June Birds in Saskatchewan

 The beginning of June found us in Grasslands National Park, in the south west corner of Saskatchewan.  This is a region known for being dry but this year there had been enough rain that it was still green when we visited there.

It is prime breeding ground for Lark Buntings and we saw plenty.  The females are streaky brown and may be confused with the average sparrow to the casual observer, but the males really stand out.

We are always pleased if we see any close to home, but in the Grassland Park they were abundant.

I didn't photograph a single female among the crowds of white winged males.  We have to assume they were all nestled on their eggs in their hidden nests.

We saw (briefly) one life bird during our couple of days in the park.  It was a Rock Wren.  This one peeked over the tops of the rocks for a minute or less.  Ray glimpsed the whole bird, but alas, my camera did not.

There were also several Bobolinks, another bird we don't see often enough.

On our list of seldom seen birds was this Cinnamon Teal, a beautiful, and to us, rare duck.

Later in the month I photographed this hawk.  Given the amount of white, I am calling it a Ferruginous Hawk till someone tells me otherwise. One of my favourite things about these hawks is that their preferred lunch is a plump Richardson's Ground Squirrel, aka a gopher.  They do munch on the occasional meadowlark unfortunately, but birds are not their primary diet choice.

Every summer the Purple Martins inspect our yard.  They always reject our martin house, not surprising as you can see.  Not being a carpenter, I need to find a place to buy a new house. I like hearing their calls as they fly over and would welcome them as tenants.

The flycatcher family has the most species of any bird family in the world.  The Least Flycatcher is one that occasionally nests in our yard.

As farmers we are blessed with grassland as well as cropland.  This gives us the opportunity to see sparrows.  Native ones, not the House Sparrows that call our yard home.  This one is a Clay-coloured Sparrow.  Its song is an interesting buzzing sound.

I love warblers.  They are small and cute and don't sit still. Most of them nest in the forests three or more hours north of us but a few species are willing to spend the summers in southern Saskatchewan.  American Redstarts like this one will nest in the wooded areas, particularly provincial parks.

Some of these flycatchers are impossible to identify by sight, but by song this one identified himself as an Alder Flycatcher.  We met this guy in Spruce Woods Park in Manitoba.

Our last June bird is a Great Blue Heron.  I love herons.  (Okay, along with owls, warblers, tanagers, woodpeckers....) 

A House Finch Story

 There seemed to be a conversation.

With both of them having lots to say.

 

But then something goes wrong.

He tries to mend his fences.

She wasn't ready for that.

He moves to another arm.

She follows him...

And peace returns.

Last few seconds in the life of ...

 I don't know what this insect is.  It's possible the warbler didn't know, either. 

It is also possible that neither of us cares.

It was caught.

The bird was content.  The insect was soon gone.

And the warbler was off to find another.

By the way, this bird is a bit of a tricky ID.  I think it is a female Yellow Warbler, but the eye ring and faint eyebrow could suggest another species, though probably still a female.  Whatever, she is still cute and was in our trees here by Lucky Lake during fall migration.  Though if she is a Yellow Warbler, she could have been here all summer.

May Birding

May is the month when the interesting birds show up.

 House Finch

Red-necked Grebe.  Some of these will breed in southern Saskatchewan.

Tundra Swans, the swan normally seen in Saskatchewan. We just see them on their way north.

Swainson's Thrush.  Only two thrushes hang around our area, the American Robin lives everywhere, several pairs in our yard.  The Veery nests in well-treed parks but they are not as plentiful as the robins.  I'd love to see more of the other thrushes, like this one.

Song Sparrow.  They'll breed, and sing, anywhere but they prefer to be close to water.

The White-throated Sparrow.  One of my favourite singers. I first noticed this bird in Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba, the song echoing through the park.  Unlike the thrushes, they have no hesitation in singing while migrating.

Lincoln's Sparrow.  I love their dainty look. Another Just-passing-through bird.

Probably the most frequently seen migrant warbler.  The Yellow-rumped Warbler looks most beautiful in the spring.  This one with the white throat is the Myrtle subspecies we usually see in Saskatchewan.

But this May I spent a few days in Lethbridge, Alberta, and was happy to find a couple of yellow throated Yellow-rumped Warbler. The Audubon subspecies.

Also from my time in Lethbridge, a pair of Common Mergansers.  The redhead is the female.

We don't see these every year, but I was very pleased to have Rose-breasted Grosbeaks show up for a few days.

Here is a migrant that actually nests in our yard.  This Brown Thrasher appears to be collecting dead leaves to line a nest.

Baltimore Orioles, a favourite migrant.  At least one pair chooses to nest in our yard most years.  Others just pop in for a juice break and keep on going.

Orange-crowned Warblers drop by, eat for a few days, and move on.

We had a dozen Pine Siskins here for a few days, and then one or two several other days.

April Migrants 2024

 I doubt I'm the only birder to say this, but spring is the best time of year to be a birder.  After months of House Sparrows and Black-billed Magpies, it is a relief to see something new.

The early migrants come through in April.  There aren't a lot of passerines among the early migrants, but there are a few, like this Dark-eyed Junco.  The Juncos are just passing through, but we usually see them for a few weeks in the spring.

American Tree Sparrows come through in April, too, but this year we didn't see a single one.  With migrants sometimes it is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  It's not as if the Tree Sparrows come to our patio like this junco did, and they don't stick around.  They are heading further north and seldom linger here. 

Horned Larks are also among the earliest birds to return north in the spring.  They can be seen at the edges of roads, often returning when there is still snow.  At first it seems as if there a dozen Larks in every mile of country road, but after a while they spread out or continue north.  We will see them right up till about August when they decide it is time to head south again.

Spring ducks are easy to see and come in bright colours.  Here we have a male Redhead and a pair of Ring-necked Ducks.  The Ring-necked is one of those birds that was named by someone holding the duck in hand.  Seeing the neck ring is a bit harder in the field.  We only see them in migration, they prefer to go further north to breed.

There are two scaup families that visit Saskatchewan.  The Greater Scaup shows up early, rests and eats, and continues north.  The Lesser Scaup does the same, but then some of them stay here to raise their babies.  I can't tell them apart. There are lots of suggestions about the shape of the head and the shading in the head colour, and even how much white is on the face of the female, but I still can't say which is which when I see them.   I've been told that the ones that visit Gardiner Dam in April are more likely to be Greater, which means these might be Greater.  But this is such an uncertainty that I won't label them as such.  All I can be sort of sure of is that the ones we see in June or July are Lesser Scaups.

There is no such problem with Buffleheads.  Nothing else looks like them.  The female is less distinctive as you can see, but she has the same head shape and the cutest little bill ever.  (By the way, these duck photos were all taken at Gardiner Dam and from a distance.  I have better photos but have decided to just include here photos taken in April of this year.)

Gardiner Dam is also a favourite spot for American White Pelicans.  These pelicans are not nesting. They don't breed until they are three years old, so I understand that the pelicans fishing below Gardiner Dam are younger birds.

We've been seeing Osprey at Gardiner Dam for many years.  There seemed to be at least two active nests when we were there this April.

Other early arrivals are gulls, like these Franklin's Gulls which stick around all summer and are frequently seen feeding in fields behind equipment.

California Gulls also breed in the lower part of Saskatchewan.

We get four or five species of grebes in Saskatchewan.  We have only seen four so far, as the Clark's Grebe is still unticked on our life list.  The fun thing about grebes is just as you look at them they disappear and it is anyone's guess where and when they will reappear.  This one is the Eared Grebe.

Shorebirds are also early migrants.  Gardiner Dam is not a great location to see them, but many different shorebirds can be seen at smaller sloughs as they pause on their way north.  Some of them will nest as far north as Alaska or the Northwest Territories. These three are distant Lesser Yellowlegs.  Hmm.  Wonder where they found that name?

I saved my favourite of these early migrants for the last.  The Great Blue Heron.  We can see individual herons almost anywhere during the summer, but there is one place we are guaranteed to see many, though only from a distance.

There's a Great Blue Heron nesting site at Gardiner Dam. These nests were already occupied on April 14 this year.  (This photo was taken from a road through a hay field using a telephoto lens and then cropped.)