Some of the notable highlights over the last two weeks have been a flock of about a dozen Bushtits – at the suet feeder and then gone in less than 5 minutes. I’m kind of curious why they don’t make more regular stops but I imagine that maybe they’re wandering around Courtenay on some sort of long circular route that arrives at our feeder every fourteen days or so. Or maybe it’s more complex than that.

Also this week was the brief appearance of a Northern Flicker. I’m still trying to figure out its behaviour as well. Each time it appears it makes a grand entrance, perches on the branch with the suet feeder, looks at it, and then leaves in an equally grand manner. Haven’t seen it try the suet yet.

Here’s the species list for the last two weeks:

• Dark-eyed Junco (including 1 Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Purple Finch
• Bewick’s Wren
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet (hasn’t shown up for several days now but was here earlier)
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• House Sparrow
• Pine Siskin
• European Starling
• American Goldfinch
• Downy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.

Here’s the list for the week:

Here’s the species list for the week:

• House Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco (including 1 Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Bewick’s Wren
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Pine Siskin
• European Starling
• American Goldfinch
• Downy Woodpecker

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.

The challenging to photograph Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) demonstrating how to place the shadow of a twig between camera and bird.

Had Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) visit our suet feeder twice this week – we’ve had them moving through in a flock once a week in the earlier part of the fall and winter but hadn’t seen them for at least a month. Nice to see them again.

A pair of a Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) at the suet feeder.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) continues its regular daily visit to the suet feeders, giving me multiple opportunities to photograph it. It seems to becoming used to my presence but is still quite skittish – I have to approach fairly closely to it in order to get a good image due to the limitations of my telephoto lens. Of course, the constant movement of this bird also makes it challenging to photograph! I’m still trying to get a good image of the bird that is sharp and has a background that works.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) - never noticed the yellow feet on this kinglet before!

Highlight birds this week were the two flocks of American Bushtits and a brief visit by a Northern Flicker. Both Downy Woodpeckers have made appearances at the feeder this week and American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins are regulars in huge numbers.

Here’s the species list for the week:

• House Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco (including 1 Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Purple Finch
• Bewick’s Wren
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Pine Siskin
• European Starling
• American Goldfinch
• Downy Woodpecker
• Bushtit
• Northern Flicker

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), one of the regulars at our suet feeder and a challenge to photograph because it's constantly moving!

I’m not sure exactly why the mix of birds has changed but perhaps its because I’m not spreading as much ground seed as I used to and the ground feeding sparrows might not have as much to choose from. Mind you there is quite a bit of spillage from the tube feeder being frequented by the Pine Siskins and the American Goldfinch. The temperature has become milder this week and it has been quite windy and wet so that may be influencing bird movement as well.

Highlight birds this week continue to be the large numbers of Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet continues to make daily appearances as does the single White-crowned Sparrow and this week saw the return of one of the Downy Woodpeckers. Our yard was also invaded by close to 90 European Starlings. Fortunately they were focused on the lawn and not the feeders!

Here’s the species list for the week:

• Song Sparrow
• House Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco (including 1 Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Purple Finch
• Bewick’s Wren
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Pine Siskin
• European Starling
• American Goldfinch
• Downy Woodpecker

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.

American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), new regulars at the feeder.

Unfortunately we haven’t seen the Mourning Dove at all this week – hopefully it has moved on. No sign of a bird kill in the garden either so I think that perhaps the cats did not take it out. Our chicken wire extension on the fence met with our neighbour’s disapproval and he took it down – I suppose that I should have asked him before putting it up. I talked to him about it and his take on the situation was that it wouldn’t make any difference because the cats would just go around the fence anyway. I do have “approval” to put up the chicken wire on poles “as long as they’re not attached to his fence.” Did I mention that the fence isn’t finished yet or that his wife works for the SPCA? That’s my cat rant for the week – done.

Pine Siskins (Carduelis pinus) and American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) jockey for position on the tube feeder.

Highlight birds this week were definitely the large numbers of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinch. Really cool to see those in an “urban” small town setting. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet continues to make daily appearances as does the single White-crowned Sparrow.

Here’s the species list for the week:

• Song Sparrow
• House Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco (including 1 Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Purple Finch
• Bewick’s Wren
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Pine Siskin
• European Starling
• American Goldfinch

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.