Birdies

Richard took photos of birds at my feeder. From top left clockwise: American goldfinch, already turning spring yellow; pine siskin; chickadee; American tree sparrow.

Say what?

It's been a warm winter to be sure but yesterday I heard a bird that sounded unlike the usual winter birds. I knew it was a robin.
Could it be a robin on January 26? Sure enough, I looked up and there he was.
I am assuming it's an overwintering bird and not a harbinger of spring. On the other hand...

Starlings

 Okay, so I know starlings are a non-native invasive species...

But it always surprises me how their plumage is so beautifully varied in colour. Blues and greens with polka-dots.
I had eight of these guys show up this cold morning looking for breakfast.

A nature photo a day

 On Facebook, my sister challenged me to post a nature photo for seven days.
No pets allowed. I have so many I didn't know where to start! 

I found this polyphemus moth last year. To get an idea of its massive size, I carefully placed my fingers under its feet.
I managed to take one photo and then it flew away.

Check out those spots...they are see through! You can see the cement ground right through them.

 An influx of redpolls at my feeder a few years ago.

 Chippy. The cutest of critters loves peanuts and was very tame.

 I saw some critters playing on the dirt road ahead of me. I slowed down and they ran to the field.
Turns out it was a mom and her two does.
She was as curious about me as I was about her!

 I heard noises outside my window one night and thought, oh, there are squirrels at the feeder. At night?
Then I realized that squirrels sleep at night and these were flying squirrels. Oh my!

 A merlin our local grocery store. Apparently it had driven a sparrow into the glass door, and a staff member put it in the garbage pail. 

When he told me, I asked him to take it out and give it to the waiting merlin.
The fellow went to the pail, pulled out the dead sparrow, threw it and the merlin caught it mid-air and flew off to eat his lunch.

Driving on the back roads two years ago, Richard noticed this great grey owl. We got out of the car and took a bunch of photos and then left him to catch his supper. What a beauty!

Woody woodpecker sighting

On my way to work the other day I saw this bird  just over the top of my garage.

 An amazing bird, you couldn't miss him! Lucky I caught him on camera...wish I could have gotten just a bit closer to him. Wow!

White-crowned sparrow

 This sweet little fellow sat outside my window the other day so I could get a good look at him.

Luckily, he didn't move for a good five minutes, so I managed to grab a few good shots of him.

Hermit thrush

 The sweetest little bird was sitting outside my window yesterday so quick like a bunny, I grabbed my camera to get a shot!

It looked like somewhat like a young robin, but I know in late October that's not what it was. Perhaps a female purple finch? The beak was all wrong. Thankfully, I have a few trusty birders who pointed me in the direction of a hermit thrush, one of the later birds that fly south.

Common mergansers

I just loved seeing these common mergansers on Lake of Bays last week on vacation. There were five of them, diving and swimming. Apparently the female hangs out with the juveniles all summer and the male takes off for some man cave somewhere or something. The female and young ones have rusty heads. The male has a dark green head.

Late summer hummer

Richard snapped this shot of a female ruby-throated hummingbird trying to get some nectar from the remains of my bee balm.

Bobolinks

 The other day we came upon a unplowed field, full of bobolinks.

 I rarely see these birds and I know they are endangered in these part. They nest in fields and since most fields are usually hayed by now, there's little place for these guys to have their families.

Luckily, there is a huge field just around the corner from me and we counted at least 10 pairs of bobolinks. Wonderful to see so many of them all in one spot.

Late spring critters

 On my way to work this morning, I noticed someone or something staring back at me!

Meanwhile, behind the house, five little phoebes are trying to stay in their tight little nest. I bet these babies fledge pretty soon.

Cliff swallows

 These cliff swallows live under the bridge between Hawkesbury, ON and Grenville, QC.

They make nests that look like mud jugs and lay their eggs and raise their young in them. Hard to believe those nests are hanging from the underside of a very noisy bridge.

Through the window

 This time of year the birds are in glorious plumage.

 The American goldfinch goes from drab olive colour to bright yellow by the time May comes around.

 I'm so lucky to have Mr. and Mrs. Grosbeak at my feeders. Actually, four pairs of them!

These two photos of the grosbeak were shot through a screen...when I tried through the glass, he flew away. At any rate, you can still see his beauty albeit in soft focus. Lovely, big bird that looks to me like he has a napkin tied around his neck and he's ready to dig in to his dinner.

Harbingers of spring?

 It's supposedly spring but yesterday it snowed and March 30th just isn't looking a lot like March 30th! But I heard a pair of cardinals singing so that's a good sign.

And look what the wind blew in. A red-breasted nuthatch. I haven't seen one in many years. Was delighted to be able to snap a photo of him. Sweet little bird.

Snowy owl

While relaxing a few moments before friends were coming for dinner, the phone rang and my friend Peggi said, "Alert!" Apparently she had seen a snowy owl on her way to eat out and on their way back it was still there. 
I called my friends who were coming to dinner (they hadn't left yet) and said, "Give me ten minutes," and off Richard and I ran down the road to find the owl. We were lucky that he was still there and Richard got this great shot of him. Spring is in the air and they will be moving back north now so it was a lucky find.

What the storm blew in...

 We had another dump of storm and the birds gathered near the feeder.

 I was incredibly surprised to see two cedar waxwings. 

I hope they found some wild berries to chow down on.

 The downy woodpecker boy was pretty happy when I refilled my suet holder.

 Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal hung around the better part of the day...

 ...but he's a very shy lad and I couldn't snap a photo of him.

 Mrs. Cardinal, however, let me get plenty of photos of her.

 The flat feeder that Richard made for me is a real hit with the non-feeder feeding birds.

The blue jays had taken a break when I took this one. Usually there are four or five of them fighting over the peanuts.

And this little red squirrel was covered in snow as he chowed down 

on some sunflower seeds. OK, now I"m ready for spring!

Wild Turkeys in Flight

I was babysitting a friends cat all week and there were so many footprints around the house it looked like snowmobile tracks. Yesterday I was lucky and saw four of these big guys, lumbering in the deep snow. I must've startled them when I got out of the car and they lifted in the air for a brief time. Very cool critters. Click on pic to enlarge.

Baby wren

I put this wren box up last year and this year the wrens nested in it, instead of the other bird houses I have around the place. This little one isn't so sure he wants to leave!

Barn Swallows

When we first came out to the country in the '70s, we had tons of barn swallows swooping about the yard. I haven't seen any here for years. But just down the road at my neighbour Bonnie's house she has several nests on the go. These three little darlings were just ready to take their first flight and swoop with the rest of 'em.

Wild Turkeys in the Straw

These wild behemoths seem to be everywhere these days here in the countryside. I spotted this group running across a field and into the woods.