Over these 35 years on our farm Gary and I have spotted many special winter birds. I will reminisce a little about some of our experiences.
We rescued a red-necked grebe in a ditch one frigid period in January many years ago. All waterways were frozen solid. We kept it in the tub, but, sadly, it passed away. The northern goshawk I’ve seen a few winters, perched on tall objects. Always thrilling is the beautiful snowy owl.
Once, peeking through our kitchen window one cold night was a tiny northern saw-whet owl. The striking red-bellied woodpecker is a regular winter visitor. It enjoys our suet and seed feeders.
A bitter winter in 2014 brought two more northerly birds to North Wellington. Food shortages or deep snow necessitated their moving southward. The northern shrike appeared in our neighbourhood. It is not normally found in this area. Also in 2014 that mischievous campground marauder, the grey jay, appeared at our feeders. It took some time to identify it. Twice the eastern towhee arrived in late winter. I saw them searching for insects amongst the snowy leaf litter. Some years both white-throated and white-crowned sparrows have made early, two-week visits at our feeders. It is always a treat seeing flocks of snow buntings searching for seeds and grains in roadsides. Knowing they will be soon returning to their artic breeding ground always intrigues us. In 2008 Gary filmed several uncommon pine grosbeaks at our feeder. It was a mystery what birds they were as I was away. One look at the video I made identification quickly.
A bird-loving friend once saw a white-winged crossbill at her feeder. Finally, we haven’t seen the common redpoll and the pine siskin for a few years, but they have visited in the past. Resource: Birds of Ontario, A.Bezener.
A common denominator in these events is feeders, suet and seed. For bird lovers the anticipation of a thrilling sighting is reward in itself.
Submitted by Susan Warren