Whiskey Jack on the meadow ~ a post from David

The Canada Jay lives here all year round, and like the Raven, Pine Siskin, Chickadees and Juncos, his cheery company can be counted on even in the coldest weather. At this time of year he is busy stashing food ...in spruce trees mostly from what we have observed. Larger spruce have naturally peeling bark that provides shingled crevices, perfect places to protect and hide the stash.

They eat and stash a wide variety of food ... meat, eggs, insects, fruit, sunflower seeds, suet, (left over turkey chopped fine saturated with bacon fat ...) and etc. We have to wait till the bears hibernate before we put suet or bacon fat in our feeders or we will have unwelcome guests ...

Grey Jays are adaptive and intelligent, naturally curious and friendly. A bit of patience will get one feeding from your hand and coming back daily for more. They do have natural predators and so they are very alert, keeping one eye on the sky. Most hawks eventually migrate, so the winter skies are much safer.

Their vocabulary varies from chatter to whistles, and they can imitate other birds. They are territorial and monogamous, and yes they do find a new mate if an accident befalls their partner. They nest in April, which is a cold and barren time of year here, so they depend on this food stash to feed their fledglings.

All offspring from the current year except the dominant male are pushed out of the territory before winter, and the remaining young male joins Mom and Dad for a year till he matures, helping feed the young by retrieving caches. He eventually pairs with a female pushed out of another territory and the gene pool is protected.

The name "Whiskey Jack" is the oldest name we have for this widespread North American bird. It is a derivative of the Cree and Inuit ...Wee-sah-ka-shat (many spellings). Wee-sha-ka-shat, along with the beaver, otter and muskrat, is responsible for the order of things.

The Canada Jay or Grey Jay by modern definition....


well feathered everywhere, this bird is equipped to handle forty below ....


Sometimes called Camp Robber, the Canada Jay is omnivorous and an opportunist.


He is curious and interactive and will come to your voice.


His rounded tail and wings provide a silent and stealthy flight despite his steady wingbeats ...


He keeps one eye on the sky watching for hawks or the shrike.


He can carry a tremendous amount of booty away from the feeders, reminding me of a chipmunk as he stuffs his crop.


That tail acts as a flag to signal when the mouth is too full to talk.... lol.


The winter would be a lot quieter and less cheery without this little bird. They are such good company.

by David Finch

Hummingbird Arrival

Our newest arrival.  Sunday afternoon; our first hummingbird of the season made his appearance. Very exciting.  By late May and into early September we enjoy well over a hundred hummingbirds at our feeders on a daily basis! It’s absolutely magical.

David is incredibly in tune with our wild birds ~ he observes, listens and communicates with them.  Somehow, he knew it was time! I was sure we wouldn’t see a hummer for a few weeks yet, but David insisted on hanging a feeder about 4 days ago and sure enough, on Sunday afternoon ~ our first hummer arrived!!

Here’s our Sunday arrival on the tree outside our kitchen door that we sometimes refer to as our Christmas Tree because it’s a bird magnet.  During these next few months it’s almost always completely decorated with hummingbirds and other wee birdlets.

For all you fellow bird lovers; May 9th is 'Global Big Day' under the wing (haha) of Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology.  Go birding wherever you are, for any length of time on May 9 and enter your lists in ebird. Here's a link to the Global Big Day 2015 site.   

Their primary goal is fundraising for their excellent work with birds, but May 9th is about finding as many species as possible for the Global Big Day tally and to have a worldwide show of support for the birds! I hope you enjoy your birds wherever you are and if you have some time on the ninth of May ~ please count and record any that you see.

The tail end of March on the Meadow

"Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then––open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away."

 By Mary Oliver from her Poem "Such Singing in the Wild Branches"

 

We are so enjoying this crazy beautiful wild time of year!  Warm spring days followed by overnight snowfalls that melt in the sun by noon.  Half of the walk around our meadow is stuck in winter, half is full-on spring and makes a glorious stroll. 

 

 

We've had some tremendous March winds the past few weeks so there are trees down here and there that must be dealt with. Some we leave where they lie to offer habitat for critters and to build the soil. Trees that have fallen across our trails will go to our mill yard to turn into floors or counter tops or bookshelves in the addition we're building.

 

The beavers in our beaver pond are up and about and busy.  The ducks and geese and blackbirds are back, the yellow legs and robins, and a small contingent of swallows have arrived.
Life is good and we are well and truly blessed! 

If you might enjoy more regular updates and there will be lots now that spring has sprung; you may want to follow us on Facebook. 
Thanks for dropping by!

Catkins, open water and early signs of spring...

Ah, the awakening of our 48 acres after her winter sleep. 

The mornings are still cold and hard edged. Fat little catkins gather on the willows and the creek ice has begun to melt.  

I have a little hopscotch of photos to share from my morning walk.  
Thanks for coming along.

Here's to a magical day!!

Still Winter

You've likely seen some of these fantastic images of snowflakes.
They've made the rounds of the interweb, and for good reason.
They are breathtaking.
Alexey Kljatov is the photographer and he freely shares his process.
http://chaoticmind75.blogspot.ca/
Beautiful work!

Less well known is the pioneer of snowflake photography Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer; the first to successfully photograph a snowflake. His methods later became known as photomicography. Bentley, aka the Snowflake Man, became famous for photographing more than 5,000 jewel-like snowflakes on his Vermont farm in the late 1800's. http://goo.gl/25UFSI


And so here I am on the 5th of February pondering the beauty of snowflakes, while our neighbours to the south are entertaining daffodils. It's still very much winter here on our 48 Acres. And when the sun comes out ... it's a sparkling white wonderland. Join me on a little walkabout if it's not too chilly for you and lets ponder the piles of snow. Made up of zillions of these.