Female Brown-headed Cowbird in Bird Alley.

                                       Late this afternoon I saw this female Brown-headed Cowbird feeding in Bird Alley.  As is characteristic of this species it accompanied Red-winged Blackbirds which were very prevelant around our feeder area today.  Yesterday I thought I had seen a male Brown-headed Cowbird in our feeder area.  Having seen this female Cowbird today I think I probably was right in assuming I saw the male of this species yesterday afternoon.
spring is such a wonderful, exciting time  when watching for and seeing the returning birds.  Hmmm... What will be next?  I am hoping for a Fox Sparrow as there has been many reports of several Fox sparrows having been seen in the province recently.

Also in our feeder area today were many Juncos, Mourning Doves, Chickadees, a few Song Sparrows and one male Downy Woodpecker and one male Hairy Woodpecker,  many Red-winged Blackbirds and just a few Common Grackles, and a Red Squirrel and a Gray Squirrel or two.

Another returing duck species sighting!

                                        This morning I found a male Common Merganser!

Spring Confirmed by Yesterday's Sightings!

Yes, it is spring despite the cold temperatures we have been experiencing and the snow covered ground seen on some recent mornings past.
Yesterday, in my own garden, I found my first wildflower bloom!  Wow!  I loved it!

 A Coltsfoot, shown above, and another soon to blossom as can be seen by the hint of yellow at the center core by the second growth to the right of the one in bloom!

And then, in the afternoon we saw our first Wood Duck pair of this spring season. 

  Wood ducks  are one of the most beautiful of duck species that I have seen.

                                                   The handsome male Wood Duck above.

                                                  The beautiful female wood Duck above.

 I was taking the photos from our truck and as soon as the ducks became aware of our presence they flew up and I managed to get this photo of the male taking flight.
Today I shall return to the pond and take my larger zoom lens , hoping that these ducks will be there again.

Goldeneye

I continue to monitor and look for new duck arrivals daily.,

                                                  Do you see its beautiful golden eye?, the source of its name?, and the facial white dot is so distinctive in identifying this species!

On Thursday,I found Goldeneye in my favourite roadside pond which I frequent daily.  It used to be that Goldeneye would be the first species that I found each spring, but the last few years it is Hooded Mergansers which have taken over the role of first species seen, along with Mallards and Black Ducks, so it was with absolute delight rhar I viewed this handsome male Goldeneye species on Thursday.  I have looked for it since but I guess it was a 'once viewing' occasion. However, maybe I will see him again today when I drive to the pond for my duck yearning viewing later this afternoon.

Juncos; newest arrivals in Bird Alley

The daily rollcall of returning birds to Bird Alley continues to brighten my days.  Yesterday a new species arrival: Slate-coloured Juncos, a little favourite that I haven't seen in quite a while,this species was  probably last seen in Bird Alley in the fall.

Yesterday's species roll call included: Juncos, one Song Sparrow, Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds and the frequent visitor, the little male Downy Woodpecker,

 

and many, many more handsome, colourful Grackles.

I wonder what today will bring? hopefully more sparrows and more little Juncos.

 

 

Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived

  Yesterday on April 5th, 2013 we had large numbers of Common grackles in our yard.  They were very skittish and flighty but by the end of the day I was able to approach our windows

without seeing a mass black sheet of fleeing birds blocking my view as they left en masse.  Also we saw our first Red-winged Blackbirds of the season as several were mixed in among the Grackles.
A glimpse out my windows this morning sees many Grackles feeding already today.
Yesterday we only had one Song Sparrow feeding in Bird Alley, as well as Chickadees and Blue Jays.  The jays haven't been around much recently. Yesterday we were able to count 8 Mourning Doves feeding in the Alley as well as one male Downy Woodpecker.

 

It must be spring: a Chipmunk!

 I was pleased to see another sign of spring earlier this week:  a Chipmunk in Bird Alley. Also on the same day , a small group of Grackles, although the Grackles are very flighty and I have not gotten any photos of them yet.

 I have also been finding Canada Geese recently, and that is a sure sign of spring for me.

The tomato plants that I have started inside are stretching their flimsy stems towards the sun in my windows and they are gaining height each day.  I have yet to find a Coltsfoot which is most often my first wildflower sighting.  My daughter had one in bloom in her yard as of last week, but then her area often boasts the first Coltsfoot sightings.  I have some that do grow in our yard, but that will be later.  It is too early for mine to be in bloom yet, but I continue to check for it daily.

 

Weasel and Male Hooded Merganser

On March 19th, 2013 I found my first duck of the season, a handsome male Hooded Merganser, and that is not all I found.  While taking pictures of the merganser in an open area of water 

 I spied a small brown animal running  in my direction on top of the thin ice edging the water area.  It was too big to be a groundhog, but it was brown with a bullet shaped head  when headed in my direction from my perspective of sitting in the car.  I was disappointed at first that I didn't get many  pictures  when I first saw it,but I was focusing on capturing  my first duck sighting.  I stayed parked in my car beside the pond for a while and it was then that I noticed the little brown animal again running over the ice alongside the shore.

                                        
There is a big drainage pipe in this area leading from the pond under the railroad embankment there.  The little creature was very frisky in its movements., Almost as if it were running and jumping for joy!  Sometimes it would slip into the water and swim into the drainage pipe as the Hooded Merganser did

 I finally was able to take many pictures.
 One overexposed picture gave me a clue as to what this little animal might be.  In the overexposed picture I was able to see that it had a black-tipped tail , like an ermine has in the winter when the rest of its fur is white.  An ermine is a winter version of a weasel and so I have identified this little animal as a weasel. I love these pictures.  I have seen ermine twice but never had been so lucky as to photograph a weasel.  Oh happy day it is that I am able to post weasel photos!

River breakup Time

    Its that time of year again: river breakup: these pictures were taken yesterday and as usual there has been a bit of flooding and water over the highways.  The personification and pictures following were created a few years ago.

Personifications of a River Break-Up

As a child, the time of the 'ice going out' was always an anticipated event.

I can remember my brothers and I lined up by the old fence on the top of the hill; watching and listening to the drama of the powerful ice floes floating by in the river below.

This time of year, when the end of a long, cold, snowy winter is in sight; the changes taking place in the river ice are always strong reminders that there is definitely a seasonal change in the air.
The River Break Up

Pelting rains and furious winds
spurned slothful winter

and woodland streams swelled their banks
with prideful freedom
while disintegrating river ice abandoned its frozen grasp
and stretched its icy fingers towards the shore


geometric ice shapes played
layering and shuffling games

while jockeying for positions
along the swollen river banks
as tranquil mainstream remained in its solidity
reflecting in the strengthening afternoon sun
hillside grasses and dry stalks overlooked the changing scene
while springtime memories stirred in their roots
and jubilant waves and rushing rapids
raced down the river and disappeared around the bend.

Some red in nature for Ruby Tuesday 2

     there was a bit of excitement on the weekend when my husband began declaring that he had just found a wonderful sign of spring and insisting that I see it by looking out my kitchen window!!!!  What it was , was a ladybug crawling up our windowpane.  and yes, to us it was a sort of spring event, a spring happening.
with a bit of research I discovered that ladybugs tend to crawl on windows with a soutwest exposure!
And this window does have a southwest exposure!  So Spring, are you nearby... coming soon, I hope!

    To make sure this ladybug didn't fall on the floor after we had scooped it off the window with an envelope, I corraled it with a ring.  Later, after its photoshoot we returned it to the window pane we had found it on

Getting the day off to a  good start with nature and a cup of coffee.