After coming home from our outing to see the Ross’s and Solitaire, we went straight outside to get some more fresh air. The first call I heard was the song of the Song Sparrow. I also saw and heard a Raven high in the sky and saw a soaring Turkey Vulture.
We decided to go on a walk. When we were walking by the the back pond, my dad found a Red Flat Bark Beetle under some bark.
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| Red Flat Bark Beetle- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 2:20PM |
We also saw a pair of Mallards and flushed a pair of Wood Ducks. At the back we spotted our first Chipmunk of the year on our property. We also got our first Butterfly in Ontario for the year- an Eastern Comma!
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| Eastern Chipmunk- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 2:50PM |
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| Eastern Comma- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 2:50PM |
After that, we walked back and took pictures of the insects and saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds.
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| Virginia Ctenucha Moth- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 3:30 |
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| Winter Firefly- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020- March 27, 2020, 3:30 |
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| Ground Beetles sp.-8mm- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 3:50PM |
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| Ground Beetles sp.-12.5mm- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00 |
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| Ground Beetles sp.-12.5mm- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00 |
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| Ground Beetles sp.-12.5mm- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00 |
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| Ground Beetles sp.-8mm- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 3:50PM |
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| Multicoloured Bark Crab Spider- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00PM |
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Multicoloured Bark Crab Spider- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00PM
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| Slender Groundhopper- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00PM |
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| Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00PM |
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| Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 27, 2020, 4:00PM |
After that I started uploading our findings to iNaturalist. But then my dad sent me a message. It said “Right beside me”. I was thinking "Whaat?!" A few seconds later he sent another message that said “Woodcock”. That just made my belly flip and I wrote back "Where!!???”. So he messaged back “Come outside”. So that's exactly what I did. But what I didn’t know is that he was still messaging. He wrote “Towards Owen's (our next door neighbour)...Wet patch on the path”. That would have been helpful but I didn’t see that. I was going to run down the trail to see if he was there but then I heard a whistle the opposite way. So I followed the whistles along with my brother and found my dad and then spotted my spark bird!
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| American Woodcock- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario, March 2020- 4:50PM |
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| American Woodcock- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 2020 4:50PM |
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| American Woodcock- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 2020 4:50PM |
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| American Woodcock- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 2020 4:50PM |
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| American Woodcock- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- March 2020 4:50PM |
It was doing its amazing dance with its whole body but not its head. I am pretty sure that no other bird can do that. Some people say it's to attract worms (which I don’t get) but I think it's a sign of distress.
And what’s awesome is that it didn’t fly once! American Woodcocks are very shy and secretive birds which made this extra special and we actually flushed another one when we were there!
Our day ended off great seeing some good birds, insects, mammals etc. So all that was on my mind was getting good night's sleep!
Great post. I like how it continues from the last post. Great pictures of the woodcock
ReplyDeleteYou are so talented, Des. Keep up the great work. Love this!!!
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