Frigid weather

The weather has turned very frigid. Last night the windchill was minus 35 C or more and tonight the temperature it to go to minus 27 C but at least the wind is not very strong.

The sparrows must be fattening up for the cold weather as they are eating a lot of sunflower seeds. I see some chicadees back feeding again as are red-breasted nuthatches (photo).

On trips out of town I have seen mostly a few ravens but near a damn at Rivers where there is still water flowing at the foot of the damn I could see some ducks but I was not close enough to identify them.

I guess all the snowbirds who are going south have gone already! The chickens!

A lonely cold Junco

There are flocks of house sparrows voraciously eating from the feeder now. I think they anticipated our recent snow flurries and the very cold weather we have now. It is close to minus thirty C this morning.

Just outside the ring of sparrows below the feeder is a lone junco (dark-eyed or slate coloured who knows!). It must have been reading that global warming is happening much faster than anticipated. All his brethern are skeptics and left for the south about a month ago.

I have seen a number of chickadees the last couple of days. They seemed to be missing for a time. There are also several red-breasted nuthatches.

A pine siskin and red-breasted nuthatch

This morning the ground is covered with a thin layer of snow. A large flock of house sparrows invaded the feeder and managed to toss some of the seeds on the snow where it is picked up by many of the sparrows.
Yesterday I saw a long red-breasted nuthatch visiting the feeder. A flock of sparrows also appeared and along with them was a lone pine siskin. The sparrows are somewhat larger than the poor siskin. The siskin did not seem to be attacked even though it was certainly a minority of one in the large flock. Of course it was crowded when it decided it had a claim on the feeder space not just the space on the ground where there was a lot of fallen seed.

A blue jay

There are very few birds at the feeder. All I have seen are occasional groups of sparrows who do not stay very long. Perhaps I will need to replace the seed I have now with all sunflower seeds or maybe it is just the time of year.

We drove out into the country the other day to a farmer friend who lives not far from the west boundary of Riding Mountain Park. While we were seated in his kitchen I saw a group of cedar waxwings feeding on berries that were in a hedge by his drive. After they left a lone blue jay also came and feasted on the berries.

On the way to and from the farm all we saw in the way of birds were an occasional raven.

Ravens and pigeons

The bird feeder is not busy at all. Perhaps I need to change the feed so that I just have sunflower seeds again. Some people around here say that the mixed seed is not very popular with some birds. Sparrows seem to like it OK but not much else!

On route to Shoal Lake the other day I saw several ravens but that is all. In the town itself there was a large flock of pigeons that frequent an old elevator in the town. Birds must be hibernating!! Actually there seem to be more once winter gets established and there is lots of snow. I assume that is because food is scarcer.

Slow days at the feeder

There has been some snow, lots of wind, and cool weather but it is warming up today. The snow will all be gone by around noon I expect. I have not been out in the countryside to see any birds but at the feeder there are very few.

The house sparrows are still present but not in large numbers. Aside from the sparrows I have only seen a few red-breasted nuthatches and black-capped chickadees (photo). It is just a slow period. Perhaps when winter arrives traffic will increase. At least I do not have to fill the feeder every few days!

Snow on the ground!

Strangely enough when it started to snow and blow I didn't see any birds at the feeder. I thought they would be hungry. Even after the snow had stopped not many birds came. The first birds back were the house sparrows (photo). They were lazy. They only ate from the side of the feeder that had no snow banked on it. THe other side they just ignored.

Today the snow has melted from the feeder but there is still some in the grass and at the sides of the road. More birds are visiting but it is not busy as it was before the snow and colder weather came. I have seen a few chickadees and the odd red-breasted nuthatch but that is about all so far. Maybe things will look up next week.

Just a few flurries

The weather is cool and windy often below freezing at night but so far we have had only a few flurries that have melted away quickly. On the way to shopping yesterday I saw two ravens and one magpie(photo). There were no other birds to be seen. The geese must be all gone or most of them at least. The sloughs are freezing over already.

At the feeder house sparrows are still predominant. However this morning the feeder was not too busy. At leastl the chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches had an opportunity to dart back and forth without encountering a wall of sparrows already on the feeder! No juncos in sight. Perhaps they are already moved on south.

Signs of winter coming.

The weather is getting quite cool with temperatures dipping below freezing during the overnight period. We have had quite strong winds and also a few brief flurries. There are still geese about but many have already flown south.

The feeder is busy but the variety of birds seems not to be increasing. The house sparrow dominates more than ever. However, there are still quite a few red-breasted nuthatches, and the faithful chickadees (photo) that are here all year long. I have not seen any juncos the last few days. It seems a bit early for them all to have passed through. I did see another downy woodpecker yesterday.