23-Jan-2020
White-throated sparrow
Every year or two a white-throated sparrow spends the winter.
23-Jan-2020
Mourning doves
Three doves on the roof of the Resource Centre where they were pecking at the snow.
23-Jan-2020
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
One of several reds found around the garden. This one was acting very protective of the manitoba maple it was on.
23-Jan-2020
Red elderberry shrub (Sambucus racemosa)
Or red-berried elder as it is also called. The fat bud is not a sign that spring is around the corner, it isn't, but that spring will come (later)!
23-Jan-2020
Grey squirrel drey
This is a particularly large drey, or nest. They vary in size but all are made primarily from leaves with other fibres and twigs interwoven. I think I can see some Dog-strangling vine fibres in this one. They are strongly built on a platform of twigs, usually using living ones on the tree. Several squirrels can live in one of these structures, though they often have several in the vicinity and will use them interchangeably. It is not unusual to find squirrels refurbishing with dead leaves as winter progresses, if they can find any on the ground under the snow, or still clinging to the tree. Although they look as if a puff of wind would destroy them, they can withstand strong winds, snow, rain and hail.
23-Jan-2020
Ash flower galls (Aceria fraxiniflora)
I found lots of these ash flower galls today. Despite the devastation by the Emerald Ash Borer, there are ash saplings growing still, some a reasonable size (no doubt they'll be attacked by the ash borer beetle one day). These growths above, look like flowers, hence their common name, but they are galls made by a tiny mite, Aceria fraxiniflora. There is no damage done to the tree, although some find these unaesthetic looking, but I think they are quite intriguing.
23-Jan-2020
Mourning doves
There were three doves sitting on the roof pecking at the snow and along the edge of the roofline where melting had exposed a tiny bit of tile.
23-Jan-2020
House finch, male
A few house finches came to the feeder, two females and one male, though could have been more that I didn't see. We don't see big numbers of these birds anymore in the region. About 20 years ago, they'd congregate in large flocks of 40 or more birds at the garden. As is true for the house sparrow which spent the winter in the cedar hedge near the baseball field, and came to the feeder daily. There could easily be 80 sparrows in the hedge back then, but they rapidly dwindled to none. Last house sparrow I saw at FWG was in 2009.
23-Jan-2020
House finch, female
A couple of females and a male came to the feeder, along with hairy and downy woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, white-breasted nuthatches and a white-throated sparrow.
23-Jan-2020
Downy woodpecker, female
A closer view of the little downy woodpecker shown earlier in the same shot as the big hairy woodpecker. There were two females and one male of this species around the garden today.
23-Jan-2020
Hairy woodpecker, female
A closer view of the large hairy woodpecker shown with the downy woodpecker in the next photo.
23-Jan-2020
Woodpeckers
A small downy woodpecker in the upper left corner and a much larger hairy woodpecker in the bottom right.
