Ped day = Fun day

Monday the kids had a ped day. Kelly's playgroup was going to visit the fire station so I brought Emily and Jeremy too. We packed the umbrellas, just in case, and went off on foot. It was cool, they got to sit in the fire truck and the fireman got all dressed up and even climbed up into the truck and put the lights and siren on! I always loved going to the fire station when I was little! :0)

After that I brought them to the river's edge! There weren't many birds around since there were a few people cleaning up the junk on the shore. I saw the Killdeer but it was up near the road. I finally found the Common Loon that I thought I saw the other day! It was far from shore though so I didn't get a good picture. :0( I'll go back another day, without the kids...About 10 minutes after we got home it started raining!!!

Oh! MY BIRD LIST IS UP TO 40!!!

Finally!!!

I've been trying to get a picture of the swallows that are swirling around here for two weeks now!!! They move so fast and they never land close enough to get a picture! Then today I could hear a lot of twittering and went outside to see. One was flying around over my pool and just as I got down on off the porch it went onto the wire above me! Yay! So I finally have some pictures of a Swallow and can tell what kind it is. This is my Tree Swallow.

Another beautiful day!

I decided to go for a walk with Kelly. We went down to the river. Boy the water sure is high this year!!! There were a few ducks too far for pictures and I saw the Cormorant again with my binoculars. I did stumble onto a Killdeer in the mess at the river's edge. Then I found a funny looking duck and took a picture. When I got home I found out it is a Pied-Billed Grebe. I also got a better picture of a Ring-Billed Gull.

It has been quiet at the feeder though. The Redpolls have disappeared. The House Finches aren't as regular and I haven't seen the Cardinals since I changed the seeds...they didn't have my regular kind when I went shopping. :0( The White-Throated Sparrow and a few Chipping Sparrows come by every day in late afternoon but mostly I have Grackles, Crows and Cowbirds right now. Oh, and I now have a female Goldfinch that comes in the mornings with the male.

Baie-du-Febvre

On Saturday I went for a drive with Mommy and Joan. We went out to Baie-du-Febvre, where the Snow Geese come in great numbers in the spring and fall. There weren't As much as we would have liked but we did get to see some. There were some different ones and we wondered if they were maybe a different kind of Goose but when I compared my pictures with others online I found out that there are two "morphs" of Snow Geese. White-morph Geese are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing most of the white except on the head, neck and tail tip.

There were also some Canada Geese hanging around but I didn't get very good pictures.

A beautiful day!

Another Wednesday with Kelly at daycare and it's warm and sunny! This morning I set out on foot to bring Kelly, stopped by the post office and the Sears counter and then went to look around at the side of the river. I saw a lot of ducks and geese with my binoculars but they were too far for pictures. I got a picture of a water bird that I have no idea what it is yet. *Edited to add that this is a Double-Crested Cormorant!

Then I walked to the woods and the snow is finally gone! But in its place was a lot of mud! I saw a few birds, one that I didn't get a picture of...but I did ran after this one a bit to try to get a good picture. Again I had to ask Lance, he said it is a Hermit Thrush. Oh, and I saw a pair of ducks!

I'm up to 30 birds!

More new birds have come by in the last few days! On Sunday 2 big American Crows came by to check out the peanuts I had thrown out for the Blue Jays. They are so cautious! It's kinda funny!

Then yesterday I saw a Finch that had a lot more colour than my usual male House Finches...I looked online and found out that it's a Purple Finch. I'm going to start watching them more closely and see if the female comes too.

This morning there was another bird! It was flashing reddish in the early morning sun and I knew it was Fox Sparrow!

Saturday

Today we went on our new quest to find covered bridges and get family pictures at each of them. While having our picnic under one bridge we found some new birds but I couldn't get close enough to get good pictures. I tried looking them up but can't tell what they are...

*Edited to add that this is an Eastern Phoebe.

Sparrows!

I can't believe how many different Sparrows there are! I can't believe how mant different Sparrows come to my feeder!!! I have identified 3 new ones that came to my feeder yesterday. Actually, there was a 4th but I didn't get a good picture and am still not sure what it was. Yesterday a Chipping Sparrow came for a few minutes, I don't have a great picture though. Then a White-Throated Sparrow came to scrath around on the ground. I was amazed at the flash of bright yellow over its eyes, and the black and white stripes on its head! Then I took some pictures of another Sparrow at the porch feeder and at first I thought it was another House Sparrow but after looking more closely at the pictures I realized that it was different. After a lot of looking I finally identified it as a Field Sparrow.

COOL!!!

Wednesday again and it was abeautiful day! After dropping Kelly off at daycare I put some clothes on the line while waiting for Serge to come home from a meeting. I could hear a seagull making a lot of noise and looked up to see what was wrong...and wow!!! I couldn't believe what I saw!!! The seagull was chasing a hawk! I ran inside to get my camera and it was still circling over the neighbor's house when I got back outside! I snapped a few pictures waiting for it to get closer and it did! It came right over our garage. So here is my best picture of the Red-Tailed Hawk.

Then I went for a walk with Serge and found this new bird. I needed help from Lance to identify it. It is a female American Kestrel. We then came home to find another new bird! LOL The White-Breasted Nuthatch. Cool bird day! :0)

Getting warmer.

The days are finally getting warmer, most of my snow is gone and I have some spring flowers out! I hung up a Hummingbird feeder just in case some might be here already.

Mostly the regulars have been by, there is finally a female Junco around and the female Cardinal came by for a few minutes today. This morning as I was preparing breakfast, Serge said, "There's a yellow bird". I got my camera but couldn't get a good picture and then it was scared away by a neighbor's cat. It hasn't been back yet but at least I know they are coming around.

Going to see the Snow Geese with my sister tomorrow...

Another Bird!!!

I couldn't believe it this evening as I was preparing supper! Another new bird! I ran for my camera but it flew away! Then I had to serve supper so I put my camera down and called everyone to the table. I watched the window all through supper and was really happy, as I was putting the dishes into the dishwasher it came back! Yay! I took a few pictures and then went to look through the bird lists online. I think it is a Tufted Titmouse, but am not sure.

Woodpeckers

I was just looking through my pictures and compared my Woodpecker pictures. I have figured out that I have 3 different ones. So now I am adding one more bird to my list of birds that visit my yard. Here are my 3 Woodpeckers: A male and female Downy Woodpecker, and a male Hairy Woodpecker.

By the way, here is my official list of backyard birds:

1. Common Redpoll (male and female)

2. American Tree Sparrow

3. Blue Jay

4. Bohemian Waxwing

5. American Robin

6. Common Grackle

7. House Finch (male and female)

8. House Sparrow (male and female)

9. Northern Cardinal (male and female)

10. Black-Capped Chickadee

11. Dark-Eyed Junco (male)

12. Song Sparrow

13. Eurpean Starling

14. Red-Winged Blackbird (male)

15. Mourning Dove (male and female)

16. Downy Woodpecker (male and female)

17. Brown-Headed Cowbird (male and female)

18. Hairy Woodpecker (male)

Yay!

I have finally seen a female Northern Cardinal! I had never seen one before, ever! Yay!

Walk in the woods.

This morning there were lots of birds at the feeder! The Cardinal came by, the Chickadee, 3 Starlings and of course the House Finches and House Sparrows. I now have 6 Redpolls that come by regularyly. The Junco came by for a bit and the Song Sparrow too. A few Canada Geese flew by...it will soon become a very busy sky with the Geese flying one way every morning and filling up the sky as they come back in the evening. I wonder why they do that...

I decided to go for a walk in the woods to see if I could find more birds. On my way I passed lots of Mourning Doves, a few Chickadees and lots of Grackles. There was what sounded like a crow over in the distance.

Once in the woods there was still a LOT of snow, making it hard to walk. After sinking down to my knees I turned back and found a fallen tree to sit on. I didn't see many birds as I was walking, the woods were very quiet. It smelled wonderful though! Smelled fresh, beautiful sun...a perfect spring day! As I sat quietly the birds started to sing and I hoped I could see some of them. Finally I got to see a Woodpecker but didn't have time to see what kind. A train passed and that shook things up a bit...there were birds flying around everywhere! :) Just after the battery died on my camera I saw two birds that I couldn't identify.

I ate my little picnic, listening to the sounds of the woods and then I lay down on the tree and almost fell asleep there in the woods, with the sun on my face. :) It was wonderful! When I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky I saw a huge bird circling high above me! Wow! I wished I had binoculars to see that better and try to find out what kind of bird it was!!!

I spent 2 hours in the woods by myself and then slowly walked back home. When I got home there was a flock of Redpolls in the yard!!! About 10 of them at the niger feeder (finally someone is interested in them) and about 30-40 of them in the birch tree and on the ground beneath it!!! Whoa! Where did they all come from?! There was also a new bird at the feeder on the porch. Looks like it's probably the female of one of the blackbirds...she is definately bigger than the sparrows. After looking at all the pictures online I am guessing that she is a female Cowbird.

Tuesday

There were some Starlings this morning and as I was watching them I noticed that there were 3 Redpolls , usually there are only 2. Then, just before noon I look out and there are 3 more Redpolls but these are different! They have reddish chests, so I guess the first 3 were females and these 3 are males.

A new bird! I can't believe how many different birds I get at my feeder! These 3 are black with brown heads. I looked them up and they are called Brown-Headed Cowbirds! LOL

Sunday Afternoon

It was such a beautiful day today! I went outside to soak up some sun! After the excitement of finding the Song Sparrow this morning I found two new birds that I had to identify. This, I believe is an American Tree Sparrow.
Then the next one I needed some help with. Someone from a birding group that I just joined told me that it is a Common Redpoll. I also saw a few Canada Geese flying by and a few Seagulls flew around too. Then Serge and I saw a male Woodpecker!

Sunday Morning!

Ahhh! I love this kind of Sunday morning! Wake up with nothing to do, the sun coming in a little through the blinds, the birds singing and the sounds of the children making their own breakfast! :0) Bliss! Then I started to wonder which bird was singing that pretty song. When Kelly came in and yelled "Hey, wake up! There's birds!" I got up and came down to find a new bird looking at me through the dining-room window. A song Sparrow.

Of course, the regulars popped in too. The Cardinal, the Doves, the Chickadee, some House Sparrows, some House Finches, a Red-winged Blackbird, the Blue Jay, the Woodpecker and a few more Song Sparrows. Oh! I did see 2 Canada Geese flying by!

Beautiful Sunny Day!

The kids woke up early this morning and as I came down the stairs Kelly, my 3 year-old, said "Mommy, there's birds there! Come see!" LOL She was right, there was a Junco, a Finch, the Chickadee and the Woodpecker too! Later some sparrows came and then a Blue Jay! Finally! I put some peanuts out for the Blue Jay and another came to join the first one. A little later (and another handful of peanuts) a bunch of black birds came along to steal the peanuts, much to the delight of Pretty and Milky who were watching in the patio door! When I went out to take advantage of the sunny afternoon Emily noticed the Robin was back and the Woodpecker too.

Busy Day!

Busy day at the feeder! The usuals were there, the House Finches, The Mourning Doves, some Sparrows and two Black-Capped Chickadees. This morning a Common Grackle and a Red-Winged Blackbird came by but didn't stay long. The Northern Cardinal came by but was chased away by Pretty! The female Woodpecker came by too! I was happy to see the American Robin again! Then, just as I came here to type this out I saw a Dark-Eyed Junco! Busy Day!!!

I haven't had time to wacth the birds for a few days. I know the finches have come around, a bunch of them and of course the doves.

I am still trying to figure out how to add a slideshow of my birds but until then here are some of the pictures I took in the last two weeks.

April 1, 2008 Birds

A few birds came around this morning while I was getting the kids ready for school. I saw a Chickadee and 1 Junco while having breakfast. We also saw a few House Finches, 2 males and a female. There was a sparrow but I would have to look up what kind.

A pair of Mourning Doves came by around lunch time. Is there a difference between the male and female? They stayed there in the birch tree, sitting in the pouring rain...

Around 2:30 I looked up and the two Doves were still there. I found out that the males are a little more colourful so I now know that this is a couple, the male on the left. There were also a bunch of black birds, a few Red-winged Blackbirds and at least one Common Grackle. There was also a Robin! The first I've seen this season!

Right after supper one Bohemian Waxwing came by to eat a few berries from the tree in front. I saw another black bird but have to try to identify it.

New Blog.

Hi! I was looking for a way to put pictures of my new hobby where everyone can see them...guess this is the best way.

I have been having lots of fun lately watching the many different birds that visit my feeder. Yesterday I was surprised when a flock of new (for me anyway) birds flew in to eat the berries in the tree in my front yard. I ran to get the zoom for my camera and took some pictures! I then spent the afternoon looking at pictures online to find out what they were. I finally figured out that they are Bohemian Waxwings!

So I started thinking about all the other birds that come by and decided to document them all. Here is where I will keep my birding journal. I don't always have time to sit around watching but I will take note of what I see and when.