Sad Announcement

I unfortunately have to update for a sad announcement.

On July 23rd, 2013, the NovaBirds Cam will be no more. My husband and I are moving to a new location which does not provide internet adequate enough to run the cam :(

It's been a nice run (nearly a year)!

Hopefully in the future, we will have proper internet access so I can provide you with more birdwatching, but until then, thank you for all the views, nearly 30,000 in one year!

This blog will remain up, and I will keep videos playing of our favorite moments.

Thank-you again!

"Excuse me sir...

"...but I think you're confused!"

This curious Rose-breasted Grosbeak was a little perplexed at exactly why there was no food to be found at the hummingbird feeder. He explored around the feeder for some time before finding the seed feeder which is in the background :)

There's always some sort of antics going on at the NovaBirds Cam!

In the meantime...

Since the NovaBirds cam is relatively quiet right now (hummingbirds are only visiting a few times an hour), I decided to start featuring other cams on the blog :)

I came across "Whidbey Island Back Porch"

This is a spectacular hummingbird cam located in British Columbia. There are a dozens of Rufous and Anna's hummingbirds that can be seen congregating around the numerous feeders that owner Kathleen keeps well stocked.

Check them out! You won't be disappointed!

They're Baaaaaack!

It's official, the hummingbirds have returned to Nova Birds Cam!

First Ruby Throated Hummingbird of the season!

Yesterday evening when I returned home from work, this little girl was waiting for me :) It's so nice to see them around again!

I won't be switching the cam over quite yet. I will wait until more of her friends show up, to ensure there is lots of action!

Even once the hummingbird cam starts viewing, I may still show the other bird cam every few days, since there are more and more pairs stopping by the feeder- we don't want to miss out when they start bringing their babies to feed!

It's going to be an exciting summer at Nova Birds Cam! Stay tuned!

Still no hummers..

Despite a few sightings in NS, there has yet to be a hummingbird visit the NovaBirds feeders. Here's to hoping they arrive soon! I will be putting up some flower baskets over the weekend to better attract them as soon as they arrive.

Speaking of attracting hummingbirds, I thought I'd take this time to share some hummingbird feeding tips:

• When providing hummingbirds with nectar, do not use products containing red dyes. They can be harmful and are unnecessary.
• An easy homemade nectar recipe: Boil 1 cup of water. As soon as it boils, turn off the water and add 1cup of sugar. Allow to cool and then fill your feeders! I usually make a large batch and keep the rest in the fridge for 2-3 days.
• Place more than one feeder on your property. Having only one feeder can cause a lot of bickering, since hummingbirds are very territorial!
• Surround your home with lots of attractive flowers. My hummingbirds especially like honeysuckle, butterfly bush, and petunias!
• Create a water feature. Many hummingbirds love fountains and shallow bird baths!

The Hummers have landed!

It's official! The hummingbirds have begun to land in Nova Scotia!

As of April 21st, there has been a first sighting of the little buggers: Click Here!

I will be watching excitedly for the first to arrive at our feeders! Won't be long now before we'll have the cam up!

Winter Weather???

Blah! We currently have a "Winter Storm Warning" in effect...but it's Spring!

It should be good for bird watching, but not so much fun for us humans who are well over this winter. It's been one of the coldest and longest in quite a few years.

Keep your eyes peeled. Should be lots of visitors tomorrow!

Hummers are almost here!!

The blue star marks where the NovaBirds Cam is..not much longer now!

 Ruby throated hummers are on the move! I just checked an updated map on Journey North and the hummingbirds are now being sighted in Rhode Island! Not much longer now, and they`ll be once again visiting the feeder here at the Nova Birds cam!

This weekend the feeders will go up so we're ready for them!

Once they do return as regular visitors, the seed cam will be switched over to the hummingbird feeder cam!

I should also mention that periodically, the cam may be down. We're in the process of trying to sell out house, so I like to take the cam down when people are there viewing it!

Spring!

Spring has started to arrive at the NovaBirds cam! Sure, we're still getting a few flurries here and there, but for the most part, the temperature is rising and the snow is melting.

Along with the climate changing, the birds are gearing up for mating season and are also on their return migration from the south. There have been lots of new visitors. There have been flocks of Common Grackles, Red-winged blackbirds, the first American Robins, and swarms of Common Redpolls. I even spotted a Fox Sparrow making a brief stop by the feeder area as well.

If you  listen carefully on the cam, you can hear lots of birdsong in the background, as eager birds are trying to find mates. You might also notice much more bickering going on amongst the birds, as they are getting much more territorial this time of year!

A Sharp Shinned Hawk looks for unsuspecting songbirds.

There has also been a few visits from a little Sharp Shinned Hawk. He's been chasing the little songbirds around, and I suspect (from feathers on the ground) that he may have caught one or two!


By the end of this month, I will be switching over to the Hummingbird cam...soon our buzzy little friends will be returning! I cannot wait to see them once again!

Stay tuned :)

Oh! And don't forget to check out the Gallery for all the latest photos!

Storm Warning!

There's a storm a-brewin'!

Despite the fact that tomorrow is the first day of Spring, we're in for a nasty snow storm. While I personally could do without it, it will most certainly bring lots of birds to the feeder.

Be sure to check in tomorrow!

New lens

Black-capped Chickadee

I *finally* purchased a new lens for my camera. My husband urged me to...so I bit the bullet. I got a new 55-200 telephoto lens for my Canon Rebel XTi. I got out and had the opportunity to take a few photos of "the regulars" this weekend.

I still have lots to learn when it comes to photography, but so far, so good.

I'm hoping that as I get more comfortable with my camera, I'll be able to capture some of the less common birds that visit. These birds are all pretty used to me, so I could get pretty close or fiddle with my camera settings without them flying off.

Downy Woodpecker

Hopefully this is the beginning of many great photos that I can share with all of you! 

Hairy Woodpecker

GBBC Results

Female red wing blackbird.

I have officially completed my first ever "Great Backyard Bird Count!"

I was a little disappointed that some of my regular birds didn't show up. Both my ruffed grouse and red-breasted nuthatch didn't come by at all during the count...but of course today I saw them both! Buggers!

I did have one new visitor, a female red wing black bird. She visited throughout the day on Monday. It's a bit early to spot a female RWBB, so I hope she has fared out out since she left.

I spent most of my time counting the birds in our yard, but on Saturday I did go for a nice long walk and counted some non-seed feeding birds as well. My total count is as follows:

Mourning Dove: 30
Downy Woodpecker: 5
Hairy Woodpecker: 8
Bluejay: 35
American Crow: 66
Black-capped Chickadee: 82
Dark-eyed Junco: 41
Red-wing blackbird: 1
Common Redpoll:  21
Hoary Redpoll: 2
American Goldfinch: 6
Bald Eagle: 16
Herring Gull: 15
Black Back Gull: 2
Common Raven: 1
European Starling: 315
American Tree Sparrow: 2

I really enjoyed participating. It was really good practice for identifying birds in the field. It was also great exercise! I normally hate going outside in the winter time, but going out to find birds was really enjoyable!

The Great Backyard Bird Count

So it's been a few days since I updated, but I do feel that I must take a few moments to write about an exciting event that is happening over the next 3 days!

From Feb 15 - 18 participants from North America and around the world will report their bird sightings to create an enormous snapshot of bird activity :)

I'm participating for the first time this year, and I am using the Bird Log app for my Android, which is currently on sale for $.99!

It's not too late to participate! Go check out eBird or The Great Backyard Bird Count to get started!

Blizzard Warning!

Looks like we have another nasty winter storm on the way!

Last night was the coldest night we've had so far, I believe! Somewhere around -21C before the windchill. It's miserable!!

The temperature will come up a bit, but that's only to make way for the ginormous snow storm that's coming our way. It's actually two storms combining. It's so large that it's currently effecting Ontario, and will eventually come our way.

The forecast predicts that our snowfall will begin over night tonight and winds will pick up to gusts of 100km/h. All that snow + the wind = BLIZZARD!

Saturday will be very messy. They predict we may get upwards of 40cm once it's all over.

It's hard to say if the birds will be out in that mess, not to mention the power is very likely to go out. So if the cam is down, you'll know why!

The birds will probably be very hungry once the storm is done!

Scramble is a Star :)

That's right folks, that pesky little squirrel of mine was on television this morning (CTV Morning Live to be exact)!

Unfortunately I didn't get to see it, but my mother called me just as I was walking out the door for work, frantically telling me that a photo of Scram was on a local news program and that they were talking about my webcam!

I had sumbitted my photo to Cindy Day, meterologist at CTV, and I guess the staff liked it, because they chose to share it this morning.

I'm so bummed that I missed it!

Ah well, I'm just glad that more people had the chance to see the cam, and that pesky little squirrel!

Night time snacker

Northern Flying Squirrel :)

I don't usually view the cam at night. Typically the only time I see the cam after dark is when I run outside quickly to refill the seed.

Last night, my husband wanted me to go downstairs to help him with his mountain bike. The cam and feeder are by the window in that room.

I happened to glance up at the feeder and saw a squirrel.
"What on earth is Scramble doing at the feeder this time of night??" I questioned.

I got closer to the window to investigate. It didn't really look like a red squirrel. It looked more grey and softer.

"Wait a second," I told my husband, "what is this thing?"

We could only see it's back side, but from that, my husband said, "That's a flying squirrel!"

He pointed out the squirrels little winged arms which we could catch a glimpse of when he turned sideways to get more seeds.

Suddenly it all made sense! Flying Squirrels are nocturnal and only come out at night. They can glide from tree to tree.

I really wish I could have got a picture of his face, but it was really hard to get any type of picture through glass, at night, so alas, I only got a picture of his back.

I wonder how long he's been visiting? I hope he continues to visit our feeder.

Maybe at some point I will be able to get a night-vision cam so he can be viewed in the evenings. Now that would be awesome! I guess I need to start saving some $$$$!

Power Outage

We're having very high winds today (gusts of 100km/h). I worried the power would go out, and it did.

I'm at work and noticed the cam went down around 2:00pm Atlantic time (1:00pm EST). Hubby called me a few minutes later to inform me that a power line is down and lying across the road just a little ways from our house. He couldn't get home, so he was calling the power company.

Not sure when we'll have the cam back up. We may be down for the rest of the day!

(Temporarily) Warmer weather!

..Wait.. isn't tomorrow February 1st?!

After at least two weeks of miserably cold weather (-29C/-20F), we're finally getting a break.

What a shock to wake up to all of the snow being melted away, and the thermometer reading +17C/62.6F. We went from needing to wear at least 3 layers of clothes, to being able to walk out the door in a t-shirt and undies (as my husband did this morning to take out the trash!).

It's really nice to have a break in the snow and cold. It's pretty uncommon to have such a "balmy" day during a time of year when we're usually experiencing our coldest weather!

We have to enjoy it while it lasts though..it's forecast that the cold weather will be back by Saturday.

The cam may not be as lively today, since the birds will have more natural food sources uncovered on the ground right now. Enjoy what visitors we have :)

Hark! Who goes there?

a small tunnel between the feet of the owl statue

For anyone who was watching the cam late last afternoon, you probably saw me taking pictures and digging around.

You see, after filling the feeder, I came inside and turned on the cam to see a little critter wandering around by the owl statue. When I looked closer, I saw that it was a Star Nosed Mole! 

The mole, hiding in the statue!

The little fellow had dug a tunnel underneath the owl statue, and was living inside of it (there's a hole in the bottom of the statue, which is hollow). I briefly lifted the statue to take a quick photo of him, and then quickly put it back in place, as to not further disturb the little guy!

Strangely enough, moles do not eat seeds. They are insectivores! It must be hard to find food during the winter when the ground is so frozen!

I hope he sticks around!

Grosbeak alert!

A visit from an Evening Grosbeak.

I can't help but get excited to see an Evening Grosbeak at the feeder! I *think* this is a female..although it may be a male with more drab, winter plumage.

Either way, it's nice to have another visit from them! It seems that whenever the bad weather strikes, a Grosbeak arrives to cheer things up!

Keep an eye on the cam! You may get a chance to see one!

Another new visitor!

Common Redpoll with Chickadee in background.

How exciting! Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have the day off from work. I was lounging around the livingroom when I noticed a flock of birds hanging out in the trees above the cam.

When I checked the cam, there were about 10 of the little buggers eating and perching and fighting with chickadees.

At first I didn't recognize them, so I consulting the bird book that my husband got me for Christmas (Formac Field Guide to Nova Scotia Birds). Finally I concluded that they were Common Redpolls! The males were gorgeous with their pink tummies and red crowns.

Unlike most winter birds that are here year round, these birds only visit our province in the winter months. Here's to hoping they stop by our feeder again!

These birds were VERY friendly. I was shocked that I could get so close to them to take photos. After some extra research, I learned that they are one of the most curious and friendly birds you can encounter. They very often will eat out of your hand with little coaxing!

For more pictures of the visitors, check out the gallery!

Featured on uStream!

We've only been with uStream for a few days now, but we're already featured on their front page under the "Winters Wild" grid!

I feel very accomplished!

I hope you're enjoying our new broadcasting with uStream! Don't forget to like us on Facebook and share us with friends!

Back up and running!

NovaBirds Cam is back up and running! Just in time for 5cm of snow later this afternoon. Brrrr!

Technical difficulties

Unfortunately we're having some internet connection issues today. Hoping to have the cam up later, but it's hard to determine if the problem will be fixed by then.

Stay tuned, will try to get it back up ASAP!

Changes

I'm currently testing out uStream as a new method of broadcasting our cam.

I love Camstreams, but uStream has a few more options that I think will enhance the "viewing experience."

With uStream, our cam can be viewed on Smart Phones using the uStream app. Also, there is the option to go full-screen when viewing, which a few people have expressed the desire for. The downfall is that there are ads, but I don't find them to be too much of a nuisance.

Please leave any feedback you have about this change.

An Exciting Visitor!

Male Northern Flicker at the seed feeder.

It's amazing how unpredictable birds can be. This morning I got a surprise when I opened the cam at work to see a curious Northern Flicker investigating the seed feeder!

We have lots of Northern Flickers around our property during the summer months. They're commonly poking around the yard, looking for insects under the lawn. In the winter however, they're less common...and even less common than that is to see one on a seed feeder. Typically if they visit a feeder, they'll go for suet, as most woodpeckers do. This guy must have been pretty hungry! I didn't see him sample any of the seed, but he looked like he was seriously considering it.

The Flicker challenges a Hairy for the
suet rack.

He flew off shortly after, and I figured it was just a fluke that he stopped by. Luckily a while later he appeared again, this time bickering with a hairy woodpecker over the suet basket. Maybe we'll be able to keep him interested in our feeders and he'll become a regular visitor!

If any of you spot him while viewing the cam, feel free to send a snapshot to nova.birdcam@gmail.com and I'll add it to the gallery! To take a picture, simply press the "Print Screen (PrtScn) button on your keyboard and then Paste (Ctrl +V) into a program such a paint.

Stay tuned! Hopefully this fellow will become a regular!

Nova Squirrel Cam?

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a fabulous New Year's Eve and wish you a great year ahead!



Scram and his buddy pig out.

The Nova Birdcam is currently pretty buried in snow. We had quite a blizzard on the 29th-30th of December...and we're now in a cold snap (-20°C with windchill!) so the snow won't be melting any time soon.

Yesterday, the cam was taken over by that pesky little Scram...and this time he brought a buddy along with him! For a good couple of hours, he and his friend hogged all the seed and kept most of the birds away.

They must be in a food coma now, as I haven't seen either of them today. Just lots of birds!