Hummingbirds!

I now have a few little Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds buzzing around my backyard! The females come to the window feeder but the males tend to be spooked easily. They all enjoy the feeder in the back yard and they love the Lilac tree that is in bloom! Male on the left, with the bright red throat and the female is on the right with the white throat.

Sapsuckers!

This week a male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker came by and the next day the female was there too!

Busy Spring!

There have been lots of birds around the house lately! I have to fill the feeders every day! I didn't get any new birds but many are coming back for the first time this year.

This afternoon a male Yellow Warbler came right in my window as I was washing my dishes! I got to check this off my list since last year I only saw a female!

More Water Birds! :0)

Whoohoo! Went to the river for a little bit today, looking for the Killdeers. I found them and then noticed some ducks across the river so I took a few pictures. I can't tell what they are because there are 2 ducks that look almost exactly the same! These are either a pair of Lesser Scaups or a pair of Greater Scaups...

The Woods!

I was very excited to find a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the woods near my house! The male is on the left, and the female on the right. The other guy is called a Brown Creeper. I found him (or her) when I went to visit the Ducks Unlimited site in Boucherville with Kelly.

Water Birds!

I found these in the woods! They keep getting away from me so these pictures are a little fuzzy...I'll try to get better ones! They are called Wood Ducks, male on the left and female on the right.

Water Birds!

These were at the river but far away, near the small islands. The pictures aren't very clear but they were good enough to identify the first pair(top left) as Gadwalls and the second pair(right) as Common Mergansers. The third picture is of a Northern Shoveler, flying away from me when I got out to take a picture...it really is a Northern Shoveler! I watched it with my binoculars before trying to get a picture! :0)

Water birds!

I've been hanging out near the river and in the woods where there is a lot of water right now. Here are the Canada Geese that fly over my house by the thousands every year...every day in the spring actually!!!

Spring is here!

It has been very busy at the feeders this week! No new birds but some that have come back for spring!

The Redpolls are still here! I haven't been watching them for the Hoary so not sure if it is still here.

The Goldfinches are still here, coming more and more now and I think the males are starting to change into their breeding plumage...they seem brighter yellow and dark patches are starting to appear on their heads.

There are a few House Sparrows and there are now 3 pairs of House Finches...not sure but I think there is one pair that are Purple Finches but I have to check with the binoculars...

The pair of White-Breasted Nuthatches still come every day and a pair of Downy Woodpeckers come by every now and then too.

There are 5 Black-Capped Chickadees who are always here!

I now have 2 Starlings who come by every day to scare the Redpolls off! They pick at the suet and then fly away.

The Canada Geese have been flying overhead, there are American Crows everywhere and since Saturday I have had Blue Jays, Mourning Doves and a pair of Cardinals! AND, a Robin was singing in my maple tree on Tuesday! Yay! Spring is here!!!

Oh! And a Pine Siskin this morning!

Redpolls

I've had a big flock of Redpolls
around lately. They keep emptying my niger feeder! I always watch them carefully to see if I might have a Hoary Redpoll mixed in with the Common Redpolls...There are several that I find lighter and have less streaking on the front but I think they are just light Commons. Then the other day there was one that was really easy to spot among the large flock! It was a little bit bigger and much lighter on its back. So I think it is a Hoary Redpoll!

They seem to be pretty rare, after announcing on my bird group that I thought I might have one, 2 people have contacted me to ask if they could come over to watch my flock! :0)

Feeding the Chickadees!

Kelly and I decided to try to
feed the Chickadees. If the feeder is empty for a day then they will come directly to your hand to get some seeds! They are a little scared around Kelly and don't stay long, she moves when they come at her, but they will sit on my fingers watching me for a few seconds before taking a seed and flying away!

More Dominican birds...

I finally managed to identify
this bird with the help of a friend on the bird forum. This is a Greater Antillean Oriole. Thanks Peter!






I thought this was a
Gray Kingbird but Peter suggested it looked more like a Loggerhead Kingbird...






Joan found this little bird.
It is called a Spotted Sandpiper.

More Dominican Republic birds...

I finally got a picture of one of
these! It did not have as many different songs as the one I heard around my house this summer but at least I got some pictures! This is a Northern Mockingbird.




There were many of these around. They are called Palmchats.









There were a few of these at the resort. They were hopping around on the ground most of the time. This is a Red-Legged Thrush.









A little different from the Mourning Dove. It has a white line along its wings. It also sings differently than the Mourning Dove. This is a White-Winged Dove.

Not in my backyard but...

I just got back from a week
in the Dominican Republic with my mom and sister. I got to see a few new birds! This little guy is called a Bananaquit.






This is a Hispaniolan Woodpecker.
There were quite a few of these around the resort.











This is a Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo.
I only saw this bird once.











I only got a quick glimpse of
this bird! It flew across the sky as I took pictures of something else. I just managed to get this picture before it disappeared behind the trees. It is a female Magnificent Frigatebird.

Snowy Owl!!!

I decided to take the scenic route home from the dentist. I went through the fields in Calixa-Lavallée instead of taking the highway. I finally saw one!!! I knew there were some around there, others kept telling me but I never go out that way. There it was, sitting on top of a post! Even the kids were excited! I stopped on the side of the road and snapped a few pictures. Then I got out to get closer but once I was in the middle of the road it flew 2 posts away. I drove toward it and got a few more pictures! LOL

2009

I have started a ne wlist. Let's see how many birds come back to my feeders this year...

So far, as of January 8, 2009, I have 10 birds on my list.

The Pine Siskins came back on January 1st. They stayed around for 2 or 3 days but I haven't seen them again. The usual House Sparrows, and at least 20 American Goldfinches in the last few days! The female Downy Woodpecker comes by daily but I haven't seen the male ot the Hairy Woodpeckers yet. There are 4 Black-Capped Chickadees today. Both the female and the male White-Breasted Nuthatch come by every day. There is one pair of House Finches. On January 2nd there was a flock of Bohemian Waxwings flying around. They seemed to be eating berries from a neighbor's tree and came to rest in the big maple in my backyard but did not come close enough to get any good pictures...There was a pair of Dark-Eyed Juncos yesterday and 3 European Starlings came by to scare everyone away!

December 31, 2008

A new bird came by on the 31st, just in time to make it on my 2008 list! Actually, there wer 7 of them. I knew what they were as soon as I saw the yellow on their wings. This is a Pine Siskin.

So I finished 2008 with a total of 66 birds on my list!