Yes, Shrikes eat House Sparrows

Sometimes I search for birds. Sometimes they come to me.
These photos were taken this afternoon while the Northern Shrike ate a sparrow in the leafless lilacs some fifteen feet from my office window.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

It might have been too cool, or perhaps the hummingbirds didn't care for my new feeder, but we only had brief glimpses of these favourites this year. Last year... Ah last year they came and stayed for days. Here's one from August 23, 2009.

September Birding

We haven't done much birding in weeks, so today we took advantage of a free day, mostly sunny skies, and moderate temperatures to check out a few local bird sites.

This juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron led us down the trail across the Luck Lake dyke. Other birds there included a lot of generic ducks that didn't stand around long enough to be IDed and some shorebirds in their nonbreeding plumage, notably American Avocets and some Phalaropes, just not absolutely certain which Phalarope. I don't recall seeing these little guys in their nonbreeding plumage before, and was amazed at how grey they look!

The pavilion at the dam was temporary home to a swarm of Yellow Rumped Warblers. I got several photos, many showing their yellow rump, but this one was my favourite.

This slightly faded male Mountain Bluebird greeted us as we parked at Coldwell Park. Other notable birds there were several Northern Flickers, a few late staying American Robins, a couple of Grey Catbirds, and our first Spotted Towhees of the year.

Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park

July 1 we quit work early and drove to SLPP for the sole purpose of seeing an Eastern Bluebird.

What makes it particularly satisfying is that we actually saw it.

At the same time, we saw at least five Common Nighthawks. Only this one took a rest on a branch. The others were flying around saying Beep! like a roadrunner.

We also heard from half a dozen Common Yellowthroats, aka The Weeta Weeta Bird. This one sat still long enough for me to see it.

There has been some speculation about whether cacti would be happy with the rain we've had this year. Well, I feel I can end that speculation. They love it. I do not recall ever seeing so many cactus blooms.

These photos, by the way, serve as encouragement to me to buy a camera with more zoom than the 12x I have now. As you can see, it does better with close ups of stationary flowers than far distance birds.

Yard Birds

I've long had a desire to live in a park. When I first had this dream, all I wanted were tall trees casting long afternoon shadows across lush, green lawns. Now that I've discovered this obsession with winged wildlife, I love the concept of park living because of the birds.

This is the third or fourth year we've had catbirds. They are cheerful little fellows with complicated songs. When they aren't singing, their call sounds a bit like a cat's meow, hence their name.

Hiding in this tree is a male Baltimore Oriole. He sings a lot, but rarely poses for photos. Other years, our orioles have hung out in the poplars, but this guy prefers the birch.

There are drawbacks, however. These are the cedar waxwings who only come because they want to eat the fruit from my bushes. Having no patience, they are willing to eat the fruit while it is green. It is difficult to compete with that, since I'm fussy about waiting till the fruit is ripe. (Notice the masks. One of the many birds that try to keep their identities a secret.)

I did say it was an impossible dream, didn't I?

The bird you see below remains a distant hope. It has been confirmed that the bird we saw is a Hudsonian Godwit. Still a new bird for us, but not a rare bird. Not a bird to travel 7 hours for.

The expert birders are hoping the Bar-tailed is still on Luck Lake. After all, it is a very large body of water, and the bird is relatively small. And Ray and I live close and can check it out frequently. Can't we?

Bartailed Godwit and other impossible dreams...

Would you drive 7 hours to see this bird? I probably wouldn't either, but only because my life is too busy. People have, however. Earlier this week, a birder from Ontario discovered a Bartailed Godwit on Luck Lake and let the world know, or at least the local birdwatchers. (This, by the way, is not the Luck Lake bird. This one was borrowed from the internet.) People have come to see this bird from Regina, Saskatoon, Hodgeville, Warman, Creighton, and Calgary. Ray and I went to look for it three times. Third time lucky. We saw it this afternoon, but only because two gentlemen from Regina had spent the previous three hours looking for it, and located it at last, just minutes before we arrived. They were very generous with their scopes and information. It was a lot of fun. I can't say I saw the bird this clearly, it was a long way away, even with scopes.


Other birds are always available for viewing on Luck Lake, including this Wilson's Phalarope.
and dozens of avocets.
And interesting assortments of gulls. This week there are hundreds of Franklin gulls. Other, more knowledgeable birders, found a young Bonaparte's Gull and 2 Sabine Gulls among them. Ray and I just saw Franklins. Also hanging around close to the shore were Ring billed gulls and California gulls. You tell me what the gull in the front is. I haven't decided yet.

Dark-Eyed Junco, Oregon Form

Usually we get these little guys much earlier, but they missed us till this weekend. He's going to be lonely, so I don't expect him to stay long.

One of those difficult thrushes

One of my reference books says that the Swainson's Thrush wears spectacles and the Hermit Thrush doesn't, so going with that and the lack of a rusty-coloured back, I will suggest this is a Swainson's.

Sunday on Luck Lake

We took an hour and a half to drive across the dyke on Sunday, May 16. There was the usual assortment of ducks that refused to stay to be observed, along with a lot of small sandpipers. Ray decided they were white-rumped, and he may be right. I'm not sure I have ever successfully identified a small sandpiper. There are too many choices and the differences seem so subtle. I had no trouble identifying these little guys, however. One of my favourite spring migration birds, a dozen or so American Golden Plovers were hugging the shoreline, almost out of sight below the dyke. Ray took this photo because he was sitting on the right side of the car. Other birds on the lake included a lot of avocets and marbled godwits, plus some gulls, Wilson's Phalaropes, coots, and Eared Grebes. There was a pair of Horned Grebes on the slough at the south end.

The View from my Window

After feeding little but house sparrows for too many months, it is wonderful to be blessed with flashes of yellow again.

A Brand New Bird? Or a bad photo of a Horned Grebe?

We saw these birds on the slough near Luck Lake this afternoon. They appeared to be ducks, but they don't have duck bills. Deep study of four bird guides says nothing looks like this. The closest we got is the Horned Grebe on a short neck day.