Loggerhead Shrikes

May 8 was memorable for seeing 7 Loggerhead Shrikes at five different sites.  I'm not sure if seeing seven in one day was the most surprising, or seeing three in one location.  Previous to this, I've never seen more than 2 together except families after the babies fledged.

Our first was along the highway as we drove.

The second was in the South West Quadrant of Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. (An hour or so later we saw a Shrike in the same quadrant a half mile or so away so we decided it was likely the same bird and did not include it in the seven.)

Shortly after this we saw our third Loggerhead Shrike on the shore of the river close to the bridge in the North West Quadrant.

From there we went to the South East Quadrant. I was just writing the number 2 on the Sask Landing list when Ray saw our fourth Loggerhead Shrike of the day. 

Two posts down was number five and across a grass strip was number six.

Two hours later and half a mile from our house we saw our seventh Loggerhead Shrike of the day.

That ended the day where we had a year's worth of shrike viewing in less than eight hours.

April Birding

I love April.  It is the month when we begin to see birds  return to the sometimes still frozen north.  Not that there aren't birds in the winter, but I seldom see more than a few species. When April comes, we welcome birds that I usually haven't seen in months.

On April 15 I found myself in Saskatoon where I saw a Ring-billed Gull having lunch

and I photographed my first American White Pelicans of the year.

The most exciting April birds were White-faced Ibises on a slough near Ardath, Saskatchewan, on April 24.  There were partially hidden by grass,

 

but when I tried to creep a little closer, they took off.  Of course, Ibises are recognizable from the air, too, so there was no doubt what we were seeing.

I gave full credit to Ray who saw them fly in the first time while I was busy admiring the Snow and Greater White-fronted Geese.

The most numerous birds in our yard in April were Common Grackles and American Robins.  We also had some Dark-eyed Juncos and Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  While working at my desk on the 26th I heard the song of a White-throated Sparrow and I knew that spring had truly arrived.