Cold and Snowy Embrace

It's been a cold start to 2020 at Lakeside Park. Not much activity you'd think with the lake being frozen, but in the trees, bushes and plants there was a lot going on. Grey squirrels could be heard from up high in the trees munching on the plentiful supply of walnuts.

Red squirrels also seem to prefer the higher branches of the trees where it's easier to keep an eye on their surroundings:

I always seem to find this little red squirrel in the same location, sitting on a tree branch. I took a few photos and then edged closer, and then a little more. The red squirrel unusually did not move. Not even a whisker:

I walked directly beneath the squirrel and then saw movement, not from the squirrel, but from two red-tailed hawks who'd been perched close by, high up in the trees on the edge of the lake. The two red-tailed hawks circled the park, gaining height before gliding off over the treetops on the far side of the lake:

With the hawks now long gone things started to liven up and I was able to capture the photos of the snowbirds (dark-eyed juncos) that I'd tried to take on my last post for 2019:

Snowbirds are another of what appears to be quite a dull-coloured bird, but on closer inspection are stunning:

The dark-eyed juncos are foragers, feeding predominantly on insects during the summer, but that diet changes to seeds during the winter months and even a few berries:

The top edge of Lakeside Park is gradually becoming my favourite location, particularly through the winter months, as I'm sure it's always a degree or two warmer than the surrounding temperature. Sheltered by the trees and the horseshoe-shaped bank which wraps around the lake it traps all of the available sunlight:

The birds also seem to like this area of Lakeside Park. A white-throated sparrow was enjoying a dried up berry:

This swamp sparrow also had its eyes fixed on some berries:

The problem was, how to get to them:

A chickadee took the opportunity to fluff out its feathers and warm up in the heat of the sun:

And once you're nice and warm, there is nothing better than a good stretch:

Also resting for a while and warming up in this sheltered location were three mourning doves:

One of my favourite calls from the overwintering birds at Lakeside Park is that of the nuthatches as they communicate back and forth. It always sounds to me as if they're extremely grumpy with each other:

Gravity is, of course, no problem for the nuthatches who can feed in whatever direction they choose:

The same can also be said for this female downy woodpecker:

Pileated woodpeckers like the downy woodpecker and most other woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet (two toes forward and two backward) which enable them to cling to the bark of trees in any direction and seemingly defy gravity:

This was the closest that I have ever been to a pileated woodpecker and it was fascinating to observe its behaviour up close as it gave out a repetitive whooping call in between feeding areas. The whooping was followed by a great deal of listening before the pileated woodpecker decided where best to start pecking into the deadwood. 

And what was this woodpecker feeding on? The next photo gives it away if you look toward the bottom of its neck:

I'm going to have to cast my mind back a few days to some greyer weather for the following photos. The opportunistic chickadees were hunting for whatever seeds or hibernating insects they could find:

Cardinals, like the chickadees, can eat a variety of things, but they have the added advantage of a much more powerful beak.

This female cardinal was enjoying some dried up grapes:

Goldfinches were searching for seeds on the flowering stems of plants and the branches of this birch tree:

An American tree sparrow also searched for seeds among the plant stems:

My final photo is one that I was really happy to take. I came across this diminutive bird by chance as it searched the fir trees at the top edge of the lake. The photo was taken under really dark conditions but had to be included as it is a first for me at Lakeside Park, a golden-crowned kinglet:

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