Feederwatch
Today is one of the coldest days of the season so far. It feels like -29 but it looks gorgeous, the sun makes a big difference! I am just getting over a bad stomach bug and so I'm staying close to home and looking at my feeders.
My feeders give me a great deal of joy, especially when the weather and health prevent me from going far. I only feed in the winter and on a day like this the birds really seem to appreciate it! I feed Black Oil sunflower seed at all times, with shelled peanuts, Nyger and Safflower also on the menu. Lately I have picked up bags of a cracked corn mix for the Snow Buntings, but the Doves and others really seem to love it. I get the regulars here, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Dark Eyed Juncos, Mourning Doves, American Goldfinch, American Tree Sparrow and a very welcome White crowned sparrow made an appearance this year. I have one lone Black Capped Chickadee and I have seen Red Breasted Nuthatch come and snatch a seed here and there., as well as a Downy Woodpecker and White Breasted Nuthatch. My neighbour feeds year round and has an amazing feeder system, I think the Chickadees and Nuthatches prefer her place! The European Starlings as well as House Finch and House Sparrow, who are introduced species, unfortunately dominate. I was pleased to have a pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeak in early spring of last year. I started my love of birds with my parents. They were avid backyard feeder watchers and even up to his last days in the nursing home, Dad made sure someone was able to fill his feeders so he could enjoy them. I do have the occasional visit from a Cooper's Hawk and have on occasion seen the evidence of a kill, but they have to eat to, and us who feed provide a buffet, though I do offer alot of shelter at my place, I even confiscated my neighbours old Christmas tree to set beside my feeder this year and they use it quite often, for shelter from the storms and as perches. It has been a colder and snowier winter than normal, with a great deal of freezing rain earlier (the day the feeders were busy all day) to Polar Vortex cold and snow.
Dark eyed Junco are indeed 'Snow birds", we only see them in the winter and they love our feeders. They breed from subarctic taiga to high altitude mountain. The arctic birds are the ones we get at our feeders , foraging on the ground for the most part. There are between 3 and 12 subspecies which confuse scientists and backyard birders!
The American Tree sparrow, also called 'winter sparrow' breed in Alaska and Northern Canada. There look alike the Chipping Sparrow comes back from their wintering grounds just in time for the tree sparrow to go back up north.
I have been visiting Marthaville Wildlife Management area on my regular birding route, and I have noticed in the winter some visitors offer seed near the parking lot on the concrete barriers. I have been doing so lately and it is amazing the gorgeous songbirds it attracts. This area is more woody and rural, so no Starlings or House Finch and House sparrow, but there is a single (though I think there are at least 4 ) White Throated Sparrow that are overwintering here and come to the seed. Dark Eye Juncos, Northern Cardinal and Blue Jays as well as Mourning Doves are present. American Goldfinch are around, but I think that they prefer the bush. Chickadees are abundant and I have tried to handfeed them, and they seem to come, but not close enough! I think there are regulars that come here that probably do get them to handfeed.
Pinery Provincial Park is the ultimate place to go if you want to see winter birds at the feeder. The Visitor Centre has a very good feeder set up and there are always Black Capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse present. White and Red Breasted Nuthatch also make an appearance. There is a very good trail beside the Visitor Centre, the Cedar Trail, which provides shelter for the birds. Tufted Titmouse is a specialty of Pinery and Lambton Shores, they are the cutest little bird and almost as bold as the Chickadees! The park staff are very nice and open to sharing birds that come to the feeders, she said that they had a large group of Evening Grosbeak in late fall! I know they were in the park but I haven't actually been able to get a good view.
Beach 9 at Pinery is also a hotspot and many people come from all over Ontario as part of their holiday traditions to handfeed the birds. Last time I was there their were Tufted Titmouse coming to a child's hand, it was awesome. Red bellied Woodpecker are also present here, and you will quite often see a Brown Creeper in the picnic table area where people place seed. Beach 9 is also a good spot to spot Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings.
Feeding the birds also comes with some controversy. With Avian Flu on the rise, we are encouraged to clean our feeders regularly and to feed more on platform or ground feeders so birds are less congregated. House Finch are prone to a bacterial eye infection, Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis. I personally don't feed during the times of year that food is readily available, I feed only in winter. Water is also important to put out and I have always gotten more and a greater variety of birds when I have water out, especially running water.
I have participated in Project Feederwatch in the past. It is a program run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and you put in your data and they use that for research. It is fun and enjoyable.
Whatever you do, be it bringing birds to your home with feeders or going out into natural areas, have fun and enjoy!
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