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10 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, May 20, 2009 DAY Birds of a Feather Birding by Markus Lise Bird ID Recently I received a telephone call from one of my neighbors. She described the following picture: a bird is nesting in her front veranda. The bird appears to have a black head, a grey body, white chest and a small crest on her head. What kind of bird is it? I made several guesses over the phone that the bird might be a swallow, a titmouse or even a hummingbird. As soon as I arrived to satisfy my curiosity I recognized the bird to be a Phoebe. Paging through several of my bird books I quickly learnt that there are basically three kinds of phoebes, namely, Black Phoebe, Eastern Phoebe and Say's Phoebe. We opted for it to be a Black Phoebe. I was invited inside of the neighbor's home and was able to get a good close look at the nest and took some pictures through the patio doors. Yes, the nest was definitely that of a phoebe which looks like a Barn Swallow. Her nest with a mud foundation is plastered against the wall underneath the ceiling in the veranda. While looking at it the bird flew in to take her place on the nest to continue incubation. The question still remained as to whether it really is the Black Phoebe. The books say that the Black Phoebe is limited only to the southwestern USA. I decided to send a report to Ontario Birds identifying her to be a Black Phoebe. No sooner did I completed my report and sent it, I received several e-mails from many members of Ontario Birds: "Hi Markus. Just wanted to confirm that this is a Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) rather than the much more common Eastern (Sayornis phoebe). A nesting of Black Phoebe would definitely be odd for Ontario, it being a s.w. species. It would be quite the record indeed. Good Birding." "Is it really a Black Phoebe? It would be a first record for Ontario. If so, are there any more specific directions? Thanks" "Markus, you better make a quick correction on your 'Black Phoebe.' It would certainly be the first record for Ontario and quite possibly Canada. I assume you meant to report on 'Eastern Phoebe.' You best make a correction before you're inundated with emails and/or visitors tomorrow." "Markus...please consider preparing a report for the Ontario Bird Records Committee...and send me some photos of the bird you sighted." I decided to contact one of my photographer friends to take some quality close up pictures. Hopefully, we will be able to determine the ID of this phoebe. Is it the Black one, Eastern one or the Say's ones. The above is a glimpse of the excitement of bird watching. You too can become part of one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world. If you sight a rare bird that you do not know how to ID please give me a call at 905-987-9889 or lise.markus@gmail.com and I may be of some assistance to ID your bird. Markus Lise lives in Newcastle. He is a retired minister who now works as a "Minister of Nature." Continued from front page the Oak Ridges Trail in the Leskard area. The hike will begin at 10 a.m. starting at the Old Swamp Road section of the Trail about 1 km north of the village of Leskard, on Leskard Road. Windatt will take hikers along the Old Swamp Road, through Murray's Woods and back to the starting point for a total of about 6 km., according to Windatt. Roadside parking is available and dogs on leash are welcome. The hike will last about two and a half hours. The Committee is asking residents for their memories and recollections regarding Forrester. These tributes will be collected in a publication which will become part of a permanent archive. Residents are asked to drop off their contributions at the Orono Weekly Times office or send them to Orono Weekly Times, P.O. Box 209 Orono, Ontario L0B 1M0, or by email to oronotimes@rogers.com. The committee is also looking for photos of Roy, which seem to be quite rare as he was usually the one behind the camera taking pictures. The Orono Town Hall has been booked in case of inclement weather. Advertise in the ORONO WEEKLY TIMES 905-983-5301 oronotimes@rogers.com