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.

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.

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.

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.

Pine siskins, house sparrows and chickadees

On the New Year's Eve morning there seem to be three species at the feeder: black-capped chickadees, pine siskins, and some house sparrows. No doubt there are some red breasted nuthatches around but I did not see them this morning yet.

Another white-breasted nuthatch

Another white breasted nuthatch appeared today although the photo is borrowed from the internet. I could not take that good a photo! There are even more red-breasted nuthatches and plenty of chickadees. As well there are plenty of house sparrows and there are pine siskins visiting as well.

DOwny Woodpeckers again..

I certainly have not been able to get anywhere near as good a picture of a downy woodpecker as this one I borrowed from the Internet! I saw several today working away at the spruce trees looking for frozen bugs! The weather is perishing. One actually came to the bird feeder but the visit was so brief I could not snap a photo. The only other birds about at the feeder are the ubiquitous house sparrows and numerous chickadees. Oh I should mention that there are also quite a few red breasted nutatches.

Plenty of chickadees

This is a photo of a chickadee a few days ago before the snow came. They are still here since the snow. In fact they visit throughout the winter one of the most faithful of visitors.

Chickadees still visiting.

Although there are more house sparrows at the feeder than any other bird there are still quite a few chickadees visiting regularly. He is one little fellow resting for a few brief seconds. They do not stay long but flit off.

Yes! There is definitely snow!

As can be seen in the fuzzy photo we have had snow. We are to receive between 5 and 10 cm today but this is the result from overnight. My camera was not functioning properly but you can still see there are definitely two chickadees on the feeder. They do not mind the winter and are faithful visitors for most of the year. The other bird may be a house sparrow but it could be a female purple finch. There are lots of purple finches around just now.

Chickadee and Purple Finch

This is a photo of a purple finch and black capped chickadee sharing the feeder. As usual it is a bit blurry because the person who took the photo(me) manages to shake a bit and that combined with the fact that the zoom factor is rather large makes quite a few birds blurry! The chickadees are still visiting regularly but the purple finch has disappeared.

Red Breasted Nuthatch..

This is not my photo of the red-breasted nuthatch. They seldom come right to the feeder but I saw one today. I did not have time to snap a photo though. I have not seen one for quite some time. There are few birds these days but house sparrows and a few black-capped chickadees.

Pine siskin and chickadee

This is a photo of a pine siskin and a chickadee both sharing the feeder platform. The chickadee wll not be there long. They tend to dart in and out again quickly.

Another black capped chickadee

There are quite a few black capped chickadees visiting nowadays. They usually just grab a seed and fly off but I managed to snap this one before he was gone!

White crowned sparrows return...

The first white-crowned sparrow of the year has appeared at the feeder. There was one lone sparrow among crowds of male and female purple finches, pine siskins and slate coloured juncos. The poor black capped chickadees dart in to feed and find no room! The siskins in particular are quite scrappy and intolerant of other birds at the feeder platform.

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.