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.