Hello Forum! :hi:
And it's officially spring now.... I FINALLY saw a flock of geese this
morning!! Even got a picture of them flying over (to be posted later today
to the online photo album). Unfortunately, I'm also getting overrun with
grackles very quickly and there are a few cowbirds with them. I thought I
glimpsed a rusty blackbird yesterday too but didn't get a good look. A
junco scared the beans out of me today when I walked up to come into the
house and he took off behind me from under the steps!! The redwinged
blackbirds are now doing their 'ringing telephone' call that I like so much.
It's funny. My mother in law is constantly complaining that she has no
birds (except the grackle & starling invasion yesterday) yet when I walk
outside my yard, it's like a symphony out there with a few woodpeckers
thrown in on drums! Then again, she has her feeders off the edge of her
driveway and has almost no trees... I have my feeders in the backyard,
surrounded by trees! Seems to make all the difference. At least she tries
to feed them anyway. She's hoping that when we move next month, my birds
will move to her place!
Went for a lovely walk this morning with the camera and just took a few
spring shots here and there... pussy willows, flowers in my yard.... tried
to get a chickadee who was only 5 feet from me and singing away but he was
heavily backlit and would not have shown up. Isn't that always the way it
goes?
Hey, maybe someone here can help me with a bird my mom-in-law and I spotted
yesterday when we came back from town.... it was on the side of the (dirt)
road, right off a swamp... as soon as we got near, it jumped up, flew over
some trees and landed on the far side of the swamp.... it had a mouse or
mole or something in it's clutches. Now here's the strange part..... it was
the size of a gull, it was the color of a gull. But.... it wasn't a gull!!
It was (in that light...2:15 pm) pure white except for the wing tips which
were black or at least dark grey. Now, since I was driving, I didn't get a
super good look at it but I know it most definitely was not an owl, and it
certainly wasn't like any hawk I've ever seen or heard of. I'm totally
confused about this bird. I could find absolutely nothing in my books that
looked remotely similar. My mom-in-law saw it too but she can barely ID a
robin so there wasn't much help there! Anyone care to take a stab at
this one? I walked by there again this morning, but of course there was no
sign of the bird.
Anyway, that's what's going on in soggy, muddy, but sunny & warm(er)
Northern Ontario today. Tomorrow may be a washout as they're forecasting a
fair amount of rain... maybe it'll finally wash away a good chunk of the
snow we have left! Hope we don't get the freezing rain they're talking
about tho'.
And it's officially spring now.... I FINALLY saw a flock of geese this
morning!! Even got a picture of them flying over (to be posted later today
to the online photo album). Unfortunately, I'm also getting overrun with
grackles very quickly and there are a few cowbirds with them. I thought I
glimpsed a rusty blackbird yesterday too but didn't get a good look. A
junco scared the beans out of me today when I walked up to come into the
house and he took off behind me from under the steps!! The redwinged
blackbirds are now doing their 'ringing telephone' call that I like so much.
It's funny. My mother in law is constantly complaining that she has no
birds (except the grackle & starling invasion yesterday) yet when I walk
outside my yard, it's like a symphony out there with a few woodpeckers
thrown in on drums! Then again, she has her feeders off the edge of her
driveway and has almost no trees... I have my feeders in the backyard,
surrounded by trees! Seems to make all the difference. At least she tries
to feed them anyway. She's hoping that when we move next month, my birds
will move to her place!
Went for a lovely walk this morning with the camera and just took a few
spring shots here and there... pussy willows, flowers in my yard.... tried
to get a chickadee who was only 5 feet from me and singing away but he was
heavily backlit and would not have shown up. Isn't that always the way it
goes?
Hey, maybe someone here can help me with a bird my mom-in-law and I spotted
yesterday when we came back from town.... it was on the side of the (dirt)
road, right off a swamp... as soon as we got near, it jumped up, flew over
some trees and landed on the far side of the swamp.... it had a mouse or
mole or something in it's clutches. Now here's the strange part..... it was
the size of a gull, it was the color of a gull. But.... it wasn't a gull!!
It was (in that light...2:15 pm) pure white except for the wing tips which
were black or at least dark grey. Now, since I was driving, I didn't get a
super good look at it but I know it most definitely was not an owl, and it
certainly wasn't like any hawk I've ever seen or heard of. I'm totally
confused about this bird. I could find absolutely nothing in my books that
looked remotely similar. My mom-in-law saw it too but she can barely ID a
robin so there wasn't much help there!
Anyone care to take a stab atthis one? I walked by there again this morning, but of course there was no
sign of the bird.
Anyway, that's what's going on in soggy, muddy, but sunny & warm(er)
Northern Ontario today. Tomorrow may be a washout as they're forecasting a
fair amount of rain... maybe it'll finally wash away a good chunk of the
snow we have left! Hope we don't get the freezing rain they're talking
about tho'.
