A few more hummingbirds

Every day there are a few hummingbirds at the feeder but rather infrequently. I think that I will need to change the nectar again soon before it begins to ferment!

The feeder is busy every day. I have seen a few chickadees and one or two purple finches but most visitors are pine siskins, house sparrows, or goldfinches.

On trips out of town, I have seen many mourning doves along the highway and also plenty of red-winged black birds. I also saw another red-tailed hawk.

Trip to Brandon

We drove to Brandon today to shop. I have a new digital camera. I hope I can get some good photos at the feeder as soon as I learn how to use it!

On the way we saw many red-winged blackbirds and there were a few ducks on sloughs. At one point near Newdale we saw a flock of American White Pelicans. This is just my second sighting of pelicans this year. We also saw a red-tailed hawk just taking off from the ditch with a gopher in its talons.

When we arrived back home the house sparrows (pictured) had emptied out all the sunflowers onto the ground. My wife insisted on undoing their work before she could rest for the night!

More ducks and geese

We went for a lengthy drive in the countryside and on side roads to visit a farmer friend. We saw a number of Canada geese but not in any large groups. We also saw several pairs of Mallards and several Buffleheads. We also saw a red-tailed hawk. Of course there were many crows mostly just one or two at a time.

Bees are visiting the feeder. They seem to think it is a hive and try to get inside. My neighbour who has a similar feeder but smaller seed had many bees burrow right inside where they were trapped and he had to take off the lid! I wonder if this is a symptom of the widespread problem of hive abandonment. It seems that something happens to the bees navigation system and they cannot find their way back to the hives.

There are only a few redpolls and the lone grosbeak at the feeder today.