Robin after Bumping into Window.

A couple of weeks ago there was a resounding thump as a robin tried to fly straight through our big living room window. I looked beneath the window and saw this robin. I thought it might still be alive and recover but it did not. Eventually a stray cat or some other animal took the body away a day or so later. Quite a few birds hit the window but most just graze it. With a heavy body and coming straight at the window this poor robin probably broke its neck. There are still plenty of robins about however and they are common every year.

First robin this year...

I was by the living room window when a bird flew directly at it but managed to swerve away at the last minute. It landed in the yard and it turned out to be our first robin. I thought I had heard one yesterday but this is the first sighting of a robin.

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.

Mourning dove this morning.

This morning I was up early and I could hear the plaintive coo of a mourning dove as I sat at my computer. The sound is quite haunting. At the same time I could hear the much more cheerful robin chirps also.

Robins are back..

I heard robins outside this morning and then later when I went for a walk I saw several. So far I have not seen any in our own yard. Yesterday we went for a long drive in the country. We saw several flocks of Canada Geese and also a couple who were simply standing on a piece of ice in a slough that was only partially melted.

The weather is much warmer today and within a day or so all the snow will be gone. There is lots of water in the ditches and in low spots in the fields.

Robins in mountain ash trees

A few days ago I noticed birds flying into and out of a mountain ash tree on the perimeter of our property. The mountain ash has bright orange berries in the fall. I was surprised to find that the birds were robins. The next day we visited a farmer friend who also had mountain ash trees and there were robins there as well. Perhaps the robins rendezvous in mountain ashes and feast on the berries before starting south. They had better start soon as there is a winter storm warning for parts of Saskatchewan tomorrow and some of the snow may drift over here!

Dead robin

This poor fellow hit our window and died from the blow. Most times birds are just stunned because they are not going that fast. This fellow hit at a high speed however and the robin has a fair bit of bulk. I looked out a while later and the bird was gone but someone left a bunch of tell- tale feathers near where he had been so a cat or something must have had a meal.

Two Robins

I have seen two robins the last couple of days. One skipped by the feeder and the other was in a bush by the spruce trees. There is very little traffic at the feeder these days for some unknown reason. All I have seen are a few chickadees.
There are plenty of crows and red-winged blackbirds around.

Late Leavers

On Friday we drove to near Roblin to a farm. In the yard there were high bush cranberries. Lo and behold there were quite a few robins eating the berries. It is getting rather late for robins to be still here but I guess as long as there is food and it is not too cold they will stay. There were also many slate coloured juncos. On the way home we saw a newly cultivated field replete with herring gulls. They too are staying late. I assume come the first big freeze or snow they will finally get the message and fly south.

Many ruby throated hummingbirds

I have included a photo of a red-breasted nuthatch. They apparently often visit feeders for seeds but before I have always seen them going upside down on the tree trunks of the spruce trees.

There are oodles of hummingbirds. It is fortunate I have two feeders. They are very mean territorial birds. After feeding they sit close by on a tree branch and swoop down on any hummingbird that tries to feed. There are so many now though that at times there are two co-existing for a few seconds at one feeder.

THe regular feeder is also very busy. I had to replenish the seed yesterday and today much of it is already gone. The most plentiful birds are pine siskins but there are also a good number of house sparrows and a few goldfinches. I have seen a couple of immature purple finches as well, and of course the faithful chickadees.
This morning there were a couple of robins searching the lawn for worms or grubs.

Immature goldfinches

There are abou half a dozen immature goldfinches that seem to all visit the feeder at the same time. They are just beginning to get yellow colouring but they are almost the same size as the adults. We still have chipping sparrows every day and lately there are a couple of house sparrows as well. A male pine grosbeak has been visiting most days.

I fed the crows an old ham that was still in the fridge at my other place when my son moved out. At first they had a bit of trouble with it but then I split it in pieces with a bolo knife. It then disappeared like magic as they had pieces they could carry off.

There were a couple of robins in the yard today. The hummingbird feeder is still going strong. It seems busiest just before dark. I will have to replace the liquid wtihin another day or so.

First Hummingbird!

I took down my new hummingbird feeder. It was polluted with insects that managed to get in and end up dead in the reservoir! I put some duct tape over the cracked are in my old feeder and it did not leak. Air was getting in before and the liquid simply dripped out! Last evening I happened to glance at the feeder and a ruby throated humming bird was feeding. It was getting on towards sundown. Now that the feeder has been discovered I expect that there will be regular visitors although there are plenty of flowers at the moment so perhaps they will not be all that frequent. Chickadees are faithful feeders as well.

A pine grosbeak visited the feeder again. Also, chipping sparrows (as pictured) are also frequent visitors along with American goldfinches. I saw several house sparrows visiting yesterday. A couple of robins explored the lawn while I was sitting outside yesterday.

More birds...

It stopped raining this afternoon so I took the opportunity to go out for a walk. I saw a dark coloured duck with white wing bars but I did not see it long enough to identify it. At the same small slough there were other birds but there are enough leaves on the shrubs and small trees that they are able to hide. One looked like a kingbird. Near our house there were quite a few cedar waxwings that flew away from two blossoming crabapple trees.

At my yard I saw a couple of robins. There have been many goldfinches at the feeder and also many chipping sparrows. A Harris sparrow regularly visits as well but confines feeding to the ground where seeds have dropped. There were also several white crowned sparrows as well as house sparrows.

Robins are back!

There is still very little traffic at the feeder although there were a couple of chickadees today as well as a handful of red polls. However when I was on my daily walk I saw robins and also two northern flickers. At the lagoons there were a pair of Canada geese. I think they may be nesting in the swampy area near the lagoons. I also saw two ducks but was not close enough to identify them. There are still some juncos about even though they have decided they have had enough of my sunflower seeds!