Jig saw puzzle

I am not sure if this jig saw puzzle will load but am giving it a try. Pictue of a Wood Duck, not mine.

Support the proposed Children's Hospital

Anyone who is considering giving a donation to the Fundraising Drive for the Children's Hospital can receive a well made and attractive bird house which is worth the price of the donation that they may consider. Many styles of houses are available for Bluebirds, Robins, Chickadees. Wrens and
Purple Martin Condos. Check the buiders site of Retired contracor Remai's website at

http://www.jrsdesignerbirdhouses.ca

for more details.We received one of the birdhouses as a Christmas gift for Bluebirds this past year and are looking forward to putting it up. Perhaps the bluebirds will choose it this spring as they have never nested in our yard.

The little Song Sparrow that arrived in our yard last December is doing well.Why it is alone and arrived long after it should have been in a warmer or at least more friendly climate than a central Saskatchewan winter is odd for a summer bird. Its normal winter territorry is below North Dakota and across the States and even west to the coast. The only clue might be it may have had an injury to its left wing. A group of the long or secondary feathers stick out at an angle and do not lay flat as they should.
It is able to fly but whether it can fly well enough to move on in the spring we shall see. We have had them in our yard but do not know if this bird could have been here last summer or else close by and picked our Yard to winter. over.

Back Yard Bird Count

If anyone missed posting your birds seen over the weekend you can still enter them until March 1st, We had a count of 9 species seen for the 4 days:

• Song Sparrow 1
• Sharp-tailed Grouse 6
• Black-capped Chickadee 4
• Hairy Woodpecker 2
• English House Sparrow 50-75
• Black-billed Magpie 2
• Rock Doves 25
• Snow Buntings 6
• Raven 2

Back Yard Bird Count

The Backyard Bird  started Friday the 12th  until dark on Monday the 15th of Feb. Anyone wishing to count the birds seen during this time can enter them at the following web site http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/   and have the numbers seen in your area added to the totals. The variety of birds other than House Sparrows is surprizing even during our Prairie winter. Check out the link for more info. This is being done in Canada and the U.S.

Summer Bird in a Prairie Winter

This summer bird a Song Sparrow has been in our yard since the first week of December.