We live in a Covid zone that has been designated as RED. We are not in a lockdown just restricted. But the restriction on visitors does not apply to birds and squirrels. We are able to see many of these visitors from our kitchen eating area . This winter I have joined the Project Feeder Watch for Birds Canada. This has me watching our feeder on the weekends and noting down which birds come to the feeder and their numbers. The Feeder Watch runs until the spring. This is the first time I have taken part in this project. I have The Audubon Society’s Field Guide to North American Birds and that is my ‘go to’ reference. This past week we spotted one new visitor. I looked it up and it seems they are expanding their range farther north. I will introduce him to you farther down the page.
I love to see these birds and squirrels. I get quite attached to the squirrels. My little friend White Ears has not been around since the summer but then she reappeared! The black squirrel I call Hoppity is a bit small so he may be young and I am always happy to see him tucking in to the seeds on the ground.
This is my response to Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge #125 You Pick It. Thank you Tina for this challenge and I encourage all who are reading this to click on the link and take a look at Tina’s beautiful post and photos.
HorseAddict 
how fascinating & fun! do you send them photos too?
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Haha! No they don’t have email yet.
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Love the idea of having your camera always ready for your guests! Beautiful birds and lovely shots, Anne. Greatly admire your woodpecker – the colour and the pattern! A black squirrel? I have never seen one before. We only have red squirrels, and abroad they are usually grey. We try not to get in the grey ones here because they will drive away our ownred ones.
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In the summer we had one red squirrel that turned up a few times. They are much smaller than the black and grey ones. They are found more often farther north .
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Ah – I see!
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I love the coloration on the woodpecker. What a wonderful shot! So sorry you’re in a red zone. We are also in the same predicament. So sad. You’re making good use of your time by joining the Project Feeder Watch. I see one of your squirrels is black. When we lived in Detroit, we only saw black squirrels. I didn’t realize they were in your area, too.
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Yes we have grey and black squirrels
We also have a lot of chipmunks but we don’t see them now as they are hibernating . Thanks for commenting Patti. Stay safe and well.
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You, too, Anne.
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Great photos and captions. Great entertainment these days! Well done.
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Thank you John. It is great entertainment
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I love the blue jay’s uppity attitude shot. It’s like he’s got something to say and you’re going to listen to him, by George! So fun. Your other pictures are great too, Anne. The cover one is amazing. It must be your long lens that you can get so close.
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I use the 50-250 and have it on my desk in our kitchen. I take all these photos from the kitchen. We have an eat in kitchen so sitting at the table I can see all the birds and squirrels . Then I just grab the camera for photos. Also I crop the photos in Lightroom so that brings the view even closer. That particular photo took some waiting for however. Thanks for your comment Marsha.
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That is so handy to have it on the table. I’m amazed at the colors. We had bluebirds in CA, but nothing super colorful like some of your pictures. Also I didn’t have my camera handy to snap the “attitude” that you got from your blue jay. I checked. my lens is a Tamron 18-270mm. So it has plenty of power. I just need to use it! No excuse. Thanks for using yours and inspiring others with your great shots. 🙂
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Thank you Marsha. That is such a nice compliment. I am happy to inspire others!
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You do. 🙂
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Sounds like a fun and important project to be a part of. 😊
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It is fun and already I am amazed at the variety of birds I am seeing this winter
Thank you for your comment.
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Ooh… how lovely. Beautiful bird captures, Anne. The squirrel is so cute!
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Thank you Amy. The birds are better than watching tv😁
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I agree… 🙂
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Wonderful visitors. I hadn’t heard of that count. Participated in a Christmas bird count one year, in Texas. That was interesting.
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So much FUN!! All of the birds are beautiful! I’m so happy white ears came back and the young squirrel is so handsome (or pretty) depending on he’s a girl or boy. Haha, you all have such pretty birds visiting your feeders!! ❤️💙❤️💙❤️
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It really is fun. I think the little black squirrel is male but I’m not sure. Thanks for commenting Diana and I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
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Wonderful images Anne and such sweet visitors! The photograph of the woodpecker and chickadee together at the feeder is especially lovely! 🧡 xxx
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It was just luck to get it. The woodpecker gets a seed he likes and then flies off to a tree to eat it. Thanks for commenting !
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Lovely shots of your local wild friends, Anne! I’ve learned to appreciate my own neighborhood more this year while Covid keeps us close to home.
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Same here. These visitors to the feeder keep us entertained. And now with the Feederwatch program I am paying more attention to the birds and we get a wide selection of them.
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Terrific shots, and I love the one with the chickadee cocking its head, looking questioningly at the woodpecker.
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That capture was a serendipity! The woodpecker gets a seed he likes and then flies off to eat it in a tree.
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Love the bird photos. Thank you for sharing.
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My pleasure!
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Your crew would be quite at home here, with plenty of their fellows.
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Ah! Thanks for letting me know. Maybe some of them do visit you at a different time of year.
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more like all year, they never leave
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We have the blue jays here all year and chickadees and the junkos don’t migrate
But we see Baltimore orioles in the spring and they have come from the south.
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Lovely photos of your vistiors. I have never seen such a dark squirrel, is that usual in Canadian squirrels?
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Yes we have grey and black and farther north smaller red squirrels. Glad you liked meeting them.
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We just have grey ones although I hear that there are red ones in north Wales!
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Our grey today to be a bit bigger. The black ones can be very aggressive with each other however. I have only seen one of the small red ones this summer. We used to see them when we had a place farther north and they would go up a tree and chatter at our dogs!
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Cheeky!! I bet that wound your dog up!
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June watches those squirrels and growls at them.
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I hope they can run fast!!
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We never let her out that side of the house off leash. The squirrels would run for the road and she would go after them. She goes out in our back garden and the squirrels stay away from there. There is the occasional chipmunk but they are hibernating now.
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Very sensible – I once lost a dog to traffic on a road by the park – it broke my heart!
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Oh dear. I am sorry to hear that. It is a heartbreaker.
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Yes it was. It still upsets me.
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The very first photo, and the woodpecker one are somehow special, like from a tale almost, and all of them… so nice! Such a lovely thing to be able to spot all these cute little visitors for photos. 🙂
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You most be so very patient to capture such fine images. Well done.
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I have a camera on the table beside me so I can snap something through the window.
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What a sweet post Anne, and a great project to see what birds are around. My daughter has a nack of mimicking birds, especially birds of prey. I’m amazed when I hear her, she often get the birds to respond to her.
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Well your daughter must have a good ear and can discern the subtleties of the birds calls. Thanks for commenting Maria.
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Congratulations Anne, a very laudable assist for the birds, I love the squirrels in your area, so beautiful. Birds certainly need all the help they can get.🙂
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I agree especially in our cold winter.thanks for your comment!
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Thank you for sharing photos of the birds and flurry animals, they are gorgeous.
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You are most welcome Ally. They are a lot of fun to watch.
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Our woods are filled with grey squirrels. I have seen black ones near work.
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WE have equal numbers of black and grey. They black seem to be more aggressive with each other than the grey.
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I enjoyed all of these Anne, but the woodpecker shots are my favorite. There’s just something about woodpeckers. 🙂
janet
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Well my hat is off to this woodpecker who clings to the feeder and gets a seed and then flies off to peck at it in a tree. Where there is a will there is a way!
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Oh my goodness Anne, what a responsibility! Your birds are so beautiful, and so very different from ours. One of these days I must put up some bird feeders. My friend has about a dozen of them behind her porch and gets the most amazing visitors. Good for you for tracking them, and just as importantly (to me anyway) for photographing them! I especially love the image in your header
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Thank you Tina. I must say that so far I am really enjoying the Feederwatch project. I only have to do it on the weekends and sending in my counts is easy as they have a very easy to use counting site for those who have registered to do the count this winter.
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Sounds great Anne – glad they’re so together on what it takes to do it!
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So no alligators then 😅❤
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HAHAHA! Nope no gators!
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Lovely place you have there for birds and animals 🙂
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Well they give us such entertainment it is worth putting out a bit of seed for them .
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