New Bird pictures..............

Lets begin with a view of the deck.....the grapevine to the left is the haven of Chickdees who wait in there for bigger birds to get out of the way. There is a certain amount of shelter too when its snowing or raining. I stand at the window with it open to take the pictures and hear them nattering to each other in there. They often don't see me, but dont seem to mind in any case. Unlike the bigger birds who seem more cautious.


The bird feeders are far enough away that they dont mind me too much. This guy was hiding in the burning bush, and I did not see who it was.



The Chickadees were very happy with the selection of food. Notice the one with the seed in the air?? He looks as though he tossed it and was in the midst of catching his treat


The Mourning Dove was not going to give up her spot to the Starlings.



The Red Bellied Woodpecker would not stay while I was at the window. He sulked in the tree no doubt coming back when I left.




This Chickadee would have rubbed his hands in glee had he had some......was delighted with his find



We get the same old visitors, I would love it if some of the transient birds would stop in on their way back north. Don't suppose that will be any time soon. I have not seen any Waxwings in ages, we used to get those quite often. Instead the Nuthatch came today.



This BlueJay was looking like a cat got him. Didn't stop him tucking in though.




Only one Squirrel today, they are supposed to semi hibernate but they come about every day and really deplete the stash.



meanwhile I went out the front to take pictures and was followed by Tristen in his Granddads slippers. His feet were covered in snow. I turned around to see him behind me. I only had shoes on and no socks so could not say much as we were mid calf in snow...........

On his way back he could not turn with Granddads slippers on and lost them by the time he got to the steps........he said his feet were "fweezin"


Granddad asked why his slippers were full of snow..................

I am joining this post with Mosaic Monday at Little red house with thanks

Starlings.............

I have been trying to encourage the Starlings to come in and feed. Finally got a flock that has come two days in a row. They should, I have put out good stuff for them.
Why don't people like them? They are pretty birds and gregarious, squabbling and chattering. They are sort of mean to each other though...........certainly will fight for the best portion of food.
{Starlings have diverse and complex vocalizations, and have been known to embed sounds from their surroundings into their own calls, including car alarms, and human speech patterns. The birds can recognize particular individuals by their calls, and are currently the subject of research into the evolution of human language.} That quote is from Wikipedia and I include that because I did not know that. I knew that Magpies and Crows did immitations but not Starlings.
Waiting for dinner..............


The Starling has wonderful patterns on his feathers. Take a close up look....


Every feather is tipped or edged with a contrast colour



When one finds something special he can not keep it to himself to enjoy...........his flock mates barge in and take what they can



Other birds seem to stay out of the way of the Starlings. So I put their food on the floor so the small birds can still get to the feeders. Sometimes it works. Chickadees will take on a Blue Jay so these don't bother those feisty little things.


The poor things were so cold. I can not imagine how their poor feet must feel.

I am linking up with My Romantic Home, show and tell Friday......

Spring has sprung.......

Well its official, Spring has sprung. We saw our first close up of a Robin today. We had heard them and seen them from afar but these two were looking for worms. They were also courting. So........soon be nesting time.







Its good to see the snow melting and the grass getting green. I will be looking for the crocus and snowdrops any day now. It is still March so with such a mild winter, I wonder what the Spring will be like.
Here is a Starling who was hanging out with the Robins. Look at that wicked beak.


They are so pretty, why are they so disliked? Must be the personality. I know we had a female nest in our eaves. What a ruckus. They were so noisy and we could not remove the nest until the babies had left and by then she was having a 2nd batch. We did, in the end manage to remove and seal the end of the eaves up so she was thwarted. The previous year she had nested all summer and must have produced her own flock. They don't come around much anymore. She must have found a better nesting place.
I also took a picture of a Downey Woodpecker who was drumming on the electric pole

Its a wonder he didn't bend his beak

I did this post on the 14th and today is 15th and here are the snowdrops.

Amazing how a days sunshine can just pop things out like that.