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.

Brewer's blackbirds not starlings..

Birds that I thought were starlings must actually be Brewer's blackbirds. Starlings have a yellow bill but the blackbirds that visit my feeder have a dark bill. Both starlings and Brewer blackbirds have irridescent feathers on their heads. People in this area mostly just call them blackbirds although they do also talk of red-winged blackbirds. I have never heard anyone speak of Brewer blackbirds! There is also a chipping sparrow in the background barely visible.

A Chipping sparrow..

Here is a lone puffed up chipping sparrow on my decrepit feeder. The chippers have been around for quite a while. This year they seem fairly common. Other years I have seen only one or two all year.

Pine Siskins are plentiful

While there are no new birds at the feeder lately there are more pine siskins than I have even seen before. They even outnumber house sparrows! I think that some of them may be young as they seem not to be too frightened when I approach. One little fellow boldly pecked at the sunflower seeds when I was only standing a few feet away.
We still have a few chipping sparrows, and there are more chickadees now. The starlings are visiting much less frequently. Of course I am still feeding the crows.
I have cut down on the frequency of refilling the feeder. It is just too expensive to spoil the birds by always making sure the feeder is full! House sparrows especially are wasteful in dumping all the seeds they can onto the ground!

Chipping sparrow

This morning there was a lone chipping sparrow foraging for sunflower seeds beneath the feeder. There have been quite a few from time to time this year. They often are at the feeder along with house sparrows and pine siskins but not in great numbers, usually just one or two.

I saw another hummingbird yesterday so I guess they are beginning to re-appear. I probably should change the solution in my hummingbird feeder. It has been long enough in the feeder that perhaps it will ferment and make the poor hummingbirds drunk.

Black tern

I saw my black tern at the side of the highway near a big slough. This is the first black tern I can recall seeing. The photo is not mine as can be seen by the inscription.

The bird feeder is busy these days. The most prevalent bird for a change is the house sparrow though there are also chipping sparrows, gold finches, pine siskins and even a few starlings. The house sparrow young are already flying. On father''s day some offspring were busy begging dad to pop some sunflower seeds in their mouths.

American goldfinches

There are quite a few American goldfinches about this year. Here are two with another coming in for a landing. There is also a pine siskins. The siskins are also quite plentiful. They probably enjoy the spruce trees around the yard even though they are pine siskins!

There are also a few chipping sparrows. The slate-coloured juncos are long gone. However, I still here Canada geese going north the last few days. Humming birds seem to visit infrequently these days. Perhaps they are busing nesting or keeping warm. We have had no warm weather the last while.

Chipping sparrow

There a quite a few little chipping sparrows (photo) and also feeding under the feeder as this little chap is doing. As you can some of the birds love to scratch and send the seeds to the ground where they feed.

Abundance of Harris sparrows..

There are more Harris sparrows than I have ever seen before attenting at the feeder. They are a reasonably large sparrow and look quite large compared to pine siskins or the chipping sparrow. They even outnumber house sparrows at the feeder these days.

First American Goldfinch.

I saw the first American goldfinch this morning. There are also chipping sparrows still about and pine siskins as well. The photo is of my own feeder last year with my
plastic bird bath missing the top in the background

With snow traffic returns..

We had some snow the other night and morning. As a result birds are finally returning to the feeder. Before the snow there was almost no traffic. I am not sure why the snow caused the sudden hunger! Maybe the birds have decided they should fill up in case there is more winter coming!
I thought the juncos had all gone north but there are quite a few visiting the last couple of days, along with house sparrows and a pine siskin. I also saw a chipping sparrow (photo).
The old faithful black-capped chickadees are visiting as well and I also saw a couple of red-breasted nuthatches.

Cedar Waxwing

We went to Shoal Lake yesterday and I went for my usual walk in the park. I saw two cedar waxwings (photo) as well as Eastern Kingbirds and the ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds. There was also a robin foraging for worms in the grass.

The feeder is still quite busy with the usual visitors: goldfinches, pine siskins, chipping sparrows (not many) and house sparrows. However yesterday another purple finch visited again. I haven't seen a chickadee for several days now.

There seem to be more and more mourning doves on the sides of the road and on the telephone wires. Gophers are much more prevalent too. They must have had large broods already because there were very few this spring.

Busy at the feeder!

The feeder has been quite busy the last couple of days but most visitors have been either pine siskins, house sparrows, or goldfinches. The pine siskins are in the greatest numbers by far. The sparrows seem to be among them quite consistently but only a few. There are some young sparrows. I saw a male sparrow actually feeding one of the young ones. The young one could peck for himself but seemed to ask to be fed whenever a larger bird came by. It was almost the same size as the male and fatter than the smaller and trimmer pine siskins!

On our drives into the countryside I saw a couple of hawks and several mourning doves. There are still plenty of red-winged blackbirds. At Shoal Lake Park I saw some tree swallows and some Eastern Kingbirds. I saw some sort of tern but could not identify it. We almost hit a rock dove (common pigeon) just outside of the village. There are a number of pigeons in a granary at the edge of the village.

More messy visitors

There are large numbers of pine siskins plus a few house sparrows and chipping sparrows along with goldfinches visiting the feeder. I have not seen a purple finch for a couple of days or even a chickadee for that matter. The sparrows and siskins dump plenty of seeds on the ground. Eventually there is so much that my wife gathers up the seeds, sifts them, and deposits them back in the feeder!

I went to Shoal Lake yesterday but did not see anything interesting. There were a few red wing blackbirds and some tree swallows but nothing new. On the way home we saw a couple of mourning doves by the side of the road.

Trip to Napinka

Yesterday we drove to Napinka about 120 miles to the southwest of here. It is in the southwest corner of Manitoba. Along the way I saw plenty of red-winged blackbirds. At Shoal Lake I saw another yellow headed blackbird. There were a few ducks on sloughs but not many. There will be many more in the fall. I also saw a couple of mourning doves at the side of the road. There seem to be more gophers now.

At Napinka there were numerous tree swallows swooping around the yard where we were visiting. I saw at least half a dozen Eastern Kingbirds in one tree making quite a bit of noise. At dusk the eerie calls of the mourning dove could be heard and I saw two sitting on the telephone lines.

Before we left I saw plenty of chipping sparrows, pine siskins and goldfinches at the feeder. When we got back they had knocked a lot of seeds onto the ground!

A new visitor!

There is at least one and perhaps several purple finches at the feeder. I only saw one at any given time. The finch looks as if a female house sparrow had been dipped head first in raspberry juice. It is not really purple but a purplish red at most.
There are house sparrows, goldfinches, and chipping sparrows at the feeder as well. They all seem to co-exist in reasonable harmony.

I walked to the lagoons at the edge of town today but saw very little. There were some ducks but they flew off before I could get a good look at them. There were no wading birds. I did see some tree swallows and a red-wing black bird but that was all.

The usual visitors

The feeder is moderately busy but with just the usual visitors. I have not seen a single hummingbird the last while. Some neighbours have actually taken down their hummingbird feeders. Bees were getting in the feeders, drowning, and plugging them up. However my feeder has a screen that prevents bees etc. from getting in so I don't have that problem.

The regular visitors to the feeder are: chipping sparrows (photo), American goldfinches, house sparrows, and chickadees.

Cooling down a little!

This morning it cooled down enough for the electric furnace to kick in briefly! We will probably have some rain later on today. We can use a bit more moisture since strong winds have dried the land out quite well. Earlier we had too much rain for a while.

My wife saw a humming bird yesterday but I haven't seen any. For some reason they have disappeared for a while. A neighbour says they will be back in August with a vengeance when they and the young feed voraciously to prepare for the long flight south. They go early before frosts set in usually.

The bird feeder is busy but there have been no new birds. A crow has finally returned to pick up the scraps I leave out.

At the feeder there are goldfinches, chipping sparrows, and house sparrows. The odd chickadee still visits from time to time. The two cowbirds must have gone to visit the cows.

Drive to Hamiota

We went to Hamiota and back this morning. There were several mourning doves along the roadside. There are still plenty of red winged blackbirds in the marshes among the bulrushes. I saw ducks on many ponds but was able to identify only some mallards. There were also a few kildeers that sprang up from the sides of the road.

At the feeder the same birds seem to be feeding: chipping sparrows, house sparrows (pictured) and goldfinches. The one exception were two cowbirds who were feeding on the sunflower seeds on the ground.

Finally some summer and sunshine!

There still have been no hummingbird's at the feeder. I notice that one of my neighbour's has taken his feeder away, perhaps because there are no hummingbirds feeding. I will check with other people.

There are still plenty of chipping sparrows as in the photo. There are regular visits by goldfinches and house sparrows as well.

Yesterday I went for a walk in the park at Shoal Lake. I did not see very much. There were a couple of robins and one kingbird. I also saw a few tree swallows and a red winged blackbird. The blackbirds who were nesting by the creek at one point seem to be gone. I guess the young are on their own already. I did see what I think was a warbler but it was so well hidden I could not identify it. On the way home I saw a killdeer by the side of the highway.