Yard Bird #113

Now don't get your hopes up - this is not the long-awaited Christmas Bird Count blog post. This is, however, a post about birds...... near Christmas....... and I counted them.

Today, at around 12:30pm, I finally found a new bird for the yard list after several months without one. I was sitting in the truck at the bottom of the driveway, and I glanced up at the 35+ Canada Geese flying past. In the flock was my new yard bird : Snow Goose! I was elated as the sun shone on the bird's black wing-tips and white body before the group of geese fell out of sight behind the trees. I didn't have my camera on hand, so I do not have a picture for you. Sorry! ( Cue the LOUD booing. )

Yard list - + Snow Goose = 113 species

Also in the area were around 40 Bohemian Waxwings jovially playing about on the top of a huge conifer, and 3 Bald Eagles surfing the sky, joined by 2 Red-tailed Hawks.

Thanks for looking, and please keep from exploding as you wait for the bird count reports. Again, thank you for your patience.

You'll have to wait just a little longer......

I sorry to say this, but the awaited blog posts of the three Christmas Bird Counts I did last weekend in the Okanagan have been delayed. It has been so busy with Christmas just around the corner, and I have not got around to organizing everything completely. Just to keep you hanging on, I will give you a puzzle to one of the birds we saw on one of the counts :

The name of the bird has two words; the first letter of the first word is F; the first letter of the second word is S.

Good luck on the puzzle, and thank you for your patience.

Logan

"Oh, gee! It's a blog post!"

Hello readers;

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have been very busy, so I will try to summarize the past week of birding.

December 6th : Maude Roxby Bird Sanctuary -


Tundra Swan


Tundra Swan ( mid-dip pose! )

December 6th also : Rotary Marsh -


House Sparrow ( These birds should be called Common Weaver-Finches, as they are a member of the Weaver-Finch family. They are not even a small amount related to sparrows! )


Fence Pals


Common Weaver-Finch male


Great Blue Heron hunkering down from the bitter-cold wind with a Mallard.

December 7th : Rotary Marsh -


Gadwall


American Dipper ( my first dipper for Rotary Marsh. It called, then proceeded to feed on all of the invisible munchies on the underside of the rocks. It made an effort not to be cooperative; the dipper didn't make eye-contact, was playing hide-and-go-seek, AND it was moving sooooo fast, that it was hard to keep track where he/she was! )


"Now where did that penny go?"


Song Sparrow ( probably my best capture of the species ever! )


Common Merganser - BADLY over-exposed.


American Wigeon BIF = bird in flight


Red-necked Grebe


Ring-billed Gull in very dark lit water.


American Goldfinch

Thank you for looking, and Keep Your Eyes Peeled On This Blog As I Am Going To Be Doing A Blog Post For Each Of The Three Christmas Bird Counts I'm Doing On The Weekend!

Logan

Up in the mountains.......

On Saturday, I went up to McCulloch Road for a Christmas tree hunt with some of my relatives ( and some of their friends ). When I say relatives, I mean a ton of 4 and 5 year old balls of fire, with a few adults mixed in.

I decided to bird along the way to the pull-off spot in the Southern Slopes area ( on the way to McCulloch ). I counted several Red-tailed Hawk as we started to ascend into the Southern Slopes, and a pair of Eurasian Collared Dove careening across the road. Also, some Dark-eyed Juncos and BC Chickadees were playing about in the bushes along the road. Now, as light snow is starting to fall, we have ascended greatly to a plateau where orchards are abundant. Floating and flying up in the sky in perfect formation are around 50 Bohemian Waxwings. As usual, there are insane amounts of starlings EVERYWHERE. Rounding a bend, and near McCulloch Road, I spotted a sleek Townsend's Solitare atop a pine; my first of the winter.

Now we started to climb as we had reached the end of pavement; on to our destination road. Along the way, there was not a bird to be seen until a brief stop at a sharp corner. To my delight, there was my goal bird of the day - Northern Pygmy-Owl - on a dead snag HIGH up the mountain. It was easy identification because of the distinct shape : squat head, round, stocky shape, and short, narrow tail.

After about fifteen minutes later, we ( the four cars with around 10 sub - 7 year kids and around 6 adults ) arrived at the snowy pull-off way up in the mountains. On the left side of the road, there was one of the resident Gray Jays of the area amiably sitting at the top of a young fir. Too far away for photographs, though.

Post-lunch, everybody except me and a few adults went into the forest to search for a Christmas tree to chop down. As soon as the young children left, and little rambling flock of Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches showed up to see if their turf was ready for re-claim. The chickadees were tentative in their approach, but the nuthatches were very cooperative. One even posed for some photos :


Red-breasted Nuthatch - flutter fluttering


King of the Stalk! - Red-breasted Nuthatch

In my opinion, the Red-breasted Nuthatch has a special endearing quality; always making you watch them constantly, because they are so cute!

It was a great day, with great birds, and beautiful weather coupled with the location.

Thanks;

Logan