Duck/Bird of the Day

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Last winter we had up to about 20 Goldfinches and lots of chickadees Blue Jays paid short visits only to find our feeder was just for small birds. Used black sunflower seeds. The shells madr a big mess so tried a different seed blend this winter. Birds did not like it. When I put the seeds on top of the hot tub tracks in the snow indicated the deer liked it. Got a Niger seed sunflower seed pieces mix. A few chickadees found it within an hour, but did not see any more for a couple of weeks. No Goldfinches this winter.
 
We see lots of goldfinches but in their drab winter coat colour. I noticed one slightly more yellow yesterday. Guess another sign of spring

our guys like the black sunflower seeds best though they all go through the little bird seed quickly. Not sure how much is eaten and how much is spilled into the snow for the squirrels

it is interesting to read what a huge industry bird seed growing has become
 
the design in his feathers remind me of Zentangle!

Agreed! If I were a Zentangle pattern designing type, I could probably find one or more in there.

Customer reported seeing two trumpeter swans today. Didn't ask her where, but we're a pretty local store, so somewhere Oro Medonte or up Minesing way, I'd guess.
 
We see lots of goldfinches but in their drab winter coat colour. I noticed one slightly more yellow yesterday. Guess another sign of spring

our guys like the black sunflower seeds best though they all go through the little bird seed quickly. Not sure how much is eaten and how much is spilled into the snow for the squirrels

it is interesting to read what a huge industry bird seed growing has become
I heard that a woman walked up to the till with a bag of bird seed. She wanted to know how long it would take for them to sprout and what type of birds she would grow??!!
 
@jimkenney12 - we used to use black oil sunflower seeds in our main feeder - but the mess from the shells was too much & was attracting rats etc. even though I swept it up often. So this year we switched to hulled sunflower chips & the birds seem to like them and we sure like the lack of shells underfoot! We also have a suet feeder & a perforated black cylinder into which we put shelled peanuts - the woodpeckers, nuthatches & chickadees love that.
 
Today's waterfowl - The American Coot! Never before have I seen a white bill. I also learned that the coot is considered a bird, not a duck, I suppose because it does not have webbed feet but I'm not sure about that assumption.

P1030833 (2) small.JPG
 
That's interesting @Northwind - I've never heard of these geese

I had never heard of them either. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have a zoom lens long enough to get a closer photo.

The geese and I have something in common. I like herring, too. Though I suspect they don't eat them smoked. :D

Apparently they're after the lower grade herring. I understand the better herring is yet to come. This is all new to me
 
It is a fact in some tastes that fish taste does not transfer well to the birds ...

These birds are common on the Bay of Fundy (or a version) but usually not noted by ordinary land folk ... you must go to Ç Billy if only to listen ...
 
I came across Brant Geese while at Parkville many years ago. I didn't get meaningful photos either.
Which brings me to my oft repeated whine - why can't I buy herrings at my local stores anymore? They disappeared about ten years ago - in frozen and kippered forms. I loathe vinegar so the pickled ones don't help!
 
I came across Brant Geese while at Parkville many years ago. I didn't get meaningful photos either.
Which brings me to my oft repeated whine - why can't I buy herrings at my local stores anymore? They disappeared about ten years ago - in frozen and kippered forms. I loathe vinegar so the pickled ones don't help!
I buy Brunswick canned, smoked ones. They have Golden Smoked and Kippered. I think the seafood counters in our Chinese stores might have raw herrings and there are probably Asian ways of preparing them as well that you'd get on the shelves.
 
Canned isn't what I want (those foods of childhood call to me), I want REAL herrings that I debone and scale myself. I want real kippers, beautifully smoked. No access to Chinese ingredients here, though we do have a store selling food that our residents from the Philippines enjoy. They have some goat, some fish we couldn't identify and lots of cans, candies and packages.
 
Canned isn't what I want (those foods of childhood call to me), I want REAL herrings that I debone and scale myself. I want real kippers, beautifully smoked. No access to Chinese ingredients here, though we do have a store selling food that our residents from the Philippines enjoy. They have some goat, some fish we couldn't identify and lots of cans, candies and packages.
Yeah, that's one of the things that will likely keep us close to major centres. Good Asian grocery stores get scarce outside cities because that's where most Asian immigrants land. Even London was kind of so-so on that front until about a decade ago when the current crop opened up.
 
Same with Barrie. There's one full-sized Asian grocery here, Centra and a number of Mom and Pop stores around (there's one in one of my local plazas where I go to get dry goods, like spices and dal). And we're over 150,000 now. The Centra store has a beautiful selection of fish and seafood, most frozen, some fresh. And the veggies are wonderful and comparatively inexpensive. And I can get "golden beets", one of my fav things.
 
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