Brown Creeper

One of my favourite birds, but certainly not the easiest to photograph !
I found two at a city park this morning and eventually got lucky with some photos that I thought turned out ok.
The first one was when the sun was just coming up, and the second one I had to wait a long time to get, when I waited for him to come around from behind the tree and in the full sun.
Not the warmest of days. It felt like minus 20 in the park...

Two November Rarities

Towards the end of the year, a few rarities show up in Saskatchewan , either having migrated the wrong way, lingered too long or are birds that are getting a more permanent foothold in the Province.
The Eurasian Collared Dove is one such bird .
There are a several growing populations in various towns within the Province.
This one was photographed in Moose Jaw, SK during the recent trip I took, looking for the Yellow-throated Warbler.
As I reported earlier in the year. We have a few of these currently residing in Saskatoon.
These Doves are usually a more grey-ish colour, but this one looks almost beige in the morning light. The distinctive black collar can be clearly seen :


Eurasian Collared Dove




Once again, another American Dipper is in town.
The American Dipper, a bird of mountain streams, has only been seen here in Saskatoon a couple of times, most recently in April.
This one is actively foraging next to a sewer outlet that runs into the river.
On Saturday a friend and I observed this bird (also known as a Water Ouzel) swimming and having some success catching aquatic insects :

American Dipper

Yellow-throated Warbler

One thing I love about birding, is you never know what might show up during the tail end of migration.
For instance, this male Yellow-throated Warbler, which spends its winter at the Gulf Coast states of South America, has somehow taken a wrong turn and ended up in a backyard at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan last week.
There are two subspecies of this warbler, and the one furthest south, from the Gulf Coast, has Yellow lores while the other one has white lores ( the coloured markings next to its bill ).
Well, it looks like the one we have in Moose Jaw right now is even rarer as it's the most southern sub-species.
Yesterday I was privileged to see this bird, and got one lucky shot of it on a natural perch at the front of the property before it vanished.
I have other photos of the bird at a feeder, but thought this one was the prettiest.

(click for full size)

Pileated Woodpecker

Here is a male Pileated Woodpecker taken at Pike Lake Provincial Park last week.
I had seen him the day before and went back the following day and found him on this snowy tree stump.
The snow only lasted a couple of days and has stayed away for the time being :-)

Please click for full size :

Snow Bunting at Prince Albert National Park

A couple of weeks ago when we were at P.A.N.P , my wife and I decided to walk the 'Boundary Bog' Trail to look for Spruce Grouse.
Unfortunately none could be found that day, but we did find a lone Snow Bunting on the outskirts of the trail, at first sitting on the handrail of one of the paths, and then he conveniently landed on a lovely spruce perch covered in ' old mans beard' .

As with all photos, please click on it, to view in better quality and size :

World Wildlife Fund 2010 Calendar

I thought some of my blogger friends ( and friends from everywhere else ! ) might like to know that the 2010 WWF Calendar is now for sale.

It features one of my photos ( for March ) and proceeds go towards the World Wildlife Fund.

If anyone wants to order it, here's the link :

http://wwfstore.donorportal.ca/p-105-2010-photo-contest-calendar.aspx

Some of you will recognize the photo that they used for the month of March :