Early Morning Junko Sighting on PEI!

Spring is coming, even though we still have three feet of undrifted snow in the front yard!  It's hard to wait for spring this long when my friends in Washington, D.C. are enjoying cherry blossoms in full bloom this week.  Spring birds are returning to the Island.  I'm watching a junko and a siskin at the bird feeder.  We had a suet cage until yesterday, and now it's nowhere to be seen.  We think a crow may have made off with it when no one was looking--maybe we'll find it in the woods when the snow is melted!

Spring Birds!

Bonni and Sharon Sighted Siskins in Lowell and PEI (early April, 2015).


Sharon also saw:

A hawk near her home in Crapaud, PEI:

 

and some Canada Geese near the Tryon River on the south shore of PEI:

More Bird Sightings from Our Members

Suzy Szablak recently spotted a screech owl in the Lowell area, and several weeks ago, Barbara and Paul Copley spotted a Merlin hawk.  Here in Prince Edward Island, I've seen several bald eagles and hawks, but could never get close enough to the hawks to see them clearly.  Crows and seagulls are everywhere, as usual.  With all the snow we've been having, it will be very nice to see the return of the songbirds in the spring!

 Merlin Hawks

Screech owl

This is the list so far of bird sightings that our members have submitted from Texas to Prince Edward Island, Canada:

2014-2015 Curbs & Cobblestones Garden Club Bird Sightings “Big Year” to date: [ September 2014 to January 2015

Member B- Northeast : Great Blue Heron, Mourning dove, white breasted nuthatches, blue jay, female and male northern cardinals, black capped chickadee, female purple finch, crow, grackle, tufted titmouse, male and female house sparrows, American tree sparrow, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker. Red-belied woodpecker, starling, brown creeper. A gaggle (8) Wild Turkeys,

Member P- Northeast : Red-tail hawk (soaring), rock pigeon, herring gull.

Member L/C- Northeast : humming birds, eastern bluebird

Member E- Southeast Atlantic :Turkey Vulture, Red Shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Swainson’s Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-Rumpled Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Brown-Headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch

Member B/P- Northeast : Gaggle of Canadian Geese, mallards, herring gull, Merlin Hawk

Member A/S- Canadian Providences: Great Blue Heron, chickadees, crows, herring gulls spotted yesterday, Canada geese and mallards earlier this month near Summerside, PEI, a morning dove and a bald eagle spotted yesterday near Crapaud PEI.

A Couple More PEI Bird SIghtings

This week, on January 7, I saw a red-breasted nuthatch while walking down the driveway in Crapaud, PEI, Canada, and yesterday, January 9, a bald eagle was circling the trees in the backyard.  It snowed quite a bit yesterday and it's beautiful outside, though very cold.  Still, the day after a snow storm is always beautiful, even if we enjoy it from the inside.

Bird Sightings

Cathy Doucette of our Garden Club has been busy recording new bird sightings.  Here they are:

Chickadee, 11/21/14 in a pine tree outside her apartment;  swans, 11/30 in a Norwood bog; house wrens, 12/03/14 in a tree outside her apartment; Canada geese, 12/05/14 in a pond in Foxborough, MA. 


Sharon Sawyer saw a ruffed grouse in a tree on her road in Crapaud, PEI, 12/20/14; a saker falcon in Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island; a bluejay in PEI, crows in PEI, Canada geese and mallards on the Wilmot River, near Summerside PEI; Plymouth Barred Rock chickens trying to cross the road in Crapaud, PEI.

As more of you send me emails with your bird sightings, I'll publish them here in the Garden Club blog.

Bird Watching Challenge: Explained!

WOW! all   It seems this bird-spotting idea is a hit!  so we have until now, ( those wild turkeys  geese, mallards and seagulls  .. don't for get them!  ha!) until next September

Can you just imagine how many birds one can spot!  I got some bird books from the library to brush up on the names, and I was amazed how many birds I have seen in my lifetime.  You'll be too.  Don't forget if you go to a zoo and see birds  that counts.. but only form 11/14 to  9/14, so Andrea and I can't use our birds of Costa Rica!  ha! 

 It is officially a GO!!!  The  Club's  "Big Year" challenge is on!  Remember you need to list the date the bird and the place seen,  and  I'd love for anyone to send me photo's   

Barbara has started us off sending a great gaggle of geese in her back yard  ( Babs, you should have printed that out photo for our contest!  it is an amazing shot!) 

Good Luck to us all!  From time to  time, I'll keep you all posted and with tips to sight birds.   

Here is the first one:  put out a suet block this winter, the woodpeckers will flock!      Bon