Spring birds

This time of year is when you see a lot of "seasonal " visitors. The Nuthatches hang around for a couple of days to weeks, depending on the weather.


Then we get the Juncoes. I haven't done a painting of them yet, but I will soon, as part of my 10" x 12" series.

Birds that are not seen in the big city are ones like the Eastern Bluebird.
This on I saw near Barrie Ontario. It used to spend the summer in a big black locust tree near my house.

The birds that stayed all winter, like the chickadees, were ever present, but birds like the goldfinches camouflaged themselves in different colours than the summertime. They were dressed in olive drab and it took me a while to realize that they were goldfinches!

The doves stayed year round too, but were less apparent in the summer as they needed to nest quietly and more secretly. I saw one get taken right off the feeder by a hawk owl one winter. The hawk owl had come down from the north during a particularly harsh period and stayed at my place for about two weeks, using it as a diner. Shopping was pretty easy with all the birds and rabbits that used to turn up there for the "eats".

Later in the summer, here in the city, we will get woodpeckers, hummingbirds and a real assortment of other visitors. The loss of one large tree on our property has been hard, that loss being one of shelter and seeds for food.