Northern Cardinal- Orillia, ON

first year Cooper’s Hawk - Orillia, ON

Meanwhile, birding continues throughout the winter here in Orillia, far away from Costa Rica.  It has been a very unusual winter for most Canadians with dramatic swings in temperature but I have my usual visitors at my feeders including Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, Purple Finches, American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers.  The unusual part of feeding this winter is the daily sightings of American Robins and the hordes of European Starlings that are quickly emptying my hopper feeders, methinks it’s time for a new seed formula.  The other unusual activity are the American Crows.  They have never bothered with the feeders before but yet they are actively choosing peanuts out of the mix pushing all the other seed out of the way to get at them.


Other regular visitors to bird feeders also include opportunists such as the Cooper’s Hawk.  We have often only seeing a fleeting glimpses of the predator or a victims feathers laying on the snow.  Is it a bad thing to be glad it’s around to control the European Starlings?  But I digress, the great thing is that I was finally in position to get the shot.  We were watching the normal feeder activity and when the Cooper’s Hawk arrived and every living creature scattered.  The Cooper’s made one more pass and landed on our hedge and for once, I had the camera in my hand and the right settings.  Thanks to my friend, Bob Bowles, for the identification assist.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dark-eyed Junco - Orillia, ON

In next weeks post, we will return to Costa Rica.  Here is a teaser photo of a 3-toed Sloth with a close-up on its face.  His eyes are directly behind the nose above the mouth.