Another pine grosbeak

There are the usual American goldfinches, chipping sparrows, and a few white crowned sparrows at the feeder as well as the usual odd chickadee. However today there was a lovely male pine grosbeak with lots of red colour.

Neighbours tell me that the hummingbirds are already here. I tried to put out my feeder today but unfortunately the reservoir must have cracked during the winter. I tried to put it up twice but I finally figured out that due to the crack air was entering the reservoir and hence the fluid was continually leaking through the petal outlets! I will buy a new feeder tomorrow. I have sweet carpets since I leaked out sugared water onto them.

Gloomy cool weather!

The weather is staying very cool, breezy, with a few showers. We managed to buy a few bedding plants but havent put them in the ground as yet.

The bird feeder remain popular but the most common birds are still goldfinches and chipping sparrows. I have seen the odd chickadee and white crowned sparrows but that is about all. Yesterday though a crow landed on the feeder. He almost put his neck out of joint trying to reach the sunflower seeds. Probably he decided there must be better fare elsewhere since he did not stay on his precarious perch long!

Still some redpolls about!

I saw at least one redpoll at the feeder today a male with plenty of pinkish red on his breast. There are also a few black-capped chickadees as usual. The goldfinches are still plentiful as well as the chipping sparrows. I saw a number of white-crowned sparrows as well. Yesterday there was one pine grosbeak that appeared at the feeder for a short visit. It is beginning to warm up again so I will put out my hummingbird feeder soon.

Many goldfinches and chipping sparrows

The feeder has been busy today with many visits by goldfinches and chipping sparrows. However, there have been a couple of chickadees and a few house sparrows as well as white crowned sparrows. I saw a couple of robins chasing each other across the lawn at one point.

More goldfinches etc.

We drove to Brandon yesterday. There seemed to be several redwing blackbirds at every slough. Their favorite perch is atop a bulrush! We also saw several couples of Canada geese. At the side of the road we saw a mallard couple and I also noted several on sloughs. We saw crows many times along the way and one lone magpie. There were several ducks on sloughs that I could not identify.

At the feeder today I have seen only chipping sparrows and goldfinches. I include a photo of a lone goldfinch at my feeder. You can also see some of my wife's small stuffed toys looking out at the feeder from the inside ledge of the window!

More birds...

It stopped raining this afternoon so I took the opportunity to go out for a walk. I saw a dark coloured duck with white wing bars but I did not see it long enough to identify it. At the same small slough there were other birds but there are enough leaves on the shrubs and small trees that they are able to hide. One looked like a kingbird. Near our house there were quite a few cedar waxwings that flew away from two blossoming crabapple trees.

At my yard I saw a couple of robins. There have been many goldfinches at the feeder and also many chipping sparrows. A Harris sparrow regularly visits as well but confines feeding to the ground where seeds have dropped. There were also several white crowned sparrows as well as house sparrows.

Rain, rain, good for farmers!

We are getting a fairly steady rain this morning. It will give moisture for the crops. I include a photo of a couple of American goldfinches at my feeder. They seem quite plentiful so far this season.

I do not seen any remaining redpolls. There are lots of chipping sparrows. The last two days I have seen a few house sparrows every day as well. I think that the sparrow with a white striped crown is a white crowned sparrow after all. The ones I have seen really do not have a white throat rather it is grey. I also found that the sparrow does go through this area and breeds further north.

There are still starlings about and I glimpsed a northern flicker in the yard this morning.

A few white-throated sparrows visit

Originally I thought these birds with a white striped crown were white crowned sparrows but I am out of the normal range of those sparrows whereas the white-throated sparrow is common to this area. I include a photo. I have seen them visiting the feeder several days in a row now.

There are still starlings about and many goldfinches. I was able to take some photos of the goldfinches that I will include in later postings. There were several house sparrows again today and red polls as well. Of course the black capped chickadees still visit.

More cool windy weather!

People going to their cottages for the long weekend will be disappointed. It has been very cool and windy the last two days with the odd sprinkle of rain and even the odd flurry.

There still plenty of goldfinches around. Today about half a dozen house sparrows visited. They are not that common so far this year. There are still plenty of red polls and chickadees have been faithfully visiting most days so far this year.

I put out chicken bones for the crows and they cleaned them up again in no time. There are also a few starlings visiting the feeder from time to time. The weather is so unpleasant I haven't even gone out today so did not make any observations while walking.

A few flurries!

I hope no humming birds are back. I guess I should put up my feeder soon. I see a neighbour has one up already. This morning there were a few flurries and it must have dipped to around zero last night.

I finally actually saw a robin on my property today. I have heard them and seen them on my walks but not on my property. They seem interested only in insects and worms so they never visit the feeder of course.

There are still many goldfinches about and today I saw the first house sparrow I have seen in some time. It was a male and looked quite large compared to the red polls that are still here. A few starlings are still landing awkwardly on the feeder. I put out some chicken bones and the crows cleaned them up in no time. There is nothing left for stray cats. I saw several more Harris sparrows and also a chickadee or two.

Goldfinches frequent visitors

There have been many goldfinches visiting the feeder. The finches like canola seed better than sunflowers but at least some of them must be satisfied with the sunflower menu at my feeder. There are quite a few Harris sparrows these days. I do not recall seeing these birds in the past. There are a few chickadees that still visit. Starlings visit also. They are a bit too large in size to perch comfortably but they manage somehow. The juncos are all gone to the north it seems.

I visited the other place. There are still a tree swallow couple in one bird house there. Another swallow invaded the surrounding air space and was chased off by one of the couple.

Some new arrivals!

The last two days since we arrived back from Toronto there are at least two new birds at the feeder. There are numerous American goldfinches. I always find these birds to be quite attractive. Locals sometimes call them wild canaries although the yellow warbler probably is more deserving of that name.

The other newcomer is a sparrow. I believe that it is a Harris sparrow. I have enclosed a photo. It certainly looks like the bird in the photo but I could always be wrong. There are also still red polls about and a few chickadees. Starlings are also frequent visitors. Crows keep up a constant din during the day.

End of Trip and Journey Home

We stayed in Woodbridge until Sunday the 13th. As well as the fancy pigeons I managed to see a goldfinch while walking to a local mall. I have not seen any so far back home. There are quite a few house sparrows here. I guess the house sparrow does not mind concentrations of people and new construction. There were a few starlings around as well. Several times I saw gulls circling. In downtown Toronto I noticed that there are plenty of pigeons for people to feed!

On the way home we were bombarded by gulls as we stopped in Parry Sound. I think they were herring gulls. I observed several large hawks in the Parry Sound area. However looking out a bus window is not a good way to bird watch. There were crows all throughout northern Ontario and of course back here in Manitoba

Trip to Niagara Falls

We took what seems to be a mandatory trip to Niagara Falls yesterday. I did not have much time to observe birds. There are plenty of gulls around the falls. I head some songbird as well but all I ever saw was a lowly house sparrow in the tree so it was well hidden. The falls are certainly spectacular and we visited at an optimum time. It was not too hot and not at all busy. We even managed to get free parking! But in terms of finding interesting birds there was nothing.
Here where we are staying in Woodbridge, I observed some fancy pure white pigeons that seem to love to engage in aerial gymnastics.

Trip to Toronto

We went from Shoal Lake to Toronto by bus on Friday and Saturday May 4th and 5th. It was not light until we reached Brandon. I saw crows much of the way but not in large numbers. There are quite a few ducks in ponds and lakes. Several places I saw Canada Geese by the side of the road seemingly oblivious to the traffic.
I did not see any interesting birds at the rest stops but there are often a few Herring gulls that frequent areas where people leave scraps of food. If I see any interesting birds while here in Toronto (Woodbridge) I will note them but I will not be posting much this week. We are going back to the feeder next Sunday. I think next time we will fly above the birds! If God had meant us to travel long distances by bus he would have given us sturdier constitutions! Actually for one person it is often cheaper to fly but we are using the companion fare to get a second bus far to 25 per cent of the regular fare.

Only chickadees at the feeder!

The only birds I saw at the feeder today were a couple of chickadees. Starlings are still searching about for seed on the ground but do not venture onto the feeder. A couple of crows visited as well to see if we had left any scraps for them but there is nothing for them!

On a drive to Shoal Lake I saw a number of red winged blackbirds and also a pair of mallards in a slough. The pair of tree swallows nesting at my other property watched suspiciously when I visited this afternoon.

I am going away for over a week so there will be no posts about the feeder although I may be able to post about what I see on the trip down to Toronto and around the area. Now where did I put my binoculars!

Many birds are back!

The feeder is not being visited much except by the odd chicadee and red poll. Juncos seem to be gradually disappearing. They venture further north this time of year. However there are a pair of tree swallows already nesting in a bird house on my other property. I also observed many red-winged blackbirds in the sloughs in the counmtryside.

I saw a white throated sparrow on our grounds yesterday. Starlings have been visiting for the last couple of days. The photo is of the white throated sparrow but it does not show its crown very well. The one I saw had a lovely white and black striped crown.