One Hummingbird!

The other day a humming bird finally visited our feeder but did not stay too long. I changed the nectar hoping that more would be attracted but so far with no success.

The usual visitors are visiting the regular feeder every day. There has also been at least one purple finch and some chickadees. The pine siskins (photo) are the most numerous birds but there are also plenty of house sparrows and also a sprinkling of gold finches.

Heat Wave

The heat and humidity were excessive yesterday. The temperature was just around 33 or so C but the humidex was 45 (113 F) meaning that it felt like 45 C. The bird feeder is still quite busy. The only new bird was a purple finch. I havent seen a chickadee for a while. There are mostly house sparrows and pine siskins plus a scattering of goldfinches as well.

Heat Wave!

The temperature is going as high as 35 the next few days. That is quite hot for this area but it will cool down later in the week thank goodess. We have no air conditioning!

The feeder is busy. The house sparrows emptied out all the sunflowers again. I will need to add more. There are no new visitors. In fact I have seen just three types of bird today: house sparrows, pine siskins, and goldfinches. There are no sign of my chickadees, purple finches, or even chipping sparrows. The are no hummingbirds either. Maybe the birds are vacationing to the north.

Trip to Brandon

We drove to Brandon today to shop. I have a new digital camera. I hope I can get some good photos at the feeder as soon as I learn how to use it!

On the way we saw many red-winged blackbirds and there were a few ducks on sloughs. At one point near Newdale we saw a flock of American White Pelicans. This is just my second sighting of pelicans this year. We also saw a red-tailed hawk just taking off from the ditch with a gopher in its talons.

When we arrived back home the house sparrows (pictured) had emptied out all the sunflowers onto the ground. My wife insisted on undoing their work before she could rest for the night!

Summer traffic jam

There are still many birds visiting the feeder but no new varieties. The most common are still the pine siskins but there are still quite a few goldfinches (photo). There are quite a few house sparrows as well.

A new visitor to the yard yesterday was a Northern Flicker. I was able to get a very good look at the bird. The flicker is quite an attractive bird. He was busy with his pecker bill drilling into the lawn for grubs or worms.

Cedar Waxwing

We went to Shoal Lake yesterday and I went for my usual walk in the park. I saw two cedar waxwings (photo) as well as Eastern Kingbirds and the ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds. There was also a robin foraging for worms in the grass.

The feeder is still quite busy with the usual visitors: goldfinches, pine siskins, chipping sparrows (not many) and house sparrows. However yesterday another purple finch visited again. I haven't seen a chickadee for several days now.

There seem to be more and more mourning doves on the sides of the road and on the telephone wires. Gophers are much more prevalent too. They must have had large broods already because there were very few this spring.

Busy at the feeder!

The feeder has been quite busy the last couple of days but most visitors have been either pine siskins, house sparrows, or goldfinches. The pine siskins are in the greatest numbers by far. The sparrows seem to be among them quite consistently but only a few. There are some young sparrows. I saw a male sparrow actually feeding one of the young ones. The young one could peck for himself but seemed to ask to be fed whenever a larger bird came by. It was almost the same size as the male and fatter than the smaller and trimmer pine siskins!

On our drives into the countryside I saw a couple of hawks and several mourning doves. There are still plenty of red-winged blackbirds. At Shoal Lake Park I saw some tree swallows and some Eastern Kingbirds. I saw some sort of tern but could not identify it. We almost hit a rock dove (common pigeon) just outside of the village. There are a number of pigeons in a granary at the edge of the village.

More messy visitors

There are large numbers of pine siskins plus a few house sparrows and chipping sparrows along with goldfinches visiting the feeder. I have not seen a purple finch for a couple of days or even a chickadee for that matter. The sparrows and siskins dump plenty of seeds on the ground. Eventually there is so much that my wife gathers up the seeds, sifts them, and deposits them back in the feeder!

I went to Shoal Lake yesterday but did not see anything interesting. There were a few red wing blackbirds and some tree swallows but nothing new. On the way home we saw a couple of mourning doves by the side of the road.

Messy birds!

There are many pine siskins visiting the feeder. Along with house sparrows they seem to love to scratch the sunflowers seeds out of the feeder and onto the ground where they like to eat them. However, they also keep coming back to the feeder for more. In the winter time this practice ends up in having layers of sunflower seeds under the snow. After every snow seeds are covered and more seeds are deposited on the new snow!

Yesterday I saw three northern flickers on the roof of a shed. Perhaps one was a young bird and the other two were the parents. I saw another purple finch at the feeder and took a couple of photos but I do not know how good they are as yet. There are still no sign of hummingbirds.

Trip to Napinka

Yesterday we drove to Napinka about 120 miles to the southwest of here. It is in the southwest corner of Manitoba. Along the way I saw plenty of red-winged blackbirds. At Shoal Lake I saw another yellow headed blackbird. There were a few ducks on sloughs but not many. There will be many more in the fall. I also saw a couple of mourning doves at the side of the road. There seem to be more gophers now.

At Napinka there were numerous tree swallows swooping around the yard where we were visiting. I saw at least half a dozen Eastern Kingbirds in one tree making quite a bit of noise. At dusk the eerie calls of the mourning dove could be heard and I saw two sitting on the telephone lines.

Before we left I saw plenty of chipping sparrows, pine siskins and goldfinches at the feeder. When we got back they had knocked a lot of seeds onto the ground!

A new visitor!

There is at least one and perhaps several purple finches at the feeder. I only saw one at any given time. The finch looks as if a female house sparrow had been dipped head first in raspberry juice. It is not really purple but a purplish red at most.
There are house sparrows, goldfinches, and chipping sparrows at the feeder as well. They all seem to co-exist in reasonable harmony.

I walked to the lagoons at the edge of town today but saw very little. There were some ducks but they flew off before I could get a good look at them. There were no wading birds. I did see some tree swallows and a red-wing black bird but that was all.

The usual visitors

The feeder is moderately busy but with just the usual visitors. I have not seen a single hummingbird the last while. Some neighbours have actually taken down their hummingbird feeders. Bees were getting in the feeders, drowning, and plugging them up. However my feeder has a screen that prevents bees etc. from getting in so I don't have that problem.

The regular visitors to the feeder are: chipping sparrows (photo), American goldfinches, house sparrows, and chickadees.

Cooling down a little!

This morning it cooled down enough for the electric furnace to kick in briefly! We will probably have some rain later on today. We can use a bit more moisture since strong winds have dried the land out quite well. Earlier we had too much rain for a while.

My wife saw a humming bird yesterday but I haven't seen any. For some reason they have disappeared for a while. A neighbour says they will be back in August with a vengeance when they and the young feed voraciously to prepare for the long flight south. They go early before frosts set in usually.

The bird feeder is busy but there have been no new birds. A crow has finally returned to pick up the scraps I leave out.

At the feeder there are goldfinches, chipping sparrows, and house sparrows. The odd chickadee still visits from time to time. The two cowbirds must have gone to visit the cows.

Drive to Hamiota

We went to Hamiota and back this morning. There were several mourning doves along the roadside. There are still plenty of red winged blackbirds in the marshes among the bulrushes. I saw ducks on many ponds but was able to identify only some mallards. There were also a few kildeers that sprang up from the sides of the road.

At the feeder the same birds seem to be feeding: chipping sparrows, house sparrows (pictured) and goldfinches. The one exception were two cowbirds who were feeding on the sunflower seeds on the ground.

Finally some summer and sunshine!

There still have been no hummingbird's at the feeder. I notice that one of my neighbour's has taken his feeder away, perhaps because there are no hummingbirds feeding. I will check with other people.

There are still plenty of chipping sparrows as in the photo. There are regular visits by goldfinches and house sparrows as well.

Yesterday I went for a walk in the park at Shoal Lake. I did not see very much. There were a couple of robins and one kingbird. I also saw a few tree swallows and a red winged blackbird. The blackbirds who were nesting by the creek at one point seem to be gone. I guess the young are on their own already. I did see what I think was a warbler but it was so well hidden I could not identify it. On the way home I saw a killdeer by the side of the highway.

No Hummingbirds?

The photo is by my son of a goldfinch on top of the feeder. I changed the solution in the hummingbird feeder but there still have been no hummingbird visitors that I have seen. There are no crows around here either. I put out chicken bones and they remain untouched. Perhaps the crows think this place is unlucky since the baby crow died!

There are still plenty of visitors to the bird feeder: goldfinches, chipping sparrows, house sparrows, the odd chickadee and I notice two starlings eating off the ground. A robin or so has visited the grounds while I have been sitting under the spruce trees.

Dead baby crow!

I discovered the baby crow yesterday just before I cut the grass. It was dead out in the open. Either the parents did not feed it properly or it died from injuries received falling out of the nest. It did not look as if it had been mauled. I guess we should have taken it with us to Regina and fed it ourselves.

The bird feeder was completely empty when we arrived back. All the seeds had been dumped on the ground. Sonia picked up half a feeder full of seed and deposited it back in the feeder!

There is a lot of traffic at the feeder: house sparrows, chipping sparrows (photo),goldfinches, and the odd chickadee.

The humming bird feeder is almost empty. I think that perhaps it is clogged or the nectar is old as I did not see a single hummingbird yesterday.

Birds of a feather

This is myself and my filipina wife in Duck Mountain. My wife was very impressed when she saw her first loon and amazed at how long the loon was able to stay under water.

Trip to Regina

We went to Regina for the Canada Day weekend but came back this evening (Sunday). I thought of taking the baby crow in our yard. But the parents seemed to be taking care of it again so I left it. On our return it was not to be found. It is either gone to a better hiding place or gone in some cat's belly! I doubt it could have survived long enough to be able to fly. I should have taken some pics of it.

On the trip we did not see many new birds. I did see several killdeers along the roadside. At Wascana Lake there were plenty of Canada geese and ducklings mostly mallards. On the way home I saw my first yellow-headed blackbird of the year just east of Regina. I haven't seen a single one near Oakburn.

The feeder was empty when we arrived back. The seed was mostly just dumped on the ground. Some birds just love to scratch it out particularly the young house sparrows. We still have plenty of pine siskins about, chippings sparrows and many house sparrows the last while.