hairy woodpecker – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

It’s been a great week for birds around the neighbourhood, especially yesterday, when I managed to capture photos of 5 different species in one morning walk (plus 3 different bunnies).

Wishing everyone a wonderful week 🙂

20160417_What I've seen this week-5 — I actually saw a pair of flickers yesterday, and while they conveniently perched together in a tree, I didn’t manage to get any shots of the two together worth sharing, as they were so high up, and I didn’t have to big lens. This one was working hard tapping at this dead tree; I heard it long before I saw it.

20160417_What I've seen this week — A hairy woodpecker pauses from pecking between the tree branches early yesterday morning.

20160417_What I've seen this week-4 — A sure sign of spring are the robins singing from the treetops every morning. I caught this one searching for worms on the roadside.

20160417_What I've seen this week-2 — Earlier this week, I saw frantic activity below a large pine tree; I snapped loads of photos just so I could try to identify the birds. This was the best that I managed, but I include it here as it was a new species for me, a white winged crossbill.

20160417_What I've seen this week-10 — The juncos are back in town, but generally don’t visit the feeder; they are part of the clean up crew that keeps that area beneath the feeder tidy (thanks guys!).

20160417_What I've seen this week-3 — The pileated woodpecker was tapping away at the top of this pole, making quite the racket.

20160417_What I've seen this week-6 — One of the 3 bunnies I saw yesterday; this one was right next to my driveway at the end of our walk. Luckily, Spencer only barks at them about 1 in 10 times that he sees them. Mostly he just patiently waits for me to finish taking a photograph.

20160417_What I've seen this week-9 — I’ve been hearing the ruffed grouse drumming for some time now, but this was the first time I’ve seen one this year. This beauty hung around under the bird feeder, cleaning up fallen sunflower seeds.

20160417_What I've seen this week-7 — I was happy I was able to quietly sneak outside and get a few photos (I was hiding behind the garden hose reel so I didn’t disturb the grouse browsing).

20160417_What I've seen this week-8 — Sunflower seed success.

Last Sunday brought clear skies and a showing of the aurora; unfortunately I knew I would be really busy Monday morning, and decided to just hang around the yard and snap a few photos. I did see a few glimpses, but I’m sure if I would have headed for an area with fewer tall trees, the view would have been outstanding.

I spent a bit of time outside today watching, and photographing, the redpolls. I don’t think they will be here for much longer, but I know their absence will be filled with other birds heading back after wintering further south.

Signs of spring are all over the place; tree branches in bud, and more visible ground than snow, though yesterday we had quite the afternoon storm with driving wind, hail and a bit of snow. My attempts to photograph the near sideways hail left me flat.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week; here are the photos.

20160313_What I've seen this week-3 — Aurora glow and a satellite passing by.

20160313_What I've seen this week-2 — The house, garage and forest getting in the way of a clear shot!

20160313_What I've seen this week-5 — The hairy woodpecker stopped by one morning for some suet and to browse the trees in the back yard.

20160313_What I've seen this week-4

20160313_What I've seen this week-7 — The lovely redpolls. I will be sad to see them leave, they are very spirited and chirpy in the yard.

20160313_What I've seen this week-6

Tag: hairy woodpecker

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