The sparrows are water bathing...and it's November 28th

What a crazy day!

My hubbie pointed out to me yesterday that the house sparrows were full on bathing in the birdbath...not just one...but 5! I've never seen that many in at one time and the fact that there was another dozen waiting in the wings made it a sight to see.

I first thought it was raining as the patio doors were totally speckled with water and the top step was soaked...upon seeing the large group bathing I realized it was just them making a huge mess!! It was hilarious!

This morning however I woke up to a dusting of snow everywhere so that probably won't happen again...unless it all melts today!

I just can't get over the fact that they were water bathing and it was almost December! This weather we're having is crazy!! Almost December and there's no snow?!? Birds water bathing? In Winnipeg??? LOVE it!!

Bald Eagle pair spotted

On the weekend I happened to be out walking my dog when I looked up and over our lake that's in the centre of the development there were 2 bald eagles cruising looking for some breakfast! The wings span caught my attention, then the white underpinning and then the white head confirmed it.

I was so excited that they're still hanging around! I haven't seen them like I did last year so they're hanging out farther away this year (last year they were about 1/4 km down the road from my house in an open field.

Hopefully I'll spot them again on a day when I have my camera ready but we'll have to wait and see!

Dull, Dull, Dull

If there's a time of the year I hate it's now. So spoiled from all of the birds seen for the last 6 months, now it seems so slow and boring. I've taken hundreds of picture of bluejays and almost equally as many of the woodpeckers.

At least once the snow hits it's not too bad but we're in the middle of a heatwave here. Almost the end of November and the daytime temp is +10? Ridiculous!

I know I won't really have any new sightings this winter but I still have hope. Our neighbours cut down the tree's in their yard this summer so now the hope of the tall maturish tree's drawing them in is obsolete.

What I wouldn't give for them to put in an evergreen tree!

Don't get me wrong I love the warmer weather..norms for this year are about -10...last year we were at -30 at this time...so I'm really happy that winter is waiting to show up...ironic since we had snow for Thanksgiving weekend.

The birds don't seem to mind it either. I've had to be vigilant about cleaning up the seed off the ground though, since the Raccoon encounter but all in all nothing challenging about that. Still no chickadees or nuthatches...on this side of the development anyways. I heard the nuthatches on our afternoon walk yesterday...I guess they too shall come in time.

All in all...very boring around here.

Swallowing whole peanuts whole

My obsession with the bluejays has reached a new level these days. I can't help but watch them stuff unshelled peanuts down their throats like they do with the shelled ones and wonder...doesn't that hurt?

Such gorgeous colouring and to my surprise there been no bird bullying from them...the house sparrows? You betcha!

Chastised by a hairy woodpecker

What a gorgeous day today. I can't believe it's November! A funny note...after returning from running errands (most of which involved picking up various bird fare) I decided To refill the very depleted feeders.


So i refilled all of the regular feeders and noticed that the suet plug feeder was almost empty so I decided to fill it up! When I was about 1/2 way through I heard the undeniable call of a woodpecker. I looked up and there he was sitting on the fence looking at me, screeching all the while. It became very apparent that he was ticked that I was in the yard.

I told him to hold on, I was refilling it. He moved to the neighbours tree at that comment, where he watched me warily until I went inside. As soon as I was in he was on the feeder. I felt thoroughly chastised ;)

Still have woodpeckers, bluejays and house sparrows...no chickadees yet!

Peanuts in the shell

The latest endeavour...peanuts in the shell...so entertaining!

Asks for breakfast

I can't explain how funny bluejays are to me. This morning while sitting with windows open, enjoying this heat wave (13'C) we're having in NOVEMBER I heard the bluejay. Not just you're normal demanding cry, but the all out, very loud, repetitive screech. It went on for about 3 minutes before I decided to investigate...in my head I thought he almost sounded pissed off.

So off to the back door I go all the while I hear him screeching over and over again. When I got too the back door I see him sitting on top of the feeding station looking directly at the house screeching over and over again. I could see that there were no peanuts left in the feeder, so I grabbed a handful and went outside.

The bluejay flew to the roof of the house and watched me add the peanuts and then once I was safely back inside immediately flew down and started packing them in again. Hilarious! I swear he was yelling at me giving me crap that there were no nuts in the feeder. Such personality!

The blue Jay gets up close and personal

I couldn't believe it this morning when the bluejay flew in to the platform feeder right beside the house!

A Very up close and personal encounter with this fella made my morning!

A Birdtastic Morning

Well the morning started off with the usual arrival of the starlings...this time thought they came in a group of six. They are some of the most territorial birds I've ever seen in my life!

I would watch them stalk each other and kick each other off when one would land on a feeder. Very much the case of if I don't want it but you can't have it either. Hilarious!

Shortly there after much to my delight I saw the Bluejay fly in! He startled the other birds away as he usually does but the starlings refused to leave and eyed him with a cautious concern. They weren't quite sure what to make of each other as they're usually there at different times.

Eventually the bluejay flew over to my new feeding station and packed in the peanuts..Yay!

So at that point I was quite pleased that the birds had not all dissipated with the cold snap when much to my surprise my black and white speckled friend flew into the yard and landed on the plug feeder!

The Hairy woodpecker! My morning was complete! I love it when this kind of day happens right from the get go. At a time when the darkness seems to arrive quicker, and that means that I can't watch them during the dinner hour (since the time change), this was a much needed boost! Hopefully this is a sign of things to come!

Home Made feeding station

So this past weekend I finally decided to embark on my feeding station project that I ave been toying with for the past few months. It all started with me seeing one that looked almost exactly like this one in my local bird store for about $80.00. When I looked at it I realized that I had most of what was required already at home in my scrap lumber pile!

So I cut, screwed and nailed away until the above was the final result! I'm pretty pleased by how it turned out...it took about 2 hours before it saw it's first customer but once the birds decided it was safe there were no holds barred!

The only downside is I think I need to make it taller...or rather find something taller for it to sit on...The Dog already thinks the peanuts are self serve...I can't imagine what the raccoon will think when he makes his way back here.

The starlings are still here...playing and snacking away...still no chicks :(

The Starlings find the feeders

Well it finally happened! It only took a couple of weeks but the starlings that have been stalking my yard FINALLY made their way to the feeders!

The speckled beauties have been devouring the suet like crazy...the cranberry is by far the favourite with the peanut butter coming in second!

These guys are brave and interesting to watch. When something makes the sparrows all scatter, they just get thin and hunker down and pan the yard looking for the threat. It's been a learning experience. I'm loving that they are the new bluejay.

I haven't noticed many woodpeckers or bluejays over the last couple of days but that's not really a surprise. Usually as soon as I complain about it the Jays show up, but I think that the recent cold weather had made many of the birds head for warmer ground. Ah well that's to be expected...Still no nuthatches or chickadees :(