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.