A number of nuthatches visiting

There are more nuthatches visiting the feeder than usual. Perhaps there are not too many insects to be found in the spruce bark. The feeder ran out of sunflowers again and I had to refill it.
The usual flocks of house sparrows do their usual damage by emptying out seeds! There are still quite a few chickadees, and pine siskins, and today I saw several Savannah sparrows again. I also saw a couple of purple finches.

Many slate coloured juncos

We were in the country all day plucking and cleaning chickens. Of course I just watched and enjoyed the scenery. There were quite a few dark-eyed or slate coloured juncos around the bush at the farm yardsite. I saw also one magpie and a crow. Overhead there were numerous flocks of Canada geese the whole day.

A few southbound snow geese

On the way to the next town shopping yesterday we saw about a half dozen snow geese flying south. These are the first I have seen. There are usually large flocks passing over when they start to leave.

I did not see any more slate coloured juncos today but there were plenty of redbreasted nuthatches, chickadees, pine siskins, and of course house sparrows.

The wind was strong enough to blow the feeder off its foundations but I have put it back more firmly I hope.

Another Harris sparrow

I saw a Harris sparrow this morning, the first I have seen for some time. There were a lot of red-breasted nuthatches visiting today more at once then I have seen so far. There were also several purple finches again. As usual there are chickadees as well and pine siskins but the house sparrows are still coming in substantial flocks.\

This morning I also saw the first slate coloured junco of the fall season. No doubt they will soon be here in large numbers.

Hordes of sparrows visit the feeder from time to time and cause havoc. They insist on scratching and pecking seeds out onto the ground. There are still plenty of other birds. I have seen several purple finches again (photo) and chickadees and red breasted nuthatches visit frequently. The second most common birds are pine siskins. The goldfinches must no be all or mostly gone. I think that some I thought were female goldfinches are actually pine siskins. There are still a few crows about.

Still hordes of house sparrows

I think the sparrows must be fattening up for the winter. They all look plump and well fed. There are some larger flocks of two or three dozen some of which are all sparrows. However there are often sparrows mixed in with other birds at the feeder. Today there were plenty of pine siskins but I did not see any purple finches or savannah sparrows. There are also chickadees(photo) and red-breasted nuthatches, both are frequent visitors.

Rising cost of feeding birds

Our low cost sunflower seed supplier ran out between this morning and this afternoon when my wife went to pick up a sack. I ended up paying 18.00 for a sack at a hardware store. It seems the prices of sunflowers are rising. I didn't notice so many fields planted this year, perhaps because of high prices for other grains.

Anyway the birds were happy to start wasting seeds as fast as they could again. Some of my friends just give up and quite feeding when the sparrows start to make runs on their feeders! Actually I have a soft spot for house sparrows. At least they stay with us all winter. Usually there will be a few sparrows around when there is no other bird to be seen.

Right now though there is still a fairly good representation. Not all the goldfinches are gone yet (photo). There are plenty of savannah sparrows, pine siskins and purple finches. The last few days red breasted nuthatches are frequent visitors as well.