More birds returning as spring progresses

I've been enjoying watching the birds for the past couple of weeks as more species return after their long migrations.  This spring in particular, I've had a lot of purple finches at the feeder.  I have had them on occasion in the past, but never quite so many.  Last week I had a day with 8 of them at the feeders at once.  The male purple finches are such cheerfully coloured birds and I do enjoy watching them.  I took a lot of pictures - here are some of the better ones.

Keeping an eye out for danger.

The flock at the feeder. 

Hey lady, are you looking at me?

I've also had more pine siskins this year, including some during the winter.  I love the flash of yellow on their wings.  Here are a group of them at the feeder.

Here's a pine siskin enjoying a sip from the bird bath.

The robins have returned and I do hope that they will build a nest in the area.  I've had a pair build a nest under my eaves for the past 2 years, but I haven't seen any nest building activity yet.  Here's a watchful male robin who could probably see me taking pictures of him through my home office window.

I see you!

The white-throated sparrows are also showing up now - I love their song and their lovely little golden head spots.

I think he saw me too!

I didn't see as many pheasants as usual this past winter, but I did see this female earlier this week.  They are so good at camouflage.

Finally, I have a tailless song sparrow that has been visiting regularly.  No doubt it was nearly caught by a predator - perhaps a cat or a larger bird of prey.  Its lack of tail doesn't seem to hamper it though.  It flies with no trouble at all. 

I think I'll name him "Stubby!"

So lovely to have spring finally appear with a greater variety of birds in my yard!

Weekend Roundup: Q and R

I missed the weekend roundup last week, so I'm doing 2 letters this week - Q and R.  The prompts for Q from Tom the Backroads Traveller are: Starts with Q, Favourite, and Quiet, and the prompts for R are Starts with R, Red, and Favourite.

Starts with Q:
I'm feeling woefully inadequate for Q this time around.  Here is a picture of a pair of American Wigeons taken last month at the local waterfowl park.  American Wigeons are ducks.  Ducks say "quack" which begins with Q.  (see....really not very inspired).

Quiet:

Here is a quiet bunny.

Did you know that rabbits actually do make noises?  Most people think that rabbits are entirely quiet, but this is not true.  They make a range of noises, but many of them are soft noises that you wouldn't normally hear.  An annoyed rabbit makes a soft growl or grunt noise.  Sometimes Pippin does this when I pick him up and he doesn't want to be picked up.  Sometimes it's also accompanied by kicking feet.  Happy rabbits sometimes grind their teeth a bit (just gently - serious grinding is a sign of pain).  The grinding can make a soft noise almost like purring.  

In cases of extreme distress or pain, rabbits can actually scream.  This is a horrible noise and one that I never want to hear again.  I heard it once, and it was unforgettably bad.  

Starts with R:
This week, the helpful local carpenter (who built my little barn and chicken coop last year) was able to build and install six raised beds for me in my backyard.  I am really excited about this because it means that I will be able to grow some veggies of my own this year.  Raised beds are great because they tend to have fewer weeds and are easy to fill with ideal soil blends.  I will be filling these with some of my own compost as well as some compost from the farm where the carpenter lives.  As you can see, they are positioned near the chicken coop.  In the fall, when the beds are needing to be cleared out, I will make a portable raised bed frame so the chickens can forage in a bed for a day, without being taken by hawks.

The carpenter and his team carried the beds from their pickup trucks into my yard.  The beds are made with extremely thick rough-cut lumber.  They are lined with poly to help them last, but given the thickness of the wood, they will last a looooong time!

Then they positioned them all as I had requested.  This arrangement takes best advantage of the sun that I get in the yard (which is limited due to all the trees). I took this picture from the balcony off my bedroom to show the arrangement with the trees.  This is facing mostly east, but slightly south.  I put some cardboard in the bottoms of them to prevent weeds growing up, although they are 24 inches deep, so they probably won't have a problem with that.

They are constructed with a ledge around the top edge that I can easily sit or lean on for comfort while gardening. He even rounded the corners so I would not hurt my knees while walking around the beds.  It is great to have good help!  He is coming next week to help me fill them.

Red:
Last week I was able to photograph a pileated woodpecker.  It is the largest species of woodpecker we have in this area, and it has a bright red crest.  The male (seen below) also has a red "moustache" along the side of his face.

Favourites:

Here are a couple of favourites from the last couple of weeks.

A mourning dove on a wood stump in my yard having her fill of seeds.

A purple finch on a branch in the yard.  The favourite aspect of this picture is that the buds are swelling and getting ready to break.  I am so very ready for green!

Friday's Hunt v 2.18

It's time for Friday's Hunt again!  I have a lot to blog about, but so little time due to work contracts these days.  Really hoping to get back to more regular posts soon, rather than just once a week.  As usual, for Friday's Hunt, we have 3 prompts from Teresa at Eden Hills:  Starts with R, Week's Favourite, and Black or Orange.

Starts with R
I was lucky enough to have a final rose open in the garden this week.  The garden is mostly over, and frost has already taken many of the tender plants.  The hardy roses are hanging in there, but I am sure this will be the last bloom.

Bonus "R" item is red berries, which are also still hanging on in my woodland areas.

Week's Favourite
My favourite picture this week was this purple finch, who was picking up seeds under the bird feeder. I didn't see many finches this summer, but I'm glad to see them now!

Black
This week we finally gave in, and started heating the house.  I think it was pretty stoic of us to get to the end of October with no heat, given the fact that we are having regular frosts at night these days. This new home we have is heated with a wood stove, which is located in the basement.  Neither of us have a great deal of experience with wood heat, but we are learning quickly.  The wood stove, as you can see, is black.

It's an unusual stove design, invented in Canada, but now owned by a US-based company.  You can see the website here:  http://www.sedoreusa.com/  It is an extremely efficient stove that burns from the bottom, and you load it from the top.  Due to the design, smoke doesn't pour out when you open the top door.  It's quite different from other stoves, but we are impressed with its performance.

The stove accommodates wood, wood pellets, corn stalks, or other biofuels.  It's very versatile.  It is doing a very good job at heating the house, which it does by a passive heat design - there are no blowers - just open ducts and a heat recovery system.