Double take at another Cuckoo

I was at the Coves, September 27, 2022 and could not believe I was seeing another Yellow-billed Cuckoo out in the open on a wire.  Last week, I saw my first Yellow-billed Cuckoo out on a dead branch.  As I said earlier I've only heard them or seen half of the bird behind leaves.  What an amazing bird!

I also saw two Great Egrets, five Great Blue Herons and four Double-crested Cormorants.   

Double-crested Cormorant

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

September 23, 2022, London, Ontario

I rarely see Yellow-bill Cuckoos.  In the Spring, they can be heard from the treetops well hidden in deciduous trees.  I saw one a couple of days ago but didn't get a good photo.  Today, it was up high in a dead tree preening.  This is the best I've seen a Yellow-billed Cuckoo!  

They are slender, long-tailed birds with a downcurved, yellow lower mandible bill.  Cuckoos eat heavily on caterpillars and other insects.  They winter in South America.

Bird Amusement

I went to Killaly Meadows ESA yesterday (September 17, 2022) for a walk.  The morning started out very foggy.  By mid-morning it was starting to clear up but still overcast.  I was being entertained by a Sharp-shinned Hawk being harassed by a group of Blue Jays.  The Sharp-shinned Hawk  kept flying from tree to tree to avoid them but a few times the hawk turned around and chased the Blue Jays.  There was some close calls.

End of August Birding

 Here are some photos from the last few weeks around the London area.

Great Egrets

Great Blue Heron

Wood Ducks with some turtles

Great Egret

Turkey Vulture

American Robin

Red-tailed Hawk

Eastern Kingbird

Common Ringlet

Monarch

Eastern Kingbird

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

Great Crested Flycatcher

Solitary Sandpiper

Merlin