Baldwin’s Birds

A Real Head Scratcher!

I've had quite the dilemma this week as to which bird is which! There are times when this happens and it drives me to distraction when it does. For quite a while, we have had a couple of House Finches feeding with the Goldfinches, but the other day something didn't just look the same when the birds arrived to join the Goldfinches. What on earth could it be, they certainly looked the same

The Weather with Connor

north-northeast of Alexandria. I left in the afternoon around 1:00pm, and around 2:30pm, storms had started to initiate in Quebec and began moving southwest towards Eastern Ontario.

but there was something not quite the same about them, but what was it? So into the bird-books to see what the difference was between what I was seeing and what I was thinking I should be seeing. The answer, as near as I can determine, is that I was now seeing a Purple Finch and not a House Finch, the similarities between the two being quite amazing. There is a lot of red on both birds, but the House Finch has a brown eye band and not so much red on its rump. Even the books and electronic media acknowledge this fact, so I don't feel such a fool in not realizing these differences more quickly too! No doubt you have had this happen to you quite unexpectedly when catching only a fleeting glimpse during one of your own bird sightings.

Despite this deviation from the "norm", everything bird-wise in the garden has been progressing well and the Bluebirds have now left their nesting activities, having brought their young brood into the world successfully. We didn't see the young at all this time, which isn't unusual, we have found. The Wrens, on the other hand, are still busy to-ing and fro-ing to one of my nesting boxes just for a little while longer. No doubt all will suddenly go quiet in that direction soon as yet another breeding season is completed and more birds take wing. Maybe you too have had a chance to watch nesting activity take place in your own backyard and if so, I hope it has brought you as much joy as the birds do for us in our garden and backyard. Stay safe and well, Cheers, John

Baldwin

featuring Connor Mockett

Hello, everyone!

Welcome back to another week of The Weather with Connor. I’ve got plenty to talk about in this week's column, from the first storm chase of the year, to the ridiculous wildfire smoke from Quebec.

I’ll start with the storm chase. On Friday, June 2nd, we had the first thunderstorm day across parts of Eastern Ontario and into Southwestern Quebec. Widespread severe thunderstorms were expected, and that morning, Environment Canada issued their first Severe Thunderstorm Watch of the year.

I did my forecast the night before, doing my usual severe weather style forecast for my Facebook page. During that time I started to hone in on a target area for my chase, which I shared the next morning on the 2nd. That area ended up being the town of Dalkeith, Ontario, a small little town just

I’ll admit, I got a bit antsy sitting around Dalkeith waiting for the storm to come to me, so I ended up driving towards it. That decision ended up being bad, as I ended up in Hawkesbury, and then chased that storm for far too long as it died. I ended up in Rigaud, Quebec (which is about 30 minutes from Montreal), which put me out of position for the other storms that were occurring back closer to home in Ontario.

I tried to race back home to get back in front of the storms, but I was unsuccessful. I got closer to some storms around Alexandria, but was never able to get in front of them. I ended my chase in St. Andrews, Ontario (which is just north of Cornwall on HWY 138). Thankfully, with me messing up my chase, I didn’t miss much because the storms were quite messy and unphotogenic. I’m very antsy for a good chase, but that looks like it will have to wait for a while until the second half of June.

Now I’ll pivot to something more wide- spread. During the week of the 5th-11th, the region dealt with the worst wildfire smoke we’ve ever seen. Thick and yellow smoke made its way through the region, with the worst of it coming on Tuesday the 6th and Wednesday the 7th, both during the overnight and early morning hours.

The photos out of Ottawa were astounding. Smoke was so thick, street lights were coming on because it was dark enough outside for them to be on. The smell outside was very obvious, it smelt like a campfire out there. Visibility was down to about 1-2km. For people with breathing issues, this smoke kept them in the house with nowhere to go.

Smoke was less on Thursday the 8th for most of the region (except the Ottawa Valley and westeastern Ontario) as blue sky came back. Friday the 9th was better as well. Thankfully, both of those days were better, because that was the worst smoke we’ve ever seen here.

Thank you for reading, I’ll see you next time!