Look who's back!

Rosie!!







and.....

a Field Sparrow




and for the first time this year...
Pine Siskin!

Updates

Looks like our Pine Warblers have moved on after seven consecutive days of visiting our feeders. We haven't seen them since Sunday morning. However, we think this rainy weather has brought in some Kinglets. We saw some at the end of the day yesterday, but we were unable to make a solid ID. We did hear that others have been observed in the area.

On Saturday, April 23rd, we saw the Barn Swallows return (first of the year). We also saw Killdeer, Great Blue Heron and of course the sub-adult Bald Eagle that flew by. On a walk at Shoreacres Park, we saw several Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and a Hermit Thrush (both first of the year). Our total species observed at home on Saturday was 24 and the total for the day was 32 species. Dave took this picture of a Red-winged Blackbird. We were surprised how close we could get to them b/c these same birds startle so easily at home.



The Tree Swallows continue to hang out and seem to be keeping an eye on their favourite nesting box.



We kept a bird list on Sunday and had most of our usual suspects visit us at home. Our species count was 27 for the day.

On Monday there were three Northern Flickers in the dead tree out back. They were posturing and showing their yellow tail feathers. This is the highest single count of N. Flichers this year. We also had a White-throated Sparrow in the yard and a male Eastern Bluebird was checking out the back nesting boxes.

BALD EAGLE ALERT!!

Just now (Saturday at 9:50 a.m.) a BALD EAGLE flew over the field across from our house. This is our first sighting of an EAGLE at home!! Now if only it would decide to nest in the pathway of the proposed Burnhamthorpe rd expansion, the green space would be preserved. Pretty exciting start to the day! (P.S. it was flying too high/fast for us to get a picture of it).

Good Friday = Good Birding

We saw a total of 23 species at our house yesterday and another six in our travels, including a Savannah Sparrow (first of the season).

Friday's list:
In the yard- Tree Swallow, Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin, N.Cardinal, Pine Warbler (5th consecutive day), Red-breasted Nuthatch, Chickadee, Downy WP, Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Am Goldfinch, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Hairy WP, Mourning Dove, Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, American Crow, Brown Creeper, Grackle

Out and about: Turkey Vulture, House Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, House Finch (including a yellow one at my parents' feeder), Red-tailed Hawk, Mallards.



Just now another first for the year arrived- the Barn Swallow!

Seeing Double

not really! There are two male Pine Warblers visiting the feeders. I saw them both yesterday and Dave saw one chasing off the other from the feeder this morning. We're hoping to get a picture to post.

update: as I was taking this picture of the two Warblers on Friday afternoon, a third Pine Warbler flew in nearby. Unfortuantely it was too far away to include in the frame. A new personal record for the most Warblers of one species to be viewed at one time.

Wednesday, April 20

The Pine Warbler is still a frequent visitor to the feeders. This is definitely the most we've ever been able to observe any warbler, especially at such close proximity.


Yesterday we were visited by a male and female Purple Finch. We only see these birds a few times a year, so it was exciting to be able to get pictures of both the male and female. They came quite close to the house, coming up to the window feeder and allowing us a good view.






And I had a quick glimpse of a Brown Creeper in the front yard before it flew off across the street.

Pine Warbler!

New to our life list! A Pine Warbler was observed visiting our feeders this morning. Dave caught sight of it first and then it returned to the various feeders a few times this morning, enabling us to get a few pictures and a definitive ID. A great start to a Monday morning!







We also had a Redpoll and A Northern Flicker in the yard today.





The Tree Swallows are maintaining a presence near the nesting box. If they decide to return, it will be the third year they've used the same box. No further sign of the Bluebird. Chipping and Song Sparrows were in the yard this morning as well. And Juncos are still around in large numbers. It won't be long until they're off for the summer.

End of day update: The Pine Warbler was around all day! It visited the feeders out front and back repeatedly.






We also saw our fist White-throated Sparrow of the season,


as well as an Eastern Phoebe!


It turned out to be a great birding day just looking out the window here at home.

New arrivals

We've been seeing some new arrivals in the yard the last week or so. First and probably most exciting was a male Bluebird checking out nesting boxes last week. It seems like an early arrival and he may have just been apssing through. Since we don't always see the Bluebird, we're hopeful this is a good sign that one will choose one of our boxes.

This morning we saw our first Tree Swallows of the season. They were checking out their usual nesting box at the side of the house. The air was filled with their chirping, which sounds quite a bit like fax machine noises :)

We also saw our first Chipping Sparrow of the season yesterday.

It's been quite warm this week, so I'm thinking it might be time to get the Hummingbird feeders out soon.