2020 Pumpkin Patch Flashback: Bought Lots of Small Pumpkins

 I bought lots of small pumpkins to decorate my room last year (2020).

I bought all kinds of colors: orange, white, yellow, pear-shaped, "monster"-shaped, green, mixed, etc.

pumpkins of all colors and shapes

Weird Pumpkin:

I don't even know what this look like.

weird pumpkin

Another picture of my window:

pumpkin table

Chickadees Playing Around: Even on Christmas Wreath

Chickadees are very playful.  

I have lots of decorations on my tiny balcony.  Chickadees are the kind of birds which will hop on all of them.  They like to hop and climb.

They hop on my rabbit statue:

chickadee and rabbit feeder

Chickadees on my pine cone and cotton decorations:

chickadee and pine cone and cotton

chickadee pine cone and cotton 2

Chickadee on my door hanger:

chickadee on door stopper hanger

Chickadees even like to hop on my Christmas wreath!

Chickadee on Christmas Wreath

They are very cute.......chickadee...dee...dee...!

First Day of 2021 Autumn Pumpkin Season: Rondriso Farm Pumpkin Patch

 Yesterday is the first day of fall pumpkin season for most pumpkin patches in Canada.

Our family usually go to the pumpkin patch once a year, and we went to Rondriso Farm Pumpkin Patch last year.  This year, we decided to do the same.  The entrance fee this year is 5 dollars per person.  (Adult and kids the same).  Hay rides are extra 2 dollars per person.

After you park at the farm, you will see two farm areas you can visit:  Chickens and cows areas.

Chicken Eating Pumpkins

Amazingly, they actually feed the chickens pumpkins!  Why not.  It is organic, healthy and not wasteful!

Pumpkins and chickens

After the chicken area, you can head to the cow area to see them eat hay:

cute cow

You will see about 20 cute cows in the area.

Rondriso Farm cows

Amazingly, all of the cows have names!

After this, you can take the hay ride or walk to the pumpkin patch area:

You will see all kinds of pumpkins in the patch: long, thin, weird shaped, orange, red, spotted, white, green, etc.

Found this cute pollinator:

bumblebee?

They have a small general store that sells pumpkins and some veggies.  They used to have all you can take for one bag of small pumpkin for 10 dollars, but not this year.  This year's small pumpkins are 2 for 5 dollars. 

I bought some and found that walmart is way cheaper.  3 dollar per bag with lots of small pumpkins.

So, do think about it when you decide to buy in the farms.

Chickadee and Finch Eating Together

These days, my balcony is full of life during breakfast time in the morning around 8am.

Hummingbirds, chickadees and Finches will come for breakfast, and they will share space.

Here is another proof; they eat peacefully:

Finch and Chickadee share space

Sometimes, they will look at each other and say,  "How is it going?"

Handmade Bird Swing for Hummingbirds, Finches, and Chickadees

 My wife made a very fancy, colorful bird swing for the birds that visits us:

Fancy Bird Swing

All you need is some strings from the stores, some sticks from the craft section and a craft drill.

Hummingbird and bird swing

So far, the hummingbirds like to look at it and poke at it.  

It looks very funny.  "hmmm....What is that?"

Maybe it thinks that is food or flower?

Chickadees Are Playful

 

The chickadees nearby are coming to my place more often now.  

They come for the 3 meals and snacks and are very playful.  They hop onto all the small pots and decorations.

Chickadee on bird nest

Half of the time, they will take a seed and run away.  Other times, they would stay and play for a while.

Hop on ....hop off

Chickadee on feeder

They like to hop up and down.  It is what they do on big trees.  If you observe what the chickadees do, you will find they like to keep hopping upwards from branch to branch.

Chickadee in planter

Very often, they will hop on every single object on the balcony and they go home.

That is like 30 items at least.

Birds Like Branches to Rest On and Curious Hummingbirds

 

The other day, my wife had this idea:

"Birds like to perch, what happens when I find nice branches for them to perch on?"

As people know, hummingbirds find flowers and sugar and food and they do not really stay in one place for a long time.  (especially if you don't have a backyard.)

So, she thought she would find nice branches in the park for the hummingbirds, chickadees and finches to perch on.  ....and....they did come!!!  They stayed!!!

Hummingbird perching on balcony

Hummingbird on branch

My wife also handmade a bird swing for birds to play with.

So far, they haven't go on it yet, but hummingbirds kept looking at it every time!

Hummingbird and Swing

We also put a lot of new decorations for the birds to play with.  I will upload the results of the experiments later.  I am guessing some of the birds will start playing around.

New Koala's March: Pokemon Collaboration

 

I found this one new Koala's March in the supermarket again.  

This time it is a Pokemon collaboration!

The box has Pikachu and Cinderace's pictures on it.  The taste is cheese cake.

Koala's March Pokemon with Cinderace

Koala's March and Pokemon

The interesting thing is that on each snack, not only it has different koalas on it, it has different Pokemon's drawing on it.

For example, it has Pikachu, Cinderace, Pinsir, Bewear, Marill, etc.

Koala's March and Pokemon collaboration

Taste-wise, I don't think it is anything special.  The characters are very cute though if you are a pokemon fan.

New Koala's March in Canada Review: "Bitter Chocolate" and "Milk and Cheese"

 Recently, I found two new Koala's March snack boxes in the nearby supermarkets.

There are two new kinds of tastes:  "Milk and Cheese" and "Bitter Chocolate".

Koala's March Milk & Cheese and Bitter Chocolate

Milk and Cheese:  It is tasty but I taste more milk than cheese.  It is good but I don't feel as much impact.

Bitter Chocolate:  I actually like this one better.  It feels like a thicker chocolate, different than the original taste.  It tastes more luxurious and mature.

Conclusion:  I think I will try the bitter chocolate again.

Finch Family Visiting Everyday Now: Members

We are so glad that the finch family is coming almost everyday now.  Sometimes, multiple times a day.

 Here is the older brother (Teenager Finch):

Teenager male finch's color is more pinkish at the head.  It will change as they age.

Teenager Finch

Here is the mommy finch on the right (with long tail) and baby finch on the left on the balcony bar.

Usually, the adults pay more attention to the surroundings.  They look around while the young ones eat.

Sometimes, the babies do also fly here to eat alone.

Mother and Baby

Here is the daddy of the household:

The adult finch's color is more vibrant in red, orange or pink from head to belly.

The body is bigger and more rounded than teenagers.

Father Finch

Black-Capped Chickadee Is Here

 Black-capped Chickadees are one of the most common bird in North America.  They are everywhere on the trees in the neighborhood, and they make those "Chicka-dee-dee-dee" sounds on a sunny day.  I have always wondered if one of the bird can be enticed to come to our balcony.

Black-capped Chickadee

They very cute and playful.  One started visiting our balcony.

For the first few days, he probably came and saw by chance that I have sunflower seeds around.

(Chickadees like sunflower seeds.)  

He would pick up one seed and just fly away.

Chickadee...sooooo cute

Then, he comes more often, staying for few seconds or up to a minute.  He will even play around the garden, staying and hopping on every planter and decorations.

Chickadee on Frog

Can you find the chickadee in this photo?

hop hop hop...Chickadee-dee-dee~~

Moon and Hummingbird

 

These are actually photos from few weeks ago when it is still summer time in Canada.

The half moon was out and the hummingbird came out for the last flight.

Half moon

Hummingbird's Last Flight

Usually, their last flight or meal is determined by sunset time.  In Canada our sunset is very early in the winter and very late in the summer.  So, it can be anywhere between 3:30pm to 9am, depending on where they live as well.  

Hummingbird and Finch Will Share Space....Small Birds Will Share Space

 Recently, hummingbirds and finches will come visit my balcony regularly everyday.

Interestingly, I find that they will actually share the space, and sometimes they will come next to each other.  They will not mind each other at all.  Perhaps, they sense no danger.

Hummingbird and Finch

The funny thing is that hummingbird males are very territorial, but it is funny that they find other birds okay to share space with.  However, hummingbird males will compete with other males for space.

Finch Family

Above is the finch family that visits us everyday.  I think it is consists of: father, mother, 2 kids (don't know gender yet) and a older brother kid.  The older male kid sometimes will show up with family and sometimes will not.

hummingbird and finch 2

Above is another example of sharing space.  

The two species are on the same feeder at same plant.  In general, small bird species will share space.  However, if you have two male hummingbirds, they will not share space.  They will chase each other away.

Very Cute Squirrels Nearby My Place

 There are usually lots of squirrels nearby the area I live in.  I would say at least 40 squirrels, black and silver/brown ones.

They run around the streets and sometimes, the friendly ones will run to us, asking for snacks.

We brought some sunflower seeds for them to munch on yesterday.

I really love how they hold and eat their food!!  So cute!!!

They have big eyes and look like something coming out of the comics.

Hummingbird and Heavy Rain Storm

 Fall weather has descended on the west coast of Canada.  That means it will be dark, rainy and cold.  I was wondering if hummingbirds will show up to our place for food. 

They came!  

They will fly in light rain or heavy rain to places close by.

Female Anna's Hummingbird

Immature Anna's Hummingbird

Even the finch will show up in light rain.  (However, when it rains heavy, most birds won't fly.)

Only hummingbirds will fly in heavy rain.  (They look so cute!)

Finch and Hummingbird co-exist

 Towards the night, the wind got very strong.  Under strong wind, hummingbirds will not fly either.  They slept earlier today.  Since it is dark anyways, they slept 30 minutes earlier than usual.  (Last flight is 6:45pm)

Green Heron in Burnaby Lake

 We went to Burnaby Lake the other day, and we spotted a rare bird eyeing for fish.

Funny Face on Green Heron

Its name is "Green Heron" and belongs to the Heron family.  It hunts for fish but does not have the tall height like the Great Blue Heron.

Looking for Fish

What are you looking at?

When we were there, it was making all those funny faces.