Signal Boost.

You probably didn't know that today is International Vulture Awareness Day.  But now you do.

Of course if there are vultures around your area you probably don't need to have your awareness boosted.

Robin, No Batman.

I just saw my first robin of the year.  I'd heard a few recently, but hadn't actually seen one.

Interesting Visitors.

I saw some interesting visitors to Saskatoon today.  First was a train heading along the train tracks by Warman Road.  One of the locomotives was unmarked, painted in a mustard colour.  The other was in the markings of the Central Kansas Railway.  Oddly the Central Kansas Railway no longer exists, having become part of the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad in 2001.  A phantom train?  No, more likely the current owners never bothered to repaint it.  I'm not a railway buff, but after doing a little research I'm guessing it's probably used by the Carlton Trail Railway, which in the past has operated several ex-Kansas Central Railway engines. 

The other interesting visitors, if they actually are visitors, was a flock of Canada geese.  There were at least 15 or 20 of them, which is not something you normally see at this time of year.  Perhaps they know something about the upcoming finale to winter we don't.

It Wasn't Woody.

But I did see a woodpecker on my lawn a few minutes ago.  Specifically a Northern Flicker, who seemed to be finding something good to eat.  For some reason I find these birds quite appealing, even if the amount of time they're visible here each year is small. 

White.

White is not the colour you want to see on the ground on the last day of April.  Yet here we are, the ground in Saskatoon covered with a new coating of white, of snow.  And there's still a chance of snow tomorrow.  The whole mess is very annoying and very fatiguing.

Fro the last few days we've had a woodpecker of some sort in the back yard.  That's unusual, because those kind of birds usually stay around only for a few minutes before flying off.  I really feel sorry for the poor thing given what it's like today.

Noisy.

I find crows interesting.  But sometimes they can be annoying.  Something got them going this morning in the hour or so before I had my alarm set, and they were doing a lot of squawking.  I think they've got a young one in one of the trees in my or the neighbours's backyard.  Then again I sometimes suspect crows vocalise just to hear themselves talk.

Probably Not Rockin'.

This afternoon I saw my first robins of the year.  There were four of them running around on a lawn.  Too bad for them they showed up today, with the temperature hovering around zero Celsius.  (And this after a Saturday high of almost twenty C, and a Sunday high near 10 C.)

I'll note for any European visitors that the robins in question are American Robins, a rather different bird than the robin found across the Atlantic.

Not Cooked.

As I was riding the bus into downtown this morning I wondered when the Canada Geese might arrive.  The instant I did I saw a pair near  the University Bridge.  Given that this morning looked and felt more like mid November than the beginning of April I suspect they may be wishing they hadn't arrived here yet.  Crows have also begun arriving, but they'll probably have an easier time of it until the snow is gone given their scavenging habits. On the other hand, the hawk I've heard here in in the East College Park neighbourhood might have some trouble spotting prey, assuming it isn't still hiding under the snow.

Anno Corvus Corax

There's been a lot of talk lately of this being the Year of the Dragon in Chinese tradition.  Here in Saskatoon it may be more appropriate to talk about the Year of the Raven.  Normally ravens are seen briefly here as they pass through late in the Fall and early in the Spring.  This Winter however they've hung around in signficant numbers.  Could the unusually warm weather have something to do with this?  Whatever the reason they seem to like it here at the moment.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the Spring when their cousins the crows, and birds like gulls, return.  It would also be interesting to know what effect they're having on the larger birds that do hang around Saskatoon all year round, like the magpies and blue jays.  And smaller birds may find themselves facing more problems due to the prescense of yet another species that may prey on them.

Shirt And Shoes Wouldn't Help.

This afternoon I was walking past the Granma Lee's at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 25th Street.  There was a magpie looking for stuff on the sidewalk.  At one point he walked up to the doors of the restaurant and sqawked.  I'm not sure if he saw his reflection and thought it was another magpie, or if he thought they'd let him in for something to eat.  Unfortunately for him magpies are known not to carry money on them, so they wouldn't have much incentive to open the doors.

Survivors

As I stood waiting for the bus this morning a chickadee sat on the branch of an evergreen by the bus stop proudly calling out his "deedeedee" to whoever would listen. When you think about it it's amazing how these little birds survive. With little more than their feathers for warmth and whatever bits and bobs of food they can scrounge they manage to ride out winters that can sometimes hit -30 Celcius or colder. No doubt some do die, but many more chickadees, sparrows, and other small birds make it to see spring and another mating season. Of course it doesn't hurt that human behaviour helps them along, both by providing trees and other types of shelter, and by offering them food they wouldn't otherwise have.

Invasion!

I saw a rather interesting sight in the neighbourhood today. Dozens of robins. I've never seen more than three or four robins in one place at once, but today we had a whole flock of them. There must have been a couple dozen or more at times just in my backyard. I had no idea robins ever travelled in groups. Crows and waxwings can be seen in large groups at different times of the year here, so a large flock of birds in the neighbour isn't new to me, just robins in such a group.

Splat!

If I ever needed confirmation of my practice of not walking under crows sitting on telephone and light poles I got it today. I was standing at an intersection, and a crow "dropped his cargo" about two feet from where I was standing. So I think I'll continue not walking under them.

Birds can also do cute things of course. An example of this is a duck that hatched its eggs in the courtyard of Walter Murray Collegiate here in Saskatoon. Too bad the accompaning picture doesn't look as cool as it did in the paper this morning.

We have a bird bath in the backyard, a wide ceramic dish that sits on the stump of an old tree we cut down a few years back. Today one of the local crows was drinking from it. This is the first time I've seen one do this, but I imagine it won't be the last. It was interesting to watch him stand on the edge of the dish and move around the edge as he drank. Afterwards I wondered if a crow would be heavy enough to tip it over. Probably not.

The crow population in Saskatoon has gone up quite a bit over the last few years. Crows seem to be the kind of birds that actually benefit from human activity. Tokyo apparently has seen a major increase in crows over the last decade or so. Because of government regulations plastic garbage bags are clear, and supposedly this attracts crows because they can see there is something they want to eat in the bags.

Here's a birdwatching tip. If you want to attract bluejays, put out a bowl of uncooked peanuts. Bluejays absolutely love peanuts.