Mountain Chickadee: September 28, 2022

The first life bird of our autumn vacation was found in the parking lot of an A&W in Canmore, Alberta. We were on our way to a scenic walk along a creek, but naturally stopped when we noted birds in the bushes along a busy street.

Despite spending most of the next three weeks in view of at least one mountain, Canmore was the only place we had confirmed sightings of Mountain Chickadees.

Grasshopper Sparrow, September 4/22

 Just hanging out in our pasture.

Not the prettiest background, and we needed help identifying this fairly plain little sparrow, but the final result of the consultation was Grasshopper Sparrow and a lifer.  Number 3 for the year.

2022 Lifer Number Two

 Ray and I have looked for Townsend's Solitaires several times, notably in February of 2021 in really, really cold weather.  But never found it.  Townsend's Solitaires are not actually supposed to live in Saskatchewan.  They migrate through here in a diagonal shortcut from B.C. and the Yukon and a few like it and stay for the winter.

This map was copied from my favourite bird site, All About Birds.  Please go visit them.  Just not right now.

Earlier this month we found a Townsend's Solitaire in Lethbridge, Alberta, when we went straight when we were supposed to turn right.  It was obviously intended.  Ray saw the bird fly through a yard; a couple of minutes later we tracked it down on the top of a tree.  Because we were not expecting a lifer but returning from the Good Friday service at church I was missing vital equipment, my camera.  Binoculars were at hand, however, and the identity was confirmed.  We drove to our daughter's house, rapidly collected the camera, left behind a granddaughter who has not yet caught the birding bug, and returned to find the bird gone from the top of the tree.

Well, what could you expect?  

Then a short journey down the street and back revealed the bird across the road sitting on a roof.  I'm never excited about a bird on a roof, unless it is a lifer, and this one was.

 Yes, it is a fairly nondescript bird, especially on a cold, cloudy day when it was supposed to be spring. However, a close inspection reveals two important field marks, a white eye ring and a gold patch on the wing.  (All About Birds calls it a buffy patch but I saw it and I call it gold.)

Our next Townsend's Solitaire sighting will be in Saskatchewan on a sunny day. It will be sitting in the open on a branch eight feet off the ground and twenty feet away.  And I will have my camera.

Or at least that's my plan.

Great Grey Owls

 We were told there are more Great Grey Owls in central Saskatchewan this year than in the last twenty.  That was good enough for us.  We booked a tour with a man who knows a whole lot about Great Grey Owls...and most of the other birds that make their home in Saskatchewan.

After driving back roads north of Prince Albert for a day and a half we saw 7 owls Friday and 3 Saturday morning.  We had to leave at noon so missed the four owls the rest of the group saw Saturday afternoon.

Most of the owls we saw were too far away for a decent photo, but there were a few cooperative individuals, particularly the one above who sat by the side of the highway causing us all to worry about the possible danger he was in from passing vehicles.

I really like owls.

Lifers in the Water

 Barrow's Goldeneye on the Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon.

 Yellow-billed Loon at Gardiner Dam

 

Harlequin Duck, on the river in Saskatoon.

 

I've long wanted to see a Harlequin Duck in all its amazing beauty, but this one will have to do till I see that one.

It was amazing to get three lifers all in less than 10 days in November of 2021.  We haven't been able to travel far in the last two years, but have been blessed to see several Saskatchewan birds that we'd previously missed, and a few of the random birds that have ignored all the Covid restrictions and visited us.

So there was this Phainopepla...

I often think of all the rare birds that land in someone's yard and are seen only by people who don't know the difference between a sparrow and a warbler.

A few days ago a bird wandered about 2700 km (by road) out of its way and landed in a farmyard near Zealandia, Saskatchewan.  It was seen by a man who describes himself as an independent birder.  However, this time he knew he could not continue his birding in solitude.  Independent or not, he realized this bird had to be shared.

A report came through on the birder telegraph Friday afternoon.  The farm is only 110 km from our farm (also by road) so we decided to go see it.  Saturday morning.  We were concerned it might not stick around.  A day and a half later it is still there.  (I want to go see it again!)  The weather was cool, windy and overcast. It would be fun to see it in the sun.  If sunshine was to happen any time soon, that is. 

This independent birder has now shared his beautifully treed yard with what is likely more than 50 of Saskatchewan's most exuberant birders, as well as a few from Manitoba and Alberta.  This is an extraordinary bird to see on the prairies.  Our concern is whether it will find a friendly flock with which to travel south or will it stay and likely perish in what is forecast to be an unseasonably cold winter. Phainopeplas are normally found in the desert regions of Mexico and southwest USA.

Here are a couple of photos I took of this female of indeterminate age.  (If I went back maybe I'd get better photos. Who knows? She must be getting used to posing for photos by now.)

Because we went to the see this bird, we also met more than a dozen other birders who had also come to see it.  Most we'd heard of through online connections but only one we'd met before.  (While searching for a Bar-tailed Godwit in 2010.)  It would have been great to see these other birders even without finding the Phainopepla.  Doing both made for a great day.

Birding is a lot of fun.  I am ever grateful for the incredible variety in the bird world.

Spring Migration

 It starts slowly.

Horned Larks come before spring is more than a dream.

Rough-legged Hawks passing through on their way further north are the first hawks to show up in large numbers.

By the third week in March Snow Buntings have mostly departed this area for their breeding grounds near the Arctic.  However on the 24th of March this year we saw something I'd never seen before.

Snow Buntings on power lines, hundreds of them.

It was only afterwards while checking the photos that we realized there were a large number of Lapland Longspurs among the Snow Buntings.  Apparently another early migrant.

Falcons begin showing up in Saskatchewan in March, including this Taiga Merlin.

Also in March we start to see Cackling and Canada Geese.

And the early ducks such as Common Goldeneye.

By the end of the month we also see the gulls: mostly California and Ring-billed but also the occasional Herring Gull and even more occasionally other random gulls as recognized by better birders than us.

I'm really looking forward to the return of sparrows and warblers but the only early representative from these families is the American Tree Sparrow.

Every day there is the possibility of different birds. And one day there might even be warm weather.