Sept 28 & 29 / the arts

On the 28th I didn't spend time birdwatching, I was out much of the day at Doors Open & Culture Days, seeing various arts and culture venues in the city. 

The 29th was a lovely sunny day, but I seem to be fighting a cold and chose to rest.

Common birds (29th): house sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker

the brown creeper / September 27

Sat outside enjoying the weather for a while.  It's fall, and feels like it, but still warm and sunny. 

Common birds: house sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, downy woodpecker, starling, blue jay, goldfinch

Fall visitors: yellow-bellied sapsucker, brown creeper

Overhead: gull

September 26 / the food

Saw fewer things today, though I also spent less time outdoors looking.  I was busy with family and friends.  This did include bringing in some more beets, some carrots, and even  a few brussels sprouts from the garden, which became part of dinner.  My potato plant has grown a lot, and I checked the base for signs of potato the other day, and found one!  I decided they could use some more time so I left it alone.  The kitchen is well stocked with tomatoes, too. 

Common birds: house sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, chickadee, robin, cardinal (pair), starling

Fall visitors: yellow-bellied sapsucker

Overhead: red-tailed hawk

the sapsucker Pt. 2 / September 25

I can't tag/label all of the birds in one post due to character restrictions! 

the sapsucker / September 25

Well the birds kept me busy today.  I've found that over the past few days, the late morning/lunchtime is the time I see the most activity in the garden.  It also seems the fall migration is underway, based on the variety of bird life. 

The flycatcher is still confusing.  I think it's the eastern phoebe, but it's hard to get a great look.  I did see whatever it is today.

I also had other surprises - one being the presence of one or more yellow bellied sapsuckers, actually in my neighbour's big trees, but visible from my garden.  The other was the little red-breasted nuthatch, which is not uncommon, but I was standing under 3 feet away from the suet feeder, when the nuthatch came to eat.  Although the nuthatch never sits still for long, it was there longer than I expected, I just stood still and watched.

There were a couple of hawks, they seemed small, but they may just have been high up.  It wasn't the kestrel, as that had sharp wings, so probably the red-tailed we often see here. 

Common birds:  house sparrow, cardinal (male), blue jay, grackle, starling, chickadee, robin, goldfinch (pair), downy woodpecker, mourning dove

Fall visitors: brown creeper, nashville warbler, yellow bellied sapsucker, flicker, black throated green warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, golden-crowned kinglet, white throated sparrow, eastern phoebe (?)

Overhead: gull, Canada goose, hawk(?)

September 24 / the whatsits

No shortage of activity in the garden today.  A somewhat chilly morning turned into a sunny afternoon, with some birds that are proving a challenge.  A hawk, which may have been the usual red-tailed hawk, flew over.  A flycatcher of some sort was sitting in our viburnum, and a little warbler like bird was in the trees.  The flycatcher, I refer back to May's post, "the flycatcher debate".  Today it had its back to me.  It had a thin tail, ashy grey, light underside, slight eye ring, and I didn't see wing bars, but didn't get a great look.  The small least flycatcher has a strong white eye ring, and may be too small.  The eastern phoebe lacks wing bars, and has an all black bill.  I think this may be what I saw today.  The third possibility is the eastern pewee, which is similar, but has wing bars, and a yellowish lower bill.  The warbler was smooth taupey grey, with a light buff underside, white and black wing bars, and white and black stripes on its head.  I can't find anything that matches.  It could be a first-year, or non-breeding bird, which sometimes have different plumage.  At first, I thought it was a golden crowned kinglet, but that doesn't fit, nor does a worm-eating warbler, which lacks wing bars. 

Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay, grackle, starling, chickadee, downy woodpecker (male), cardinal (male), mourning dove, red-breasted nuthatch

Fall visitors: eastern phoebe (?), warbler (?)

Overhead: gull, hawk(?)

the flicker / September 23

Yesterday I was out all day and didn't really see much bird activity.  Today, the first day of autumn, a different story.  I was home, and around lunchtime saw quite a few birds, including a robin, which I haven't seen for a while.  I was starting to wonder if they'd already left.  There were several (3-4) hawks flying overhead, and a small bird of prey with a thin tail and sharp wings, which I think was an American kestrel.  It was flying overhead as well, and very fast. 

I saw a nashville warbler, and a warbler I'm not entirely sure about - it was either a magnolia, or a Canada warbler, and I think magnolia is more likely, but although I saw it twice, it was moving around too much for a good look.  There was also another little bird, which may have been the nashville again, or may have been something else.  I only saw the head (olive) and chest (yellow), no distinct eye markings. 

Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay, cardinal (male), chickadee, robin, downy woodpecker (female)

Fall visitors: nashville warbler, common flicker, magnolia warbler (?)

Overhead: gull, red-tailed hawk, american kestrel (?)

September 21 / the summer

It rained most of the day, but is likely to be nicer tomorrow, the last day of the summer. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair)

the kitchen / September 20

I haven't seen many birds in the past 2-3 days, but I have been keeping an eye on my tomatoes, which are ripening steadily now.  I have been picking both the Brandywine and Mountain Glory for a while, most of the cherry tomatoes (Sweet 100 and Tiny Tim) are done.  There are a good number of tomatoes on the kitchen counter. 

Sept. 20 Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay

Sept. 18-19 Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay, chickadee, cardinal (pair)

September 1-17 / the rest

I haven't been updating.  I hope to get back into the swing of it, starting with this summary of what has been around recently.  Daily updates for the first half of September aren't happening, I haven't kept track closely, and I may forget about some, but I have seen a few interesting things recently, so here goes -

Note: some have been seen several times, some not as much, and I am not attempting to count how many times for each.

I saw a nashville warbler a few days ago, and have seen two I haven't got a solid ID for.  First, a few days ago, a little bird I am assuming is a warbler of some kind, with a grey head, olive back, no eye bar, cream underside, with sunny yellow flanks (sides), and a light coloured noticeable wing bar.  Today, a small bird, yellow chest, olive face & back, two light wing bars with dark in between. 

Common birds (Sept. 1-17): house sparrow, goldfinch, cardinal (pair), blue jay, chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, ruby-throated hummingbird, mourning dove

Overhead: gull, red-tailed hawk

Summer visitors: nashville warbler

Uncertain: yellow throated vireo?, warbler?

the pickings / August 31

I brought in the first dozen or so (actually, 11 I think) of my beets from the garden.  There are more, but as some were planted later, they need to grow some more. 

Common birds: house sparrow, grackle, mourning dove, chickadee

Heard: blue jay