Spring is Here

Firstly, I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well out there during these unprecedented times. Like I mentioned in my last post, I've taken advantage of social distancing to get some birding and photography in. I recently added a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch to my life list, bringing it to 256 species, and 89 on the year! Many birds are building their nests and males are attempting to attract females with their melodious songs. I'd like to highlight some fascinating courtship and nest building behaviour used by some birds that I have photographed.
Marsh Wrens, as photographed below, are interesting because males will start by building many dome shaped nest in marshy vegetation in their territory and follow by singing their sharp and punctuating songs to attract females to their prepared territory. In the marsh, having a large and resource rich territory is important for many birds when it comes to attracting mates. Another such bird is the Red-winged blackbird, a polyganous species. Studies have proven that males with a larger territory attract more females, who will move in and build their nests at the base of vegetation. These males will in turn sire more offspring.

It's also a delight to see birds arriving back north to breed such as Tree and Violet-green Swallows, as well as Rufous Hummingbirds. The Rufous Hummingbird makes the longest migration of any bird with relation to its size. Some of these 3.4 gram/3.75 inch long birds will breed as far north as Alaska with populations wintering in the southern United States and Mexico. In the next month, an array of birds will arrive or pass through the region including warblers, many songbirds, shorebirds, swifts and swallows, and raptors.
Nature is amazing and there is so much to see if you pay careful attention to your surroundings.
I look forward to seeing more birds pass through the globally designated Fraser River Delta Important Bird Area (IBA) to rest and refuel on their incredible migrations.

Stay well,

Sam