not only reduce our impact on the health of the ecosystem, but also contribute to the economy of that place for good.

• Go on a vacation, locally. This is debatable, but it was brought up by my friends who emphasized on the fact that there is so much to look around wherever we live – within a day or less distance, that we seem to ignore these places completely and yearn to visit far and wide. It is our right to explore, visit new places, and have fun. But that new place could well be near you. Most of us might not agree with this, but if you are an explorer, you sure would explore and learn about the creatures of your backyard first.

• Don’t flock to see a tiger. Yes, sounds too thick, but hey, there are about twenty jeeps lined one after another to see a tiger. I wonder how much pollution the tiger has to live up with now-a-days? Ever wondered how the tiger feels? Now there are no human-like emotions in tigers, but they do feel the stress, which can change their behavior for bad, for instance being used to public, or worse still, disrupting their hunting pattern.

• Lastly, remember the three R’s. The three golden R’s to save our environment. No not the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The new “revolutionized” three R’s stand for Reduce, reduce and reduce! If we do not reduce our consumption, we will never get better.

Tourists flocking to Mahuli Fort during Monsoon - such places need to bear hoardings stating ban on using plastics, smoking and alcohol and encouraging public transport in the locality

There are many more such as eating locally, using public transport daily, switching off the lights, and so on. The issues mentioned here are read and heard about everywhere, but there is no concrete action taken by us, is it true that we will stop littering only when the government slams a fine on us? The little actions we take can indirectly affect our impact on the ecosystem. We must move a step forward now, and promise to lead the way for our narrow-minded followers. Let’s start from us, let’s not wait for someone to lead the way. Let’s not look up to the municipality and wait for them to clean up. If we don’t take this simple responsibility, we cannot appreciate the biodiversity, and fail the 2010 International Biodiversity Year.

My aim is not to emphasize on the “International Biodiversity Year”, but on spreading the message of awareness and taking responsibility ourselves. 2010 IBY is just a means of reaching out to the people, making them think twice before buying illegal, poached products and sensitizing them on the issues of extinction dawned upon nature by us. If we begin to appreciate the sheer biodiversity around us, develop a sense of being within that rich biodiversity and believing that it is our responsibility to protect it, then that’s it, the world has never seen a year as beautiful as 2010.

In the last few years, I learnt a few things about nature, and working with WWF – India, MSO helped a lot. The experience of working with senior folks in the community of ecology, and other like-minded colleagues has been a tremendous help in absorbing the knowledge, through excursions and through sharing experiences. It will not only prepare you to be a better naturalist, but also make you conscious with what’s going on in the field of environment and ecology. In this context, I will also suggest you to become a part of any nature-related organization, such as WWF, BNHS (and others in Mumbai are HERE) and Nature Canada, Ducks Unlimited, Earthroots (and others in Ontario are HERE) and other various local NGOs working in favor of the environment.

Some general information:

Calendar of Environment Days celebrated Worldwide

Asia’s Wildlife Trade

Tiger Summit 2010 in Russia

Green Grades to techno giants

Last but not the least, there are a million things we can do. Let’s begin from scratch. Let’s start from our very home by doing this little.

The winter is grim now. It’s just going to be a lot of “looking back” on previous nature-walks for me, and pondering over the environmental issues and going in pursuit of sustainability.

Through the Window

...exploring nature in winter.

Another year comes to an end. It was a year of exploring different places, discovering new creatures and new life, and gaining knowledge based on the memories and the experiences built over a few years. It was a long year, and I began learning many more things that I seemed to overlook in the past. And the curiosity started ever increasing as I looked in the dry thickets during autumn, when everything was slowing, distant and well hidden from sight.

Snow on bare branches

It is winter now, about time to bid farewell to 2009. The year had been warm and the snow far too less. The ground would have been covered in a foot of snow around this time they say, and when I look out through the window, there isn’t much snow at all.

There, through the window I did see flakes of snow lingering in the air. The air itself was thin and fair, and the weather old and cold. The trees were bare and except the conifers, only flecks of little grass were green. The landscape is dominated by skeleton of trees, and brown somber suburban houses are lined in a monotonous way. There are empty roads, frosty cars, and there is the sky bleak and gray, weighing lowly on the skyscrapers. It is winter for real without its white cloak.

As I looked at this still urban landscape, scanning the trees near and far, and gazing at the sky – I saw a lone Mourning Dove sitting quietly on the parapet. It seemed oblivious to my presence at first; hence I took the opportunity and photographed it through the window. The air was getting colder and snow wilder, yet the dove sat unstirred, only shuffling its feathers – trying to be cozy and ready for another cold day. So I went outside, slowly so, and once the dove saw me, it never took its eyes off me.

Zenaida macroura, Mourning Dove rests on the parapet

Approaching birds for photography is a risky task. 99% of the times, it never works and if the bird is very wild, the chance of approaching one is only 0.01% unless you are extremely well camouflaged or they come to you! This staggering probability of photographing a bird up-close and personal is further dimmed if you use a point-and-shoot camera! But I took the chance of photographing this one in the backyard, hoping that the temperature was not very low to affect my point-and-shoot’s working (my point-and-shoot manual does not recommend the cam to be used in sub zero temperatures), so keeping this in mind, and after several decent shots through the window, I dared to step outside and approach this bird – recalling the probability of disturbing it.

Zenaida maceoura looking couriously at me

Yet, to my surprise, after I opened the door – the dove, albeit staring at me all the time, did not move a bit! I took a few shots, and stepped outside, closing the distance between us one step at a time. It did not seem any comfortable and I was afraid I might cross the line of tolerance. He looked, took the alert pose by bending lower, getting ready to fly away. I, after noticing its unwillingness to greet me from close, stood there for a moment. This fellow dove must have thought I’m persistent, as I started approaching cautiously again. Surprisingly he seemed pretty relaxed and shuffled and played with its feathers thereafter! I was relived myself, and took some shots from nigh ten feet! I experimented with the shutter speed and managed a few decent shots at 1/80s by taking the support of the deck. The light was utterly low, which was a challenge for using a point-and-shoot that gives high levels of noise even at ISO 200! I backed out after some shots, and was successful in not disturbing it. The dove continued to sit there for some time and flew off as dusk approached.

Zenaida macroura shuffling comfortably

The backyard is now empty, only the wind plays with the bare branches of maples and apples, and the weakened grass. But oft, there comes a feathered visitor to peck in the garden and in the snow. These are the ones that give a merry company, as I watch them through the window once in a while.

The fauna of this season is much colorful than I thought, and I always pictured winter to be a season where life is still, but the birds and squirrels are ever joyful, and bring delighting warmth that the weather lacks. Since all these birds are new to me, I took help of David Beadle to identify these birds, and relied much on the internet. One such – and the first – bird I observe over a few days is the Dark Eyed Junco.

Junco hyemalis, a male Dark Eyed Junco - being alert after noticing my presence

It is a resident throughout winter, and is common at birdfeeders. These come in little flocks of around ten, and fly around together from one tree to another. There is no birdfeeder here, and I have seen them pecking in the dried thickets and in snow.

The males are conspicuous with a slaty blue color, a pinkish beak and a white belly, the body is round, a little smaller than a House Sparrow. The females are brownish and are easily distinguished from the males. The flocks have several males and females, and I have not observed any juveniles yet.

A male (above) and a female (below) on the parapet on a cold sunny day

The Dark Eyed Juncos are relatives of American Sparrows and are very commonly seen in the backyards.

The second flock of bird that visits often is of Goldfinches, having shed their brilliant plumage; they cloak themselves in subtle shades of yellows – the winter plumage, and go around in small flocks from one garden to another. They are second most commonly seen birds around, and are a delight to watch.

Carduelis tristis, a male American Goldfinch scrambles through a dry thicket

I have seen several feeding on dried seeds and from the inside of the pinecones. The flock seen here is that of more or less seven individuals, and these are also said to be common at birdfeeders. Along with this flock comes a lone finch – either a Purple Finch or a Common Finch, which I have failed to photograph yet.

Carduelis tristis, a female American Goldfinch eating seeds on a sunny winter day

Once in a while I sight a few Black Capped Chickadees jumping swiftly from one branch to the other. They are not as common here as I expected, but it maybe because I’m only looking through the window. They are not as patient as the other birds described here, but are a bunch of joys to watch.

Another, conspicuous yet elusive bird is the Northern Cardinal, this fellow resident male here is seen in its winter plume, and is just a speck of red feathers flying around the backyards. Sometimes the female shows up, and they both sing in chorus in the pine trees, hiding well inside, well protected from the cold winds. There was also a lone American Robin that visited the backyard and perched on the bare Maple.

An interesting visitor here was an Acipitor, a hawk. The identity of whom is uncertain – it is either a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Cooper’s hawk juvenile. It was only once that I saw this beautiful hawk, as he swooped in from the adjoining backyards. What a sight it was!

A Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp Shinned Hawk takes a break on the Maple tree in the backyard

The two probably names are debatable, but both are bound to be seen around feeders. David Beadle suggested it to be a Cooper’s hawk – a bird more commonly sighted in the backyards during this year than Sharp Shinned Hawk.

Another raptor that I was lucky to see perched on a tree was a Red Tailed Hawk. It is one of the most widely spread birds of prey in North America. I have seen two of these fly around, probably in a territorial dispute in London ON.

Buteo jamaicensis, a Red-tailed Hawk scans the surface from its perch

According to Wikipedia,
Because of its robust crispness, a certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is a cliché cinematic effect. This high, piercing scream is often featured in the background of adventure movies to give a sense of wilderness… the cry is often inaccurately used for Bald Eagles, whose own vocalizations are quiet different and less robust.

The ever present Eastern Gray Squirrels are always seen running o’er the parapet and on the trees, and I always see a supposed pair of a gray and a melanistic squirrel chasing one another. There are several individuals of both forms, with the melanistic being more conspicuous during this white season than the gray ones. They are wary as ever, yet watching them through the window is the best I can do, without disturbing them.

Sciurus carolinensis, a melanistic Eastern Gray Squirrel is a common sighting all around the suburbs

A pair, I have been observing for a few days are always on a look out for each other. Most times it is the melanistic one chasing the gray squirrel, no idea whether it is the male, but that’s my assumption!

Two of the squirrels chasing - playing or fighting?

When there were none of these around, there were gulls flying high above in the skies, be it during a snowfall or during blinding sun. These high flying gulls were probably looking for food inland, and are a usual sight at garbage dumps and outside malls to pick up from the scrap. These water birds turned scavengers sometimes harass the pedestrians and are noisy, sometimes they scatter the garbage but most times they are just enjoying themselves.

All these animals discussed here are common during this season, and their company is welcoming during bleak winter days. All of them also share a “Least Concern” status of conservation according to IUCN, but that does not mean they are out of danger.

The dangers include natural causes such as snow storms, for which these animals are well equipped, thanks to the million years of evolution. The anthropogenic dangers faced by these are electric shocks from cable wires, loss of nesting and hibernating places and basically loss of habitat.

But one of the overlooked dangers is that caused by birdfeeders.

This interesting article - Feeding Birds shown to impact their Evolution will give you a deep insight in how we, in belief of being courteous to the birds, might affect their evolutionary patterns. The article is worth checking out, which does not state that birdfeeders are a bad thing, but explores the hidden cons that the birds may face in the future generations.

Although I believe that birdfeeders are like an oasis for the birds and squirrels and their predators, it is also a best site to photograph the same. Albeit all of this, when it comes to photographing these wild birds who are adjusting to the man-made artificial habitat, it is not as enjoyable as chasing them in the wild – or just watching them go around as they naturally would, even if it means staring through the window.

Seasons greetings and a happy New Year to you all!