Notes From a NW Ont. Backyard – Oct. 2015

Hello, again!  Another month gone and now, winter is right around the corner.  We had our first official dusting of snow on October 16th.  Crazy how fast time goes and it’s funny:  it seemed to CRAWL by when I was a kid!

Anyway, I don’t really mind the approach of winter because it means Project FeederWatch is coming up and with that, the webcam in my backyard will go live worldwide for another season!  As some of you may know, I have a webcam in my yard on loan indefinitely from Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that’s aimed at my feeders.  It’s only online for the Project FeederWatch season, roughly from late October to about mid April. Through it, you can view all the birds that visit my feeders all winter long including Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Common & Hoary Redpolls, Gray Jays, Blue Jays, Hairy & Downy Woodpeckers, etc.  Here are a few recent snapshots taken through the webcam since it’s not online yet:

A couple of Sparrow species are still around but they have been in pretty low numbers this fall, for some reason.  Most of the White Throated, Savannah and White Crowned Sparrows have moved on but right now, I still have Song and American Tree Sparrows. I’m always hoping to see a Fox, Harris’s or Lincoln’s Sparrow during migration but so far, no luck this season.

This past week, I was lucky enough to spot a big flock of Lapland Longspurs in a parking lot … I’ve only ever seen them in spring before.  No photos unfortunately.  I also don’t have photos of the flocks of Snow Buntings I’ve seen around here lately.  I’m hoping that throughout the season, a few will show up in my yard.  Robins are moving through in good numbers.  I had 2 in my yard yesterday but I’ve seen a dozen at a time in various neighbourhoods around town.  American Pipits are still here but their numbers are dwindling as they move on.

I’m not seeing the Warblers this fall that I saw last fall.  I was seeing them earlier in September but then sightings slowed right down.

Some other sightings in recent weeks (along with another Bald Eagle soaring over my neighbourhood) include:

By the time I post again next month, Project FeederWatch will be in full swing and with any luck, the webcam will be up and running without any glitches this year.  In the meantime, I hope all of our Canadian readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week.

Until next month, thanks for reading!

Tammie in Manitouwadge, ON