Lac La Peche Birding

Ok, I've finally gotten around to doing an update ! I've been working and traveling , so have lots to catch up on...

Last week, my wife and I had our annual stay at the resort of Lac La Peche, a beautiful and quiet place to stay near the town of Blaine Lake, SK.

The weather for the first two days ended up being quite windy with cloudy skies, making birding fairly difficult. The wind was so strong at times, that all you could hear were the trees and not much else!

On the last day , things started looking and sounding much better, and I ended up getting some semi-decent photos, a few of which I'm quite proud of.

As far as species go, I also managed to snag another lifer. A vocal Willow Flycatcher was calling beside the lake on our first day. Luckily I heard him before the wind really got up !

Here are the photos. Click to see full size ...

Black & White Warbler - This is one of my favourite Warblers. I heard him singing on the last day and was able to eventually locate him and then get the shot. Finally, I have a photo of one I'm truly happy with :



Willow Flycatcher - Hearing it's " fitz bew " call, I found this fleetingly obliging bird close to the waters edge.



Le Conte's Sparrow - A sparrow I have wanted a decent photo of for a few years now. I spent over 2 hours sitting in a marsh getting bitten by horseflies for these shots. Sometimes its worth getting a few nips for the love of your craft :-)





Evening Grosbeak - Its always a treat to see this species during the summer, as I usually only get to see them up north during the winter.
The top portrait is of a young bird:




Merlin - I found this handsome falcon early one morning after a light rain. He was calling non stop. I don't think he enjoyed getting a soak :



Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - There were many juveniles around, but its the adult males that have the real pizazz :



Purple Finch - Speaking of resplendent males, here's a Purple Finch that was near our cabin on the last day :



House Wren - This Wren was giving me a hard time, so I got a couple of quick shots, choosing a decent angle with nothing behind him, then let him be :



Gray Catbird - I almost didn't see this Catbird at first, then suddenly he hopped onto this tree out in the open for me, and very kindly turned to pose :

Chukar in Saskatoon

Yesterday , I was given the heads-up that a Chukar had been seen in downtown Saskatoon, by a local resident who had seen the bird perched atop a shed roof.
This morning my friend and I spent awhile trying to find it, then had success, locating it on the edge of a park, in the company of a Gray Partridge.
The bird did not have any leg bands, so who knows where it originated from.

Here is some information on this attractive species :( Taken from Wikipedia )

This partridge has its native range in Eurasia, from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east to southeastern Europe in the west, and is closely related and similar to its western equivalent, the Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa. It has been introduced widely for game hunters, and became established in the United States Rocky Mountains, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii. In Great Britain, hybrids between this species and the also introduced Red-legged Partridge are common.

Chukar prefer rocky, steep, and open hillsides. In the United States, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho lead all other states in terms of feral chukar populations and harvest. However, they can be found in almost all the western states in isolated populations.

Gray Jay & Sora

My friend and I found this Sora Rail at a marsh near Hudson Bay while doing our songbird survey :

Here is a Gray Jay from back when I stayed at a friends cabin in early July :

Lazuli Bunting near Saskatoon

One of the best things about living in Saskatchewan, and in particular , my home town, is that the network of birders, or the ' birding grapevine' is pretty amazing.
I had the pleasure of making a new friend this morning who's co-worker lives just on the outskirts of town.
His acreage has been playing host to a rare visitor for the past few days. A beautiful male Lazuli Bunting, a bird that is usually found further south.
A few show up not far from Regina, but the Saskatoon area only has a couple of records.

Here is a shot I managed from a fair distance away. If I'd had a longer zoom, and better light, blah blah blah... :-)
I'm just happy I got to finally add this bird to my life-list, and it becomes the 225th species I've seen this year :

Warblers along the Red Deer River Valley

Last weekend , I participated in a songbird point count census along the Red Deer River Valley, east of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border, with a renowned local birder.

The country up there is wonderful and despite the biting insects, bushwhacking through 6ft high soaking wet ferns and climbing over slippery deadfall, I would do it all again next week ! :-)

We found quite a good number of Warblers on their breeding grounds, including a nice look at a female American Redstart on her nest.

Here are the highlights over 2 days :

Black-throated Green Warbler - lifer - This bird has eluded me for years, so this was a real treat.
Canada Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Nashville Warbler ( New for the year )
Blackburnian Warbler ( New for the year )
Cape May Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Black & White Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Black-billed Cuckoo - This was a nice surprise to hear one this far north ( new for the year )
Cooper's Hawk
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Spruce Grouse
Pileated Woodpecker
Moose

Here are some photos :


Black-throated Green Warbler - My first ever look at this species. I endured many mosquito bites for this picture !..



Canada Warbler - This Warbler, I'd only ever had one brief look at before, and that was here in town earlier during the spring. I saw a couple during the day of our survey and then found this co-operative male in the same forest area as the Black-throated Green, later in the afternoon :

More Photos From Beauval

I've been very busy of late, and have only just recently gotten through some of the photos I wanted to share from my recent trip up north.
I just returned from Hudson Bay where I have photos to share from that trip also.

So meanwhile , here's the rest from Beauval ( Click to see full size )

Winter Wren - This energetic little songster was serenading us close to the cabin every night :




Prickly Rose with Crab Spider - These lovely, fragrant wild roses are quite common, but not everyone might have ever seen it's guest, the waiting Crab Spider. Instead of spinning a web, this little arachnid will ambush its victims from flower heads, often preying on bees and other flying insects :



Magnolia Warbler - I didn't see or hear too many Warblers around, but on the last morning I heard and then located this beautiful male Magnolia Warbler on a White Spruce :



Wood Lily - The floral emblem of Saskatchewan often called Western Red Lily or Tiger Lily :



Sandhill Crane - This was found on the first day in a roadside field :



Woodchuck - I only saw my first of these last year in Prince Albert National Park. This little guy, a relative of Marmots and bigger than our ground squirrels, I found in a clearing in the forest :

Birding around Beauval

I have just returned from a stay at Little Amyot Lake, not far from the town of Beauval, SK.
While there, I also found time to bird the areas of La Loche , Buffalo Narrows , Beaver River and Peter Pond Lake.
The weather for the most part was excellent, with mostly sunny days and a few scattered showers.
A recent plough wind had ripped through the Amyot sub-division and wrecked havoc, with many fallen trees blocking off the main trail around the lake, forcing me to bushwhack and find an alternate route.
Warblers were not that plentiful with only a few actually calling.
Finding a total of 80 species of birds while there, here are some highlights in
no particular order : ( * indicates new for the year )

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher* - I usually only see one of these in a year, so now
the pressure is off ! This one individual was perched on a bridge handrail at
Peter Pond Lake.
Magnolia Warbler - 1
Black & White Warbler - 3
Tennessee Warbler - 5
Common Yellowthroat - 3
Mourning Warbler - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Ovenbird - 10
Western Tanager* - 2
Turkey Vulture - 7
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 2
Winter Wren - 2
Barred Owl - 2 , calling at 3am the first night. I located them the next
morning.
Boreal Owl - 1 calling at 5am on the first morning.
Red Crossbill* - 5 . I didn't see this species at all last year, so this was
nice.
Pine Siskin - 7
Common Redpoll - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Goshawk - 1
Merlin - 9
American Kestrel - 4
Alder Flycatcher - 2
Great Blue Heron - 5
Bonaparte's Gull - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Common Goldeneye - 2
Common Loon - 3
Belted Kingfisher - 3
Spotted Sandpiper - 6
Gray Jay - 2
Swamp Sparrow - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 5
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 2
Veery - 1
Hermit Thrush - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 2

Here is the male Barred Owl ( click to enlarge )
There are more photos to come from this trip...



Here he is hooting at me. Such a wonderful thing to see up close..