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2016 Bird Count
#11
The male has blue/grey wings, the female is much the same colour all over. The injured one I saw last year was a male.

Kestrels are a very small hawk so they are distinctive. None of the other hawks is that small even when immature. She must be planning to nest nearby. I wonder if they wintered here. It is still only January. Migrating birds wouldn't arrive this early.
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Catherine

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#12
I saw some sparrows today! Little chubby ones sitting in a bush! They look so sweet and sing so pretty!
  
                    
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#13
We do love our sparrows. They are so cheerful on a winter day.

I am in Toronto. I don't know if they report birds here. I have seen Kestrels in the summer so I think they live here. I just didn't expect to see one in the winter.

None of the other hawks have any sexual dimorphism. I had to check my bird book to confirm what I was seeing.
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Catherine

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#14
I went back and checked the link you posted and I think I posted my sighting. There are a lot of Kestrel sightings in Toronto.

I keep seeing gulls, but they are too far away to determine species so far.
Migration season is not far off so I should see some good birds then.
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Catherine

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#15
11) Crow

12) Red Tailed Hawk

I still haven't seen the Blue Jay. I keep hearing him, but he is just out of sight.

13) American Robin

Now we know spring is here. The Robins only return in the spring.
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Catherine

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#16
I saw my second ever Beautiful firetail on Sunday. Just another chance spot, happened to look in the right direction at the right time and saw his bright red rump.
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#17
I looked up the Firetail. It is a beautiful bird. They can't be too common if this is only your second sighting.

14) Purple Finch

They can't have gone to far south if they are back already.  I love the Purple Finches. They are red. Not purple, red!  Why would they call them purple finches instead of red finches or something like that.   Are the people who name birds colour-blind?
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Catherine

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#18
I think because they're so small they're very good at hiding and blending in to the bush.

hahah I see what you mean. In some lights they do look kind of purply-pink, but yeah I definitely would have called them red.
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#19
Any time I see purple finches they look red and not even a purple-red.
Bird naming is a mystery.

They are small so maybe people have the impression of a colour when they first see them.
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Catherine

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#20
Some good birds around my paddocks lately.

We have a nice little family of magpies that have established themselves over the last few years, they pick up the scraps from my horses feed. And since they're so used to my presence I thankfully never get swooped during breeding season. I've been swooped by other magpies before and they really hurt!

A group of yellow-tailed black cockatoos keep coming back. They call to each other and are actually really noisy eaters.
A couple of kookaburras have been hanging around.
Grey fantails have taken over the gum tree and the Willie wagtails try to chase them away.
Also saw a female Golden Whistler today which is the first time I've ever seen one there.
Saw a Spotted pardalote. They nested under the horse shelter a number of years ago and I hadn't seen them there since, so it was nice to see one there today.
European Goldfinches are back too.
And there's the odd sparrowhawk/goshawk I can't tell which that shows up every now and then, I saw it again yesterday.
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