Red Winged blackbirds return..

Driving to Shoal Lake I noticed several red wing blackbirds on wires above sloughs along the highway. I thought I had seen flocks of them a week or so earlier but this is the first sighting when I could positively identify them.

I also saw a starling below the bird feeder a few days ago.

Purple finches are here..

There are two photos of purple finches at the bird feeder. One shows the male prominently the other the female. The male is the more colorful! There have been quite a few of the finches visiting the last couple of days but we also have the ubiquitous chickadee as well as some pine siskins, the odd junco, and a single red poll.

Two pine siskins visit..

For the first time in ages two pine siskins visited the feeder. The most common visitor these days aside from the squirrel are chickadees.

Northern Flickers are back...

We went out into the country to pick up some butter at a farm and in the yardsite we saw a northern flicker. When we went back to Oakburn we saw another as well. On the gravel road near the farm we were confronted with a pair of Canada geese. Probably they are nesting in a slough beside the road.

Robins are back..

I heard robins outside this morning and then later when I went for a walk I saw several. So far I have not seen any in our own yard. Yesterday we went for a long drive in the country. We saw several flocks of Canada Geese and also a couple who were simply standing on a piece of ice in a slough that was only partially melted.

The weather is much warmer today and within a day or so all the snow will be gone. There is lots of water in the ditches and in low spots in the fields.

Juncos are back.

Finally we have seen the first few juncos. One was in the spruce tree and another on the ground. So far I have not seen any at the feeder. Only the squirrel and a few chickadees are visiting the feeder so far!

Some Canada geese are back!

We saw our first Canada geese today. They were not in water as in the photo but flying over fields that still have a light covering of snow. I also saw a small flock of what may have been starlings. At the birdfeeder I have seen only chickadees the last few days.

A few Chickadees

Very few birds have been at the feeder the last few days. Only a few faithful chickadees regularly visit. I am waiting for some new spring birds once the weather warms a little more.

Maya and House Sparrow

I managed to get a good photo of the maya from the Philippines. Above the photo are two photos of the common house sparrow. The two birds differ conspicuously in that the house sparrow has a grey cap on the head although there are other differences as well. However in looking at a number of photos said to be house sparrows some seem to be more like the maya. I thought that the common Philippine sparrow was called the maya maya but that is in fact a type of fish! One source I looked at identifies the maya as the European Tree Sparrow. In the second house sparrow the grey cap is very prominent more than in most sparrows I see here.

Crows are back as well as us..

We have seen a number of crows by the roadside since we came back from the Philippines and also have heard them and seen them in the yard. A plate that we used to put out food for them is now revealed under the snow. Perhaps they are cawing for dinner!