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.

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.

Pine siskins back again..

Pine siskins are appearing again as winter settles in. They usually stay for the entire winter in the evergreens around the yard and are frequent visitors to the feeder. They manage to compete with houseparrows!

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.

Less juncos all the time..

This is a photo taken a while ago while we still had some snow. It is long gone now. In fact it is dry enough that some farmers have been able to start harvesting again. These are juncos and house sparrows. The juncos are beginning to disappear but the house sparrows stay around for the entire winter and at times are the only visitors to the feeder.

A Squirrel is back..

For the last week or so a squirrel has been back at the feeder. One was around throughout most of the winter but then disappeared in mid-summer for some reason. But now there is a squirrel back and living in one of our sheds it seems. The squirrel thinks it owns the feeder and chases flocks of sparrows at times when he comes upon them.

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.

Purple finches appear again

There have been several purple finches visiting the feeder lately after an absence for quite a while. House sparrows predominate these days though and they are using up the sunflower seeds at an alarming rate!

Robin appreciates Schubert.

I was playing Schubert's trio op 99 on the CD player when a robin came to a branch of the spruce tree by the open window. He sang for some time before moving on only to be replaced by several house sparrows. Fortunately, the latter just listened.

House sparrows re-appear..

For some time I saw only the occasional house sparrow but more seem to be returning now and yesterday I noticed a young sparrow begging a male to be fed. The male obliged. I guess among house sparrows the sexes share feeding chores.

Earlier pine siskins were visiting in large numbers and once in a while I would see a lone house sparrow among the siskins. The siskins are rather assertive when they are on the feeder and usually drive any other bird including siskins off the feeder. I thought the sparrow being larger might use his size to take over the feeder but he was content to stay out of conflict on the ground!

First Philippine birds.

On arriving at Ninoy Airport in Manila the first birds I saw were what are called here maya-maya
They are very much like the common house sparrows back in Manitoba. They also seem to like the same locations where there are people. I also saw later from an open window of the hotel quite a few pigeons flying about in the early morning. Smog and traffic obviously seem to be perfectly normal for these birds. I suppose the human residents too have adapted.

Redpolls on the ground again

The redpolls are the most prevalent visitors to the feeder these days. Next would be the black-capped chickadees and finally the odd house sparrow. The only new species was a red breasted nuthatch the other day.

Redpolls on the ground..

A few redpolls on the ground by the feeder. Only redpolls and a few chickadees plus the odd house sparrow are visiting these days. No new birds. However the squirrel seems to have found a mate and the two seem to be having a pre-spring frolic in the spruce trees!

More frigid weather.

Yesterday we drove to the next town and on the way saw one flock of snow buntings. The colder it becomes the more we seem to see. At the bird feeder there are plenty of red polls as well as a few chickadees and house sparrows.

A few more redpolls

There are a few redpolls visiting the feeder these days. The only other birds are house sparrows and black capped chickadees. There have been no woodpeckers or nuthatches or other common winter birds lately.

Snow buntings in the cold..

On the way to shopping at the next town we finally saw some birds even though the wind chills are in the minus forties. We saw one large flock of snow buntings and another smaller one on the way home. There were no other birds to be seen. At the feeder though there are still a few house sparrows and chickadees. The squirrel is also still moving about in this frigid weather.

The winter doldrums!

There are few birds at the feeder these days. In fact for the last few days I have seen nothing but house sparrows and few of them. We drove out in the country to the next town to shop and saw not a single bird not even a solitary raven. The birds must be waiting for a warmer spell!

Faithful chickadees

The black capped chickadees seem to visit faithfully most days during the winter. There are never large numbers often just one or two at a time. They don't seem to like to share the feeder ledge space!

Even during this very frigid weather I see chickadees almost every day visiting. The only other birds lately are some house sparrows and a few red polls.

More chickadees

There are quite a few chickadees visiting these days probably the most frequent of all visitors. I have seen a few more red polls and the occasional sparrow as well. The squirrel refuses to admit winter is well under way and is still active every day even though there is now a significant amount of snow on the ground.

A downy woodpecker again

Not many species are visiting these days but yesterday I saw another downy woodpecker in the spruce trees. There are also a few house sparrows but most common are the black-capped chickadees.