Winter Residents

Looking out of my bedroom window during the past few days has introduced me to some new residents. A rabbit has taken up the far end of our yard and sits in the same place every day for several hours. There is little of any value as food except our few cedar trees and I noticed that they are being trimmed  a little every day. Our large round cedar tree has become the overnight roosting place for many birds. Sparrows and slate juncos are there in numbers and there is the regular doves who just hang around.

The squirrel population has really increased in our area and the black and grey squirrels provide entertainment as they amuse themselves in the trees which have many nests. One of our squirrel nests suddenly disappeared during a wind storm and the family still seem to visit the sight where it was located.

My neighbour told me the other day that he heard the coyotes just a short distance from our home. I heard them yelping the other morning and there seemed to be a fairly large family in the vacant land along the flood canal below our home. The red tail hawks have a better opportunity of catching their food now that the leaves are down and there is no snow. We have many raptors along the highway right away and they seem to be healthy and maintaining their numbers.

Winter brings new birds to our attention and people who feed are careful to put out the proper food for consumption of wildlife. It is important to continue feeding if you have a feeder as the birds depend on reliable sources of food.