Summer Birds and Just Desserts
15 June
It is finally getting hot, the tomato and pepper plants are flowering and we are thinking of having to water the mead this weekend. Only one week until mid-summer and then downhill to winter again.
“Our” baby Robins (that’s American Robins, which really ought to called Red-breasted Thrushes) finally fledged and left the nest a few days ago. Perfectly timed - I took some pictures of them hunkered in the nest by the front door, turned my back for ten minutes and they had gone. Not even a thank you and a box of chocolates. On the other hand, we can use the door again. That’s something.
Meanwhile, new birds are the thing this week. Squabbling Starling chicks harassing their parents seem to be all over the place; A pair of House Finches brought a couple of young to the garden feeders on Friday and in the Arboretum tree Swallows and House Wrens were taking nesting materials into nest boxes near the Sugar Shack. Add to that an Indigo Bunting and a Kingbird. Oh, and a Goldfinch falling headfirst into a flower - he made us laugh. Plenty of good things … pictures rather than words this week
Wild Gardens
I recently came across this Website which helps you find native plant sources near where you live, so long as where you live is in Canada. You may find it useful depending on where you garden.
Guilty - good news and “just desserts”
Despite nesting birds being theoretically protected under the Migratory Birds/Species at Risk Act consequences for ignoring the protections are rarely serious because the authorities don’t hear from people who see harm being done. It’s too easy to grimace and assume complaining would be a waste of time. Well, not necessarily so.
Longueuil is a town on the south side of the river from Montreal. On July 9, 2024, wildlife officers learned that a field in Longueuil, where at least one pair of Bobolinks was nesting, had been mown to within an inch of its like by council workers. This might not have happened had a call from a local birdwatching club been heard. Someone had seen the mower pass very close to the nest a few days earlier and asked the City to stop all mowing there. "One of our members had observed a bobolink nest in Allée des Sorbiers Park. We warned the City not to cut the vegetation in that area," said the president of the Longueuil Birdwatching Club. The club then reported the incident to the Quebec and Federal authorities. A quarter of the world population of Bobolinks breeds in Quebec and Saskatchewan. They are considered to be a threatened species in Canada, having declined dramatically in the past 20 years.
Environment Canada, later said that they had obtained enough evidence to lay charges against the City of Longueuil under the Species at Risk Act. The city went through the motions of saying it wasn’t their fault, they had a duty to keep the park tidy etc, but eventually pleaded guilty and earlier this week the Quebec Court handed down a fine of $30,000
Maybe other cities will now take notice of the penalties they can have imposed on them - all it takes is for the public to report harm done to species at risk. The Wildlife Officers are waiting to hear from you - with photos or other relevant evidence if you have them.
Canadians who suspect environmental or wildlife crimes — such as poaching, trafficking or habitat destruction — can report them anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. In Quebec, the number is 1-800-711-1800.
The news regarding the bobolinks is both heartening and sad -- sad that it happened at all, but good to see the enforcement.
Lucky you with the indigo bunting! Those swallows are probably taking over a nest from the first inhabitants, that have fledged. My mom's bluebirds have been usurped by swallows.