Spring oh Spring, where art thou? Part 2 The return of the snowbirds and the cranky locals!
Everyone is cranky! Food has been the number one priority with the weather wafting between good and evil! My feeders are getting cleared out whenever the skies turn gray and if there’s snow! Pandemonium! We have three or four dozen goldfinches duking it out with the Purple Finches and Chickadees!
Thankfully the snow has been short lived and the few days of sun we have had have been a marvel…those days you think, maybe it IS Spring after all! The Goldfinches are gradually changing to their summer colours of brilliant yellow and the Purple Finches just seem to be getting brighter, not exactly purple, who named these guys after all? Red finches must have already been taken!
The red maples are starting to bloom along with the honeysuckle budding out, tasty treats! And just so pretty! The Red Bellied male has been going from tree to tree calling out for all to hear “This is my territory, my lady bird, everyone else piss off!” well, that is what it sounds like! He doesn’t like to come to the feeder when I sit too closely but did swoop down to take a look, keeping an eye on his girl!
The Hairy Woodpeckers have gotten very quiet, avoiding the female Red Bellied after their disagreements but they sneak into the feeder when she is not around, but not challenging the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds! The Grackles continue with their “Possessed” and “Not possessed” stances;)
The Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers are back as well, isn’t that just fun to say…ha! I caught a glimpse of a Song Sparrow, heard the first, there are two! American Tree Sparrows are back and I could have sworn I saw a Chipping Sparrow as well! The Eastern Phoebes have been bug catching and I even spied a quick visit from an Eastern Bluebird!
and…a Loon! Early, about two weeks earlier than our normal if I look back at my photos from the last few years! I heard it calling in the afternoon and saw why, an adult Bald eagle along with a juvenile flew over and it was NOT happy. So far, just the single Loon, hoping it’s mate shows up soon!
The White Breasted Nuthatches have been chasing each other everywhere, territory disputes no doubt! No sign of the Red Breasted Nuthatches yet but the Brown Creeper was back, creeping, do you know they can only creep up and must fly, or jump down? Ha! The Downy Woodpeckers come and go, keeping an eye out for their larger cousins, they usually avoid them when they can.
What, no Blue Jays? Ha! They continue to harass Oin and Gloin peanut peddling operation! Oin and Gloin were apparently part of a drive-by Peanut Busting attack…thankfully they only suffered bruises and scratches and vowed to return to the table later today. Neither the Grackles or Jays were present for questioning but rumour has it the Gray squirrel mafia was involved, they wanted a cut of the peanut profits…stay tuned…
So, Oin and Gloin brought in the heavy guns to protect their peanut peddling…
Groot enjoyed his brief employment but sadly, it also collapsed the peanut sales so they had to let Groot go…
He was an effective deterrent, but not what they are looking for today:) Isn’t wildlife fun!
The squirrels, red, gray, black and striped, OK, those are chipmunks, are coming out of the woods and invading! Oin and Gloin were right! The Red squirrels are the brains of the operation! Smart and fast, they dart in, grab what they want, and go!
We have regular conversations as I sit photographing the birds…they are always on the lookout for the traveling mewberries! The grey, also black, squirrels, well, not the sharpest tools in the shed. They stare at me, when it’s snowing, like it’s my fault? “Why lady why?” they seem to ask….I’ve tried to explain…yeah. And the chipmunks, well, they are chipmunks, apparently delicious to cats, so Groot says, we have done an excellent job keeping the chipmunks in the witness protection program here. Hopefully we can continue our good work throughout the year!
So I guess I do photograph things other than “just birds” ha! I’ll stop for now but will continue tomorrow with our Ospreys visit! Nothing more beautiful than the the sound of kikikikiking as they fly around the house! Saludos amigos! Maybe tomorrow we will see the sun!
