Barn Swallows in our garage.

This is not my photo but we do have a barn swallow nesting in our garage about a plug in outlet. We have to put a piece of plywood on our car to cover the windshield and protect it from poop. There are no young ones as yet. I hope they hatch soon, and grow up and fly away to poop elsewhere. There seem to be less barn swallows every year but there are still quite a few tree swallows and many purple martins since there are quite a few martin houses around.

Several chipping sparrows visit.

There have been several chipping sparrows visiting the feeder of late. They seem to get along with other birds such as house sparrows and are often present at the same time.

Brown Thrashers again

One or two brown thrashers have visited the feeder regularly the last few days. Usually they stay on the ground below the feeder but today one actually flew onto the feeder. Usually these birds are rather shy and this is the first year I have had so many sightings. It seems as if they come to feeder on a more or less regular basis.

First Humming bird..

My wife said she saw a humming bird the other day so I put the feeder up yesterday and humming birds visited almost immediately. This fellow is from the internet. I hope to get some new photos soon. Often the early humming birds come too soon and a hard frost will kill many.

Mourning Dove enjoying sunflower seeds

This is the first time I have even seen a mourning dove visit the feeder. Although the dove did not land on the feeder itself it spent quite a while feeding on the sunflower seeds on the ground.

First Goldfinch of the season.

This is the first American goldfinch I have seen this year. It is sharing the feeder with a large male house sparrow.

Robin after Bumping into Window.

A couple of weeks ago there was a resounding thump as a robin tried to fly straight through our big living room window. I looked beneath the window and saw this robin. I thought it might still be alive and recover but it did not. Eventually a stray cat or some other animal took the body away a day or so later. Quite a few birds hit the window but most just graze it. With a heavy body and coming straight at the window this poor robin probably broke its neck. There are still plenty of robins about however and they are common every year.

Bufflehead duck

We went to Brandon and back yesterday. There were many geese, ducks, and blackbirds in the many sloughs we saw. Among the ducks I recognized several Buffleheads. Here is a photo of a bufflehead that I copied from the net.

Purple Finch with Pine Siskins

Here is a purple finch male together with two pine siskins. The last few days there have been purple finches visiting every day. The pine siskins have been here all winter and are quite plentiful.

Two grackles on Feeder

They were going through some sort of ritual. I am not sure if it had something to do with mating or if they were about to fight each other. They didn't fight but flew off when they saw me taking their photo. These are common grackles rather than the larger boat tailed grackle I believe. There seems to be a small flock of them about. I gave them some old buns and they really cleaned them up quickly.

First White Crowned Sparrow of the year.

Saw the first white crowned sparrow today when I was out on the deck having coffee. They usually appear around this time. There are still plenty of juncos and also purple finches.

Junco and Purple Finch on Feeder

There is a slate coloured or dark eyed junco with a purple finch looking around the corner. There are still plenty of juncos and also a few purple finches including females.

Starlings are already back..

The starling in the photo is not from around here and is a juvenile rather than an adult. He flew in from the world wide web. I saw the first starling at the feeder several days ago now..They come only occasionally and when they do all the other birds vacate the feeder.

First Mallards

On the way back from Winnipeg I saw a pair of mallards--not these ones that were swimming in the web--These are the first I have seen reasonably close but I have noticed a few ducks already in smaller sloughs that are already free of ice. The red wing blackbirds are beginning to appear in larger numbers as well.

First red wing blackbirds

On the way back from Winnipeg I saw the first red wing blackbirds by the side of the road. The sloughs are melting so there is some open water although there is also still ice in places.

First robin this year...

I was by the living room window when a bird flew directly at it but managed to swerve away at the last minute. It landed in the yard and it turned out to be our first robin. I thought I had heard one yesterday but this is the first sighting of a robin.

First junco today..

This is not a junco from my yard but the internet! The first one I have seen appeared this morning beneath the feeder. No doubt there will soon be plenty on their way to the north. The snow will be gone with a few more days of warm weather as we had today.

About two dozen crows.

On the way to Shoal Lake today we saw about two dozen crows at the side of the road. They have probably just arrived from the south and will spread out around the countryside now. No sign of juncos as yet but they should be here soon.

Finally a new bird.

A purple finch appeared at the feeder today. I was able to obtain a photo but this is not it! I will download it later but I may have been a bit too far away. Aside from the finch there are plenty of pine siskins and some house sparrows and chickadees.

A few Canada geese

We drove to Brandon and back yesterday but saw few birds. We saw several ravens and one crow. Overhead though we saw several smaller flocks of what I think were Canada geese going north. Actually a couple were going south. Unlike the geese in the photo these geese would find that all the sloughs are frozen so perhaps they were looking for some larger body of water that had some open water already.

A Tundra Swan.

The other day I was sitting out on the deck in the balmy weather and saw and heard a swan honking overhead. I thought at first it was a snow goose but then I noticed the neck was far too long for a good. It most likely would be a Tundra swan which migrates north through here in March. Soon there should be flocks of geese as well but this is the first north bound swan I have seen. The photo is from the net not mine.

No new spring birds as yet. Plenty of pine siskins

We are still awaiting the return of spring birds such as the slate coloured junco but we have seen none so far. Meanwhile there are plenty of pine siskins. They seem to have had a banner year and are always present in our spruce trees.

A Magpie visits the spruce trees

This is just a photo from the net. Our grass is still well under the snow! A magpie visited today in the spruce trees. As it moved about the branches sloughed off snow. I think the magpie may have visited the chicken bones put out for stray cats. The latter seem all to have migrated to the local dump where there is lots of company and lots of food I suppose.

Two Magpies

We drove to Brandon and back through foggy conditions. We saw two magpies in all and numerous crows or ravens and also a couple of flocks of snow buntings. At the feeder there are chickadees and pine siskins and that is about all.

Crows may be back.

I heard what I took to be several crows but I am not sure as I really can't tell ravens from crows although I have not heard ravens very often. It must be getting near the time when they will be returning. The crows have not yet eaten what I put out for stray cats as they often do later in the year. In fact not even stray cats are eating the scraps and bones I am putting out so maybe it is not very appetizing!

Faithful chickadees visit

This is a photo taken in the late fall. Now the grass is well covered with snow still. There are lots of chickadees visiting. They are the most common visitor at present. It will not be too long until birds such as the junco begin to return.

More pine siskins

There are no new birds at the feeder. The most common visitors are pine siskins followed by chickadees and then a few house sparrows. I have no seen any grosbeaks as yet this winter. Last winter there were evening grosbeaks as well as rose-breasted grosbeaks.

Another Downy Woodpecker

Another downy woodpecker actually visited the feeder. There are not many different kinds of birds at the feeder these days. The most prevalent and constant are the black-capped chickadees. Even though there was quite a bit of snow last night they have cleared enough snow away from the feeder to get at the seeds.

More flocks of snow buntings

This is not my photo of course but is borrowed from the net. We went to Brandon today and except for a few ravens and lots of pigeons in Brandon we saw only two large flocks of snow buntings and also a couple of groups of two.

Several flocks of snow buntings

I have never been able to get close enough to snow buntings to take a photo such as this one taken from the Internet. However, we saw several flocks from a distance while we were driving to Yorkton yesterday. They never seem to visit our feeder in our village but are always seen in the open countryside. I have only seen them in the dead of winter.

Downy Woodpecker at Feeder

Another photo of a Downy this time right on top of the feeder picking up a sunflower seed. Usually the downy woodpeckers remain on the spruce trees whereas nuthatches visit the feeder quite regularly.

Downy Woodpecker actually visits feeder.

I was surprised to look out at the feeder this morning to see a downy woodpecker perched on top of the feeder with a sunflower seed in its beak. It did not stay long but flew off to a nearby spruce tree. The woodpeckers usually stay in the spruce trees pecking away at the bark but I guess they do not mind the occasional change of diet especially in the winter when few bugs are probably found.

Rock Pigeons

We drove to Brandon and back the other day and saw hardly any birds along the way just the odd raven. In the city itself there were a large group of rock pigeons on the wires crossing the Assiniboine river but that was all. The birds in the photo were not the ones we saw but it is a good photo nevertheless lifted from the internet..

Two Magpies in the Spruce Trees

Coming home from the post office, I heard bird noises from the spruce trees in the yard. I did not see the birds at first but then finally I saw two magpies high up in the spruces. Once in a while they raid the scraps that we put out for stray cats but today they seemed to be just passing through. Many people do not like the magpies because of their rather harsh cries but I find them quite pretty certainly much better looking than their crow or raven relatives!

Faithful chickadees always visit.

When most other birds have disappeared during the winter there are still plenty of chickadees although this one was photographed before everything was covered with snow. His black cap is not all that visible either!

Several ravens seen on trip to city

We saw several individual ravens and also two together on the way to Brandon to shop. The only other birds we saw were two flocks of snow buntings and in the city a flock of pigeons. At the bird feeder we have chickadees, nuthatches, pine siskins, and house sparrows. The other day there was also a downy woodpecker.

Siskins and Chickadees

This is an earlier photo of a pine siskin and chickadee at the feeder. However this morning the same combination was evident. There have been lots of pine siskins of late even during the coldest weather.
The weather has warmed up now but there are no new birds around so far.

Plenty of red breasted nuthatches

I should have loaded one of my own photos of the nuthatch but instead here is a little one from the internet in a different place and different season. It was more than minus 40 wind chill this morning with lots of snow on the spruce trees which protect the nuthatches. There have been quite a few visiting during the most severe stretches of cold we have had so far.