The White-breasted Nuthatch is back

   Before the New Year we had had quite a few regular birds arriving on a daily basis in Bird Alley, and then we had a mild period in our weather and we saw a decrease in the number of species visiting our feeders.  The little Tree Sparrows have since returned.  ; and yesterday during the afternoon I spied a White-breasted Nuthatch feeding in the Alley.  My last sighting of a Nuthatch had been on December 27th, 2013, so Happy New Year little bird and welcome back!

Shown above is a White-breasted Nuthatch feeding at the peanut feeder with a Black-capped Chickadee
Please do return, White-breasted and encourage your little cousin, Red-breasted Nuthatch to do the same. The little Song Sparrow, which had been a previous regular is now showing up again quite often.  The photo below of Song Sparrow was taken yesterday.

                  I have noticed the past couple of days a few Starlings are braving a visit to Bird Alley.  Previously we have  only seen them at a distance but now it is nice to see them close by so I am able to take  a few photos of them.
And we haven't seen a Cardinal since December 6th., 2013 , so I am scanning Bird Alley daily for that flash of red which will tell me of their return.  Soon I hope!

Lots of Goldfinch in Bird Alley

Yesterday we had lots of Goldfinch at our feeders.  Their favourite feeding places are the mesh bag and a cylinder feeder

, both of which hold niger seed.  My supply is gone so I shall buy more seed today.
I enjoy viewing the birds  arranging themselves on the feeder to feed.  In the picture below you can count nine Goldfinch.  They were late in arriving yesterday but there were many more than nine.

I have been playing with photo editing this morning and practising layering with some of my goldfinch pictures and below are the results:

Below are the individual photos that I used in the layering process:

The Tree Sparrows are Back!

Our cold frigid temperatures have returned and so have the Tree Sparrows.  Yesterday I was delighted to see Tree Sparrows feeding at our feeders.  I make a list of yard birds each day and January 11th., 2014, was the last day that Tree Sparrows had been included on my daily list of yard birds.  We had experienced quite a bit of mild temperatures during the past couple of weeks, however the thermometer outside my window yesterday was reading at -21 degrees C.  Tree Sparrows are little northern sparrows and I am assuming that they are more comfortable with the freezing temperatures.
Also yesterday I spied a Song Sparrow at one of our feeders.  The Song Sparrow had been missing recently too.  Now I wonder if the missing White-throated sparrow will make an appearance soon.  I haven't seen it for a week or more. I shall be watching and hoping for it to reappear.
Our usual daily feathered visitors are: Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Chickadees , Hairy Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers. Earlier this winter during the latter part of December we had both a White-breasted Nuthatch daily as well as a Red-breasted Nuthatch daily but they also have vacated Bird Alley.  I do hope they appear soon along with our pair of Northern Cardinals which also are missing.
We had many hungry Goldfinch at our feeders yesterday and their presence has not been much in evidence recently. I am eager for the dawn today to see what species appear .  It is an enjoyable daily task to make my list of yard birds!

Black-capped Chickadees

Hardy, Hungry Sparrows

                                                              a Song Sparrow

                                                    a White throated Sparrow

 

 A Tree Sparrow

Recently the cold and accumulation of snow has enticed or urged three little sparrow species to linger around Bird Alley.  Yesterday morning as our outdoor thermometer registered -31 degrees C., today it is reading -24 degrees C  I had THREE little sparrows at  our one remaining feeder which I can easily replenish from out of our window.: A Song Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and a White-throated Sparrow

And this morning the three sparrows are present again at our feeders.
And we are presently experiencing another snow storm.