Our Feathered Friends

The winter landscape here in Nova Scotia can seem a bit lifeless: the deciduous trees are bare, the gardens look barren and forlorn, and the main spot of continuous colour is the deep green of the native spruce trees. As we walk around our property, between our house and our four Nova Scotia vacation rentals, we see tracks indicating activity — deer, squirrel, rabbit, fox — but the creatures making the tracks are, for the most part, out of sight.

The exception to this stillness and lifelessness is the hub of activity that surrounds the bird feeders outside our kitchen windows. Here is the stage for an intricate play with many characters.

The gold finches and blue jays are the flashy stars, with colourful costumes that catch the eye. The gold finches cluster around the Niger seed feeder, cloaking the feeder with the dull yellow of the female and the brilliant, almost-neon yellow of the male. The blue jays are more drawn to the sunflower seeds, greedily gulping down multiple seeds at a single visit, all while strutting around bossily, making the most of their size and seeming to flaunt their handsome coats. Blue is a rarity in nature, and the jays really stand out in this winter scene – a welcome and startling flash of colour.

Starlings are like a huge supporting cast of villains and urchins in a Dickens play, sweeping on stage and pushing the other actors to the periphery while they hold forth. They descend on the feeders in huge noisy flocks, scattering the other birds. These European introductions have a reputation for being pests because of the large flocks they travel in and because of the way they dominate the scene when they’re present, but if you can get past their annoying traits, there’s a lot to admire in these characters. When the sun catches their feathers just right, the iridescence of their plumage is breath taking. And the range of vocalizations that starlings make is very impressive. They whistle, make watery gurgling sounds, and imitate a wide range of other birds in a show of mimicry that even the most accomplished impersonator would admire.

But the king of the drama at our feeders, the true diva that upstages all other characters, is the northern flicker. When this large, oddly costumed bird is on the scene, all of the other birds stay away, allowing this member of the woodpecker family to do its solo. For those of you who have never seen a northern flicker, with its swooping roller-coaster flight pattern, bright red neck patch and strongly spotted body, you’re in for a treat. Flickers are considered uncommon winter visitors here in Nova Scotia (though they’re quite common during the summer breeding season) so we consider ourselves lucky to have them with us during these late-winter months. They’re welcome on our stage anytime.

And if you’re looking into Nova Scotia Eco-Tourism, consider a stay with us in our vacation homes. We’ll happily share the pageantry that nature provides year-round here at Second Paradise Retreat.