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.