Two starlings visit.

This is a photo of a juvenile starling. The adults are quite a bit darker. Two of them probably a pair visited the feeder early this morning but fed underneath the feeder picking up sunflower seeds from the ground. They visit occasionally. Right now there are oodles of pine siskins. They can empty the feeder in a day.

Red Winged blackbirds return..

Driving to Shoal Lake I noticed several red wing blackbirds on wires above sloughs along the highway. I thought I had seen flocks of them a week or so earlier but this is the first sighting when I could positively identify them.

I also saw a starling below the bird feeder a few days ago.

Some Canada geese are back!

We saw our first Canada geese today. They were not in water as in the photo but flying over fields that still have a light covering of snow. I also saw a small flock of what may have been starlings. At the birdfeeder I have seen only chickadees the last few days.

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!

More flickers

This morning when I woke up I discovered two northern flickers on the lawn probing for grubs and worms. It seems that these woodpeckers were meant to be like robins foraging for worms but somehow the designs must have gotten mixed up...They are colorful birds usually seen around here this time of year but in no great numbers.

At the bird feeder the main species is the house sparrow but there are American goldfinches and quite a few pine siskins. From time to time I see the odd starling and even crows eat the sunflower seeds. Yesterday I saw a chickadee. They are not too plentiful at the feeder these days. There has been no further sign of humming birds. I will have to change the nectar again as it looks cloudy and ready to ferment!

Brownheaded cowbird.

The last couple of mornings when I have looked out at the feeder I have seen a brown-headed cowbird. This is the first year I have even seen these birds at the feeder. There have been a number of starlings visiting the feeder lately as well and even some of the local crows have taken to the sunflower seeds. I feed the crows scraps so they are always around. The poor local cats do not stand a chance anymore since as soon as I put something out the crows see it and pounce upon it before I am even back inside!

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.

Two starlings

Yesterday I saw two starlings the first I have seen this season although a flock of birds we saw a while back in the country may have been starlings. The starling is actually a remarkably pretty bird when viewed in bright light because the colours are iridescent.

Juncos are the most numerous birds at and around the feeder. They seem to prefer to eat seeds on the ground. The snow melt revealed piles of old seed under the feeder. The juncos seem to enjoy it. There are sometimes house sparrows mixed in with the juncos and there are also a few redpolls as well. The odd chickadee still visits and also red breasted nuthatches, but they are outnumbered by the juncos.
Depending on how the light strikes their back some of the juncos appear to have brown parts on their backs.

More swallows swarming.

Apparently there is some problem with the image upload system so I will just send my last post for August in text!

There are still no hummingbirds yet today so I guess they have all left. I will leave my feeders out for another week or so just to make sure that some migrating hummingbirds have a snack.

There were swallows circling above the yard today. I think they are all or mostly tree swallows. Barn swallows are not that common any more around here.

While relaxing in the yard, I saw a northern flicker. Later I saw a crow who just finished off a couple of chicken bones we left out and also two starlings who were by the bird feeder. The feeder is being overrun by hungry mobs of sparrows and pine siskins. I saw one redbreasted nuthatch today. Chickadees are regular visitors.

No Hummingbirds?

The photo is by my son of a goldfinch on top of the feeder. I changed the solution in the hummingbird feeder but there still have been no hummingbird visitors that I have seen. There are no crows around here either. I put out chicken bones and they remain untouched. Perhaps the crows think this place is unlucky since the baby crow died!

There are still plenty of visitors to the bird feeder: goldfinches, chipping sparrows, house sparrows, the odd chickadee and I notice two starlings eating off the ground. A robin or so has visited the grounds while I have been sitting under the spruce trees.

Pine siskins

The last few days there have been many pine siskins at the feeder. I took a couple of photos but I don;t think that my zoom was on or it did not work. The feeder is very busy these days. The last two days there are plenty of house sparrows. They seem to be young birds, perhaps the first batch of the season. I understand sparrows have a number of clatches each season.

There are still goldfinches around as well as chipping sparrows and of course the chickadee. There was a starling on the ground with the other birds yesterday.

My hummingbird feeder is up!

I had to buy a new hummingbird feeder. I hope the one I bought is meant to attract humming birds and not just human buyers!

We went to the dump yesterday and out in the country today. There are plenty of red-wing black birds and a few crows here and there. At the dump there was a magpie as well as a few starlings but not gulls or crows.

The feeder is being visited by many goldfinches as well as chipping sparrows and white crowned sparrows but that is about all these days. I have seen a few chickadees but there havent even been house sparrows lately.

Rain, rain, good for farmers!

We are getting a fairly steady rain this morning. It will give moisture for the crops. I include a photo of a couple of American goldfinches at my feeder. They seem quite plentiful so far this season.

I do not seen any remaining redpolls. There are lots of chipping sparrows. The last two days I have seen a few house sparrows every day as well. I think that the sparrow with a white striped crown is a white crowned sparrow after all. The ones I have seen really do not have a white throat rather it is grey. I also found that the sparrow does go through this area and breeds further north.

There are still starlings about and I glimpsed a northern flicker in the yard this morning.

A few flurries!

I hope no humming birds are back. I guess I should put up my feeder soon. I see a neighbour has one up already. This morning there were a few flurries and it must have dipped to around zero last night.

I finally actually saw a robin on my property today. I have heard them and seen them on my walks but not on my property. They seem interested only in insects and worms so they never visit the feeder of course.

There are still many goldfinches about and today I saw the first house sparrow I have seen in some time. It was a male and looked quite large compared to the red polls that are still here. A few starlings are still landing awkwardly on the feeder. I put out some chicken bones and the crows cleaned them up in no time. There is nothing left for stray cats. I saw several more Harris sparrows and also a chickadee or two.

Goldfinches frequent visitors

There have been many goldfinches visiting the feeder. The finches like canola seed better than sunflowers but at least some of them must be satisfied with the sunflower menu at my feeder. There are quite a few Harris sparrows these days. I do not recall seeing these birds in the past. There are a few chickadees that still visit. Starlings visit also. They are a bit too large in size to perch comfortably but they manage somehow. The juncos are all gone to the north it seems.

I visited the other place. There are still a tree swallow couple in one bird house there. Another swallow invaded the surrounding air space and was chased off by one of the couple.

Some new arrivals!

The last two days since we arrived back from Toronto there are at least two new birds at the feeder. There are numerous American goldfinches. I always find these birds to be quite attractive. Locals sometimes call them wild canaries although the yellow warbler probably is more deserving of that name.

The other newcomer is a sparrow. I believe that it is a Harris sparrow. I have enclosed a photo. It certainly looks like the bird in the photo but I could always be wrong. There are also still red polls about and a few chickadees. Starlings are also frequent visitors. Crows keep up a constant din during the day.

End of Trip and Journey Home

We stayed in Woodbridge until Sunday the 13th. As well as the fancy pigeons I managed to see a goldfinch while walking to a local mall. I have not seen any so far back home. There are quite a few house sparrows here. I guess the house sparrow does not mind concentrations of people and new construction. There were a few starlings around as well. Several times I saw gulls circling. In downtown Toronto I noticed that there are plenty of pigeons for people to feed!

On the way home we were bombarded by gulls as we stopped in Parry Sound. I think they were herring gulls. I observed several large hawks in the Parry Sound area. However looking out a bus window is not a good way to bird watch. There were crows all throughout northern Ontario and of course back here in Manitoba

Only chickadees at the feeder!

The only birds I saw at the feeder today were a couple of chickadees. Starlings are still searching about for seed on the ground but do not venture onto the feeder. A couple of crows visited as well to see if we had left any scraps for them but there is nothing for them!

On a drive to Shoal Lake I saw a number of red winged blackbirds and also a pair of mallards in a slough. The pair of tree swallows nesting at my other property watched suspiciously when I visited this afternoon.

I am going away for over a week so there will be no posts about the feeder although I may be able to post about what I see on the trip down to Toronto and around the area. Now where did I put my binoculars!

Many birds are back!

The feeder is not being visited much except by the odd chicadee and red poll. Juncos seem to be gradually disappearing. They venture further north this time of year. However there are a pair of tree swallows already nesting in a bird house on my other property. I also observed many red-winged blackbirds in the sloughs in the counmtryside.

I saw a white throated sparrow on our grounds yesterday. Starlings have been visiting for the last couple of days. The photo is of the white throated sparrow but it does not show its crown very well. The one I saw had a lovely white and black striped crown.

Plenty of starlings

About eight or more starlings landed on my front lawn and found some fallen seeds underneath the feeder. They did not stay too long. The starling is actually a handsome bird when seen up close with light shining from its head. There is a glossy irridescent sheen that is quite attractive. Of course they are hardly a song bird!

There were a few chickadees at the feeder today and I saw a few juncos on the ground but no red polls. There are quite a few crows or at least by the noise it seems that there are!