Carman July 6 -13
The suspected Lewis’s Woodpecker, I saw earlier this month, returned twice this past week, was never able to get a good look at it or a photo. It would land on the opposite side of a telephone pole or land in a tree and disappear in the foliage. I am pretty certain I heard it call twice and now think it may have been a Northern Flicker, but the breast color was much redder than any Northern Flicker I’ve seen.
The Grackles and Brown Cow Birds over ran the feeders this past week, there were up to 20 Grackles or 20 Cowbirds feeding at times. There were always at least 2 Grackles or Cowbirds present throughout the day. Finches, Orioles, Woodpeckers and Nuthatches had stopped coming. Brown Thrasher and Grey Catbird were infrequent visitors. The House Sparrow numbers increased vastly, probably 20 or more at times.
Late last week I stopped feeding for a day, the following day I put out a suet ball in the morning and one late in the afternoon. This had the desired affect, much fewer Cowbirds and Grackles now, Sparrow numbers also decreased.
The Orioles and Woodpeckers have returned. The Brown Thrashers and Grey Catbirds are visiting much more frequently now. No finches have returned as yet.
On the third day I stopped using the hopper style feeder for the mixed seed and am now using a tube feeder. The sparrows can’t scatter the seed as much and not as much is wasted. I refilled the black oil seed feeder on the 4th day and it is now lasting more than a full day.
A Cougar was sighted about 15 miles from town last weekend.
Sightings:
Oriole
Robin
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Crow
Red Wing Blackbird
Brown Thrasher
Grey Catbird
Chipping Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Purple Finch
Yellow Warbler
Black Capped Chickadee
House Sparrow
Grackle
Brown Cowbird
Clay Colored Sparrow
Fort Whyte Center 12 July
A beautiful day for an outing.
As we stepped onto one of the board walks that runs out over one of the ponds there was a horrendous noise, I thought the board walk was collapsing. Turns out there was a mama mallard and her babies under the boardwalk and we scared them out as we stepped onto the boardwalk right over them. I’m certain our fright was probably just as bad.
We observed a sparrow land on the water in one of the ponds a number of times. The tiny green vegettion growing on top of the pond supported the sparrow. This was a first for us.
Sightings:
Pelicans
Canada Geese
Wood Ducks
Mallards
Black Capped Chickadees
Gold Finch
Red Wing Blackbird
Robin
Starling
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Warbler
Eastern Kingbird
Unidentified Hawk
Barn Swallow
Savannah Sparrow
Crow
Chipping sparrow
The suspected Lewis’s Woodpecker, I saw earlier this month, returned twice this past week, was never able to get a good look at it or a photo. It would land on the opposite side of a telephone pole or land in a tree and disappear in the foliage. I am pretty certain I heard it call twice and now think it may have been a Northern Flicker, but the breast color was much redder than any Northern Flicker I’ve seen.
The Grackles and Brown Cow Birds over ran the feeders this past week, there were up to 20 Grackles or 20 Cowbirds feeding at times. There were always at least 2 Grackles or Cowbirds present throughout the day. Finches, Orioles, Woodpeckers and Nuthatches had stopped coming. Brown Thrasher and Grey Catbird were infrequent visitors. The House Sparrow numbers increased vastly, probably 20 or more at times.
Late last week I stopped feeding for a day, the following day I put out a suet ball in the morning and one late in the afternoon. This had the desired affect, much fewer Cowbirds and Grackles now, Sparrow numbers also decreased.
The Orioles and Woodpeckers have returned. The Brown Thrashers and Grey Catbirds are visiting much more frequently now. No finches have returned as yet.
On the third day I stopped using the hopper style feeder for the mixed seed and am now using a tube feeder. The sparrows can’t scatter the seed as much and not as much is wasted. I refilled the black oil seed feeder on the 4th day and it is now lasting more than a full day.
A Cougar was sighted about 15 miles from town last weekend.
Sightings:
Oriole
Robin
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Crow
Red Wing Blackbird
Brown Thrasher
Grey Catbird
Chipping Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Purple Finch
Yellow Warbler
Black Capped Chickadee
House Sparrow
Grackle
Brown Cowbird
Clay Colored Sparrow
Fort Whyte Center 12 July
A beautiful day for an outing.
As we stepped onto one of the board walks that runs out over one of the ponds there was a horrendous noise, I thought the board walk was collapsing. Turns out there was a mama mallard and her babies under the boardwalk and we scared them out as we stepped onto the boardwalk right over them. I’m certain our fright was probably just as bad.
We observed a sparrow land on the water in one of the ponds a number of times. The tiny green vegettion growing on top of the pond supported the sparrow. This was a first for us.
Sightings:
Pelicans
Canada Geese
Wood Ducks
Mallards
Black Capped Chickadees
Gold Finch
Red Wing Blackbird
Robin
Starling
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Warbler
Eastern Kingbird
Unidentified Hawk
Barn Swallow
Savannah Sparrow
Crow
Chipping sparrow
