Ontbirds is understandably full of migratory bird news but I thought I'd share a couple of observations of interest (at last to me) ...
1. "My" male cardinal was taken by a sharp-shinned hawk a few days. The female seemed forlorn for a day and called him repeatedly on day 1. On day 2 she called for him more vociferously. On day 3 - 3 new males had shown up vying for the now vacant territory. On day 4 one entered our yard and started a cautious courtship. On day 5 they flew about for a few minutes together but she still seemed distracted. By day 7 they were paired and he now fought off all rivals. Love is never forever if you're a cardinal I guess. 2. Yesterday on the 401 I watched a Rock Pigeon get hit by a car and flutter to the pavement. A red-tailed hawk came out of nowhere and swooped low over the cars and down on the road, grabbing it and flying off with dinner. A dangerous move but it successfully dodged the racing cars. 3. A kamikaze Canada Goose stood on the inside lane 401 near Cambridge as we drove back from Pelee yesterday. Somehow, a dozen cars missed it and each other as it WALKED (somewhat in a panic I must admit) to the south shoulder, crossing 2.5 lanes of traffic, dodging all the cars successfully. Congrats to talk the drivers who took evasive action and managed to avoid killing this surely doomed goose. Geoff Carpentier www.avocetnatureservices.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
