We’ve added another feeder to the mix this week with bird seed and sunflower seed to replace our back alley row of sunflowers that have finally headed to the city’s yard waste composting facility. The feeder is proving popular with both the sparrows and one of our neighbour’s 8(!?!)+ cats. As a result, it looks like we may have to move it to a location which is a little further away from the unfinished fence (3 years running now – that’s a post rant for a non-nature venue) on that side of the yard.

Here’s our bird feeder species list for this week:

• White-crowned Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• House Sparrow (new this week!)
• Dark-eyed Junco (at least 8, including one Slate-coloured Junco)
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee (about eight)
• Spotted Towhee (several)
• House Finch
• Downy Woodpecker (both a male and female)
• Northern Flicker
• Mourning Dove (only one this week, will ask the cat about the other)
• Bewick’s Wren

As part of Project FeederWatch, I’m keeping an eye on our feeders two days out of the week to help scientists track winter bird activity, abundance and diversity. It’s a great way to spend an hour or two drinking coffee and peering out into the rain. I’ve also decided to start a yard list of all the birds that visit our backyard.