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.