November 24 / the goals

Watched an EPL soccer match this morning, 6-0 score!

Common birds: chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow

Fall visitors: junco

the doctor / November 23

Day of the Doctor!

Common birds: house sparrow, downy woodpecker (female), cardinal (pair)

Fall visitors: junco

November 22 / the groceries

Errand running today.


Common birds: starling, downy woodpecker

the buddies / November 21

Visited my sister, niece and their dog this afternoon.

Common birds: cardinal (male), house sparrow

Fall visitors: junco

November 20 / wrap-up pt. 2

Mum continued sorting out the garden, I got quite a bit of sewing done. 

Common birds: blue jay, house sparrow, downy woodpecker, chickadee

Fall visitors: junco

the sortout / November 19

Have been sorting through my stores of paper scraps - scrapbooking, card making, collage, etc.  Tossed some of it, organized other parts, and going to make some cards from other bits. 

Common birds: house sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch, cardinal (pair), downy woodpecker, starling

Fall visitors: junco

November 18 / the wrap-up

Spent much of the day outside with my mum, getting the garden ready for winter. 

Common birds: house sparrow, chickadee

Fall visitors: junco

the observer / November 17

Saw the hawk today!  He, she or it likes that tree - it can see well from up there. 

Common birds: house sparrow, red-tailed hawk

Fall visitors: junco

November 16 / the Santa

Went shopping for some sewing supplies today.  Also watched the Oakville Santa Claus parade.  Was out most of the day, so not watching my own yard, but did see a number of Canada geese.

Common birds: Canada geese

the half / November 15

Halfway through November already. 

Common birds: house sparrow, blue jay, chickadee

Fall visitors: junco

November 14 / the ID

A few of the usual birds, lots of sparrows at the feeder.  Also, a great view of a small bird of prey in the tall tree, where they seem to like to perch - great view for hunting I imagine!  I have mentioned seeing a small bird of prey a couple of times in the past few weeks, and have called it the American kestrel.  Whatever I have seen before, which may well have been a kestrel, I am quite sure that today's was not a kestrel.  Rather, I think it was a merlin.  It was dark brown, light under the chin, yellow legs, heavily streaked breast, and distinctly barred tail (underside), smooth and pointed wings, and a quick flyer. 

It could, maybe, have been a young peregrine falcon, but I doubt that, they are a few inches bigger than the merlin (though sizes do overlap), and rare, and the streaking pattern is different, based on pictures I've compared.  

I dismissed the merlin as a likely ID for what I saw previously because it is an 'occasional' in this region, the kestrel's range fits well.

Common birds: house sparrow, mourning dove, cardinal (pair)

Fall visitors: junco, merlin (??)

the raking / November 13

I raked a lot of leaves from the backyard today.  There were quite a few birds, including a lot of starlings. 

Common birds: house sparrow, chickadee, mourning dove, robin, house finch (male), cardinal (pair), downy woodpecker (male), starling

Fall visitors: junco

November 12 / the approach

It's clear that winter is coming, like it or not.  On an unrelated note, there was a cat in the garden today, sitting right underneath the bird feeder, in plain sight.  It seemed to be hoping one of the birds would fly into its mouth. 

Common birds: cardinal (male), house sparrow, blue jay, mourning dove

Fall visitors: junco

the 11th day / November 11

Lest we forget.

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (male), blue jay, mourning dove

Fall visitors: junco

Overhead: gull

November 10 / the Sunday

A quiet day in. 

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (male)

Fall visitors: junco

the movie / November 9

Saw a film of the opera Aida this afternoon.

Common birds: house sparrow, chickadee

Fall visitors: junco

November 8 / the shop

Went to the bookstore yesterday, holiday shopping has begun.

Common birds: house sparrow, robin

Fall visitors: junco

the workshop / November 7

Went downtown this evening to a workshop (arts related).  Saw a bird, I think a hawk or falcon, but it was getting dark and hard to know what it was exactly. It was in a small treetop, seen from the car.  It wasn't a red-tailed hawk, too small. 

Common birds: house sparrow, red-breasted nuthatch, cardinal (female)

Fall visitors: junco

Unidentified: bird of prey (small hawk/falcon??)

the chop / November 6

Got my haircut!  Much overdue.

Common birds: chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow, starling, blue jay, mourning dove, cardinal (female)

Fall visitors: junco

November 5 / the fifth

Guy Fawkes night (UK)!

Common birds: chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow, cardinal (male)

Fall visitors: junco

the habit / November 4

I was looking out the window at the right moment today as the hawk landed on top of the tall tree.  It's nice to see it there often, there was quite a while were we didn't see it up there. 

Common birds: starling, house sparrow, blue jay, cardinal (pair), robin, red-tailed hawk

Fall visitors: junco

November 3 / the time

The clocks went back an hour overnight, and the extra hour sleep is nice, though it also now feels later at night than it is.

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

Fall visitors: junco

the symphony / November 2

Great evening out!

Common birds: house sparrow, cardinal (pair), robin, chickadee

Fall visitors: junco

November 1 / the tea

It's November?!

Common birds: chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow

Fall visitors: junco