Fall Birding and catch up time !

Its been a rainy few weeks since my last update, but migration is in full swing.
I've found many nice species and have trawled parks and scanned alley ways and backyards looking for a glimpse of a colorful warbler , or something else passing through on its way south.

Here are some of the highlights seen recently :

Swainson's Thrush - They love the Elderberry and Red Osier Berries we have in our yard. There must have been 10 at our place over a 2 day period :





Blue-headed Vireo - One of my favourite species, I found him at a local park :



Yellow-rumped Warbler - Many of these were at local parks :





Swainson's Hawk - This dark-phased bird was near Blackstrap Lake recently :



Eastern Phoebe - I found this inquisitive flycatcher by the river on a low trail:



Great Blue Heron - This young Heron was at the Forestry Farm Park recently :



Canada Warbler - I found this at Cosmopolitan Park on a recent walk :



Clay-colored Sparrow - A few of these are still around in the open fields :

Ruffed Grouse and some recent Acomplishments

Another late update here, but this one is just to tide things over until I move house, which will be next month.
We have a beautiful new house and a big yard that I can turn into a bird paradise!

This male Ruffed Grouse was at a park about 30 minutes from town, sitting on its favorite log and attracting a mate by 'drumming' its wings which creates a loud thumping sound.
Many people have heard this sound from the woods, but not everyone has actually seen it. Very cool !





I thought I'd let some of my Blogger friends know that I've had a few things published this Summer ...

Birdwatch Canada magazine used several of my photos including the cover shot of a Western Meadowlark :



Prairies North Magazine - did a feature of the Red Deer River Valley and used a few of my photos in their Spring Issue. They will also be using one of my photos in their 2011 Calendar :



A 432 page field guide called 'The Birds of Quebec' by Jean Paquin, also used a number of my photographs. This can be bought on Amazon.com :



Also, anyone that lives locally can see my photos regularly in Nature Saskatchewan's Blue Jay Magazine and in the Sun newspaper in the 'Nature Notes " column.

More Catch-Up !

I haven't been birding much during July, as we are currently in the fun process of selling our house, but I thought you might like to see a bunch of recent images that I haven't had a time to put on the blog until now ..

American Goldfinch :





White Admiral :



Le Conte's Sparrow :



Helmeted Guineafowl :



Sora



Rock Wren




Franklin's Ground Squirrel

Big July Update !

Sorry for the long delay in updating!
Recently my wife and I took a few days off work to enjoy some time at Prince Albert National Park, where we found a few nice things , as well as ending up with more than a few Mosquito bites!
In the couple of days I was there, I only located a few Warbler species , but the highlight was a handsome male Bay-breasted Warbler, and we both got nice looks at a young Black Bear.
I've also been out and about when I haven't been working, so there are a ton of new photos to share ...

First lot are from Prince Albert National Park :

Black Bear



Gray Jay



Bay-breasted Warbler



Spruce Grouse (female)



Ovenbird




White-tailed Deer fawn



Bonaparte's Gull




Now, some local sparrow species from parks around town :

Savannah Sparrow




Clay-colored Sparrow



Nelson's Sparrow

Grasslands National Park

Last weekend my wife and I enjoyed a few days of nature-watching and relaxation at Grasslands National Park with our friends from the local nature society. The park is in south-western Saskatchewan, and is as close as you can possibly get to the US border.
Rolling hills and plains are all you can see for miles around, and the park is home to Bison, Rattlesnakes and Burrowing Owls ( all of which I sadly did not see this time )
I had a few target species to find and was happy when I came home with some photos for my files.
A couple of bird species I have had fleeting glimpses of closer to home, but down south I ended up getting 5 new birds for my life list.
The weather was not kind to us for the first few days with pouring rain, strong winds and overcast skies, but it finally relented before we left, finishing up our trip in Cypress Hills , Maple Creek , Stewart Valley and Saskatchewan Landing.

Highlights were :

Lark Bunting
Chestnut-collared Longspur (lifer)
Yellow-breasted Chat (lifer)
Rock Wren (lifer)
Common Nighthawk
Long-billed Curlew
Dusky Flycatcher (lifer)
Estern Bluebird (lifer)

Also some cool new mammal species such as Black-tailed Prairie Dog.

Here are some new photos from the trip :

Black-tailed Prairie Dog





Lark Bunting



Chestnut-collared Longspur



Rock Wren




Common Nighthawk





Dusky Flycatcher



Coyote - During some heavy rain we found this Coyote with his meal of Richardson's Ground Squirrel :



Pronghorn Antelope




Garter Snake



Yellow Warbler