19 March 2009
Song sparrow
Three common grackles were also new for this season, and a killdeer calling from the muddy fields adjacent to the New Woods, was another new spring arrival. Today, a song sparrow, yet another new arrival, was near the Ash woods.
19 March 2009
Song sparrow
Other birds from the last couple of days include American robin, starlings, dark-eyed juncos, cardinals (singing away), mourning doves, house finches (already pairing up), pine siskins giving their wheezy calls from various places around the garden, a pair of mallards in the pond, several American goldfinches, a couple of white-breasted nuthatches, a downy woodpecker, house sparrows, crows, a cooper's hawk calling as it circled above the pond chased by one crow giving its creaky door cry, and a red-tailed hawk being mobbed by crows over in the Arboretum.
The feeders are less busy these days for a variety of reasons, but make no mistake, they are still an important source of food for those birds who have come to rely on them. And when the weather gets colder again, they will be doubly important. Meantime, birds like chickadees and nuthatches are gleaning insects, mostly larvae, from leaves, twigs and the bark of trees. They are remarkably efficient at finding these often minute insects.
19 March 2009
Red peering out
I'm attaching a photo of a red squirrel not taken at FWG, but sent because it is interesting in a way. It shows a red peering out of a cavity, in an area just off Moodie Drive where red squirrels are surprisingly abundant, and greys are few. I say "surprisingly" because this is an almost entirely deciduous area. What is also notable is the lack of tree nests. There are a few here and there, but most look old and ready to fall, only a few look usable. However, there is a plethora of snags or standing dead trees and the squirrels (both red and grey) are making very good use of them.
9 March 2009
Mallard pair
Spring seems to be coming in fits and starts. The weekend was lovely and mild, today less so. Down in the Ravine, a pair of mallards were hanging out near where a pair tried to nest last year.
9 March 2009
Red-winged blackbird
At FWG this morning, the Ash woods feeder was pretty busy. One lone red-winged blackbird was there (Sandy and Marilyn saw two of these guys on the weekend at FWG), along with one pine siskin, a couple of juncos, downy woodpecker, lots of house finches and chickadees, cardinals and mourning doves.
9 March 2009
White-winged crossbill, male
Over in the Arboretum, the white-winged crossbills were back feeding on the alders, this time accompanied by 4 common redpolls.
9 March 2009
Red squirrel eating sap on walnut tree
Back at FWG, the red squirrels were continuing to feed on the remaining sumacs, as were several crows. Last Thursday, Claudia and I watched three red squirrels in a walnut tree tapping for sap. You could hear them gnawing the bark, and then lapping up the sap which in some places was hanging in great sappy globules :-) Here is a shot from Thursday. One of the squirrels looked to be in poor condition. I was reminded that a few years ago at this time of year, there was another little guy in the same area who also looked a bit rough. Julia nicknamed him "Scruffy"!
9 March 2009
Willow catkins
The buds on the willow by the pond are slowly beginning to open.
3 March 2009
White-winged crossbill.jpg
As you probably know, I'm interested in getting photos of animals feeding. Not only feeding on fruits and nuts, but on other animals (for example, I've seen mallards eating green frogs, crows eating chipmunks). But mostly I'm cataloguing the plants that feed wildlife around the garden and adjacent farm/arboretum.
Today I saw a small flock of 6 white-winged crossbills feeding on alder cones that were on the snow in the Arboretum. These are not from the native speckled alder, but from Manchurian alder. A crow was busy picking up snow that had been drenched with a brown liquid, probably coffee, but could have been another brown beverage.
3 March 2009
Irpex lacteus chewed by red squirrel
Also interesting, to me anyway, was a red squirrel feeding on Irpex lacteus.
