Backyard Birds

Since we're not traveling this winter I decided it might be worth my while to invest some effort into feeding the birds that I sometimes saw visiting my neighbourhood.  Years ago, when we lived in the country, we regularly feed quite a variety of birds. But since we've lived in town, we had not, up till now, thought we would be successful in attracting any birds at all.  So I'm definitely surprised and pleased with the collection of winged creatures I've been able to see and photograph.

Almost all of these images were taken through our family room window - I'm using our house as a makeshift blind and my feeders are strategically placed on or near the back deck.  It doesn't appear to me that the birds should be able to see me inside with my camera in hand, but perhaps, they are able to hear my movements.  At least at times it appears they are looking directly into my lens.

Mostly we see Bluejays and Chickadees, but one afternoon we observed a Hawk perched in one of our trees.  His natural camouflage makes him really hard to locate, so we aren't sure he isn't still lingering somewhere in the neighbourhood.  The birds have not been here nearly as frequently since his appearance.   

Surprisingly we also had a visit from a pair of Robins that oddly seemed to be making their winter home in a neighbour's tree.  They were there for over a week during some of the coldest weather we experienced this winter -37C.  They seemed to have eaten all the remaining berries that were on that tree and I haven't seen them since.

It's more than birds that visit our backyard, but you'll have to scroll to the end of these images to discover who else drops by from time to time!