SEEING PURPLE

June 21/16 - I was making one of my usual stops at French Creek to look for blue as in kingfisher blue. My hope was to find the fledgling family of young kingfishers as I have in past years. I scanned the rocks on the creekside, the masts of the moored boats, and the fence at the outfall, but there were no kingfishers in sight. I wasn't too disappointed knowing it was a hit or miss situation so I looked around for other other birds.

From a distance I could see some dark coloured birds landing in a small arbutus tree. I narrowed it down to Starlings or Purple Martins and slowly walked towards the tree. When i was in range I was pleasantly surprised to see a male Purple Martin sitting at the top of the tree. Thanks to the Purple Martin nests installed on the pilings by the Georgia Basin Ecological Assessment and Recovery Society the birds are common around the marina, but they are usually flying around and not roosting in the arbutus tree. I was curious about their interest in the tree, and it didn't take long to see the answer. The martin grabbed a mouthful of leaves and headed for the nest boxes. Shortly after a female martin landed in the tree and worked its way between some branches then emerged with a large dried up leaf in her bill. It also flew towards the nest. So that was it - mystery solved. The martins were gathering nest material.

The male Purple Martin seemed out of place sitting on a small arbutus tree

Was it resting or did it have something else in mind?

Surprise! The martin grabbed a mouthful of arbutus leaf. As far as I know martins only eat invertebrates so I assumed it was collecting leaf material for the nest.

Just to confirm my suspicions, a female martin flew in, grabbed a dried up leaf, and flew off to her nest.

LAST OF THE HUMMERS

June 22/16 - During the week before the strawberry moon I was still feeding 4 or 5 cups of nectar a day. Right after June 21 I was down to a cup a week. Was it a coincidence that most of the hummers departed on the solstice or was that the usual routine? I've never paid attention to the departure time in previous years, but I shall watch for it next year. Meanwhile, there are still a few hummers hanging around. I wondered why they were still here. Then I remembered seeing a hummer or two gathering bulrush fluff in mid-May. Some of the hummers were still nesting at that time. That meant new fledglings in late June and even early July. I've heard some of them did nest twice, but I have no way of knowing if that were the case or they were just late breeders. The sight of a freshly fledged hummer confirmed my suspicions. I was happy to see the late hummers because the bee balm was starting to bloom in the garden. That meant a few photo ops. The tree fuschias were also in full bloom but their location wasn't as strategic for photos.

FEEDER FRENZY

June 26/16 - While the hummingbird activity was declining the activity at the suet and seed feeder continued to increase. Little nuthatches seemed and chickadees seemed to be everywhere making regular trips to the suet and seed feeder pole waiting to be fed. The juvenile male Hairy was also a regular visitor, but it had been weaned two weeks earlier. On the other hand, the Downy and Pileated families had just arrived, and it was a joy to see the adults feeding the juveniles.

For awhile the yard was filled with fearless little nuthatches.

They all seemed to wait patiently for their turn to be fed by their parents.

A juvenile male Hairy Woodpecker had been weaned about two weeks earlier. It was now showing up regularly on its own.

The newest arrivals were the juvenile Downy Woodpeckers. The first was the juvenile male with the adult male.

A day later Dad showed up with the juvenile female. I never saw the female adult feeding the young. Perhaps she still had younger ones in the nest.

I had assumed all the birds were either nesting or finished their nesting, but Mrs. American Goldfinch was still collecting nest material. Was she just starting or was she just collecting a little extra padding?

Mr. American Goldfinch certainly wasn't collecting nest material. He was just enjoying the free seed at the feeder.

Next to the hummers, my favorite feeder birds were the Black-headed Grosbeak. For awhile I couldn't figure out why they were coming so often. The mystery was solve one day when I saw a female on the branch by the feeder when one was still flying off to the forest. There were at least two pairs visiting the feeder. Later on I saw two males.

The males seemed to be more frequent than the females. That might have meant that the females were incubating or looking after nestlings.

Last year I saw the female and its fledgling at the feeder together. I didn't see them together this year, but I think this could be a juvenile based on the extra-large gape. According to google the large gapes help the parents see the mouths of the chicks during feeding time.

Another feeder favorite is the male Purple Finch. The juvenile Purple Finches had fledged a few weeks ago.

All I can say is Flicker, but is it the normal female Northern Flicker or the rare Gilded Flicker? It appears to have the all brown crown and nape that is characteristic of the Gilded Flicker. I have googled photos of both, but haven't come to a firm conclusion. Obviously, an expert opinion is required.

It appears to have been a good year for the Spotted Towhees. Several juveniles are regulars in my backyard. I suspect some came from nests in the adjacent forest and one possibly from my garden.

Olive-sided Flycatchers used to be common around the River's Edge subdivision near Parksville. However, I haven't seen one there for many years (2008?). It was a treat to see one on the lower ski slope up Mt. Washington.

FINALLY FLEDGED

For the last two weeks of June the pleading of nestling Violet-green Swallows constantly filled the air beside my garden from dawn to dusk. It was a joyful sound because it signalled the successful birth and growth of a new generation. Secondarily, it was also a personal success in providing a viable home for a magnificent little bird. Whenever I got the chance I would stop and watch the nestlings jostling each other to stick their heads out of the nest box. At times two heads with gaping mouths would stick out together, but the entrance was generally monopolized by one. When an adult approached with food the cheeping would increase in volume and intensity as the nestling precariously stretched out to receive the food. There was no way of telling how many nestling occupied the box as they all looked the same. I often wondered how the parents could tell which one was fed and which wasn't.

The constant cheeping of the nestlings seemed interminable, and I wondered when they would be ready to fledge. On the morning of July 2 the cheeping seemed louder than ever. I peered over to the nest box and was excited to see 3 nestlings on top of the nest box and 1 inside. I ran for my camera and set up in the garden about 10 meters from the nest box. I didn't have to wait long before one of the adults flew in with the food. A quartet of cheeping filled the air while 4 gaping mouths pleaded for the insect snack.

ACTIVITY ON THE GRASS

July 2/16 - While the cheeping and feeding at the swallow nest dominated the action in the yard, another happy event was taking place on the grass. A family of Chipping Sparrows had also fledged. Two or three juveniles hopped around on the grass trying to forage for insects while the adults were busy gathering more insects to feed the juveniles. It was an event that I had witnessed several times in past years, and I was happy to see it again. Although I didn't do anything unusual for them, I was pleased to know that they had once again nested successfully in or around my yard.

The juvenile Chipping Sparrows were busy practicing their foraging in the company of their watchful parents.

The parents were still collecting food to supplement the efforts of their offspring. The family was busy all day in the yard, but disappeared the next day. They were probably heading south to their wintering grounds in the southern US or Mexico.

WHERE ARE THE KINGFISHERS?

July 5/16 - I was making a concerted effort this year to get some quality photos of the Kingfisher family at French Creek. I stopped every chance I got to watch for the distinctive creatures, but all I saw was the adult female. Had I missed the annual fledging? Was this a non-breeding female? Or had I missed the annual event? It was still early July. Perhaps I was too early. Stay tuned for my next journal. Meanwhile, it is always a challenge trying to get interesting shots of the Kingfisher. One of these days I'd love to get a shot with a big fish in its bill.

*********************************************************************************************

Bird Poster

My poster is on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House. (Note: This poster has been produced in a more manageable size and is now available for $20 unlaminated and $32 laminated.)