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.

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.

Several magpies.

We went to the next town shopping this morning. The snow is long gone and there is a strong drying wind so that some farmers with crops still unharvested are hard at work combining. There are few birds about but we did see several lone magpies both on the way and coming back. We saw one crow or perhaps a raven by now as the colder weather is coming.

Messy Crows..

We had two dozen eggs that we left in our fridge for several months so rather than toss them in the garbage we boiled them and gave them to the crows. At first the crows cleaned them up but when I put all two dozen out the result is a mess of shells with bits of egg still adhering to some. I think the crows probably had indigestion because they did not come back to clean up everything. However this morning I had some stale bread and put it on the plate and they were back. I will have to go and clean up the shells though since they are still there.

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!

More flickers

This morning when I woke up I discovered two northern flickers on the lawn probing for grubs and worms. It seems that these woodpeckers were meant to be like robins foraging for worms but somehow the designs must have gotten mixed up...They are colorful birds usually seen around here this time of year but in no great numbers.

At the bird feeder the main species is the house sparrow but there are American goldfinches and quite a few pine siskins. From time to time I see the odd starling and even crows eat the sunflower seeds. Yesterday I saw a chickadee. They are not too plentiful at the feeder these days. There has been no further sign of humming birds. I will have to change the nectar again as it looks cloudy and ready to ferment!

Feeding crows

I have been regularly feeding local crows. I leave scraps and chicken and other bones out on a plate. The crows usually find it quite quickly but once the scraps were raided by a local cat before the crows got there.
There seem to be several families around now. One crow waggled its wings as I have seen the young sparrows do when they want to be fed. The adult crows simply ignored this behavior. The crows even come and feed on the sunflower seeds below the feeder sometimes. I have also put out a dish of water for the crows and other birds to drink from. The crows use it regularly. I have to inspect it regularly to make sure that mosquito larvae are also not taking advantage of the water!