In the garden: August 1 to 15, 2023

Throughout August, some interesting migratory birds have been visiting the garden and stream.

Hummingbird visitor (August 2, 2023)

A few times, I spotted a hummingbird at the patches of Cardinal Flowers in the backyard. In the past, I’ve scared hummingbirds away trying to approach them to get good photos, so I left this one alone to drink nectar in peace.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised that Cardinal Flowers will grow in areas of the garden that are definitely not moist. I grew many new seedlings this year, so we’ll hopefully see more hummingbird activity in the future.

Two Yellow Warblers visit the stream (August 4, 2023)

There seemed to be a lot of Yellow Warbler activity in the yard and at the stream. No wonder! There turned out to be 2 of them.

Natural Japanese Beetle control (August 4, 2023 and August 17, 2022)

This strange-looking wasp helps reduce Japanese Beetles in our yard. She pokes her very long abdomen into the ground to lay eggs on grubs. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae eat the grub larvae. The adult wasps also drink nectar from flowers.

Fungi in the hedgerow (August 4, 2023)

While planting Heart-leaved and Large-leaved aster seedlings in the hedgerow, I came across some interesting fungi. Over the past few years I’ve been putting large tree branches, that have fallen or been cut down, in the hedgerow. The ones in shade have begun to grow different fungi.

Red Osier Dogwood’s simultaneous flowers and berries (August 9, 2023)

This is one of the reasons I love Red Osier Dogwood shrubs — they continually rebloom throughout the summer, so they continually provide nutritious berries for birds.

Five years ago, when I planted the hedgerow along the back fence I included Gray Dogwood simply because that’s what I found a my local nursery. I wish I had planted Red Osier Dogwoods instead. The Gray Dogwoods sucker a lot, whereas my RODs haven’t suckered at all. The Gray Dogwoods also fruit all at once, so they have already been picked clean and no longer offer berries for migrating bird visitors (2nd photo).

Male Bay-breasted Warbler (August 9, 2023)

We’ve also had several Bay-breasted warblers at the stream. After going through my photos, I believe there’s a male (below), a female, and an immature one. I find some fall warblers quite difficult to id.

Blackburnian Warbler (August 9, 2023)

We believe this is a female or immature male Blackburnian Warbler. At first I thought it was a Magnolia Warbler.

Blackburnians breed in conifer forests, and favour places with conifer trees during migration. We have a mature Red Pine and Spruce in our yard. I intend to add a few more conifers, like White Spruce, Balsam Fir and Hemlock to attract a wider variety of birds.

Furry caterpillars (August 4 and 9, 2023)

According to iNaturalist, both of these furry caterpillars will turn into different kinds of tiger moths.

Shy female Rose-breasted Grosbeak visits the stream (August 9, 2023)

This female Rose-breasted Grosbeak visited the stream, and then preened in the nearby crabapple tree. She was camera shy so she didn’t stay for long. I hope she’ll visit again. In previous years, I’ve taken photos of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks eating Black Elderberries (3rd photo) and Jewelweed seeds (4th photo) in our yard, so it is likely that she’ll stick around.

Eastern Phoebe visiting the stream (August 11, 2023)

This Eastern Phoebe is still visiting the stream at the end of August. I’ve also spotted it swooping around catching insects in the yard.

Northern Parula (August 11, 2023)

I found this warblers particularly tricky to id. My son immediately knew it was a Northern Parula because of the olive patch on its back and its brown ‘necklace’.

What’s Missing? (August 15, 2023)

This Chestnut-sided Warbler is missing its tail feathers. Migrating birds moult, shedding their breeding plumage feathers and growing new ones before their long flight south. I’m not sure if this is a female or a non-breeding male.

Although we do get a variety of migratory birds stopping by our urban habitat garden, we would definitely see others if there were more native trees around the neighbourhood. Each year, violent summer storms knock down surrounding trees and they’re rarely replaced.

I’ve decided to compensate for these disappearing trees by creating a mini-forest in our backyard. First, I’ll smother the back lawn with cardboard and mulch. Then I’ll plant a variety of native trees and shrubs. I’ll plant them relatively close together, and use trees of different ages and sizes to help mimic the look or a real forest. I’ll photograph the mini-forest’s progress to share with you in the future.