Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

We had our first sighting of our beloved "Rosie" this morning! I saw this bird for the first time ever last year. It was a rainy May day and I was feeling a little down. I went upstairs for some more tea and was watching out the window while waiting for the kettle whistle. Suddenly the bright, vibrant colours of Rosie caught my eye. He was so beautiful and his colours even more vivid in the rain. I was quite cheered to see him again this morning (three days sooner than we saw him last year). Hopefully he'll stick around for a bit and we'll see his female counterpart shortly. He's been busy at the sunflower seed feeder today. I know they enjoy the suet as well.




Last night the Baltimore Oriole was still around- eating the grape jelly, oranges and was also visiting our oriole feeder.




While we were watching the oriole, we noticed a new sparrow for this year too. It's the white-crowned sparrow (not to be confused with the white-throated sparrow who looks quite similar).

Baltimore Oriole is back!

The Baltimore Oriole is back! We saw it eating at one of the oranges on the tray feeder this morning. Dave put out fresh oranges and some grape jelly (they prefer Welch's brand-seriously, they do!) on the tray feeder for them as well. Tonight we'll put out fresh food in the oriole feeder for them as well. It was lovely to see this guy again. His orange is so bright and beautiful!!

Finches, sparrows and kinglet.

Dave was the first to see a female purple finch a few days ago. Since then, we have seen a few male and female purple finches. I think we only saw them once or twice last year as they just stop in for a few days during migration. I don't think they will be stopping around for too long.


(purple finch is on the left, house finch is on the right).
We have the house finches around all year. We've seen the male house finch feeding his female partner. They are so cute together!


The gold finches are also very brightly coloured these days! They are so pretty and really stand out with their bold yellow feathers.




We've also had the chipping sparrow and the white-throated sparrow (I think I have those right- Dave is the sparrow expert).




There has also been multiple problems with house sparrows trying to take over all the nesting boxes. Dave is trying to problem solve that issue. It's worth reading up on if you are unaware as to what a huge problem these birds can be for native species.


And while I was sleeping off an allergic reaction, Dave was out in the side woodlot and saw all kinds of interesting birds on Sunday morning. He got a pic of this one that he is pretty sure is a ruby-crowned kinglet. He also saw a yellow-bellied sapsucker (I'm so jealous!!). So next weekend, we're going to grab some lawn chairs and just sit out there and see what's going on.

Welcome Robins!

Phase 1 of nest building

Phase 2 - a few days later

Robins are building a nest on the nesting shelf Dave built and put up just outside our bedroom window. Very exciting! Hopefully they'll do okay there.

I wonder if other robins will nest in the large tree in the backyard again? Or will it be too close to these birds? We'll have to check for any nest construction or re-use of last year's nest.

The tree swallow maintains his vigilance over his nesting box. We saw two of them flying around on Saturday. We also saw two barn swallows flying around as well. Last year the barn swallows were nesting (stating the obvious here) in our neighbours' barns, so we would see them flying in and out. I think Dave said the tree swallows are up amongst his favourites. They make interesting clicking noises- they kinda sound like a fax machine or the old dial-up internet.

I'm hoping to see Red-Breasted Grosbeak soon. I love that guy! So brightly coloured. I think we saw him early May last year for the first time, so it's not long off. Hopefully we get our sunny warm days back soon!

Spring Happenings

Dave saw a bird pulling some string out of the nesting supply bag we have set up out front. I've filled it with colourful yarn, string and hair. Dave thinks it was either a female gold finch or pine siskin. We didn't see any of their nests last year, but that doesn't mean they weren't around high up in our trees or in the trees bordering our property.



We both saw at separate instances this morning a tree swallow at the side of the house. We're hoping they are returning to the nesting boxes from last year (we had one successful swallow and one successful bluebird brood). Dave has set up more boxes this year, so maybe we'll have a few more take us up on the vacancies. I'm posting some pics from last year's tree swallow nesting adventures.












We'll be putting up the oriole and hummingbird feeders in the next few days. The hummingbirds are definitely on their way. Very exciting!!

Updates

On Sunday, we decided to drive out to LaSalle Park in Burlington. On the way there, we passed by hundreds of starlings out in the fields and trees on Bronte Road. I know starlings have some controversy attached to them and their numbers seem to be thriving based on the large flocks we witnessed.



As we were driving, Dave spotted a meadowlark on a wire. We pulled over and watched it for a bit. It even graced us with it's beautiful song, which we were able to get a quick video clip of it (see at the bottom of the post). We felt like spring was finally here (although the snow today says otherwise). This sighting was a meadowlark first for our lists and Dave is certain this is on his life list, so he gets another one crossed off.



At the park, we saw many swans (different varieties), geese, ducks and gulls. Arthur approached a swan and was met with hissing and displaying from the bird. Arthur figured it out pretty quickly and backed off. Lola was totally uninterested in all the birds, which is nice so that we don't have to battle with pulling or barking etc. Arthur is more interested in meeting other dogs and the occasional squirrel. Lola's sworn enemy is the chipmunk, so that's our only concern when we're out and about.






At the waterfront, we saw a male American Coot and this was another first time sighting for us. We also saw a Golden-Crowned Kinglet- a very small bird, flitting around at the tops of the trees.






At home on Sunday afternoon, Dave repaired and prepped the nesting boxes and put them up. Apparently the swallows have been seeking out nesting sites at nearby Bronte Creek, so they are definitely in the neighbourhood.



Hopefully today's cold weather and snow doesn't hurt any early migrators. The feeders were already busy before the sun was up. So if you have feeders, please keep them full today!