Birds at the feeders.

Lots of them at the feeders;
Cardinals , Blue Jays, Chipping and Tree Sparrows along with too many Barn[English[ Sparrows, Common House Finch's[red] Gold Finch's, Slate Coloured Junco's, Tuffted TitMouse, Red Bellied Wood Pecker,Nut Hatches, Brown Creeper, Mourning Doves and my favourite , Chickadee's, a flock of Robins and Starlings cleaning up the old small crab apples,and also a Coopers Hawk that is very bold , swoops in and sits on our Weeping Mulberry tree which is only 4 feet from our kitchen window, he tries to get at the sparrows that hide in the tangle of branches beneath him.

Bold! is he ever, my wife and I have watched him for up to 7 or 8 minutes as he tries to figure our how to get at those sparrows, and all that time he also looks up and sees us there and doesn't worry about us at all, and to top it all off, we watch him so intently that we forget to get our cammeras out to get any pictures.
My wife finally remembered the other day and got a few pictures with her phone , but when she went back to see how they turned out, nothing, she either inadvertently wiped them out or forgot to save them , bummer.
However we do get quite a show of birds here every day .

Isn't that great. We have lots of birds too, but nothing like you have. There a red breasted nuthatch that will sit on your shoulder waiting for you to fill the feeder - no fear at all.
No squirrels emptying the feeders as the Jack Russell takes care of them . :)

Yes, I get great pleasure out of my bird feeding. I don't get the variety you have Jaycee. My favorites are the red bellied and downy woodpeckers. Strongly dislike the large flocks of starlings that come in great numbers to ravish. That stuff is expensive and I don't like to waste it on those non-indiginous uglies. I also have a medium sized hawk that will dive bomb the group but I never see if he is successfull. He comes and goes so quick.

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Originally Posted by Roper

Yes, I get great pleasure out of my bird feeding. I don't get the variety you have Jaycee. My favorites are the red bellied and downy woodpeckers. Strongly dislike the large flocks of starlings that come in great numbers to ravish. That stuff is expensive and I don't like to waste it on those non-indiginous uglies. I also have a medium sized hawk that will dive bomb the group but I never see if he is successfull. He comes and goes so quick.

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We/I quit buying the expensive stuff, I buy my feed at Costco, and only the Black Oil Sunflower Seed, and we get as many birds of different varieties as before without any waste.
At Costco an 18 kilo bag of the black oil sunflower seed is only $16.99 it is half the price of the same stuff elsewhere. At TSC the same is $17.99 for only 9 kilo, a big difference.
As for starlings they are great practice for wing shooting.
We also have a couple of hawks around, a Sharp-Shinned , the smallest of the Accipiters, and the next larger which is the Cooper's Hawk , which this year is around more often.
The noticeable difference between the two is the rounded tail of the Coopers Hawk, and it's slightly bigger in size.
I don't mind when they take a sparrow, but I get upset when they happen to kill one of the colourful birds, but that is nature , they have to eat .

By the way , last week we saw a mature Bald Eagle kill and eat a squirrel out in the field behind our place, not more than 150 yards away, we watched it for several minutes on the ground , then it flew into a tree at the edge of the bush where it proceeded to finish eating it's kill.

Jaycee - I'm going to hit Costco. Thanks.
I have heard of Bald Eagle sightings. I thought they migrated south during winter. With all the open water they may have made an early return. I have also heard of robins being in the area - but have not see one myself.

We had a hawk raiding our bird feeder a few years back. He was fussy - only mourning doves. He wiped out our flock of 8 or so, then disappeared.

Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "bird feeder".

This winter we have had the usual down, hairy and red-bellied wood peckers come for the dollar store suet, then there is the cardinals, sparrows, mourning doves, juncos and chickadees. The hawks haven't been hunting like usual this year, the sharp shinned used to come in hard and fast from the neighbour's yard reach the tree at the back of our yard and make a hard 90 at the house flushing all the mourning doves that then crashed into the windows and were stunned on the ground for him to snag. The smaller hawks have used the same tactic on woodpeckers and junkos
The starlings I wish I could pick off but I think the police and neighbours would get upset so I'm hoping some in the country can make up for it. I often try to scare the blackbirds and bluejays as they dump on the ground more than they eat. I saw about 7 or so Robins this week but not at the feeder.

Not the best pictures but you get the idea.
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...9&d=1487514189

dirty window, trying to take the picture without looking out and scaring it.
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...8&d=1487514136

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Originally Posted by mosquito

This winter we have had the usual down, hairy and red-bellied wood peckers come for the dollar store suet, then there is the cardinals, sparrows, mourning doves, juncos and chickadees. The hawks haven't been hunting like usual this year, the sharp shinned used to come in hard and fast from the neighbour's yard reach the tree at the back of our yard and make a hard 90 at the house flushing all the mourning doves that then crashed into the windows and were stunned on the ground for him to snag. The smaller hawks have used the same tactic on woodpeckers and junkos
The starlings I wish I could pick off but I think the police and neighbours would get upset so I'm hoping some in the country can make up for it. I often try to scare the blackbirds and bluejays as they dump on the ground more than they eat. I saw about 7 or so Robins this week but not at the feeder.

Not the best pictures but you get the idea.
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...9&d=1487514189

dirty window, trying to take the picture without looking out and scaring it.
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...8&d=1487514136

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We will get a few grackles later on in the summer but we very seldom see starlings. Did see a feral pheasant yesterday....

Well, just lost a large chunk of snow off the roof....took out the bird feeder on its way past..

My cat and this guy had quite the staring contest ..... but he didn't come back. Rabbits, raccoons and opossum (another non-indigenous shoot on sight) we see lots but it is the only the second turkey we have had in the yard.
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...1&d=1487515585

Werner - I wouldn't mind a hawk dining on a few of the doves that hang around my feeding station. I find them to be bullys.

We buy the seed at Costco too. Sure would like to have a red bellied appear. I have only seen them in the woods at Komoka.

Had a hawk swoop in and take out a pigeon I was training with in the back yard. Neither the dog nor I was pleased. :)

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Originally Posted by Sharon

We buy the seed at Costco too. Sure would like to have a red bellied appear. I have only seen them in the woods at Komoka.

Had a hawk swoop in and take out a pigeon I was training with in the back yard. Neither the dog nor I was pleased. :)

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The dollar stores (atleast around here) sell suet and the cage, the woodpeckers all like that the best and it is all the red bellied touches when they do come

Your report reminds me of sitting in the reeds while duck hunting watching the birds flutter about me picking spiders and seeds. A coopers hawk is always swooping in around me and sometime it does not see me while flying low over the reeds and only pulls up at last minute. These kinds of interactions with nature in the raw is what inspires me, rejuvenates me and makes life worth living. thanks Mike

Yes I enjoy the bird feeder - nice to see all the different kinds of birds - my cat sits in the window all day watching them - I knocked off seven squirrels so far - they don't go to waste because something is eating them up when they are laying on the ground over night - the other evening 3 skunks were out under the feeder cleaning up the fallen seeds - once in awhile a bird flies into my patio window and kills itself - when I pick it up and examine it all I can do is wonder how delicate and colorful they are - birds are one of the nicest things in nature

We are getting temperatures in the upper 60s now - was out in the yard yesterday and way up in the sky there must have been a couple thousand snow geese flying north - sure is a screwy year weather wise

I get lot's of different birds all the time but right now the nicest are a few Cardinals that only seem to show up in the winter. Now that I don't have a cat anymore hopefully they'll stick around more in the summer. 3 years ago I had some flying squirrels coming in late at night in the winter but the damn cat did them in. Finally saw another one at the feeder after midnight 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately another visitor showed up 15 minutes later and I haven't seen the flyer since and I check every night

Hard to tell in this pic because it's hard to see those big bulging eyes but it is a flying squirrel
Attachment 34589

This guy showed up a bit later and may have scared him off for good
Attachment 34590

Cheers

I have not seen a Dark Eyed Junco in 6 days.
Have they headed home already?
Anyone else still seeing them?
Geesh....my weeping willow trees are bursting their fuzzy buds open already...
....and now its snowing again.
GRRRR....

Juncos disappeared around here few weeks ago.

If you really want to increase activity around your back yard feeder (s) in winter, supply them with a place to hide that's close to the feeders.
"if you build it, they will come".

Set this up about 4 feet from my feeders.

http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s1/v6/p2219662442-6.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s1/v19/p2219662444-5.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s12/v1...19662438-4.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s6/v144/p2219662447-5.jpg

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Originally Posted by Noseyarentcha

I have not seen a Dark Eyed Junco in 6 days.
Have they headed home already?
Anyone else still seeing them?
Geesh....my weeping willow trees are bursting their fuzzy buds open already...
....and now its snowing again.
GRRRR....

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There are still a lot of them here this morning.

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Originally Posted by jaycee

There are still a lot of them here this morning.

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This morning I have tonnes of the Juncos again :)
Some different sparrows, 1 kind with stripes and another with reddish caps on their heads. The usual goldfinches and either house finches or purple finches (the red finches I cannot tell apart).
Still have not seen a robin...but my eyes are peeled :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBen

Juncos disappeared around here few weeks ago.

If you really want to increase activity around your back yard feeder (s) in winter, supply them with a place to hide that's close to the feeders.
"if you build it, they will come".

Set this up about 4 feet from my feeders.

http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s1/v6/p2219662442-6.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s1/v19/p2219662444-5.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s12/v1...19662438-4.jpg
http://jbenphotography.ca/img/s6/v144/p2219662447-5.jpg

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WHOA JBEN....SUCH AMAAAZING PICTURES!
Hope 2017 is being kind to you and yours :)

There's been a big flock of Robins up the road from here for at least a week now.

Cheers

Thanks Nosey.
So far so good. Per our PMs there are some difficulties around the wee ones, but it's all about perspective.

The um, "better half" has never fond of my old tree and ice blue, silver and crystal decorations, she's more of a classic, old school country girl. So my old tree, household decor sits in boxes. Watching the birds at the feeders one day in December I had one of those "a-ha" moments. Set the tree up with decorations next to the feeders. We've enjoyed it all winter.

Love watching the backyard birds and likely spend too much time staring out the window. We get all the usual suspects you would expect but my favorite is the little Carolina wren that I see frequently and for a little guy they have a very loud and sharp beautiful song.

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Originally Posted by Hunter John

Love watching the backyard birds and likely spend too much time staring out the window. We get all the usual suspects you would expect but my favorite is the little Carolina wren that I see frequently and for a little guy they have a very loud and sharp beautiful song.

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Not very likely that you are seeing Carolina Wrens, their range is usually south of the great lakes.
They are slightly larger than a House Wren and have a very prominent white eye stripe.
What you are seeing is the House Wren, neat little birds , but also very nasty, when the male who arrives first cannot attract a mate, he packs all the area nesting sites [any small opening] with small twigs including any other bird house around. He apparently does this so other birds cannot nest in "his territory ".
The male also has a nasty habit of flying into my bluebird houses when the female is away from the nest, he pokes a hole in the bluebirds eggs and then systematically removes them one after the other from the house.
I have seen this on a number of years at our place, so has our neighbor across the road who is a very avid birder.

Nope. Definitely A Carolina , complete with white eye stripe. When I first spotted them about 10 years ago I looked it up in several bird ID books that I own ( yes , I am a bird nerd ) and I can positively say 100% that it is a Carolina.

Here is an Ontario birding web sight that I frequent and the Carolina Wren has been spotted and photographed near Ottawa.
https://sites.google.com/a/ontariobi...alleries/wrens

And I know several birders that have seen the Carolina at the Royal Botanical gardens and I live about 10 minutes from there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hunter John

Nope. Definitely A Carolina , complete with white eye stripe. When I first spotted them about 10 years ago I looked it up in several bird ID books that I own ( yes , I am a bird nerd ) and I can positively say 100% that it is a Carolina.

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We also live in unit 87 as you do and in the 40 years we have been here, have never seen a Carolina Wren.
Glad to hear that they are perhaps extending their range.

Busy day at the feeder today:
lots of Juncos,
Mourning doves,
more than usual cardinals,
my annoyances the Bluejays have been joined by the blackbirds throwing food out on the ground so the squirrels will be happy (I have a raccoon baffle that keeps squirrels and all but he largest pushiest raccoons out) ,
of course the chickadees,
a few types of sparrows
some purple finches


and ...... drum role please.... what I consider the sign of spring .... a redwing blackbird.:thumbup:


Downy and Hairy woodpeckers just showed up too.