A view of my feeding station. The only 2 birds on it are a male Downy on the left, frozen still on the suet feeder, and female Horny, motionless on my new log suet feeder on the right.

Whenever I look out and see woodpeckers "playing statue" at my feeders, I figure a hawk is nearby. Sure enough, when I saw this male Downy (left) and female Hairy (right) absolutely frozen, I looked high up in the maples and there was a Cooper's Hawk. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

A female Red-winged Blackbird perched in my redbud, looking to the left. As I said in my bird name talk last week, she's neither black nor has red-wings, and is often mistaken for a sparrow.

This morning I saw this female Red-winged Blackbird in my backyard, the first this spring. The males returned several weeks ago, so it's nice to see the females back in town as well. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A kinglet perched in a cedar tree, in profile view looking to the left and downwards, showing off his yellow crown with its central orange stripe.

There are lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets around these days. This was one of several at our pond yesterday. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A blue jay peeking between branches of my backyard redbud, looking to the left

A blue jay peeking between branches of my backyard redbud, looking to the right

A Blue Jay given a timeout in my redbud jail for gluttony and bullying at the feeders. I don't think he learned any lessons. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

A pine siskin perched on one of the arms of my feeding station, next to the central pole, with the background blurred out. It is in profile view, looking to the right and a bit defiant!

A Pine Siskin on my feeders, one of three that are still hanging around. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A bird on snowy ground at the base of my feeding station, in profile view looking to the left. It's upper parts are dark brown while the underparts are a buffy cinnamon colour. It has a long tail.

A surprise St. Paddy's day visitor to our yard was a female Eastern Towhee - first one ever. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A song sparrow is perched on a thin vine wrapped around a small tree, in profile view looking to the right, mouth open singing. The background is blurred out and is the same soft brownish colours as the bird.

Yesterday was a glorious day for spring migration. Literally thousands of tundra swans on the move, including a flock over our neighbourhood, lots of killdeer flying around calling, and my first backyard Song Sparrow of spring. #birds #birding #Ancaster #HamOnt #Bobsbackyard #springmigration

Two ducks swimming in calm water in front of a grassy bank, which is reflected in the water. The female is in the foreground, in profile view looking to the right, while the male is the reverse, in the back looking left. His hood is not flared up.

It was nice of this pair of Hooded Mergansers to stop by our pond on the weekend. #Birds #birding #ducks #Ancaster #HamOnt #Bobsbackyard

A red-bellied woodpecker on the left side of my double suet feeder, in side profile looking to the right, and a hairy clinging to the right edge, in profile view looking to the left.

When Hairy met Sally......a good size comparison between Red-bellied (left) and Hairy woodpeckers (right), both female. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A closeup shot of a downy woodpecker in profile view, looking to the right, on my backyard photography setup.

A downy woodpecker in profile view, looking a bit away and upwards, on my backyard photography setup.

A downy woodpecker in profile view, looking over its shoulder back to the left side of the image, on my backyard photography setup.

The first Red-winged Blackbird of "spring" showed up at our feeders yesterday, but I didn't manage a photo, so here are three different poses of a very cute little Downy Woodpecker in our backyard. #Bobsbackyard #birds #birding #Ancaster #HamOnt #woodpecker #downywoodpecker

A grackle perched on a small branch, with a large maple tree behind it, glaring towards me with their usual grumpy look. The body is black, with an iridescent blue hood and head, and piercing yellow eyes.

Look who is back! This is the earliest I've had the grumpy birds oops Common Grackles back since I started recording backyard dates in 2020. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster #grackle

A Wild Turkey in profile view, standing on my backyard photography stage, drinking from the water bowl

A close up view of a Wild Turkey's head and feet, standing on my backyard photography stage, eating bird seed

My backyard dinosaurs continue to get more aggressive, with one now jumping up onto my photography setup for a drink and snack. #birds #birding #HamOnt #Ancaster #Bobsbackyard

A wild turkey standing on top of our backyard privacy fence, in profile view looking to the left.

I'm going to be busy tomorrow so am posting my bird of the day now. My backyard turkeys are getting a little aggressive! #wildturkey #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A close up portrait of a female Hairy Woodpecker looking to the right

An American Robin tucked into our backyard spruce, probably seeking shelter from the cold.

A cedar waxwing with its head down, preening its chest feathers

Four male house finches eating seeds on top of a snowy log in my backyard

A few recent backyard birds - Hairy Woodpecker, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, and a few male House Finches. #Bobsbackyard #birds #birding #Ancaster #HamOnt

I watched this red-tailed hawk fly by my window 4 times, in pursuit of birds at my feeders. It took a pause in one of our backyard maples. In this scene it is facing me but looking off to the right, and is a bit hunched down, ready to take off again

Red-tailed Hawk hunting in our backyard late yesterday afternoon #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt #hawk #raptor #redtailedhawk

A male house finch glaring directly at me, sitting in deep snow on my table where I put out seeds. He's been digging around with his beak to find them, so it is covered in white snow, which contrasts strongly with his pink colour

A floofed up male House Finch with a snow covered snoot after rooting around for seeds. He doesn't look impressed! #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A female house finch perched on the far side of my water tray, with the background blurred out. She's looking to the left. She is soft brown and white, with a fairly thick bill.

A female pine siskin perched on the far side of my water tray, with the background blurred out. She's looking directly at me. She is soft brown and white, with less streaking than the house finch, and a smaller, daintier bill. She has white wing bars and greenish-gray wings

I thought that these photos were a good comparison between female House Finches (left) and Pine Siskins (right), taken at the same spot having a sip from my bird bath. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A Cooper's Hawk perched with its back to me, looking to the right. It is mostly dark gray and white.

A Red-tailed Hawk perched with its back to me. It is mostly various shades of reddish brown, reddish white, and dark brown.

I'm getting a complex! My two regular, backyard hawks take turns hunting birds visiting my feeders, and even seem to prefer the same perch. However, they also seem to prefer sitting with their backs to me! Cooper's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. #birds #birders #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

My snow covered backyard and feeders. The aftermath of almost 24 hours of light, fluffy snow falling.

My snow covered backyard and feeders. The aftermath of almost 24 hours of light, fluffy snow falling.

I don't think the birds can find my feeders this morning. #birds #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A view of my tray feeder, with a pine siskin on the right and a dark-eyed junco on the left. The siskin is flapping its wings and has its head tilted up towards the junco, and appears to be yelling at it. The junco is calmly looking down at the feisty siskin.

A closer up view of a pine siskin with its wings partly raised, its head up and mouth open, staring to the left at another bird which is out of the frame.

The Pine Siskins at my feeders are quite feisty, often scolding the Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinch. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

About 20 waxwings perched on the upper bare branches of a young maple tree, with a gray cloudy sky in the background

Three waxwings lower down in the maple, all looking to the left and leaning forward, ready to launch!

The Cedar Waxwings keep returning to our backyard, typically late in the afternoon, and every time they seem to bring more friends with them. Here's just some of them in a backyard maple. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

My backyard, with the coniferous trees all laden with fresh snow. My bird feeding station is on the right, and bottom centre is what I call my "stage" set up for photographing birds from my home office window.

The aftermath of yesterday's storm. Serenity now! #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

Two bright red male cardinals, both perched in profile view looking to the left, with one situated above and slightly behind the other. The backdrop is our spruce tree laden with snow.

A couple of Northern Cardinals in our redbud during yesterday's snowstorm. #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt #birds #birding #cardinal

My green coloured tray feeder, full of seeds, is on the ground in my backyard, under the feeding station. There are 8 wild turkeys around it, having a feast.

A couple of days ago I'd been out birding for the morning. When I got home I found that a squirrel had somehow managed to jump onto my feeders and knock down the platform feeder. The Wild Turkeys thought that they'd won the lottery! #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

I have a metal ornament of a chickadee mounted on my backyard fence. I am always trying to capture images of various birds that land on it, in this case a wee red-breasted nuthatch, in profile view, looking downwards towards the chickadee's head

A Red-breasted Nuthatch perched on my ornamental chickadee in the backyard. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #HamOnt #Ancaster

A partly obscured view of a cedar waxwing in profile view, stretched out and looking to the right, near the top of my backyard spruce tree.

This Cedar Waxwing was one of several who dropped by my backyard a couple of days ago. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt #waxwing #cedarwaxwing

The red-tailed hawk is perched on a thick, ,horizontal branch of my backyard maple, with a second branch angling off it at 45 degrees, crossing in front of his chest, which is showing off the characteristic "belly band" of red-tailed hawks. It is looking intently down to the left side of the image

My local Red-tailed Hawk spent much of the afternoon of New Year's day monitoring my feeder birds. #birds #birding #raptors #redtailedhawk #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

At least 16 doves perched on snow covered branches of my backyard spruce. There were at least another dozen at my feeders at the same time.

Anyone missing their mourning doves? Happy to return them.
#birds #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt

A Cooper's Hawk in profile view, looking to the left, sitting on my privacy fence. There is a bright halo of light behind him caused by reflection of the sun off a house in the background, which is blurred out. The hawk looks very intense!

Yesterday, the Cooper's Hawk landed on the fence right outside my window, so close I struggled to focus on it. Didn't help the low sun was reflecting off a house in the background, creating tricky lighting. This was its 5th failed pass at my feeder birds yesterday. #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard

A starling sitting on top of my snow-covered backyard fence, in profile view looking to the right. The beautiful white "arrow tips" on its breast are showing nicely.

European Starling showing off its lovely winter plumage #birds #birding #Bobsbackyard #Ancaster #HamOnt #starling