One Lone Chipping Sparrow

I have had one lone Chipping Sparrow feeding at my feeders every day for the past few weeks now. Why is it still here? I watch for it each day and my haste in refilling the feeders each morning is with it in mind. I watched a Tree Sparrow yesterday and as I glanced away, from the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shadow swoop in and around, then it was gone. The shadow was probably a hawk, and just one lone feather drifted down upon the snow leaving an emptiness where the Tree Sparrow had been. A bird's life is very precarious.
Our weather has been varying from one extreme to another. Some nights it has been -18 º Celsius (about 0 º Fahrenheit), or more, and the ground has been snow covered. Then the next day we have experienced temperatures in the plus teens. Our ground has been snow covered three times, then the high temperatures have melted the snow away and I see the green grass of my lawn once more. This morning it is snow covered again, but there is a freezing rain warning out and a +12º Celsius (or 53 º Fahrenheit) is predicted for later in the day. By tomorrow our snow will be gone once more.

How is this little songbird managing to survive these weather extremes and dangers of such a season ? I watch for it each day out my window. And here is my most recent photo of the Chipping Sparrow below, taken this morning. Its still here.

Three American Goldfinch : for Thursday's Challenge

Three of anything, is this week's photographic theme for Thursday's Challenge. To view more photos posted on this theme, or to join in on the fun yourself, just 'click' on the highlighted name.

Starling on the Snow

In Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, Pied Beauty, he wrote;
"Glory be to God for dappled things".

I found pied beauty in this Starling on the stippled snow .

A Watery Landing: for Watery Wednesday

I thought these photos of this gull coming in for a landing fit in well with the theme of Watery Wednesday. Although this might look warm, it was in reality a cold, blustery day at Saints Rest Marsh, along the Bay of Fundy in Saint John. My appreciative thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this meme.

Blue Jays

Blue Jays! They're everywhere, looking for food! At -18 C this morning, with temperature rising slowly, we have birds everywhere. Tomorrow the forecast is calling for +11C and rain. Its seems to be that kind of pre-winter. This has been our third snowfall, the previous two have melted away. We shall see tomorrow if this white ground cover we presently have will disappear also.
I enjoy photo editing. Above three Blue Jays from three different photos, merged into one.

White-throated Sparrow ::: for Camera Critters

The strong, late afternoon light which I love at this time of year, highlighted the colour and pattern on this small, unexpected sparrow visitor, making its distinctive yellow lores and white bib easily recognizable as that of belonging to a White-throated Sparrow. I was surprised to see it at Bird Alley for I had expected that most all of this species had left for more southern climes a few weeks ago.
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My appreciative thanks to Misty for hosting this site. To see other participant's photo contributions just click HERE or on the Camera Critters logo on the side panel.

Incoming Tide: for Watery Wednesday

We arrived at Saints Rest Beach today at just the right time to see the magnificence of the incoming tides of the Bay of Fundy. The wind played havoc with both the spray and the gulls flying above, creating a most powerful scene when waves and beach met.

Saints Rest Beach is adjacent to Saint Rest Marsh and is part of the Irving Nature Park located in Saint John, NB
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I thought these photos of the incoming Fundy tide fit in well with the theme of Watery Wednesday. My appreciative thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this meme.

Squirrel Thoughts

How do they do it ???

There's something missing from this puzzle!

Harrier Over November Fields ::: for Scenic Sunday

As the white, adult male Northern Harrier scanned the dry, browned, November grasses in search of prey, the dark gray background of the forest enveloped the barren trees in seasonal somberness.
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For more Scenic Sunday photos just click on the highlighted name or on the badge on the side bar.

Ducks and Geese ::: for Camera Critters

They are called Common Goldeneye, but I don't think so common in their beauty, and they could easily have been named 'Polka Dots' for look at the beautiful white dot on the head of these male ducks. We found this group yesterday in the Saint John River at Maugerville.Winging their way over the water these Megansers carried their reflections along with them as they took flight over the Saint John in response to the stopping of our vehicle along the roadside.Seeing these Canada Geese and Mallards was no surprise, but finding this lone, male Ring-necked Duck was. All of these photos were taken along the beautiful Saint John River in the Maugerville area yesterday.
My appreciative thanks to Misty for hosting this site. To see other participant's photo contributions just click HERE or on the Camera Critters logo on the side panel.

A Day Away

I didn't start out that early but this is what 9:30 AM looked like yesterday morning, lots of fog! And the fog continued along for most of my hour and a half drive to keep an appointment at 11:30. After my morning visit I had to put in some time before returning for a follow up appointment at 3:30 so I went in search of some water areas, hoping to find some ducks or geese.
I found this beautiful place and in the distance is what I think is an old, no longer used, railroad bridge. I had stopped when seeing some ducks in the water, but before I could get any pictures they had left. I almost left too, but then I heard a loud, constant honking, and finally found its source in the green shadowy area to the left of the above picture. It was a lone Canada Goose, and it was difficult to see for the shimmering play of light upon the water gave it a bit of camouflage. If it hadn't been for its loud 'honking' I wouldn't have seen it at all.Having noted my presence it continued swimming and emerged from the shadows allowing me to see it more clearly.
Returning home again, I encountered darkening skies and more fog during the last half hour of my journey, arriving home in darkness.

An Invitation to Dine

They have been back several times, these Evening Grosbeaks, since I first sighted them in our yard on Saturday (Nov. 22nd). Other years I have just sprinkled black-oiled Sunflower seeds on the top of an old apple crate in our feeder area, but this year I decided to scatter some seed on top of our patio table, which we have decided to leave out for the winter, and this by far was the best invitation. I can now stand in my kitchen and take their pictures through the french doors and then the outside windows of our sun room. I have read that they like to feed on flat surfaces and the patio table provided room for lots of food and lots of grosbeaks.
A most distin- guishing feature of these Evening Grosbeaks are their heavy, cone- shaped bills which they are able to use very adeptly for husking sunflower seeds, which are a favourite feeder food for them.A female Evening Grosbeak
A male Evening Grosbeak

Rough-legged Hawk at Sheffield

I saw a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk today at Sheffield, along highway #105 which borders the Saint John River at that portion of the highway. The Rough-legged was high above the trees, just a speck really, circling in the sky, but my camera lense was able to pull it in close enough for me to id it. I have seen Rough-legged Hawks there other winters and they were not always as distant as this one was. By far my best photo of a Rough-legged is this one, with its wings raised upward showing its distinctive under wing pattern as it landed on a tree branch. This photo was taken in December, 2002 in the Sheffield area.The under wing pattern of the light morph Rough-legged Hawk has more white on it than the dark morph as its axillaries and coverts are light also. To the left is a light morph Rough-legged showing its pale head and chest. The dark morph adult has no white on its head or chest. These photos of the white morph Rough-legged Hawk were taken at Sheffield in December, 2006.

Field Sparrow and Chipping Sparrow Update

These little sparrow visitors, a Field Sparrow and a Chipping Sparrow, are still at our feeders today. This marks their seventh day of attendance since their arrival on the 18th.

The ground is still snow covered, since a snowstorm on Saturday, and the temper -atures have been, and remain, below freezing. At the time of this posting it is -12 degrees Celsius. I wonder how much longer these little sparrows will stay?

Evening Grosbeaks: for Camera Critters

I had been sitting upstairs at my computer when I saw a small flock of birds fly to the top of my neighbour's trees across the street from me. Rushing downstairs to get my binoculars to see what they were, just as I id'ed them they left, but then surprised me for they had circled around the back of my house and were waiting for me in our feeder area when I looked out the window again. I wait for these birds each year. They are visually exciting with their handsome yellow ski visors and black and yellow patterning.
Evening Grosbeaks; they arrived this morning with our first real snow storm of the season. I watched while the male fed on seeds from our Manitoba Maple and females fed on the crab apples from our Ornamental Flowering Crab Apple Tree.
I am sure they will be back for more!

My appreciative thanks to Misty for hosting this site. To see other participant's photo contributions just click HERE or on the Camera Critters logo on the side panel.