365…091

I’ve been lax about writing. The “a painting a day, a photo a day and a writing a day” seems to have changed to “a painting and a photo a day” but that’s it…no writing. I haven’t updated my blog in almost two weeks. The longer I’m away, the harder it is to catch up. I might just skip and start over, fill-in the blanks later… we’ll see.

For today, it’s been a sunny but cold day. Sun shine all day! Beautiful, warm sun shining in the window. But windy and cold. So many birds visiting and chirping and singing. A cacophony of bird songs! Today is my last day for the bird feeder watch program. (It officially ends Apr 5.) It’s like the birds were aware and made a last-ditch effort to show up to be counted. I had so many varieties and it was awesome!

The robins arrived a couple of days ago (March 29 was my first sighting) and my lovely yellow friends – golden finch – came back today. We’ve had one that stayed all winter which is odd as we usually have swarms of them. This year, however, the redpolls took over the feeder. I counted more than 60 at one time! Evening grosbeaks were a welcome sight after a long absence of many, many years. I don’t recall seeing one before but apparently my grandmother used to have them at her feeder, next door to my current home. This winter, they were in a group of 14 and usually popped in for a visit on snowy days.

My absolutely favourite bird would have to be the robin, mostly for its beautiful singing at dusk. I miss that song during the winter months. And the song I most look forward to each spring would have to be the red-winged black bird. When I hear that song, I know Easter is just around the corner, as well as melting snow…perhaps chocolate and maple syrup too. 😉

Last summer I saw several “new to the area” birds which I hope to see again. Namely two Northern Flickers, a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, and a Brown Thrasher.

Today’s photo of the day is another bird I enjoy seeing but has been shy of late, Mr. Bluejay.