Looking Back

While thinking about our proposed trip south in December, I spent some time looking over the photos I took in Mazatlan in March.

I came across this shorebird. I think it is a Short-billed Dowitcher, though must confess that shorebirds are not my specialty so I may be wrong. He/she could easily have been in Saskatchewan, aside from the nonbreeding colouring, of course. We are really fortunate that we see most birds at their colourful best. At least in the spring. We won't talk about the fall migration.
This little yellow bird looks a lot like the female Yellow Warblers we see all summer, though it may be a first winter male. I had no idea Black-necked Stilts were so cute till I looked at these photos. Sometimes I'm so busy snapping the camera that I don't take time to look with my binoculars. I've never had the good fortune to see a Black-necked Stilt in Saskatchewan but we've seen a few in Mexico. This guy has such a fuzzy look to him that I feel sure he/she was in his first winter.

Okay, I'm not likely to ever see this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Saskatchewan, but he posed so beautifully that I decided to include this photo in my almost Saskatchewan retrospective. I have yet to see any yellow on this guy's head, but I expect there is a dot there somewhere.

And here's another one that just isn't going to show up around the farm. A female Streak-backed Oriole. One of my favourite photos ever, one of the websites I looked at described her as drab, but I just can't agree.

I'm looking forward to seeing more Canadian birds on winter holiday, along with a few tropical specialties that never venture this far north.

Birding is a lot of fun when we have two weeks and no work to take up our time.

Snow Geese on Luck Lake

There are uncountable numbers of Snow Geese in the area right now. Here are just a few, rising off Luck Lake on the way to the neighbouring fields for supper.

Truly Autumn

Northern Flicker

It isn't that there haven't been any birds around in the last couple of months, it isn't even that I haven't taken any photos. It's just that I've been doing doing so many other things, I had no time to post them. One day I'll post the best of the summer photos, but for now, here's a flicker that stopped by my oak tree yesterday.

Who's hiding in my saskatoon bushes?

Among other winged creatures, there is a young robinbeing trained by its more experienced parent.And a Cedar Waxwing, arriving with a crowd of its cousins.

Some years ago, I picked 22 four litre pails of berries from these saskatoon bushes. Since then I planted more trees and the ones I had grew bigger and most years I'm lucky to fill a soup bowl.

And its all because of these lovely little birds who do not wait for the fruit to ripen.

Do these berries look purple to you?
No, me neither, but to the robins and waxwings they are just perfect.

Sunday morning stroll around the farm

A Viceroy Butterfly. A family of Horned Grebes living on our dam.

The babies relaxing as they enjoy the ride. On the other side of the water, unfortunately. Couldn't persuade them to come closer.

A family of ducks. Maybe a Gadwall this time? No dad in evidence, which would make identifying so much easier.

I didn't even realize we had Chipping Sparrows here, but we do. And possibly catching a little something for the family.

A House Wren making sure we all know it is here.

And the birdhouse that held a Tree Swallow three weeks ago but now is apparently home to a House Wren, at least the feather in the upper corner would suggest that. But Whose egg is it? And did the Swallows hatch and fly away without my seeing them? Guess I need to visit more than once a week.

Birding-free Week

Or nearly so. We visited grandchildren in Manitoba. Did manage to see baby Coots in the roadside sloughs, and Canada Geese that are almost as big as their parents. The bird feeder in their yard hosted numerous Goldfinches and a pair of Purple Finches while a Hummingbird visited the nectar feeder, but the Lark Sparrow above is the only photo worth sharing, and it's not going into my best birds file. It does give us a glimpse of their very interesting facial markings, however.

Just out for a stroll

At first glance I thought I had American Wigeons on the road in front of me, given the white on the male's wing.

But as I drove closer I saw it was a male Gadwall and a female Northern Shoveller.  Isn't that bill huge!

Fuzzy Owl

This Juvenile Great Horned Owl watched me for several minutes from its perch near a backroad before deciding that I was either a threat or very boring, and then it flew away.

Grey Partridges

There are always Partridges around our farm. Three family groups were sustained by our spilled grain over this past winter. Despite this, I seldom get a chance for a photo. By the time I slow the vehicle, the partridges have fluttered into a shelterbelt or faded into the grass. I see them closer to the house occasionally, but there again the disappearing act wins every time.

Until this week when a pair showed up for an unscheduled photo shoot. I enjoyed a closeup look at their colouring differences.
And even their personal habits,
as the female took several dustbaths. After several minutes they faded into the grass

Singing Tree

If you know this bird, please leave a comment and tell me what it is. It could be a common bird that I'd recognize by sight, but since he's hiding behind the poplar leaves I can't see him and I'm not very good at ear recognition.

Nests

A Robin's nest on end of a log of the Creation Centre at West Bank Bible Camp.A Mourning Dove baby that found itself out of its nest before it really wanted to be. (Photo taken June 14, 2009.And, possibly, the nest the Mourning Dove vacated.The Spring Lake Killdeer protecting her hatching eggs. (The nest, such as it is, was shown in a post a few days ago.)
An Eared Grebe on its nest near Morse, Saskatchewan.My favourite of all, an American Avocet on her nest right beside a road and a fence on Reed Lake near Morse.

Birding with an Apprentice

I went for a walk with my almost five-year-old granddaughter the other day. I'd been told she recognized crows and robins and thought it was time to stretch her birding abilities. I pointed to a little bird on a wire and asked if she saw the bird.

Sure, she said, it's a robin.

Our first lesson involved discussion of the colour of a Robin's chest and the points on a Barn Swallow's tail.
Fortunately a real Robin stopped to search for worms nearby, allowing her to marvel at how much bigger he was than the Swallow.


Then I pried her away from the trampoline and we went in search of more birds. There were Goldfinches and Yellow Warblers darting around, but none obligingly settled down where we could get a good look.


The Cedar Waxwings were more accomodating. Rebecca with her five-year-old ears was able to imitate their whistle quite well. I was impressed.


(This photo came from last week, as did the Barn Swallow. Photography and granddaughters mix rather poorly, but she did take some rather nice shots of me, a chain and some leaves.)

Then we saw this juvenile Robin just feet away from us. An exciting moment. After that she really wanted to go back to the trampoline, but I'll turn her into a birder yet. I have a nice pair of miniature binoculars that should help.

A day in the life of a Killdeer

There was a crowd of people standing around the parking lot when we showed up at a picnic today. All being scolded by an irate Killdeer. We learned the reason very soon.She had a nest in the middle of the parking lot, which in this case is pretty much the same as the middle of the prairie.


Later in the day the report circulated that one of the eggs had hatched and another was in the process. I climbed into the box of a nearby truck in an attempt to take a photo without disturbing the mother too much.The mother stood on guard, handling the invasion fairly well as long as people stayed at least ten feet away. The grass interferes a bit with the view, but I believe we have one dry baby and one freshly hatched in this photo, with two eggs to go. Later when I blew up one of the photos I found a more recognizable photo of the baby, looking a bit fluffier now.

Transitions

I like to go for walks before church on Sunday mornings. On May 22 I saw this robin trying to appear invisible in her nest in a very scraggly spruce tree 6 feet above the ground. The next Sunday the nest appeared empty, but there was a Robin complaining gently from a nearby poplar so I assumed there might be eggs.

On June 3 I saw babies. Well trained, like their mother, they didn't move as they tried to appear invisible. It wasn't their fault the nest was in a scraggly spruce 6 feet above the ground.