Return of the Hawks... Winter 2010

The cold weather has set in, the snow is on the ground and Hawks are all around. It's true, more and more can be seen through this season as a lot of their food source seemingly disappears in the snow... small mammals. Smaller birds become more of a staple diet through these months.How do I know? Steady attacks at my bird feeders by these birds of prey.There definitely is at least one Coopers Hawk who has been taking out some Pigeons lately....

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Grey Jays and Algonquin Park... November 2010

About a month ago I visited Algonquin Park for the very first time ever in my life. Angie and I were taken up there by some friends of ours who are familiar with the area. We had a mission for this trip and that was to find and experience the presence of Grey Jays nicknamed "Whiskey Jacks" or "Camp Robbers".I heard the stories of these birds, and while I believed them, it is nothing compared to actually seeing them in person. A mid-sized bird...

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Pine Siskins are back!

It hit approximately +7c this afternoon and the sun was shining. A wonderful day for the second last day of November I must say!I got home from work and right after I got the coffee on, took Meadow outside to enjoy this fantastic afternoon. She's gotten a little fussy when it comes to weather over the past couple years. I remember when she was 2 years old and it could be -30c outside and she'd join me outside at 1am to fill the feeders for the...

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The National Bird of Canada would be?

This topic has been floating around a good part of this year... Canada should have a national bird and what should it be?The Canadian Raptor Conservancy started a petition back in the summer and are trying to collect 200,000 signatures to present to the government on this subject.Here are our provincial birds along with some other countries national birds...- Common Loon : provincial bird of Ontario- Snowy Owl : provincial bird of Quebec-...

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The Toronto Wildlife Centre Open House

This weekend, October 16 and 17, the Toronto Wildlife Centre is holding an Open House. It is from 9am to 6pm.I've been to the centre a number of times in the past few months. I took Bob the Pigeon in (see my August 2 and 14 blogs). I borrowed a Squirrel cage in hopes to catch my little friend Jigger (see my August 30, 31 and September 8th blogs). And, the latest being that I brought in an unidentified Warbler that had flew into the side of my...

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Meet Quincy the Snowy Owl

The other weekend Angie and I were at one of our favorite conservation areas... Mountsberg. I believe I have blogged about it before and making mention of their Raptor Centre.I thought on occasion I would talk about one of the Raptors I have gotten to know over there and share their tale.So, today I have chosen Quincy the Snowy Owl.Quincy is a female. I have chosen her first to blog about because her story sticks to my mind with some very sad...

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Jigger update and a question some may be asking...

So, after a few days of seeing Jigger hobbling about the backyard and taking in every bit of food offered to him; we finally went to The Toronto Wildlife Centre and picked up a Squirrel trap. They loaned it to us with a $20 deposit; this was on Sunday September the 5th. When we got home, Jigger was out back. We figured not to even try catching him since it was quite late in the day now. So, Jigger got a good feast of peanuts and away he went.Now,...

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An Un-Healthy Jigger Returns...

So, literally minutes after I posted my blog below... I step outside with Meadow to give her that afternoon walkabout of the yard; when who do I see way at the back? Jigger! This was totally unexpected but such a great surprise. I called for him, and while I don't think he really knows his name, he does know my (and Angie's) voices. He looked up and began to come towards me but I could tell something was not right with him. It seems one of...

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Have You Seen This Squirrel?

Have you seen this Squirrel?Many of you through my blog here, or via Facebook, and the few lucky ones to have met him in person know him as Jigger. He is one of the most personable Squirrels to visit my backyard. Why is he named Jigger? He did a little dance as he approached to take a peanut from our fingers back in his early days. No, not a cha-cha-cha or tango but this side to side shift as he moved cautiously towards the peanut in hand. Mind...

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