A moment to appreciate the Pine Grosbeak

There's a decent movement of Pine Grosbeaks along the north shore this week. We have a dozen or so visting our feeders. Along the Lake Superior coast, they can be seen and heard flying northwest on most days.

Last year we had a bumper crop of Mountain-Ash fruit and we enjoyed an abundance of Pine Grosbeaks through the winter. This year during our drought, very little fruit was set and all of that has been eaten. I'll be surprised if any Pine Grosbeaks remain here for the winter.

The first photo was taken today - I've never noticed pink in the wing bars before. The others are older. What a beautiful creature...

Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll

We've had a mixed assemblage of 150+ redpolls in our yard for a few weeks. Most have been "Southern" Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea flammea) with a smattering of "Greater" Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea rostrata).

A couple of "Southern" Hoary Redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni exilipes) were joined today by a "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni hornemanni). These photos give a sense of the larger size of Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll relative to the Common Redpoll in the foreground.

Over the previous two winters I've spent some time observing Ontario's four recognizable redpoll forms - you'll find notes, tons of photos and related links here.

Summary of the 2012 North Shore Round-up

Once again Nick Escott and the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists coordinated the autumn bird round-up. Six parties spent at least part of Saturday (Nov 3) or Sunday (Nov 4) counting birds between Thunder Bay and Manitouwadge. Martha and I covered the Lake Superior coast between Rossport and Marathon.

A total of 77 species were tallied. Waterfowl viewing conditions were particularly good. While no real rarities were turned up, an ongoing Eastern Towhee was a good sighting in Nipigon. Many thanks to all who participated.

Here's the tally, posted per Nick's request.

Snow Goose	5		Downy Woodpecker	18
Canada Goose	347		Hairy Woodpecker	13
Wood Duck	3		Am.3-toed Woodpecker	1
Gadwall	2		Blk-backed Woodpecker	1
American Wigeon	7		Pileated Woodpecker	2
American Black Duck	35		Northern Shrike	4
Mallard	480		Gray Jay	14
Blue-winged Teal	1		Blue Jay	45
Green-winged Teal	1		American Crow	206
Redhead	6		Common Raven	250
Ring-necked Duck	20		Horned Lark	3
Greater Scaup	23		Black-capped Chickadee	425
Lesser Scaup	95		Boreal Chickadee	11
White-winged Scoter	2		Red-breasted Nuthatch	30
Black Scoter	1		White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Long-tailed Duck	17		American Robin	25
Bufflehead	114		European Starling	128
Common Goldeneye	159		Eastern Towhee	1
Hooded Merganser	162		American Tree Sparrow	13
Common Merganser	44		Vesper Sparrow	1
Red-breasted Merganser	18		Savannah Sparrow	1
Ruffed Grouse	32		Swamp Sparrow	1
Common Loon	4		White-throated Sparrow	1
Red-necked Grebe	2		White-crowned Sparrow	1
Horned Grebe	1		Dark-eyed Junco	19
Pied-billed Grebe	1		Bohemian Waxwing	10
Bald Eagle	54		Lapland Longspur	2
Northern Goshawk	1		Snow Bunting	279
Rough-legged Hawk	2		Red-winged Blackbird	1
Merlin	2		Rusty Blackbird	2
American Coot	13		Pine Grosbeak	103
Wilson's Snipe	4		House Finch	12
Bonaparte's Gull	35		White-winged Crossbill	10
Ring-billed Gull	240		Common Redpoll	364
Herring Gull	562		Pine Siskin	2
Thayer's Gull	1		American Goldfinch	6
Iceland Gull	1		Evening Grosbeak	30
Rock Pigeon	413		House Sparrow	30
Mourning Dove	8