Dear Wood Folk, Last year most of my May mornings started with a whistling “pleased, pleased, pleased to MEECHYA” from a chestnut-sided warbler I uncreatively called Chessy. Finding a mate seemed to take a while, but eventually he found a partner and had one fledgling. Well, it probably only appeared to take a while because these …
Category Archives: The Wood Folk Diaries
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 2, Chapter 7: Meet the Waxwings, Bouquet Givers
Dear Wood Folk, The name “waxwing” comes from a waxy red secretion found on the tips of the secondary feathers of some cedar waxwings. In the 1960s, orange became all the rage, which was a great mystery at first. It turns out the color change came from waxwings eating the berries of a non-native species …
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The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 2, Chapter 6: Meet the Northern Flicker, Matisse of the Woods
Dear Wood Folk, It was enthrallment at first sight when I saw a northern flicker (colaptes auratus) pecking my yard for ants. My first thought was that Matisse painted these birds with their contrasting swaths of black and varied taupes, red or black spots and streaks that look as if they were applied directly from …
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 2, Chapter 5: Meet the Nuthatches, the Upside-Down Birds
Dear Wood Folk, The general consensus is that the name nuthatch refers to these bird folk wedging their food into crevices for safe keeping. Especially this time of year (winter), I spend a great deal of time outside watching both the chickadees and the red-breasted (sitta canadensis) and white-breasted nuthatches (sitta carolinensis) hiding birdseed in …
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 2, Chapter 4: Meet Chickadee-dee-dees, The Most Popular Bird
Dear Wood Folk, Around Haliburton there are some special birds that will feed from your hand: the grey jay, maybe a red breasted nuthatch, but most of all – the tiny chickadee. Here, specifically, the black-capped chickadee (poecile atricapillus): They are the most widespread bird species across the land. Brave.. gregarious.. popular. Their popularity is …
The Wood Folk Diaries: Volume 2, Chapter 3: Meet Indigo Bunting, The Astronavigator
Dear Wood Folk, Firstly, I want to make note to my more sensitive readers and happen-upon-ers that the indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) pictured recovering below was observed throughout the summer, long after his run in with a window. What I didn’t know at the time is often birds who’ve collided with windows should get medical …