Saturday 29 March 2014

Wildlife is on the move; snow bunting, chipmunks!

Yes, more signs of spring. The chipmunks have woken from slumber, sharing the scattered seeds under the feeder.  
hungry!

love how they can get along

They are friendly, if not demanding, buddies!

However, another exciting sight for me: a Snow Bunting. I haven't seen one of these since we lived in North Gower. They migrate south for winter, a ground feeder, they eat weed and grass seeds, and bugs.
Come April, the boys go back north, prepare a (warm) nest for their girls, who migrate 4 -  6 weeks later. 

They are social, and even when creating their fur and feather-lined nests, they come together in flocks of 30 to 80 birds to forage.

They nest in the high Arctic, in deep cracks or rock cavities.

The male feeds the female, since she must keep the eggs warm in what can be -30 C. Arctic spring temperatures. What was unusual, is that this little guy was all alone. It was on the ground feeding, then flew up to the tree when I got out of the car to take his photo.

He was still there when we returned from our errands!
The linky is up for Saturday's Critters. Eileen spotted blue heron, while I'm still sighting winter birds!

12 comments:

eileeninmd said...

I would love to see a Snow Buntin my yard. The Chipmunks are cuties, I have been seeing some lately.. Great photos and post. Thank you for linking up with this weeks critter party. Have a happy weekend!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Adorable little chipmunk and interesting about the snow bunting!

TexWisGirl said...

awesome to see the snow bunting!

Roan said...

Would love to catch sight of a Snow Bunting. Chipmunks are so cute!

carol l mckenna said...

Beautiful photos and creative presentation for SC ~ Happy Weekend ~ xoxo

artmusedog and carol

Karen said...

Chippies are so cute! I'd love to see the Snow Buntings!

Ela said...

Lovely photos :)
Have a happy Sunday :)

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Aren't chipmunks just darling? You have some wonderful wildlife.

Anonymous said...

We have never seen snow buntings in the garden. Lots of other bird activity going on. Also more melting today under some dull skies.

Red said...

You're pretty lucky to see this guy. As you say they stay in flocks in the open. Here in the winter they can be in very large flocks. Hundreds.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Wow! Always good to see a snow bunting. Love the chipmunk

Adam Jones said...

The Snow Bunting is such a great little bird. Always nice to see.