The watchers

With a flurry of wings and spread tail, a blue jay adjusts its position on the feeder that holds the black-oil sunflower seeds. Greedy, it stuffs as many as it can in the pouch behind its beak, and then flies off.

A blue jay called me shortly after dawn this morning as I was out taking pictures of the rising sun. I believe it was reminding me that I had yet to put the feeders out.

Wherever I've lived, jays seem to be quickly aware when there is a sympathetic human around and when food may be available. They have constantly harassed me with screams if I've forgotten to fill a feeder or haven't been quick enough to get feeders removed in the evening to prevent marauding racoons, out in the morning - particularly those cold snowy winter mornings when birds are most often looking for suet.

I love their raucous alerts.

Where I lived before this, they would hang around when I went outside to try to photograph them. But here they are more exposed and fly off if there is movement behind the screen door in the sun room as one fellow euphemistically calls the entrance to my current home. This morning I tried again with the camera after seeing several jays - two in the feeder, one on nearby chairs I'd removed from the deck so the roofers could get to their work this morning, and several on the ground and nearby cedars waiting their turn at filling their gullets.

All this bird activity makes me chuckle. The chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches pay no attention to the jays except they do fly in when the robber-birds start screaming that foods on the table so to speak.

Such a blessing to be able to enjoy Mother Nature's gifts - of all kinds.

About my post of a video of birds on my deck

A still taken before I made the video of little birds on my deck

Hi everyone, if you have trouble viewing the video I posted yesterday as an experiment, I've found you have to go directly to the website rather than take the feed from Blogger.com...which many of my followers receive -  So if you are kind enough to be  follower, please click on www.primarilypets.blogspot.com instead to see the video and it should work... why the feed from Blogger doesn't work I have no idea but others who receive it as an email feed can't make it work either and have complained. However, I can send it to you as an email attachment if you wish, just let me know your email address (I'll delete it after)...the wonders of technology.
   One reader asked about the tube feeder and how it is attached to the deck. It sits on a slim pole that I got with pieces that the pole fits into - like a bolt lock. I picked it up at a hardware store.
   The reason for so many birds I think besides the bad weather yesterday, is the number of feeders I put out: six. They are all around the house with mostly black oil sunflower seeds. I also put out suet for those who like it such as the woodpeckers, blue jays and yes even the starlings though they are bandits. And also I put at least one sunflower seed feeder as well as a niger feeder throughout the year, so the birds are accustomed to visiting year round.
   As for squirrels, I have two labs and two cats. Both creatures have discouraged the red and black squirrels that used to visit. I also cut down a tree that allowed them to jump onto the roof of my house where they were safe from the cats particularly. It's no longer safe for them to visit here - however spring could bring a different story and cause me to invest in squirrel-proof feeders.
   Thank you all for your kind words. Thanks for watching. I'll try and get some more videos over the next while. What fun this is - until the battery runs out of course - which mine just did. Hate waiting! Enjoy your day, I will while I wait to try this again.

Our Christmas bird count

At the point of trying to take some sort of photo ending with this blurry photo of a kestrel, it was  nearing noon and the sky around us was blue. But when I looked out the door at 6 a.m. letting the dogs out first thing, the snow was blowing, winds high and the cold didn't creep in around my ankles, it rushed in and froze my toes immediately.

It was a terrible start to the day. The dogs waited impatiently while I cleaned the car off, not quite shivering, they are afterall Labs with lots of padding. Then we walked the pasture - the snow was determined to wet my feet and fell inside my boots - in spots it was over a foot deep, and blowing across the pathways, the field and the roads. Not promising for a day to watch and count birds. I didn't want to be out in this.

The snow stung my cheeks as we walked and Bliss bounded -  well - blissfully - through the white mounds which both dogs love to distraction, rolling in it, snuffling for mice in it, and gulping great mouthfuls of it as if I didn't ever leave water out for them and they were dying of thirst.

Finally getting on the road, with trepidation and a phone call to my 94 year old partner in this adventure that I'd be a bit late, I drove slowly towards town to pick her up.

"What a day," I thought miserably wishing that the snow storm that had been promised had held off for at least one more day.

However when we were both comfortably ensconced in the car, we decided that we would continue as we normally did. Dorothy and I have been doing the Christmas bird count for probably nine years now and so we headed for a village between the town and where I live, to see what the roads were like.

Dorothy had already received a phone call telling her we should not attempt to reach a couple of birders who have feeders in the back country - roads were too poorly tended. So we had a few birds to report at least. Add to that, the collection of finches, jays and sparrows that habituate my home and devour any and all seed - and suet. They had surprised me by showing up when it began to get light, hungry and obviously intent on breakfast.

Ultimately I turned onto a side road with some nervousness. The road leads up a hill, it was white with snow. We crept up beside a dairy barn, the cows were outside eating their hay already. Not a sign of a pigeon, or rock dove as they are still sometimes called... often we get at least four or five here. The farmer's tractor lights were flashing as he ploughed out the lane beside the barn. On we went up the hill, clearly disappointed and beginning to think the day would be a bust.

The car tracked like a panther up the hill. Why had I worried I wondered.

And so it went.

Our first stop was a home about 200 yards off the road, and fortunately the owner had been busy dragging a log behind his truck, ploughing the road. I followed him up to his home. He had not seen any birds that morning he claimed and went back to dragging the log. I manoevred the car into a good position to watch his feeder... and what a treat! From no birds to a bunch of chickadees, American Tree Sparrows, a tiny goldfinch and a purple finch. We were delighted.

After several more passes with the log, the owner got out and we said farewell, moving along the amazingly well packed drive with ease.

It continued to snow and blow, but in some parts of the 90 something kilometres we covered yesterday, it appeared to be letting up. Finally a bit of sun gleamed through the heavy cloud cover.

It was a very successful day. We laughed a lot, we saw lots of birds - some we'd not seen on bird counts before - a mallard and a goldeneye - we don't see ducks too often since we're mostly inland and the people who count along the shore get all the ducks and gulls. By the time I'd gone home, been greeted by the two ravens who live around here and always make sure to fly over and call out if they see me and the dogs outside, it was sunny and lovely.

When we gathered later to compare notes and complete the count, we found many had had a very difficult time, with snow blowing straight off the water into their faces, unable to see, let alone count, but they too as the day progressed, enjoyed the day and the challenges. Finally we were about in the middle of the pack in terms of what we'd seen, about 44 species, we had a high number of goldfinches for the year, and a new species to add to the count - a harlequin duck.

The snow blanketing the trees, grasses, roads and everything made it a pretty day - and though it was cold, we all were safe and happy to have completed another Christmas bird count.

Participating in this kind of activity always gives me a sense of community and of being part of something much larger than just this small area in which I live - bird watching the world over is the "hobby" that is growing faster than any other. And as we count birds and recognize the dwindling numbers in most species over the years not only here but globally as well, we re-commit to helping mitigate climate change.

Hopefully you have had or are having a similarly neat experience that ends happily and satisfactorily and are looking forward to a healthy happy year in 2012.