Bohemian Wax Wing Day

Out and about today, I came across a big flock of Bohemian Wax Wings. It was windy and cold (-11C or+12F) and these little guys were fluffed up.

 Some of them were huddled up.

 Others were hanging out in the tree tops.

More snow is forecast today. Hope they are wrong!

Around the Feeder

As the snow starts to come, there are more and more birds taking advantage of the free meals.

 At last count there are 6 Blue Jays coming in about 3 times a day.

 They are cute but rather aggressive towards the other birds. Everybody does manage to sort things out over time.

 Their table manners leave much to be desired. Grab and gulp!

 For some reason, there are still lots of ornamental crabs on the trees. Normally they would all be eaten by now.

 I am not sure what this guy is. At first, I thought it was a House Finch, then a Common Red Poll, but the colours don't quite add up. Hopefully he will be back and I can get a better photo.

 The House Sparrow is a regular visitor and generally arrives by the dozen (s). as you can see, we have been visited by snow. Fortunately, most has melted, but we are getting closer to permanent cover.

 The Bohemian Waxwings are bunching up ready to migrate. I saw flocks of up to 200 going by this morning.

 They are very excited and skittish  , getting ready for the migration. There were about 20 by the feeder, but I couldn't get a shot.

As you can see, this is not a very good shot of a coyote. The light and distance were not good, however, I know where he is hanging out.

The House Sparrow

The sparrows have found the bird feeder so I imagine that shortly I will be over run with them. As they are so common, I never really looked closely at them before. I was amazed at the detail which you don't normally see.

 For some reason, there are about 20 that are in love with the bird houses. They are trying to get in but the hole size is for tree swallows and these are just too round to get in.

 Is this desire to "nest" at this time a sign of a super cold winter or? I do not plan to enlarge the holes since the Tree swallows are much more desirable.

 Nope, no matter how hard you try, you are too circumferentially challenged to fit in!

 The stink eye will not work either. No bigger hole!

The Bohemian Wax Wings are still hanging around, but don't appear to be interested in the feeder, yet.

I knew that the House Sparrow was introduced to North America, but did not realize it was in the 1850's  in Brooklyn, and reached Alberta in 1898. (Birds of Alberta..Chris Fisher, John Acorn)