Vashti
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2. At our feeder in winter, the chickadees land at the feeder, pick one sunflower seed, then fly over to the hawthorn tree, hold the seed with their toes, and peck until they get the seed open. The redpolls mostly land on the deck as a group, and hop around, sifting through the sunflower seeds that have been scattered. They eat the seeds while standing on the deck. The hairy woodpecker lands on the feeder and digs thrugh the seeds, scattering sunflowers all over the deck. He finally selects one, then flies back to the aspen trees on the edge of the yard. 3. Today out my window, i here lots of robins and white throated sparrows, and an occasional raven. I hear several other bird calls, but I haven't got them figured out yet. Maybe a chipping sparrow and a yellow rumped warbler?
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@Mavis I live just outside of Beaverlodge, a small town in northern Alberta. The area is a mix of farmland and forests, and you can see the edge of theRocky Mountains to the southwest.
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1. In my yard, there are robins, white throated sparrows, juncos, chickadees, and tree sparrows. Ravens and harriers often fly overhead. A pair of mallards have been hanging out in our dugout, which will probably dry up by August, so i hope they move on to find a better place to nest. There are also several little songbirds ( sparrows or warblers) darting through the trees, but they won't stay still for long enough for me to get a good look at them!
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1. This evening we walked to the reservoir and saw a pair of horned grebes, and a pair of buffleheads. They are both small duck-like water birds, but have very different shapes. The buffleheads looked rounded and compact, and the male has a large, bright white patch on the back of his head. The female has a little white patch on her cheek, and is mostly grey and black. The male and female grebes have the same coloring, with a long thin neck, longer narrow beak and a bright yellow/orange tuft from their eye to the back of their head. They look very striking, but they're not round and chunky looking as the buffleheads. 2. Red: The male sapsuckers have bright red on the top of their heads and on their throats. The male red winged blackbirds have a bright red patch on each shoulder/wing. The red breasted nuthatch has reddish orange on his chest. 3. Food finding: The northern harriers spends a lot of time flying, gliding low above the fields and trees, looking for something to eat. The white throated sparrows in my yard spend lots of time searching for food on the ground. They hop twice then peck into the grass, or into my flower beds. It just stopped raining today, and the robins are hopping through the wet grass looking for food. They don't seem to both with little insects; i think they are eating the worms that came up to the surface because of all the rain. 4. The northern harrier is a medium size raptor, smaller than a red tailed hawk, but way bigger than a kestrel. It has a white rump patch, and flies low to the ground, gliding with its wings held high in an elegant v shape, rather than holding them parallel with the ground. It frequents the farmland and small lakes, but is less commonly seen in the conifer forest areas. I listened to its recorded call on the Merlin app, but i have never heard them make a sound when they fly by...
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From my deck, i often see downy woodpeckers, white throated sparrows and ravens. Northern harriers are a favorite bird that are common in my neighbourhood. They are easy to identify because of their white rump patch and the way that they glide just above the trees and shrubs. I think a pair might be nesting nearby, since i've seen them a couple of times today. The female is darker, but the male's underside looks strikingly light colored, with black on his wingtips. I like the way they almost seem to float in the breeze as they glide along, and the elegant shape of their wings.
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